05-28-2006, 11:07 PM
Ha, I'm back again from the Limes Tripolitana. Alas, no plumbata and only a couple of photos of the use of weapons, but I did find inscriptions of III Augusta (one possibly unpublished) and had some time to see Leptis and admire the gladiatorial mosaic.
The Limes Tripolitana is SPLENDID. It consists of three castella, about 250 km south of the Mediterranean coast. They control the main roads. Between them was a network of minor fortresses, guarding the main wadi's, which were regulated by dikes etc. Finally, there were hundreds of fortified farms and protected wells (about 2,000 have been identified, and I lost count). All in all, it was not only an extensive network to guard the Tripolitana, but also a kind of "limes culture" based on regulated wadi's. Created in c.200 by Septimius Severus, it survived for eight centuries.
After the wars between the Fatimids and Almoravids, the desert returned. Many monuments, like Girsa, are now in a rocky area without vegetation. At Bu Njem (or Abu Djem) we saw a fort that was almost entirely covered with sand. In the surrounding area, we discovered a part of the vicus that seems to have been unknown to the excavators. I still have to check this. We may also have seen the foundations of two hitherto unnoticed tombs.
And, talking about "catching some sun": we survived an "official" heat wave.
More later.
The Limes Tripolitana is SPLENDID. It consists of three castella, about 250 km south of the Mediterranean coast. They control the main roads. Between them was a network of minor fortresses, guarding the main wadi's, which were regulated by dikes etc. Finally, there were hundreds of fortified farms and protected wells (about 2,000 have been identified, and I lost count). All in all, it was not only an extensive network to guard the Tripolitana, but also a kind of "limes culture" based on regulated wadi's. Created in c.200 by Septimius Severus, it survived for eight centuries.
After the wars between the Fatimids and Almoravids, the desert returned. Many monuments, like Girsa, are now in a rocky area without vegetation. At Bu Njem (or Abu Djem) we saw a fort that was almost entirely covered with sand. In the surrounding area, we discovered a part of the vicus that seems to have been unknown to the excavators. I still have to check this. We may also have seen the foundations of two hitherto unnoticed tombs.
And, talking about "catching some sun": we survived an "official" heat wave.
More later.
