Ethiopian troops?

[John1]

I’m following up on some research that’s kicking around about some Roman burials in York.

Leach, S., M. Lewis, C. Chenery, G. Müldner, & H. Eckardt. (2009).
Migration and diversity in Roman Britain: A multidisciplinary approach to the identification of immigrants in Roman York, England,
American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 140, 546-561.

and

http://heritage-key.com/blogs/ann/evide ... roman-york

also there is this quote which I have yet to verify;

“On another occasion, when he was returning to his nearest quarters from an inspection of the wall at Luguvallium (Carlisle) in Britain, at a time when he had not only proved victorious but had concluded a perpetual peace, just as he was wondering what omen would present itself, an Ethiopian soldier, who was famous among buffoons and always a notable jester, met him with a garland of cypress-boughs. And when Severus in a rage ordered that the man be removed from his sight, the Ethiopian by way of jest cried, it is said, “You have been all things, now, O conqueror, be a god.”
Emperor Septimius Severus (146-211 AD) (Scriptores Historiae Augustae, p. 425).

So which units were using “Ethiopian” troops?
And was the term "Ethiopian" applied to areas other than that we consider Ethiopia today?

all thoughts appreciated

[D B Campbell]

You've hit upon a very interesting passage from the Historia Augusta -- at least, I think it's interesting.

As with other parts of the HA, this passage is corrupt. The "uncorrected" version can be seen at The Latin Library: Post murum apud vallum visum in Brittannia cum ad proximam mansionem rediret ... ("Having inspected the wall near the rampart in Britain, he was returning to the nearest lodging ...").

The "official" Teubner text decided that this should be: Post maurum apud vallum missum in Brittannia cum ad proximam mansionem rediret ... ("Having discharged a Moor near the rampart in Britain, ...")

Others have tried to get rid of the Moor by correcting the sentence in this way: Post militem apud vallum visum in Brittannia cum ad proximam mansionem rediret ... ("Having discharged a soldier near the rampart in Britain, ..."). But this is unnecessary. The vallum ("rampart"), by the way, is the usual term to denote Hadrian's Wall, and there was a numerus of Moors on the frontier at Burgh-by-Sands.

The Moor, like the subsequently mentioned Ethiopian, is required to make sense of the encounter: namely, that Severus took a meeting with a black man as an omen of his impending death. In answer to your supplementary question, a Roman would not necessarily have thought this unusual. Although Ethiopia (strictu sensu) lay beyond the empire's frontiers, people from beyond would have sought employment in the Roman army, as evidence from other frontiers shows.

I think that the author of the HA has "laid it on thick" to make his point, and there is no particular evidence known to me, that corroborates the presence of Ethiopians in Roman Britain.

I'm interested that your version has gone one step further in its emendation. Apud vallum ("near the rampart") is perfectly acceptable and understandable in this context, but your version has altered it to apud [Lugu]vall[i]um ("at Carlisle"). Where did you find it?

[Sean Manning]

My understanding is that to an ancient person "Ethiopian" meant something like "black"/negro did recently. It didn't just refer to Africans: Herodotus divided the Ethiopians into the ones south of Egypt, and the ones in India (Histories 7.69-70). But in a Roman army context, it probably means someone with dark skin and African ancestry.

I think "Moor" had a similar connotation in the Roman empire, but I haven't studied that period as well.

[Nathan Ross]

Apud vallum ("near the rampart") is perfectly acceptable and understandable in this context, but your version has altered it to apud [Lugu]vall[i]um ("at Carlisle"). Where did you find it?

It's the Loeb, I think. Lacus Curtius has it online here:

[url:kv09ef27]http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Septimius_Severus*.html[/url]

But this is unnecessary. The vallum ("rampart"), by the way, is the usual term to denote Hadrian's Wall, and there was a numerus of Moors on the frontier at Burgh-by-Sands.

Could it be that the translation has given Luguvallium because Carlisle is close to Burgh-by-Sands, which had a numerus of Moors to supply the 'Ethiopian'? Sort of a circular logic there perhaps. But if vallum itself denotes the wall, why also murum?

As for the Ethiopian - I'd agree with Sean that Aethiopia was a rather vague concept. I believe it equated approximately to 'black Africa' - everywhere south of the Roman territories of the north coast. So the Ethiopian soldier encountered by Severus would have been a 'black' African - but would he necessarily have belonged to the Numerus Maurorum Aurelianorum at Burgh? Does Aethiops quidam e numero militari mean that he was actually in a military numerus, or merely that he was a member of some military unit or other otherwise unspecified?

I wonder about the identification of the Maurorum with this passage. Severus is clearly shocked and surprised to meet the black soldier - but if he was visiting or passing the fort of a unit of Moors, surely he might suspect something of the sort might happen? This suggests, firstly, that black soldiers were not at all common in the Roman army of the period, and secondly that either a) the Numerus Maurorum, recruited (presumably) in Roman Mauretania, did not contain substantial numbers of black Africans, or b) the incident in question happened elsewhere.

This is from a letter in British Archaeology 78 , by Vivian G Swann at the University of Nottingham, concerning the possible advent of black African soldiers in Britain:

Soldiers from distant provinces were not recruited directly, but arrived as transfers resulting from troop-movements in times of crisis. Two main episodes can be recognised in Britain: in c ad 149/150, north Africans were probably brought back with British units returning from Antoninus Pius’ Mauretanian war, and are evidenced on the Antonine Wall, and at Chester, Holt, and Bowness-on-Solway. These are the men who were probably formed into the Burgh-by-Sands unit. In 208, the Emperor Severus brought detachments from the north African legion, III Augusta, for his campaigns in northern Britain (evidenced massively at York, and also at Caerleon, Hadrian’s Wall, in Scotland and the north; men who returned are epigraphically attested in north Africa)... I am investigating further evidence for north Africans at Roman Carlisle and the Danubian legionary fortress of Vindobona (Vienna) and the results of my research are being used by archaeologists working with ethnic minorities in Britain.

Rest of the letter here: [url:kv09ef27]http://www.britarch.ac.uk/ba/ba78/letters.shtml[/url]

North African soldiers were by no means necessarily 'black' - they were probably ethnically close to the current inhabitants of coastal Morocco and Algeria. The note about III Augusta is interesting, though - the legion were based deep in Numidia for centuries, and 'local' recruits might perhaps be of a darker complexion than the 'Moors' of Burgh-by-Sands.

Romans' poor reactions to black Africans are described in Juvenal, and possibly elsewhere - black was the colour of death, and of ghosts. The (mourning) cypress bough would have compounded the funereal association. One other (obvious) point - Severus was himself born in Roman Africa, probably of partial Carthaginian descent, and so wouldn't be of pearly white complexion himself. The painting of him and his family shows him as noticably darker (or redder?) than the Syrian Julia Domna. This incident does illustrate, however, that he was a long way from being 'black' himself!

- Nathan

[D B Campbell]

Could it be that the translation has given Luguvallium because Carlisle is close to Burgh-by-Sands, which had a numerus of Moors to supply the 'Ethiopian'? Sort of a circular logic there perhaps.

It seems to be an unnecessary emendation. I don't have the apparatus criticus in front of me, but changing apud vallum to "apud Luguvallium", seems to be a step too far. You are right -- the reasoning is definitely circular.

But if vallum itself denotes the wall, why also murum?

Using precisely your logic (i.e. why mention a murus and a vallum, when they denote the same thing?), the murum of the original has convincingly been emended to Maurum, to give us our Moor.

I am inclined to agree, that the "Ethiopian" has been added to emphasize the fact that we're talking about a black man. This detail is required for the point of the story -- i.e., that Severus' death is being foretold in front of him.

[John1]

The original was googled off a blog, the citation given there was;

Scriptores Historiae Augustae – Septimius Severus 22:4-6, transl. D. Magie (1922-1932) Vol 1, London: Heinemann

as I mentioned I haven't yet got my hands on a copy to confirm the quote, but your comments go beyond any shallow review I would be capable of.

I noted reading Malone's History of Legio XX;

Legio XX Valeria Victrix Prosopography, archaeology and history by Stephen James Malone. ISBN 1841719226.

that the Legion's manufacturing base at Holt was producing vessels of north African types, and that a number of the Centurians, including one Prima Pilus, were recruited in North Africa. However this "Ethiopian" reference takes a big step further south.

Thanks for the informed replies

[D B Campbell]

It's the Loeb, I think. Lacus Curtius has it online here: [url:1b2rxgl8]http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Septimius_Severus*.html[/url]

Scriptores Historiae Augustae – Septimius Severus 22:4-6, transl. D. Magie (1922-1932) Vol 1, London: Heinemann

Yup -- that's the Loeb edition. They're usually trustworthy, but occasionally take a wild detour, just to check whether anyone's paying attention.

[D B Campbell]

Stumbled across this interesting PDF while browsing online:
An Archaeology of Race: Exploring the Northern Frontier in Roman Britain (Durham University, 2009).
It really ought to be better advertised.