07-22-2011, 04:32 PM
Excavations of battlefields is not just about finding swords, javelins or any big metal pieces. Naturally, it would be great to find them in big hoards but it's not the only thing. There are a lot of battle descriptions in ancient sources, but not all of them understood what really happened. Case in point is Polybius and Livy and their description of the battle at Cynoscephalae. Ok, maybe not the best example because Livy obviously made a big mistake in describing how the units advanced in the field, but, recent preliminary excavations show an inclination towards Polybius' account. The same could be used to describe how did the siege of different poleis worked.
Example is Delminium, the main city of the Delmatae (Illyricum, later the province got it's name after them Delmatae - Dalmatia), which was besieged first by Gaius Marcius Figulus in 156. B. C. but he couldn't take the town because of the strategical position of the citadel. It really is a very difficult position to take. So he modified his scorpions and burned the city from ground. Next year Publius Corneius Scipio Nasica went for it and he did it. But we wouldn't know how he did it, with the usage of siege weapons, if the the preliminary sonding of the area around it didn't show remains of led, tips of arrows, parts of swords. Siege weaponry was found on the top of the cliff from where Nasica decided to attack. Those excavations showed really great stuff.
For now, i think the best usage from excavating battlefields is to confirm the words sources left us, and to map the location of battles maybe in some sort of an geographical (military) atlas of the roman world.
Example is Delminium, the main city of the Delmatae (Illyricum, later the province got it's name after them Delmatae - Dalmatia), which was besieged first by Gaius Marcius Figulus in 156. B. C. but he couldn't take the town because of the strategical position of the citadel. It really is a very difficult position to take. So he modified his scorpions and burned the city from ground. Next year Publius Corneius Scipio Nasica went for it and he did it. But we wouldn't know how he did it, with the usage of siege weapons, if the the preliminary sonding of the area around it didn't show remains of led, tips of arrows, parts of swords. Siege weaponry was found on the top of the cliff from where Nasica decided to attack. Those excavations showed really great stuff.
For now, i think the best usage from excavating battlefields is to confirm the words sources left us, and to map the location of battles maybe in some sort of an geographical (military) atlas of the roman world.
It is not these well-fed long-haired men that I fear, but the pale and the hungry-looking.
Fedja.
Fedja.
