Roman baggage camels

[Nathan Ross]

The first scene of the long frieze on the Arch of Constantine shows the profectio of the emperor and his army, perhaps from Milan, as they set out to war against Maxentius. Among the carts, mules and soldiers there is what appears to be a camel:

[attachment=10988]camel.jpg[/attachment]

You can't see it so clearly here, but the feet of this animal are cloven - this is not a horse or a mule. Various studies of the Arch (Ferris 2013, most recently) are convinced that it is a baggage camel.

So why are the Roman army using camels in northern Italy? Was this usual? Might it have been something to do with Constantine's Alpine crossing? I've no idea whether camels would be particularly good at climbing mountains... But the prominent appearance in the frieze here suggests there was something significant about it!

[Alanus]

Hello, Nathan

You're viewing a depiction of the obscure North Italian Camel, an uncommon species with 3 humps (as opposed to 1 or 2, such as the Arabian or Bactrian varieties). The North Italian Camel was bred extensively from Mont Paradisio to the upper Po Valley until Constantine drafted the last of that species for his campaigns. The remaining surviving North Italian Camel reportedly died while trying to cross the Milvian Bridge when it lost its balance and toppled into the river... taking a valuable cargo of Valarian wine with it.

[Flavivs Aetivs]

I can't tell if that's serious or what.

[Michael Kerr]

Camels or dromedaries would not have travelled well on the mountains and hard ground of Europe so they would have been more a novelty in the west but not in North Africa or Egypt or Mesopotamia. In WW1 the Australians made use of camel mounted infantry to supplement their light horse and found them excellent during the Sinai campaign against the Turks but not so useful when the war shifted north to Syria and Palestine with rockier hilly ground.
Maybe they were presented as a gift to Constantine by Domitus Alexander who was vicarius of Africa but proclaimed emperor by his troops at Carthage in 308AD as it seems they entered into a pact in 310 against Maxentius. (CIL viii, 22183). 8+)
Regards
Michael Kerr

[Vindex]

I have to say, I have always considered this a depiction of a mule (by the tail) . Can't explain the cloven hoof unless it is meant to show the "hippo sandal" which had a prominent front (but then, the even more prominent rear is not shown)

[Renatus]

I was concerned when I first saw this that the animal did not seem to have much of a hump but, looking at images of camels online, I see that some do have very small humps. The head does seem very like that of a camel and it does not have the ears of a mule.

[Crispianus]

It strikes me that the artist had never seen a camel only heard about them... "Mules with long necks and cloven hooves" mile: I assume that's the frieze on the west end?
I think its quite possible though its intended to be a Mule...
I think the biggest problem with Roman Sculpture though from my own point of view(Shoes) is re-use and Copyists..... but in this case although basic they do look correct for the time :wink:

[Nathan Ross]

Here's a better picture of the feet particularly; also showing a mule on the left. I think it's clear that the animal on the right is intended to be a different creature!

[attachment=10991]Constantine1.jpg[/attachment]

The size is deceptive - several things on the Arch are shown under size - but if we imagine it a bit larger I'd say this is a pretty good depiction of a camel. Even the face looks camel-ish!

Going to the trouble of showing a camel (or whatever it is) right in the middle of a frieze on an imperial monument like this is presumably intended to be saying something. Unless it's... a joke? :errr:

Maybe they were presented as a gift to Constantine by Domitus Alexander

Ingenious! But Alexander was defeated and executed by 310 at the latest - the camel would have been in Gaul for two years, and had to cross the Alps...

However, it seems camels were not unknown in Roman Europe. The 7th Century Life of St. Eligius mentions a pack camel in use in southern France (the same area from which Constantine would have departed on his Alpine crossing). There was also a camel vertebra found at a Roman villa at Soissons.

Even more conclusively, camel remains have been found in 3rd-4th century refuse layers at Viminacium. So it seems there were camels about - although I still don't see why they would be preferable to mules as baggage animals in a northern setting...

[Xavi]

Hi Nathan
Have a look to this article:

http://www.academia.edu/3660520/Camels_i...m_Slovenia

Ancient artist do work better than we think.

[Flavivs Aetivs]

It's known Camels were a common sight on the Eurasian steppes. They're often depicted in Sarmatian and later Turkish/Mongol art.

[Nathan Ross]

Have a look to this article

Thanks - very interesting! It's intriguing that many of these finds seem so closely dated to the 3rd-4th century. If, as the article says, the camel was only introduced to North Africa in the 3rd Century, then Mauretanian army units may indeed have brought them into Europe. The Arch does show soldiers with what appear to be 'Moorish' hairstyles fighting in Constantine's army.

Interesting too that some of the bone fragments come from Ad Pirum in the Julian Alps. It seems dromedaries could have been used in mountainous areas after all!

Ancient artist do work better than we think.

So I've always thought. I'm constantly impressed by the details on these later imperial arches in particular, many of which I still believe were probably taken from direct observation.

It's known Camels were a common sight on the Eurasian steppes.

Yes, bactrian camels are still common in that region. The article above mentions what appear to be bactrian bone fragments found at a Sarmatian site.

[Condottiero Magno]

Camels are on the Column of Arcadius:

IIRC, Edge of Empire mentions that either dromedaries or camels were introduced to North West Europe by the Romans as beasts of burden, but no idea what happened to them after the collapse.

[Slepcevic]

I found this:

http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-...63251V.pdf

[Renatus]

Camels are on the Column of Arcadius:

I think that the column is more likely to be the Column of Theodosius (see the discussion in the '4th Century Gear' thread). Anyway, here are more camels from the column:

http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/...r1765/0013

[Nathan Ross]

I found this:

http://www.doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0350-...63251V.pdf

The paper suggests a bactrian/dromedary hybrid specially bred to combine load-bearing capacity and ability to operate in colder climates. Fascinating!