Barbara Pferdehirt Books?

[Spedius]

Ave,

Has anyone got, seen or read the three books written by Barbara Pferdehirt?

The details are as follows:-

Die Rolle des Militärs für den sozialen Aufstieg in der römischen Kaiserzeit / Barbara Pferdehirt
Mainz, RGZM (2002) ISBN 3-88467-069-7

Römische Militärdiplome und Entlassungsurkunden in der Sammlung des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums / Barbara Pferdehirt
Mainz, RGZM (2004) ISBN 3-88467-086-7

The subject matter is, wait for it, Roman Military Diplomas. A subject matter of great interest to me.

Please see the following:-

http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=6606
http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=6638
http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=6572

I'm trying to find out the following information:-

01. Has there been a review, in English, of any or all of these books?
02. If there has, can you copy and paste it to this topic or provide a link?
03. What are the contents of these books?
04. Are there pictures and the full Latin texts of each diploma?
05. How many diplomas are included in each book?
06. Are the books unique or are diplomas replicated in the 2004 books?
07. Are there diplomas that are unique and have not been published elsewhere?
08. What was your personal view of the books?

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Viventius]

Are you thinking of purchasing them; I note that at least one is on the Oxbow Books website.

You might find that you can take a look at them in academic libraries - check out: http://www.copac.ac.uk/ to find out where copies are held. It's best to ring up beforehand and check if you can get in without a pass. Quite a few academic libraries are effectively open access, and there's only costs involved if you want lending rights. Perhaps you knew this already .

It looks like Römische Militärdiplome und Entlassungsurkunden in der Sammlung des ... was recieved for review by the Roman Society - they're in London of course, so may well be worth a visit ( http://www.romansociety.org/ )

Best wishes,

[Praefectusclassis]

I've got 'Die Rolle'.
1) D.B.Saddington published a review in Gnomon 77 (2005)
2) Paper version only.
3) The book is about diploma's and social rise, as the title shows and has six chapters:
I: The grant of juridical privileges and premises
a: Constitutions (=grant of privileges and discharge of which the diploma is the individual proof) for soldiers from Alae and Cohortes
b: Constitutions for the fleets
c: Constitutions for City of Rome troops
d: Constitutions from the years 68 till 72 AD
App.I: Civil privileges for legionary veterans
II. The various juridical statuses for inhabitants of the Roman Empire and its effect in Constitutions
a. Non-Roman citizens
b. The civil status of soldiers before grant of citizenship based on their names
III. The dependants of soldiers in Constitutions
a. dependants of auxiliary soldiers
b. dependants of naval troops
c. unions of soldiers with their slave-girl
IV. The juridical civil consequences (Familienrechtlichen Folgen...sigh) before and after grant of citizenship
a. Juridical stipulations in civil life
b. The soldier and his dependants
c. The recognition of military children
d. The veteran and his family after grant of coniubium
V. The grounds for copies of constitutions of Roman citizens after 212 AD
a. The dependants of Praetorian troops
b. Praetorians and Urbanici
c. Equites Singulares Augusti
VI. The Constitution as instrument of Imperial Romanisation Policy
a. The importance of the Flavian grants of citizenship for the social prestige of veterans
b. The effect of regular grants of citizenship under Trajan and Hadrian
c. The citizenship policies under Antoninus Pius and the causes of the decline of so-called auxiliary diplomas after 165/170 AD
App.II: the discharge certificates (as in the appendix of RMD IV)
Maps & tables with lots of statistics follow
4) No
5) The book is not a publication of diplomas as RMD
6) & 7) Nope
8) What I have read is certainly a useful addition to the overall knowledge on diplomas.

[Spedius]

Are you thinking of purchasing them; I note that at least one is on the Oxbow Books website.
You might find that you can take a look at them in academic libraries - check out: http://www.copac.ac.uk/ to find out where copies are held. It's best to ring up beforehand and check if you can get in without a pass. Quite a few academic libraries are effectively open access, and there's only costs involved if you want lending rights. Perhaps you knew this already .
It looks like Römische Militärdiplome und Entlassungsurkunden in der Sammlung des ... was recieved for review by the Roman Society - they're in London of course, so may well be worth a visit ( http://www.romansociety.org/ )
Best wishes,

Ave Viventius,

Thank you very much for your detailed answer.

Yes, I am thinking of buying them.

I checked out www.Oxbowbooks.com and this is what I found.

Die Rolle des Militärs für den sozialen aufstieg in der Römischen Kaiserzeit
by Barbara Pferdehirt
This detailed study of military diplomas examines the ways in which a military position or background could be used as a means of climbing the social ladder during the Roman imperial period. With an emphasis on the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, Pferdehirt examines the legal role and privileges of soldiers and knights in the Roman constitution, the possibilities for freedmen, the rights of soldiers' families and the changes in law after the turn of the 3rd century. 269p, tbs, fold-outs (Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum 2002)
ISBN 3884670697. Hardback. Price GB £48.50

I also checked the copac link, very useful, thank you for that.

I've been a member of the Roman Society since 2003. Perhaps I should contact them and see if I can loan the three books?

Regards.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Spedius]

Ave Jasper,

Thank you for your extremely detailed answer.

Once again I am impressed by your ability to read and translate all in one go.

It would seem that "Rolle" would be a reference book only. It wouldn't add new diplomas to my list. What with my inability to read technical German, it would be difficult for me to unravel it's deeper meanings.

I believe the second pair of books, published in 2004, do contain actual diplomas? They would be of far more help in my constant search for more diplomas.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Martin Moser]

Hi Spedius,

Yes, I am thinking of buying them.

I just checked the available publications of the RGZM and it says they still have them (well, the document seems to be from 12/2004 ...)

http://www.rgzm.de/homepage/infomateria ... Dez_04.pdf

Anyway, prices are

Die Rolle des Militärs für den sozialen Aufstieg in der römischen Kaiserzeit / Barbara Pferdehirt
Mainz, RGZM (2002) ISBN 3-88467-069-7

55.- euros

Römische Militärdiplome und Entlassungsurkunden in der Sammlung des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums / Barbara Pferdehirt
Mainz, RGZM (2004) ISBN 3-88467-086-7

73.- euros

If contacting them in English should prove to be a problem let me know and I'll try and find out more for you.

[Martin Moser]

ah, and here is the contact data:

Dominik Kimmel
Public Relations
Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum
Forschungsinstitut für Vor- und Frühgeschichte
Ernst-Ludwig-Platz 2
D - 55116 Mainz

[email protected]
www.rgzm.de
Telephone: +49-(0)6131-9124-130
Fax: +49-(0)6131-9124-199

[Spedius]

Ave Martin,

Thank you very much for the information contained in your two messages.

I phoned the number that you kindly supplied and had a long chat to the head of security. It seems that Dominik Kimmel had already gone home. He was most helpful and could speak English, much to my relief. We had a lot in common we are both ex-army, of similar ages and both with daughters in universities.

I have decided to send an e-mail to see if they will sell to me direct.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Spedius]

Ave all,

Thank you for your help and guidance.

I took delivery of "Römische Militärdiplome und Entlassungsurkunden in der Sammlung des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums" by Barbara Pferdehirt, Mainz, RGZM (2004) ISBN 3-88467-086-7 this morning.

The package was well wrapped and consisted of two books:-

Book 1 contains the texts of 64 diplomas with detailed analysis of each, formatted and presented as is the RMD series. It also includes 8 fragments and 3 discharge certificates from the 3rd century. Once again, following the practice extablished by the RMD series, indicies are included at the back of the book. This book is written in a mixture of Latin and German.

Book 2 contains the images upon which Book 1 was based. Great care has been taken to ensure all images are sharp and readable.

I highly recommend these books to all aspiring diploma enthusiasts. In fact, if you already own the RMD series, these books are "must have" additions to your library.

They cost me 87.40 euros, 73 for the books plus 14.40 postage and packing. They were sent from Germany on the 14th and I received them in the U.K. on the 16th. Pretty quick, eh? They can be obtained direct from the address contained in an earlier post from Martin within this topic.

I'm in diploma heaven. I'll be engaged in a diploma analysis and entry-fest for the next few days.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Spedius]

Ave

Further to my last post, of the 64 diplomas 10 were published in RMD IV, 1 in RMD I and 6 in Arch. Korrbl. The 47 diplomas that remain were published in 2004 by Barbara Pferdehirt for the first time, they are unique.

The analysis and entry-fest continues.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Praefectusclassis]

Forward young analyst!