Roman Military Diplomas - A Starter Kit!

[Spedius]

Ave

For those of you who have been following my amaturish efforts to decode three diplomas, please see these topics:

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

If you've been inspired by what you've seen and would like to try something similar here is how to go about it.

What are diplomas?

The most complete answers can be found here.

http://www.romancoins.info/MilitaryDiploma1a.html

There are five (soon to be six) main collections of diplomas and they are:-

CIL XVI (189), RMD I (78), RMD II (57), RMD III (66), RMD IV (121) and RMD V (154). That is a total of 665 diplomas.

This is an extract from a post I received from Jasper Oorthuys.

"Just got an email from Paul Holder.
RMD V has just gone to the publisher and will hopefully be published this year. It contains 154 diplomas, published until 2003.
Since then another 100-200 have been published or will be this year. The future of RMD VI is still insecure."

The first item on your list could be the basic Latin texts of the diplomas.

You will find them in numerous places however there are three FREE sources as below.

http://user.uni-frankfurt.de/~clauss/index-e.html
http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/sonst/adw/edh/
http://www.romancoins.info

The Frankfurt university website contains the complete Latin texts for CIL XVI, RMD I - III. It also contains 69 diplomas from RMD IV, these were unique to RMD IV and hadn't been published elsewhere. The remaining 52 had been previously published in various archaeology journals.

In addition Frankfurt's list gives the full publishing history (concordance) of each diploma ie. CIL 16, 00003 = AE 1930, 00072 = AE 1931, 00111. Romancoins doesn't have this facility and I'm unsure of Heidelbeg, not having used it.

The next item on your list could be the RMD books and they can be bought here:

http://www.oxbowbooks.com

If you put roman military diplomas in as a search criteria you will get the following:-

Roman Military Diplomas IV
by Margaret Roxan and Paul Holder
This fourth volume presents transcripts, translations and detailed commentary of 121 diplomas, half of which are published here for the first time, dating from AD 61 to 245. The study includes a revised chronology of ...
Paperback. Price GB £75.00

Roman Military Diplomas 1985-1993
by Margaret M. Roxan
The collection of 66 diplomas presented in this volume bring the total of diplomas known to 390. They continue to present new information upon Roman military and civil history, not merely through prosopographic details, ...
Paperback. Price GB £25.00

Roman Military Diplomas 1978-1984
by Margaret M Roxan
This volume publishes records 57 diplomas or fragments which provide vital evidence for the Roman military and legal world. 231p (Institute of Archaeology Occasional Publication 9, 1985)
Paperback. Publisher's Price GB £15.00, Our Price GB £4.95

Roman Military Diplomas 1954-1977
Roxan, Margaret M
This volume publishes records 78 diplomas or fragments which provide vital evidence for the Roman military and legal world. 118p (Institute of Archaeology Occasional Publication 2, 1978)
Paperback. Price GB £17.50

CIL XVI (Corpus Inscriptions Latinum) can only be viewed in either public or university libraries. It consists of diplomas previously published in the other collections of the CIL series, subsequently amalgamated into a separate Corpus of their own in the 1950s, or so I'm lead to believe.

If, like me, you have caught the diploma bug now and would like to find even more examples for your collection, here's how to get started.

The convention would seem to be to publish the details of new diplomas in the archaeology journals in the country of discovery. It would also seem that many of the leading experts on diplomas are German. It therefore follows that they will publish their findings in German. One of the most prolific people currently publishing new diploma details is Dr. Werner Eck, his website is here:

http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/ifa/al ... index.html

The most popular journal for the publication of new diplomas is Zeitschrift fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik (ZPE). ZPE is the only relevant archaeology journal offering download facilities (all articles from 1990 to 2000 are FREE, however 2001 to 2004 will cost you) and is here:

http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/ifa/zp ... index.html

Finally, I would advise you to take a long, hard look at Andreas Pengerl's website, it contains many, many items of interest and can be found here:

http://www.romancoins.info

I hope to welcome you to the ranks of those of us with a major interest in the fascinating world of Roman Military Diplomas. Perhaps you may even wish to follow my lead and begin decoding diplomas for yourself?

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Spedius]

Ave

Two further books that I would recommend adding to your growing collection are:-

Ala (2): Auxiliary Cavalry Units of the Pre-Diocletian Roman Army
by John Spaul
A complete revision of Conrad Cichorins' 1893 article on auxiliary cavalry units. Each unit covered by Cichorius is fully referenced to include the comments of more recent scholars and new material evidence. Fully indexed, ...
Paperback. Price GB £19.95

Cohors 2
by John Spaul
John Spaul continues his up-dating of Conrad Cichorius' articles in Real-encyclopädie der Altertumswissenschaft with this complete documentation of the epigraphic sources for cohorts of the Roman army. His complementary volume Ala 2 is still available. Contents: Cohortes Civium Romanorum; Cohortes Provinciae Sardiniae, Lusitaniae, Hispaniae, Galliae, Britanniae, Germaniae, Alpium, Raetiae & Norici, Dalmatiae, Pannoniae, Moesiae & Macedoniae, Senatus, Orientis, Australia, Aliae & Alienae. The catalogue is followed by a broad discussion of cohorts and their deployment around the Roman Empire. 581p (BAR S841, 2000)
ISBN 1841710466. Paperback. Price GB £50.00

They are both available from www.oxbowbooks.com

These two books are invaluable source books and futhermore, will aid in the decoding of unit names and titles. So a "must have" for all budding diploma enthusiasts.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

PS. I would be interested to known if anyone has any ideas on the identity of the "Australian" cohorts?

[Spedius]

Ave

This is how Wikipedia defines a diploma:

"Wikipedia
military diploma

A Roman military diploma is a document written on 2 ca. 10 × 15 cm bronze tablets, wired and sealed together through two central holes, so that the two inner sides cannot be read without breaking the seals.

It was a notarized copy of the original bronze constitution issued by the emperor in Rome, granting Roman citizenship to foreign veterans who had served for 25 years or more in the Roman auxiliary forces. Legionaries in contrast had to be Roman citizens as pre-requisite to joining military service. In addition to the veteran, his children also received citizenship, but not his wife. His marriage with her was however legalized under Roman law by granting him the conubium with one foreign wife, either the one he lived with when receiving the diploma, or a later one (but only once). From ca. 50 - 140 AD this included children born during the military service. As soldiers were however not formally allowed to have a female companion, after ca. 140 only children born after his military service were elegible. One diploma is known where a soldier's parents and brothers/sisters we granted Roman citizenship, but this seems to have been the exception. These citizenship grants became over the centuries a major source of Roman citizenship in even the remotest province.

The full text of the diploma is listed on the outer side of the so called tabula 1; the outer side of tabula 2 shows the names of seven notaries and their seals covered and protected by metal strips. The same text as tabula 1 was repeated over the two inner sides. The idea was that if the outer text had possibly been manipulated, a provincial official far from the original in Rome could break the seals, and compare the outer text with the presumably untouched inner text, actually considered the primary copy.

About 1000 diploma are known through fragments, the original number must have been in 100,000s, so it seems that most got melted down or lost over time."

Very precise.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Jeroen Pelgrom]

very interesting stuff Jim, lots of good info! - karma point to you!

[Spedius]

very interesting stuff Jim, lots of good info! - karma point to you!

Ave pelgr003,

Thank you very much, all karma points gratefully received.

I've constructed this topic mainly to help those just starting out. I know that when I first became interested in diplomas trying to find information was most difficult.

I just didn't know where to look, this was pre-broadband, so my telephone bills were astronomical (huge). I wouldn't want anyone who is really interested to have to go through all that.

I will be posting more information from time to time, this is a "live" topic.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Spedius]

Ave

I've put a simple link to this topic in Wikipedia, see below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Military_diploma

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Spedius]

Ave

A review of Roman Military Diplomas IV:-

Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2004.07.66
Margaret Roxan, Paul Holder, Roman Military Diplomas IV. BICS Suppl. 82. London: Institute of Classical Studies, 2003. Pp. xx, 313; pls. ISBN 0-900587-93-8. £75.00 (pb).

Reviewed by Ross H. Cowan, Glasgow ( [email protected] )
Word count: 1629 words

The bronze diplomas granted to auxiliaries, marines, praetoriani and urbaniciani, normally at the completion of service (though early grants were made to serving soldiers), conferred citizenship (for auxilia and classiarii) and the right of conubium. Diplomas have long been used as evidence for movements of auxiliary units and the garrisons of provinces, battle honours, the social history of the Roman army, the privileges and settlement patterns of veterans, the titles and acclamations of emperors, and as a sometimes unique source for equestrian officers and provincial governors. The 121 complete or fragmentary diplomas in Roman Military Diplomas IV (hereafter RMD IV) add considerably to our knowledge in all these areas. Just over half of these diplomas have been previously published elsewhere, but in gathering the documents together RMD performs an essential function. The numbering of the diplomas and pagination of the volume continues that of RMD I-III. One cannot hope to comment on every diploma, so I will concentrate on a selection of interesting examples.

RMD IV 203 is the now the earliest diploma known to have been issued by Vespasian (26 February AD 70), recording a special grant of privileges to serving beneficiarii of the Ravenna fleet. The defection of this fleet to Vespasian in October AD 69 played a prominent part in the collapse of the Vitellians, and from its personnel was drawn legio II Adiutrix (Tac. Hist. 3.12, 3.50). The desire to maintain the loyalty of this fleet to the Flavian cause is again demonstrated by RMD IV 205 (5 April AD 71), a special grant to navarchs, trierarchs and remiges before they had completed their usual term of service. The editors suggest that the singling out of the remiges demonstrates they were more than just rowers (in fact ordinary sailors/marines were referred to as milites), but in fact junior officers. The recipient of the diploma, Velagenus, was a centurion; presumably we should then count fleet centurions among the remiges? The commentary does not make this connection, perhaps wisely: maybe remiges should be understood in the sense of nautae, sailors of all other ranks. Indeed, the commentary is a little contradictory on the matter of command on a warship. As a centurio, Velagenus probably commanded the 'marine' element within the crew concerned with fighting duties,1 but the trierarch was the captain (cf. p. 397, n. 1, but at n. 7 the centurion commands the crew). The commentary unwittingly gives the impression that Velagenus was in command of a ship or at least on a par with the trierarch in seniority, which certainly was not the case.

The findspots of the Ravennate diplomas are unknown, but a contemporary example given to a veteran of the Misene fleet (RMD IV 204, 9 February AD 71) was dredged up from the River Sava in Croatia. The diploma records that the recipient, the veteran centurion Liccaius, was settled at Paestum, but the findspot demonstrates that this extra reward from a new emperor grateful for the support of the fleets in civil war was not appreciated.2 The far-flung findspots of the diplomas of four other Misene fleet veterans of AD 70-71 granted plots at Paestum (CIL XVI 12, 13, 15 and 16), show that the veterans preferred to return to their original homes or to settle in the vicinity of familiar Misenum.3

RMD IV 213 records the honourable discharge of Valerius Celer of cohors XIII Urbana. He also would have fought in the battles of AD 69, but in May AD 85 he found himself being discharged in Mauretania. The date and location ('in Africa') of his discharge means that Velius Rufus' command of XIII Urbana and a field army in a campaign against rebellious Mauretanian tribes (ILS 9200) must be moved forward from the reign of Vespasian to the period immediately before AD 85. Celer was left behind as a remansor, as was usual with City troops approaching the end of their service (cf. Herodian 7.11.2), and was presumably concerned with policing duties while part of the cohort had crossed over to Europe to fight in Domitian's German and Dacian campaigns (ILS 2127).

RMD IV 215 (20 February AD 98) highlights auxiliary units awarded the title pia fidelis [[Domitiana]] for their part in the suppression of Saturninus in AD 89, and the date of issue places Trajan still in Germania Inferior 23 days after Nerva's death. RMD IV 222 (25 Spetember AD 111) confirms that ala I Pannoniorum, previously attested in Moesia Inferior in AD 99, remained there for at least another 12 years before transfer to recently conquered Dacia. The diploma records the earliest appearance in Moesia Inferior of cohors I Flavia Numidarum equitata. The effect of the dilectus is also evident on this document. The recipient was a Gaul serving in ala II Hispanorum et Aravacorum, hence not a local recruit; he was probably conscripted for Domitian's Dacian wars. Here we should also note the recipient of RMD IV 226 (AD 114), a Rhenish Boius probably recruited originally to a local cohort but transferred to cohors I Cretum sagittariorum as a result of Trajan's Dacian wars. The diploma also records the previously unattested equestrian officer C. Vibius M[---]us, presumably a praefectus. RMD IV 223 (AD 112) is of importance for the battle honours of cohors II Batavorum, the title civium Romanorum demonstrating that its men had won a block grant of citizenship for their courage in the Dacian wars. The other titles recorded here, pia fidelis ('loyal and faithful'), could be a subsequent Trajanic battle honour, but might alternatively be connected with the suppression of the revolt of Saturninus in AD 89. From these epithets we can infer acts of extreme courage (such rewards and titles were not granted lightly) and battles lost to the literary record. RMD IV 229 (AD 116) is a 'delayed diploma'. Here Trajan's preoccupation with the Parthian War and Jewish revolt is evident: veterans discharged in AD 115 were still awaiting confirmation of their privileges a year later.4

The legacy of Trajan's Dacian and Parthian wars is apparent in some Hadrianic diplomas. The recipients of RMD IV 239 and 240 have the origo Dacus and may have been POWs of the first and second Dacian wars who were pressed into Roman service. It is suggested that the Ulpius of RMD IV 247 gained his imperial gentilicium and citizenship for valour demonstrated during the Parthian war. RMD IV 237 is a fragmentary example of a rare issue of special diplomas granted to Palmyrene archers in AD 120 and 126 (cf. RMD I 17; RMD II, App. II, pp. 217-219). Effectively mercenaries, these sagittarii had been recruited from the semi-independent kingdom of Palmyra in c. AD 113 to serve in Trajan's Parthian war, or in c.119 in the newly divided Dacia. By way of reward they were granted citizenship after only six years.

The origines of the early Severan praetorians of RMD IV 302 (March AD 204) in Scupi and RMD IV 303 (February 206) in the Pannonian municipium Aelium Mogentiana, suggest prior service in legions VII Claudia5 and I Adiutrix. Indeed the latter praetorian, Iulius Passar, might have marched with Severus on Rome and entered the new praetorian cohorts in June AD 193 (Herodian 2.14.5), consequently serving less than 13 stipendia in the Guard. The commentary (based on the remarks of the original editor of this diploma) suggests that he enlisted in the legion in either AD 191 or 187, having completed the 'standard' 16-year term of a praetorian or the 20 years after which a legionary might -- but only in special circumstances - claim veteran status.6 Neither suggestion is satisfactory. If Passar enlisted in AD 191 or 187 he would not have completed 16 or 20 full stipendia, and other epigraphic evidence suggests that Severan praetoriani served a minimum of 18 years before missio honesta was granted, be this combined legionary and praetorian service or praetorian service alone (direct recruits re-appear in the Severan cohortes praetoriae within a few years of the reformation).7

The matter of the disappearance of auxiliary diplomas after AD 203 is considered in 'Appendix I: Discharge Certificates' (pp. 609-613). It is concluded that after the Constitutio Antoniniana diplomas served only to identify men honourably discharged from the praetorians, urban cohorts, equites singulares Augusti and the praetorian fleets; simple (at least in formula, otherwise very similar to contemporary diplomas) discharge certificates were issued to auxiliary veterans, who required a less grandiosely worded document to ensure their privileges, presuming that they were to settle close to their old forts. But the most interesting document is the bronze discharge certificate issued to a legionary veteran in AD 230 (RMD IV, App. I.3). It is the first legionary example of such a certificate in bronze: following the Constitutio Antoniniana legionary veterans were clearly concerned to have a more durable form of document to prove their status as honestiores.

Despite the occasional quibbles noted above, there is little to find fault with in this excellent catalogue. The reviewer was slightly irritated by the continual reference to Devijver's Prosopographia Militiarum Equestrium with regard to equestrian officers instead of to the relevant individual inscriptions, but that is all. RMD IV improves on volumes I-III with its clear B & W and, most importantly, colour plates of many of the diplomas. The indices are thorough and the revised chronology and notes on all the diplomas published in RMD vols. I-IV (pp. 367-385) make this volume essential for the study of the auxilia.

Sadly, Margaret Roxan died in 2003.8 Paul Holder brought the volume to publication, preparing nine of the diplomas himself and supplementing the notes. He is to be commended on an excellent job. It is a fitting tribute to Roxan, whose research demonstrated the extraordinary amount of information that can be drawn from these humble bronze plaques.
Notes:

1. The formula of the diploma highlights that all classiarii were considered fighting men: expeditione belli fortiter industriesque gesserant.
2. The Ravenna veterans were similarly granted land in Pannonia.
3. See L. Keppie, 'Colonisation and Veteran Settlment in Italy in the First Century AD', PBSR 52 (1984), 98-104 = L. Keppie, Legions and Veterans: Roman Army Papers 1971-2000, Mavors 12 (Stuttgart 2000), 284-90, with addenda on 324f.
4. Importantly, this diploma shows that Trajan had received 13 acclamations by 16 August AD 116, indicating that Ctesiphion had been captured by this date, with the Mesopotamian campaign ending soon after.
5. The praetorian recipient of RMD IV 319 (AD 242) may have been the son of a miles of legio VII Claudia, indicating the continuity of recruitment to the Guard.
6. Presumably the 20-year claim is made with CJ 5.65.1 (AD 213) in mind, rather than the 20 years required by Augustus from AD 5/6 (Dio 55.23.1). After AD 193 all legionaries served for 26 years and discharges were made annually, cf. CIL III 6580 & 14507.
7. For example, 18 years combined legionary and praetorian service: ILS 2103 (discharged AD 208); 18 years direct praetorian service: CIL VI 2579 (discharged AD 218-22). For more examples and discussion see R.H. Cowan, 'Aspects of the Severan Field Army, AD 193-238' (Ph.D. thesis, University of Glasgow 2002), 7-52.
8. Obituary in The Guardian.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Spedius]

Ave

Two further books to add to your growing list must be the following:-

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

The literal translation is Roman Military Diplomas and Discharge certificates in the collection of the Roman-Germanic Museum in Mainz.

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

For a discussion and more details please see this topic:-

http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=6686

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Spedius]

Ave

An excellent book to consider is Lawrence Keppie's "Understanding Roman Inscriptions" Routledge, 2001, ISBN 0-415-15143-0 Price £19.99.

Copied from the back cover is the following:-

Every area of Roman life is covered, including

the emperor
imperial administration
local government and society
the army and the frontiers
trade, commerce and the economy
temples and altars to the gods
gravestones and tomb monuments
Christianity
the later Roman Empire

This book is most definitely well worth adding to your collection.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Praefectusclassis]

[amazon]Keppie, Understanding Roman Inscriptions[/amazon]

[Spedius]

[amazon]Keppie, Understanding Roman Inscriptions[/amazon]

Ave Jasper,

Thank you for the links.

I searched for it at www.oxbowbooks.com they are selling it at a slightly higher price.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Spedius]

Ave

Another relevent book for you to consider adding to your library has to be "Das Militardiplom" by Nicole Lambert and Jorg Scheuerbrandt published in 2002, ISBN 3-8062-1726-2. I paid £12.50 for it three years ago.

This extremely thought provoking little book, it has 75 pages, is chock full of vital information to anyone who is interested not only in diplomas but also the Roman Province of Raetia.

Amongst masses of details there is a comprehensive list of all know published diplomas up to the end of 2002. There were many that I didn't know about and still can't get hold of. When RMD IV came out I was able to match a few of them but, so far, many have still to be found.

Although written in German, there is so much understandable data packed into this fully illustrated book that I have no reservations in recommending it to you.

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[Spedius]

Ave!

In my previous post I discussed "Das Militardiplom".

I've found a review, in German, can anyone help with a translation?

http://www.h-net.msu.edu/reviews/showre ... 1054142392

Nicole Lambert und Jörg Scheuerbrandt. Das Militärdiplom. Quelle zur römischen Armee und zum Urkundenwesen. Schriften des Limesmuseums Aalen 55. Stuttgart: Konrad Theiss Verlag, 2002. 76 S. Bibliographie. EUR 14.00 (broschiert), ISBN 3-8062-1726-2.
Reviewed by: Udo Hartmann , Institut für Geschichtswissenschaften, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
Published by: H-Soz-u-Kult (January, 2003)

Zu den herausragenden Quellen für die römische Bürgerrechtspolitik sowie für Fragen der Verwaltung des Kaiserreiches, der Militärgeschichte, der Prosopographie und der Datierung gehören zweifellos die Militärdiplome. Eine solche Doppelurkunde, die aus zwei versiegelten Bronzetafeln besteht, beinhaltet die durch sieben Zeugen beglaubigte Abschrift einer in Rom ausgestellten und verwahrten Konstitution, mit der der Kaiser einem Soldaten das römische Bürgerrecht oder auch das Recht des conubium verlieh. Die etwa 500 überlieferten Militärdiplome wurden zwischen 52 und 306 n.Chr. für Soldaten der Auxiliareinheiten, der Flotten, der Praetorianergarde und Urbaniciani ausgestellt. Lambert und Scheuerbrandt bieten für diese Quellengattung in ihrem innerhalb der Schriften des Limesmuseums Aalen erschienenen Heft nun eine reich bebildete, leicht verständlich und anschaulich geschriebene Einführung, die sich an ein breiteres Publikum richtet.

Der erste Abschnitt "Bürgerrecht und Militärdiplom" befaßt sich mit der Bürgerrechtspolitik des Römischen Kaiserreiches, mit den Bürgerrechtsverleihungen an die Soldaten und dem Begriff des Militärdiploms. Kurze Exkurse erläutern die Teile der römischen Armee in der hohen Kaiserzeit und die Besonderheiten der Epigraphik. An Hand von Beispielen stellen die Autoren im zweiten Abschnitt dann den formelhaften und stark standardisierten Aufbau der Militärdiplome vor. Für die drei ausgewählten Diplome werden jeweils der lateinische Text mit aufgelösten Abkürzungen, eine deutsche Übersetzung und Abbildungen der Tafeln gegeben. Ausgewählt wurden ein Auxiliardiplom für einen Reiter aus der ala I Hispanorum Auriana in Weißenburg (vom 30.6.107), ein Flottendiplom für einen Soldaten der Ravennatischen Flotte (vom 20.12.202) und ein Praetorianerdiplom für einen Soldaten der cohors I praetoria (vom 7.1.246). Ein Exkurs erklärt die Teile der Kaisertitulatur am Beispiel des Auxiliardiploms. Im dritten Abschnitt werden die einzelnen Momente des Militärdiploms unter Verweis auf die gegebenen Beispiele erläutert: die Datierung, der römische Kalender, die militärischen Einheiten, der Rechtsstatus und Rang der einzelnen Soldaten sowie die vom Kaiser gewährten Privilegien. Die komplizierten Einzelheiten des Verwaltungsvorganges von der Erstellung der Konstitution bis zur Abschrift und Beglaubigung durch die sieben Zeugen schildern die Autoren in leicht faßlicher Form im vierten Abschnitt.

Der fünfte Abschnitt widmet sich schließlich der Militärgeschichte der Provinz Raetia. Die einzelnen Verbände der in der Provinz stationierten und der hier rekrutierten Truppen werden dabei zusammengestellt und die Grundlinien ihrer Geschichte umrissen. Der Abschnitt soll die Bedeutung der Militärdiplome für die provinzialrömische Archäologie Raetiens illustrieren, wurden hier doch die meisten Militärdiplome in einer Provinz des Reiches gefunden. Bedauerlich ist es, daß über den Rechtsstatus der ursprünglich ritterlichen Provinz und den Statuswechsel nach der Stationierung der legio III Italica unter Marc Aurel sowie über die Verwaltungsstrukturen nichts gesagt wird. Die Besonderheiten dieser Provinz hätten durch einen Vergleich mit einer anderen stärker herausgestrichen werden können.

Äußerst nützlich ist die folgende chronologische Liste der publizierten Militärdiplome mit Angabe des Datums, der Einheit, der Provinz und der Publikation (S. 59-66).[1] Das Heft beschließen ein Literaturverzeichnis mit den Editionen der Militärdiplome und den wichtigsten Forschungsarbeiten, aufgeschlüsselt in die einzelnen Kapitel, sowie ein Abkürzungsverzeichnis.

Die Autoren liefern einen fundierten und gut geschriebenen Einblick in die Thematik. Die Darstellung wahrt dabei die Balance zwischen Allgemeinverständlichkeit und wissenschaftlicher Exaktheit. Lateinische Fachtermini werden nicht umgangen, sondern anschaulich erklärt. Zwar verzichten die Autoren auf Fußnoten und Belege, doch bietet das Literaturverzeichnis gute Hinweise zur Forschung. Die Darstellung wird nicht nur durch zahlreiche Abbildungen, Schemata und Karten, sondern auch durch herausgehobene, prägnante Zitate aus antiken Quellen wie der Romrede des Aelius Aristides, Sueton oder Rechtstexten in deutscher Übersetzung (hier mit Stellenangaben) illustriert. Stellennachweise fehlen nur für eine Steuerveranlagung aus Ägypten aus dem Jahr 103 (S. 9) und für die Inschrift des T. Desticius Severus (CIL V 8660 = ILS 1364) (S. 44). Die Bedeutung der Militärdiplome für die Kenntnis des römischen Verwaltungsrechtes und als Quellengattung der provinzialrömischen Archäologie haben die Autoren in ihrer Einführung überzeugend herausgestrichen.

Anmerkung:

[1]. Zu ergänzen wäre hier: Wolff, Hartmut: Ein Militärdiplomfragment aus Eining-Unterfeld, Stadt Neustadt, Ldkrs. Kelheim von 157-161 n. Chr., in: Ostbairische Grenzmarken 43 (2001), S. 9-12.

Library of Congress Call Number: DG89.L28 2002

Vale

M. Spedius Corbulo

[raeticus]

An opportunity for those interested in diplomas:

Ebay auction 6612514522 just closed and shows a half tabula of a diploma.

hock: tell us what you think of it and why 8)

Raeticus
www.romancoins.info

[Jeroen Pelgrom]

hmmm,

it looks a bit weird after compairing it with the diploma's on the site of romancoins.info

- no holes
- amount of text is very short (i see no names for example)
- do i see the word "seasar" ? (first line from above)
- can't make up much of the text either.

is this real or a fake??