Poetic Baggage: Representations of Camp Followers in the Latin Verse Inscriptions
Choose format
RIS BIB ENDNOTEPublication date: 17.05.2024
ELECTRUM, 2024, Volume 31, pp. 153-183
https://doi.org/10.4467/20800909EL.24.012.19162Authors
Poetic Baggage: Representations of Camp Followers in the Latin Verse Inscriptions
Each unit of the Roman army constituted a major logistic operation that cannot be reduced to the fighting men who formed their core and purpose. While camp followers are depicted in literary sources especially as an hindrance to war operations, inscriptions provide a different picture of the world that gravitated around the military forts and fortresses. In the military settlements that guarded the limes, the presence of paramilitary and non-military personnel did not represent a burden, but an important part of the military economy, which in some cases even led to the emergence of a new business class. In this paper, we provide an anthology of verse inscriptions dedicated by, or to, camp followers, with a view to showcase how their everyday interactions with the army were conceptualised and verbalised, ultimately contributing to a richer picture of the limes social ecosystem.
CILA – Corpus de inscripciones Latinas de Andalucia, Sevilla 1989–
CLE – F. Bücheler, E. Lommatzsch, Carmina Latina Epigraphica, Leipzig 1895–1926.
CLE IV – P. Cugusi, M.T. Sblendorio Cugusi, Carmina Latina Epigraphica IV. Vol. 1. Carmina in provinciis reperta, Berlin/Boston 2023.
CLEAfrique – D. Pikhaus, Répertoire des inscriptions latines versifiées de l’Afrique romaine (Ier – VIe siècle), Bruxelles 1994.
CLEBaeticae – C. Fernandez Martinez, Carmina Latina epigraphica de la Bética Romana. Las primeras piedras de nuestra poesia, Sevilla 2007.
CLEMoes – P. Cugusi, M. T. Sblendorio Cugusi, Carmina Latina Epigraphica Moesiaca (CLEMoes), Bologna 2008.
CLEPann – P. Cugusi, M. T. Sblendorio Cugusi, Studi sui carmi epigrafici. Carmina Epigraphica Pannonica (CLEPann), Bologna 2007.
CLERegio IV – M. Buonocore (1997), Carmina Latina Epigraphica Regionis IV Augusteae. Avvio ad un censimento, GIF 49: 21–50.
CSIR-Ö – Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani, Österreich, Wien 1967–
EDR – Epigraphic Database Roma.
HEp – Hispania Epigraphica, Madrid 1989–
IDR – Inscriptiones Daciae Romanae, București 1975–
ILD – C. C. Petolescu, Inscriptii latine din Dacia, Bucureşti 2005.
ILJug – A. Šašel, J. Šašel, Inscriptiones Latinae quae in Iugoslavia … repertae et editae sunt, 3 vols., Lubljana 1963–1986.
ILTun – A. Merlin, Inscriptions latines de la Tunisie, Paris 1944.
IMS – M. Mirković et al., Inscriptions de la Mésie Supèrieure, 5 vols., Beograd 1976–1995.
IRT – J. M. Reynolds, J. B. Ward-Perkins, The Inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania, Rome 1952.
Tit. Aq. – P. Kovács et al., Tituli Aquincenses, 3 vols., Budapest 2009–2011.
Alexandrescu, C.-G. (2010), Blasmusiker und Standartenträger im römischen Heer. Untersuchungen zur Benennung, Funktion und Ikonographie, Cluj-Napoca.
Bollini, M. (1997), Passando in rivista la flotta. Appunti sulla marina militare romana, Ferrara.
Brancato N. G. (2015), Una componente trasversale nella società romana: gli alumni. Inscriptiones latinae ad alumnos pertinentes commentariumque, Roma.
Breeze, D. J. (2000), Supplying the Army, in: G. Alföldy et al. (eds.), Kaiser, Heer und Gesellschaft in der römischen Kaiserzeit. Gedenkschrift für E. Birley, Stuttgart: 59–64.
Busch, S. (1999), Versus Balnearum. Die antike Dichtung über Bäder und Baden im römischen Reich, Stuttgart.
Camacho, M. (2009), Epitafio de Firma, elogio de Epafrodito: nueva edición, comentario y problemas de CIL II 1399 (= CLE 1140), in: X. Gómez Font, C. Fernández Martínez, J. Gómez Pallarès (eds.), Literatura epigráfica. Estudios dedicados a Gabriel Sanders. Actas de la III Reunión Internacional de Poesía Epigráfica Latina (Valencia, 13–15 de abril de 2007), Zaragoza: 203–223.
Cenati, C. (2022), AEp 1993, 335 e CIL VI, 3195: due riletture, Epigraphica 84: 563–634.
Cenati, C. (2023), Miles in Urbe. Identità e autorappresentazione nelle iscrizioni dei soldati di origine danubiana e balcanica a Roma, Roma.
Cenati, C. (forthcoming), Poetry from the Limes: The Verse Inscriptions of the Soldiers Serving in Rome, in: D. Massimo, C. Ricci (eds.), City of Strangers: Archaeological and Epigraphic Perspectives on Foreigners in Ancient Rome, Roma.
Cenati, C. (2024, forthcoming), Revisiting four Latin Inscriptions from Roman Tomis, in: L. Mihailescu-Bîrliba (ed.), Mensa Rotunda Epigraphica. Papers of the Conference held in Iaşi, 20th–21th of September 2022, Cluj-Napoca: 175–198.
Cenati, C., González Berdús, V. (forthcoming), Verse Inscriptions from the Limes of Moesia Inferior, in: I. Topalilov (ed.), Roman Provincial Society in the Lower Danube, Shumen.
Courtney, E. (1995), Musa Lapidaria: A Selection of Latin Verse Inscriptions, Atlanta/Georgia.
Cugusi, P. (1995), L’epigrafe metrica di Noviodunum, Epigraphica 57: 282–286 = P. Cugusi (2016), Versi su pietra III, Faenza: 1605–1610.
Cugusi, P. (2000), Recupero di una “perla” epigrafica. Per l’esegesi degli epigrammi di Noviodunum, Res Publica Litterarum 23 (n.s. III): 73–103 = P. Cugusi (2016), Versi su pietra III, Faenza: 1611–1643.
Delamarre, X. (2007), Nomina Celtica Antiqua Selecta Inscriptionum. Noms de personnes celtiques dans l’épigraphie classique, Paris.
Donati, A. (1987), Su un carme ratiariense (ed altra nota epigrafica), Ratiariensia 3–4: 127–130.
Di Stefano Manzella, I. (2008), Q(uinti) n(epos) o Q(uinti) n(ostri)? Tre are della famiglia degli Antigoni nel monumentum Volusiorum, fra datio loci e permissus, in: M. L. Caldelli, G. L. Gregori, S. Orlandi (eds.), Actes du XIV Rencontré sur l’épigraphie du monde Romain (Roma 18–21 Octobre 2006), Roma, 299–322.
Domaszewski A. (1981³), Die Rangordnung des römischen Heeres. Einführung, Berichtigungen und Nachträge von B. Dobson, Köln–Wien.
Fernández Martínez, C. (1998), Poesía Epigráfica Latina, I, Madrid.
Gamberale, L. (1989), A proposito di due carmi epigrafici di Noviodunum (Inscr. Scyth. min. V 281; AE 1977, 762 e 1984, 793), ZPE 77: 43–54.
Grassl, H. (2009), Das Grabepigramm für L. Cominius Firmus aus Carnuntum, RÖ 32: 103–106.
Gudea N. (2005), Der untermoesische Donaulimes und die Verteidigung der moesischen Nord- und Westküste des Schwarzen Meeres. Limes et Litus Moesiae inferioris (86–275 n. Chr.), JRGZ 52.2: 319–566.
Hanel, N. (2007), Military Camps, Canabae, and Vici: The Archaeological Evidence, in: P. Erdkamp, A Companion to the Roman Army, Oxford: 395–416.
Hernández Pérez, R. (2001), Poesía latina sepulcral de la Hispania romana: estudio de los tópicos y sus formulaciones, Valencia.
James, S. (2001), Soldiers and Civilians: Identity and Interaction in Roman Britain, in: S. James, M. Millett (eds.), Britons and Romans: Advancing an Archaeological Agenda, York: 77–89.
James, S. (2018), Ghost Train: The (almost) Invisible Dependants of the Roman Garrison at Dura-Europos, Syria, in: T. Ivleva, J. De Bruin, M. Driessen (eds.), Embracing the Provinces: Society and Material Culture of the Roman Frontier Regions, Oxford: 37–48.
Kehne, P. (2007), War- and Peacetime Logistics: Supplying Imperial Armies in East and West, in: P. Erdkamp (2007), A Companion to the Roman Army, Oxford: 323–338.
Kolbeck, B. (2018), A Foot in Both Camps: The Civilian Suppliers of the Army in Roman Britain, Theoretical Roman Archaeology Journal 1, http://doi.org/10.16995/traj.355.
Kuntić-Makvić, B. (1976), Carmina epigraphica Latina Pannoniae Inferioris, Latina et Graeca 4: 33–66.
Le Roux, P. (1982), L’Armée romaine et l’organisation des provinces ibériques d’Auguste à l’invasion de 409, Paris.
Linden-High, A. C. (2020), Testamentary Manumission for Slaves of Roman Imperial soldiers, Tyche 35: 99–125.
Loman, P. (2005), Mercenaries, Their Women, and Colonisation, Klio 87: 346–365.
Luttwak, E. N. (1976), The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire from the First Century CE to the Third, Baltimore–London.
MacMullen, R. (1967), Soldier and Civilian in the Later Roman Empire, Cambridge/MA.
Magioncalda, A. (2010), Il principe e le suppliche di comunità provinciali: l’epigrafe da Skaptopara (Thracia) ed altre testimonianze dall’Impero, in: L. Zerbini (ed.), Roma e le province del Danubio. Atti del I Convegno Internazionale Ferrara-Cento 15–17 Ottobre 2009, Soveria Mannelli: 249–268.
Marcovich, M. (1984), CIL III 6306 = 8153 (Singidunum) Revisited, ZPE 56: 231–236.
Mariner, S. (1952), Inscripciones hispanas en verso, Madrid.
Massaro, M. (2023), Da Roma al Danubio. Epitaffi metrici o affettivi per/di militari nelle province nordorientali dell’Impero, in: M. Horster (ed.), Carmina Latina Epigraphica – Developments, Dynamics, Preferences, Berlin: 15–73.
Méa, C. (2012), Le salariarius : un contractuel de l’armée romaine, ZPE 181: 207–213.
Mihailescu-Bîrliba, L. (1998), Le statut social des affranchis en Dacie par rapport à leur statut juridique. Les affranchissements et les héritages, Arheologia Moldovei 21: 213–216.
Mitthof, F. (2001), Annona militaris. Die Heeresversorgung im spätantiken Ägypten, Firenze.
Morin, A. (2006), La représentation des valets d’armée sur les stèles funéraires : quelles interpretations de leurs fonctions et de leur statut?, in: L. Boudiou et al. (eds.), L’expression des corps : gestes, attitudes, regards dans l’iconographie antique, Rennes: 85–99.
Nielsen, H. S. (1987), Alumnus: A Term of Relation Denoting quasi Adoption, Classica et Mediaevalia 38: 141–188.
Papazoglu, F. (1971), Још једном о епиграму CIL III 8153, Živa Antika 21.2: 435–441.
Phang, S. E. (2008), Roman Military Service: Ideologies of Discipline in the Late Republic and Early Principate, Cambridge–New York.
Radulova, L. (2022), Legal Protection Granted to Soldiers’ Partners in the Military Diplomas, Právněhistorické studie 52.2: 11–23.
Reddé, M. (1986), Mare Nostrum. Les infrastructures, le dispositif et l’histoire de la marine militaire sous l’empire romain, Rome.
Rémy, B. (2012), La promotion par les armes. Exemples voconces et viennois. L. Valerius Seranus et Q. Etuuius Capreolus, in: B. Baudry, S. Destephen (eds.), La société romaine et ses élites. Hommages à Élizabeth Deniaux, Paris: 337–344.
Roth, J. (1999), The Logistics of the Roman Army at War: 264 B.C.–A.D. 235, Leiden–Boston–Cologne.
Saddington, D. B. (2007), Classes: The Evolution of the Roman Imperial Fleets, in: P. Erdkamp, A Companion to the Roman Army, Oxford: 201–217.
Santero, J. M. (1978), Asociaciones populares en Hispania romana, Sevilla.
Silver, M. (2016), Public Slaves in the Roman Army: An Exploratory Study, AncSoc 46: 203–240.
Speidel, M. P. (1985), A Marsacus as a Horseguard’s Boy in Rome, Helinium 25: 254–257.
Speidel, M. P. (1989), The Soldiers’ Servants, AncSoc 20: 239–248 = Speidel 1992: 342–352.
Speidel, M. P. (1992), Roman Army Studies, vol. 2, Stuttgart.
Speidel, M. P. (1994a), Die Denkmäler der Kaiserreiter – Equites singulares Augusti, Köln.
Speidel, M. P. (1994b), Riding for Caesar: The Roman Emperors’s Horse Guards, London.
Speidel, M. P., Panciera, S. (1989), From the North and Black Sea Shores: Two New Gravestones for Boys of the Equites Singulares Augusti, Chiron 19: 119–126 = S. Panciera, Epigrafi, epigrafia, epigrafisti. Scritti vari editi e inediti (1956–2005) con note complementari e indici, Roma 2006: 1415–1420.
Stoll, O. (2001), Zwischen Integration und Abgrenzung: Die Religion des Römischen Heeres im Nahen Osten. Studien zum Verhältnis von Armee und Zivilbevölkerung im römischen Syrien und den Nachbargebieten, St. Katharinen.
Stoll, O. (2006), Legionäre, Frauen, Militärfamilien. Untersuchungen zur Bevölkerungsstruktur und Bevölkerungsentwicklung in den Grenzprovinzen des Imperium Romanum, JRGZ 53.1: 217–344.
Strobel, K. (2016), „Römische Vici“ – „Militärische Vici“ – „Zivile Vici“: Kunstbegriffe in der Forschung, in: Römische Vici und Verkehrsinfrastruktur in Raetien und Noricum (Colloquium Bedaium Seebruck, 26.–28. März 2015), München: 31–51.
Thigpen, J. B. (1995), A Literary Analysis of Latin Epitaphs from Roman Spain wich contain Creative Biographical Discourse, Diss., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Verboven, K. S. (2007), Good for Business: The Roman Army and the Emergence of a ‘Business Class’ in the Northwestern Provinces of the Roman Empire, in: L. de Blois, E. Lo Cascio (eds.), The Impact of the Roman Army (200 BC–AD 476), Economic, Social, Political, Religious and Cultural Aspects, Leiden: 295–313.
Vishnia, R. F. (2002), The Shadow Army: The Lixae and the Roman Legions, ZPE 139: 265–272.
Vittinghoff, F. (1971), Die rechtliche Stellung der Canabae legionis und die Herkunftsangabe „castris“, Chiron 1: 299–318.
Wille, G. (1967), Musica Romana, Amsterdam.
Information: ELECTRUM, 2024, Volume 31, pp. 153-183
Article type: Original scientific article
Published at: 17.05.2024
Article status: Open
Licence: CC BY 4.0
Article financing:
Percentage share of authors:
Article corrections:
-Publication languages:
EnglishView count: 1765
Number of downloads: 1959