Roman Arabia

A Arabia Petraea, ou província Arábia como também é conhecida, teve sua fundação pelos romanos em 106 d.C., mas já se constituíra como um reino cliente do Império Romano desde o ano 63 da era comum. Teve uma importante função estratégica de guardar a retaguarda da Judeia e o flanco sul da Síria. A instabilidade gerada por rivalidades e interesses particulares dos diferentes estados clientes acabou inclinando Roma para a solução de uma provincialização gradual e definitiva da região. Apesar de ser o reino cliente mais estável, a Nabateia foi um hiato na geografia oriental do império. Sua anexação respondeu, portanto, a abor­dagens estratégicas e territoriais de curto e longo prazo, fundamentalmente a uma racionalização da gestão do Oriente Romano, que abriu uma fase completamente nova na história da região. É nosso objetivo neste artigo apresentar o histórico da conquista romana sobre os nabateus, a constituição geográfica desta província e as questões político-econômicas que envolve...

English Abstract A new Latin inscription from was found in Petra in Spring 2009. Comparisons are made with other inscriptions from Provincia Arabia. The acclamatio FELICITER INVICTA was also found in an-Namara; the role of LEGIIICYR in the Second Jewish War is discussed.

In diesem Buch werden erstmals mehr als 160 epigraphische und papyrologische Zeugnisse zu Veteranen des 2. - 4. Jh n. Chr. im römischen Nahen Osten gesammelt vorgelegt.  Die auswertende Untersuchung hat einen sozial-, wirtschafts- und kulturgeschichtlichen Fokus, stellt aber auch sicherheitspolitische Fragen: Sie analysiert Veteranen als rechtlich privilegierte Gruppe von "Bindegliedern"
zwischen den Bereichen Militär und "ziviler Gesellschaft". Die ehemaligen Soldaten zeigen hier aus verschiedenen Gründen einen hohen
Integrationsgrad: z. B. rückten sie in hohe soziale P ositionen im Rahmen der Gebietskörperschaften und städtischen Ansiedlungen des römischen Syrien und der Provinz Arabia  auf. Veteranen und Veteranenfamilien stellen ein Segment der provinzialrömischen Gesellschaft dar, an deren Beispiel auch wirtschaftliche und kulturelle Prozesse in den Militärprovinzen Roms im Nahen Osten sichtbar gemacht werden können.

in: Macht des Geldes-Macht der Bilder. Kolloquium zur Ikonographie auf Münzen im ostmediterranen Raum in hellenistisch-römischer Zeit (ed.: A. Lykke), Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästina-Vereins (ADPV) 42 , 2013, p. 209-226.

English abstract:
This article is about "monetary transculturality" along the Silk Road. It's a project of the author to collect coinfinds and hoards from Levant to China for visualization. One feature for this cultural exchange are imitations of certain coins. Therefor an imitation system in a hierarchical view has been based using the example of Arabia deserta imitations. The system is as follows: Imitation of the face design (A), the composition (B), the basic type (C), the production style (D) and style (E). In a hierarchical view we have the original, 3 steps of imitation and at the end a new cointype.
Another topic is the difference between Rome and China in its understanding of coinage composition and the question of representation of illustration of a ruler by portrait or by the conception of chinese signs symbolizing from its edge to the square hole the chinese emperor as middleman between heaven and earth. Additionally to that the author interprets the direction from right to left as direction of metal and as guarantee to be a valid currency.

The administrative structure of the Roman Empire is still not fully understood. Some questions remain unanswered due to the unique nature of historical sources. A number of notions are mentioned only once or in a very unclear context. For example, the notion of “New Arabia” (ἡ νέα (ἐπαρχεία) Ἀραβία) is raised in a several  papyri of the 2nd and 4th century AD. The explanation for the earlier documents is clear: the newly created province of Arabia is mentioned there. A letter P. Oxy 50. 3574 (beginning of the 4th century AD) is a much more complicated example of such denomination. Scholars believe that it refers to a province although Roman sources do not mention any province called “Arabia,” except for the one created in 106 AD under Trajan. In fact, “New Arabia” in P. Oxy 50. 3574 does not allude to a newly created province (ἐπαρχία) around Eleutheropolis instead of the former nomos Arabia in Egypt or in Idumaea, as is assumed in contemporary studies. “New Arabia” in this document most likely refers to τοπαρχία (“district”, normally, a part of a nomos). The borders of this τοπαρχία had changed several times, and it moved from Lower to Upper Egypt. The enigmatic notion of “ἀπὸ ὁρίων Ἐλευθεροπό̣λεως τῆς Νέας Ἀραβείας” maybe interpreted that the “New Arabia” did not refer to the city of Eleutheropolis but rather to its borders: “…from the Eleutheropolis – the border of New Arabia”. Whether Eleutheropolis lay inside or outside this border, remains an open question. “New Arabia” cannot be connected with information of Laterculus Veronensis or Tabula Peutingeriana either.

A brief overview of the status of current studies (in 1980) of the famous 4th cent. AD Nemara Inscription from south-eastern Syria. The editor rearranged the placement of this article in that issue of al-Abhath after the proofs were checked.  Thus footnote internal cross-references had to be corrected by hand in each of the offprints.

Since there is not much information on Roman Petra, especially from written texts, the aim of this article is whether the monuments and constructed or modified at this stage buildings, together with the results of recent archaeological excavations in Petra-some of which continue today-paint a picture of some changes, the meaning and scope can begin to be analyzed.