AEA_33 The Roman Era and The Great Migrations in Europe

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2010
Extent and Intensity
2/2/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
doc. PhDr. Eliška Kazdová, CSc. (lecturer)
Mgr. Dagmar Vachůtová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Zdeněk Měřínský, CSc.
Department of Archaeology and Museology – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jitka Dobešová
Timetable
Mon 11:40–14:55 C43
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.

The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 7 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
Course description: The teaching expands upon the knowledge of the proto-history of Central Europe and is mainly aimed on Roman-barbarian relations and their archaeological expression along the border of Roman activity and within the territory of the barbarian peoples as well as an overview of the history and material cultures from the period of the Great Migrations.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction; specification of the topic; legends and facts on the emergence of the Germans. Knowledge on the Jastorf culture: its scope and internal development. Archaeological evidence of contacts with Celts. 2. Cultural picture of the today's Poland in the Roman Era. Jastorf, Pomeranian, and Wielbark cultures. Cernjachov complex and Sîntana de Mureş culture. 3. Przeworsk culture; amber trade; West Baltic area (the Aesti). Luboszyc culture (the Burgunds); Gustow group: the Lübsow phenomenon of the so-called princely tombs of the early Roman period (examples from Poland and Germany). Grossromstedt culture (75 BC). Eponymous burial grounds, Schkopau necropolis, settlement conditions. Plaňany group in Bohemia as a more recent phase of the Grossromst. culture. 4. Settlement conditions in the Barbaricum of the Roman era: N. Europe (Holland, Schleswig-Holstein, Denmark): climate, issues of settlement of upland locations. Wurts, hall-like structures, E-W orientation. Farmsteads separated by fences. Settlement sources to religious concepts of the Germans of the Roman period (decorated hearths, entire animal skeletons near hearths). Animal deposits, building sacrifices, purificatory sacrifices. Human skeletons at the Barbarian settlements. Nordic votive deposits (Thorsberg marsh, Nydam I-III, Illerup, Vimosse). Long-term central and regional or one-off places of sacrifice. The make-up of offerings, incl. animals and people. Discoveries of access roads and pieces of wooden plastic art: Wittemoor, Braak, Oberdorla. “Bog bodies” – Tollund, Grauball, Windeby. 5. Outset of the Roman-Barbarian conflicts and building of military bases east of Rhine. The defeat of Lollius; expeditions of Drusus; Tiberius' campaigns. Roman bases on the Lower Rhine (Nijmegen, Castra Vetera) and the Lippe river: Oberaden, Holsterhausen, Haltern, Anrepen. 6 AD: expedition against Marbod (the camp in Markbreit); 9 AD: Battle of the Teutoburg forest (causes; course of action; localization; archaeological sources; consequences). Germanicus' punitive campaigns (14-16 AD). Battle between Arminius and Marbod; consolidation of the situation after 21 AD up to the Emperor Claudius' time (41-54). 6. Situation during the reign of Claudius: Moving of the legions in Moguntiacum; strengthening of auxilii along the Neckar (the so-called Neckar Suebi). Consequences of the Batavian uprising (69-70 AD) at the Lower Rhine (Gelduba-Krefeld-Gellep). Construction of the Odenwald limes (connection between the Neckar and the Main, e.g. castel in Hesselbach). Domitian's war with the Chatti in 83-85 AD: The beginnings of a systematic construction of the limes. ORL construction characteristic, comparison of the fortifications in Upper Germania and those in western Rhaetia. 7. Eastern part of Rhaetia: Military features in the Danubian area (Regensburg, Künzing, Passau). Noricum. Norican kingdom – Magdalensberg. More recent centres: Virunum, Ovilava. According to T. Fischer the oldest bases were built in Noricum as late as during the reign of the Flavians. Defence line: 2 legionary camps close by, a temporary, provisional camp in Albing and a permanent in Lorch (Lauriacum), established in 191 AD (II leg Italica). Canabae legionis raised to a municipium in 212, damaged in the 3rd cent., gradually abandoned in the late 4th cent. Norican-Pannonian barrow necropoli (costumes of women depicted on tombstones). 8. History of the Roman interest in Britain - Kassiterides- the tin islands (Caesar 55, 54 BC; in 43 during Claudius' reign - 4 legions + auxiliaries (ca 50 ths. men in total). In 49 – Ostorius Scapula –1st strongholds across from SW to NE. 83-86 AD – Iulius Agricola, bases as far as in Scotland, as well as the 1st legion. camp (Pinnata castra). Hadrian fortification 122-367. The so-called mile castles, Vindolanda (Chesterholm). Antonine wall: 142-181. Septimius Severus in Britain. 9. National Holiday 10. Further development in the Danubian area. The so-called Sarmatian limes: a system of ramparts in the Hungarian plain, emerged ca after 332, lost its importance in 378. Lower Danubian provinces: Thracia (in 46), Moesia (since 45/46). Traianus' fights for Dacia. As a result of a devastating invasion of the Goths in 271 Roman troops and administration leave Dacia. After abandoning Dacia both Moesias reorganize into 6 parts. In the 4th cent. (the Battle of Adrianople in 378) Goths settle in Moesia and Thracia (unsatisfied as Romans did not provide for them). Cultural picture at the beginning of the Migration period. Archaeological periodization of the Migration period. 11. The Huns; overview of the basic written sources; inventory of an equestrian nomadic society; the importance of the Huns. History and archaeological picture of the Goths in Europe. Main written sources. The fortunes and material culture of the Visigoths. The movement of the Ostrogoths – first in Pannonia; relations with the Scirii. The Ostrogoths in the reign of Theodoric (his biography; relation to the Eastern Roman Emperor); his fight with Odoacer for the reign over Rome between 490-493. Ostrogoth Italy: burial grounds (abt. 15-20 sites); speedy Romanization. The treasure of Domagnano (personal ornaments; around 500). The end of Ostrogoth Italy as a conclusion of Justinian's campaigns. 12. Archaeological picture and a brief history of the Thuringii, the Alemani, the Frisians, the Saxons, and the Angles. 13. Overview of the history of the Langobards, development of their material culture in the area upstream of the middle course of the Danube and in Pannonia. Relations between the Gepids and the Langobards. Main cemeteries. Departure of the Langobards to Northern Italy. Political decline of the Langobards and their cultural heritage.
Literature
  • SAKAŘ, Vladimír and Jan BOUZEK. Římské provincie a limes Romanus ve střední a západní Evropě. Vyd. 1. Praha: Státní pedagogické nakladatelství, 1990, 149 s. ISBN 80-7066-161-5. info
Teaching methods
lectures
Assessment methods
Completion Requirements for the examination: overview of knowledge of the issues, life and customs and selected categories of the material culture (primarily of the “non-Roman” Europe) based on the lectures and literature for study.
Language of instruction
Czech
Follow-Up Courses
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
Information on completion of the course: Informace ke způsobu ukončení viz sylabus.
The course is taught once in two years.
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2000, Autumn 2002, Autumn 2004, Autumn 2006, Autumn 2008, Autumn 2012, Autumn 2014, Autumn 2016, Autumn 2018.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2010, recent)
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