IRT 895 and 896: Two inscriptions from Gheriat el-Garbia

The most outstanding oasis fort of the limes Tripolitanus, Myd(---)/Gheriat el-Garbia, saw the deployment of various military units between AD 198/201 and 275/80. Archaeological research in 2009/10 focussed on the fortifications, particularly the main and rear gates, the northern angle tower and interval towers 2 and 4 as well as the curtain wall at its south corner. The towers of the porta praetoria have been reconstructed theoretically with three storeys, at an overall height of c. 12.5 m. Of the headquarters building two of the rear rooms, including the shrine, were excavated. A monumental inscription of a length of c. 9.0 m and corresponding architectural elements suggest the existence of a groma building. Completely unexpected by archaeologists as well as ancient historians and rather spectacular is a late Roman reoccupation of the military site: after a hiatus of c. 80+ years building activities were undertaken within the fort and repairs and the blocking of the main gate could be observed and probably attributed to the deployment of a unit of limitanei between AD 360/80 (at the earliest) and 430/55. The reoccupied fort might be identified with the so far unknown castra Madensia, where the milites munifices were garrisoned (Notitia Dignitatum Occ. 31, 30). Further evidence of occupation, possibly of a Libyan chieftain and his tribe, has been assigned to the second half of the fifth century, continuing thereafter until AD 540+.

Section: E D I T E R R a N E A N S E Amentioning

confidence: 99%

New fieldwork at the Severan fort ofMyd(…)/Gheriat el-Garbia on thelimes Tripolitanus

Mackensen¹

2012

“…We must hope for more from this source. It is also to be noted that Loriot (1971) has managed to extract a partly comprehensible text from IRT 896 (Gheriat) which he reads as a dedication to Gordian III, referring to a war, an aqueduct and a road (probably the road to Lepcis) -there is a story here which may become clearer with further work in the area, and a clue to be followed by those undertaking that work, as has been observed by Mattingly (Loriot 1971;Mattingly 1985).…”

Section: The Limesmentioning

confidence: 91%

Twenty Years of Inscriptions

Reynolds

1989

Since 1968 the number of inscriptions newly found in Libya has been limited by the limited scale of excavations; but there has been some compensation from the results of surface surveys and from chance discoveries, especially in rural areas. Although the individual items are not necessarily stirring, they form, when taken together, a valuable base for study of the rural populations, at least within the city territories or near to the Roman forts.There has been, indeed, a steady stream of articles on inscriptions, or using inscriptions. Together with some new texts, they have presented many new readings and interpretations of ones previously published. In addition four small corpora have appeared: of the inscriptions of Apollonia (Reynolds 1976, 293–333), of Berenice (Reynolds 1977, 233–254), of the Jewish inhabitants of Cyrenaica (Lüderitz 1983), and of the Neo-Punic texts of Tripolitania known by 1967 (Levi della Vida and Amadasi Guzzo 1987).Another feature of the twenty years has been the intermittent publication of bibliographies of work in progress (Garbini 1974 (Neo-Punic), Gasperini and Paci 1975, Paci 1979 (Cyrenaica and Tripolitania), Reynolds 1972, 1980a (Cyrenaica), Le Glay 1974 (Tripolitania)). These, together with the running records produced approximately every year (L'Année Epigraphique, L'Année Philologique, Bulletin Epigraphique (in REG), SEG), obviate the need to do more here than note what seems to me to show best where the epigraphic contribution is leading us. The selection is inevitably much influenced by my current interests; it is not at all intended to suggest that what is omitted is lacking in importance.

“…These sites would offer coverage of the central group of north-south routes; for completeness one might also propose a precursor to Bu Njem somewhere near the Syrtic coast on the more easterly routes. As to garrison, the cohors II Flavia Afrorum was probably based at Remada from at least the reign of Hadrian (Euzennat and Trousset 1978;Trousset 1974) and I have argued that the cohors I Syrorum sagittariorum may also have been based in Tripolitania in the second century, perhaps at Zintan or Mizda (Mattingly 1985b). The garrison in the pre-Severan period was not large, therefore, but I have no doubt that it did exist.…”

Section: Garrisoningmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…2). Recent survey at Gheriat has made significant additions to our knowledge, notably the recognition of Roman towers on the fort wall standing to practically their full height (Welsby 1983;), a small Roman bath building (Jones and Barker 1983) and the identification of a circular watchtower close to the fort with the burgus known to have been built under Severus Alexander (IRT 895;Mattingly 1985b). This tower is sited so as to provide a signalling link between the fort and the fortlet at Gheriat el-Shergia.…”

Section: Garrisoningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Farmers and Frontiers. Exploiting and Defending the Countryside of Roman Tripolitania

Mattingly

1989

Self Cite

The past two decades have seen dramatic changes of perspective and an explosion of new information in the broad fields covered by this overview. Within the constraints of space allowed it is not possible to cover all aspects or to mention all relevant publications. References to pre-1969 work have been kept to a minimum, except where dramatic revision of older views is now necessary.The traditional picture of the Roman frontier in Tripolitania owes an incalculable debt to the pioneering work of Richard Goodchild. Much of his observation remains of the highest value (accessible particularly through the volume of collected articles (edited by Joyce Reynolds), Goodchild 1976), but in the 40 years since his initial work on the limes Tripolitanus (1949a/b; 1950a/b; Ward-Perkins and Goodchild 1949) the available body of data has increased greatly and the conceptual framework for interpreting it has changed considerably (the scale of the reappraisal may be judged by comparing Brogan and Smith 1957 and 1985). The most controversial aspects of Goodchild's work concern the date of the development of a frontier in Tripolitania and the interpretation of the fortified farms which are so characteristic of the zone: ‘…no traces of a pre-Severan limes have yet been found. In this respect it may be significant that the linear fossata which Baradez has proved to constitute the central feature of the Numidian limes, and which he tentatively dated to the Hadrianic period, have not yet been found in the area of modern Tripolitania … Apart from … the outer fortresses of Gheriat el-Garbia and Bu Ngem … the military works of the limes Tripolitanus seem to have consisted almost exclusively of fortified farmhouses occupied by Libyan limitanei.’ (Goodchild 1950 = 1976, 44).