Life on the Roman borders - the 'limes'
The 6,000 or so miles of Roman borders appear to have developed quite literally a life of their own. Over time, the routine policing of borders became the job of the 'limitanei', who were the lowest-paid and lowest-ranking soldiers of the Late Roman period. This in itself might inform us about how the Romans viewed their borders: far from being highly sensitive, they were for the most part kind of forgotten about.
The Limitanei themselves gradually morphed over 200 years from full-time paid professionals, to part-timers, to unpaid militia.
A bit like being a librarian in England in 2015?
Unsurprisingly two phenomena occurred in the borderlands. One was that the Roman-employed soldiers developed unique identities, often adopting and adapting elements of local material culture (that's archeo-speak for 'way of life'...). This would be very sensible especially for the long harsh winters of the north. Imagine the physical shock of a chap born south of the Alps facing his first winter at Haltwhislte. The locals with their thick warm cloaks, cosy trousers and knee-boots would be much preferable to hypothermia whether you believed yourself culturally superior or not.
But secondly, and interestingly, the flow of fashion and taste went in the opposite direction as well. The locals across Europe appear to have been very taken with the daily gear that a Roman soldier swaggered around in. The jangling 'utility belt' with its showy belt-plates, the sheer braggadocio of he decorated groin-guard, the attention to how the cloak was draped and worn....we know these were important to the Romans, but the visual impact on the indigenous people of the borders must have been considerable. They began making copies and versions of their own, embellishing them with their own stylistic tweaks.
And in the deepening crises of the 4th and 5th centuries, these Roman wannabee wildboys (my phrase for which I take full responsibility) were employed with their own gear and became part of the mercenary protection bought in by worried borderland regions of the creaking empire.
The Limitanei themselves gradually morphed over 200 years from full-time paid professionals, to part-timers, to unpaid militia.
A bit like being a librarian in England in 2015?
Unsurprisingly two phenomena occurred in the borderlands. One was that the Roman-employed soldiers developed unique identities, often adopting and adapting elements of local material culture (that's archeo-speak for 'way of life'...). This would be very sensible especially for the long harsh winters of the north. Imagine the physical shock of a chap born south of the Alps facing his first winter at Haltwhislte. The locals with their thick warm cloaks, cosy trousers and knee-boots would be much preferable to hypothermia whether you believed yourself culturally superior or not.
But secondly, and interestingly, the flow of fashion and taste went in the opposite direction as well. The locals across Europe appear to have been very taken with the daily gear that a Roman soldier swaggered around in. The jangling 'utility belt' with its showy belt-plates, the sheer braggadocio of he decorated groin-guard, the attention to how the cloak was draped and worn....we know these were important to the Romans, but the visual impact on the indigenous people of the borders must have been considerable. They began making copies and versions of their own, embellishing them with their own stylistic tweaks.
And in the deepening crises of the 4th and 5th centuries, these Roman wannabee wildboys (my phrase for which I take full responsibility) were employed with their own gear and became part of the mercenary protection bought in by worried borderland regions of the creaking empire.