11-27-2005, 06:35 PM
Jasper - as for Misenum, I think it may be down to there being a long established offloading point at Pozzuoli for grain transports from Alexandria. And the initial harbour was built in a natural harbour (as I'm sure you well know :wink: ) - same at Ravenna. I think it appears that for the establishment of the new main bases of fleets, they tried to create entirely new harbours with all associated structures, rather than to incorporate the whole thing into existing civilian ports... same happens earlier at Frejus. Though I DO NOT think this carries on - later they clearly use any harbour that tickles their fancy, which makes identifying them archaeologically so difficult...
Travis - thats what I thought was what your were trying to say. And I don't think it sounds absurd. As regards the stone to stone approach to establishing the frontiers, and the engineering "cheats", I am not quite sure I buy it just yet. More convincing needed, I'm afraid.
I don't think you just cheat your way to a structure such as the Pantheon or the Danube bridge as Drobeta, let alone things like the Carthage aqueduct. And the Romans definitely had the method to build things along a straight line over 360odd km (see Upper German Limes) and conscientously did not use it at the Wetterau or in Raetia. But if you look at fort placement and unit disposition in these installation, they are clearly governed by a system imposed on the entire frontier with regard to each province. I don't see how that can happen when you are adopting changes locally. By all means include local information, but these bits of info have tobe gathered at a central planning point and understood. For this they must have been documented somehow...
C.
Travis - thats what I thought was what your were trying to say. And I don't think it sounds absurd. As regards the stone to stone approach to establishing the frontiers, and the engineering "cheats", I am not quite sure I buy it just yet. More convincing needed, I'm afraid.
I don't think you just cheat your way to a structure such as the Pantheon or the Danube bridge as Drobeta, let alone things like the Carthage aqueduct. And the Romans definitely had the method to build things along a straight line over 360odd km (see Upper German Limes) and conscientously did not use it at the Wetterau or in Raetia. But if you look at fort placement and unit disposition in these installation, they are clearly governed by a system imposed on the entire frontier with regard to each province. I don't see how that can happen when you are adopting changes locally. By all means include local information, but these bits of info have tobe gathered at a central planning point and understood. For this they must have been documented somehow...
C.
Christoph Rummel
