Plumbata

[Robert Vermaat]

First a new map:

Interesting to see where the major concentrations lie - are you able to pinpoint them more exactly? Does the red patch in England approximate Chester/Deva, for example?

The three red patches in the Balkans appear to fall approximately (from left to right) on the Frigidus, Siscia/Sisak (both major late 4th C battles, of course) and Naissus/Nis. Or are they not that closely concentrated in reality?

I can but I won't, at least not for most of them - I'm still working on a publication and adding too many details would give away some information that I have

But I can divulge the red dots because that info is already public:
The red dot in Britain is Wroxeter/Viroconium Cornoviorum, where remains of no less than 10 plumbatae were found.
Aquileia is the red dot in Italy with even more - possibly 13!
Sisak/Siscia is indeed the next one with 7.
The last one is Gamzigrad/Felix Romuliana, also with 7. 

All are fortified sites, with possibly the exception of Siscia, where most finds come from the river. I have some battle sites, but these are mostly from roads through mountains.

What you can see is of course the limes of the Late Empire, which you might be able to follow from the Danube the the Rhine even if you didn't know it. Another hotspot is the route through the mountains from Illyria into Italy, several routes in fact that were heavily defended with forts and even fortifications - the Late Roman claustra Alpium Iuliarum linear defence system. 
I can recommend this publication btw, great reading:
https://www.claustra.org/wp-content/uplo...liarum.pdf 

Britain is still a strange hotspot with 30 - only Serbia has more but one would expect that. Even though Turkey has not yielded its first plumbata the lack of them in the Near East is still puzzling to me. [/color][/font]