Fort on the Caspian Sea?

[Epictetus]

This may be old news to some of you, but I’ve never heard of it.

Soldiers were probably regularly sent to various destinations beyond the Euphrates, to help create a system of defence in depth. Legionaries in AD 75 helped the king of Iberia to strengthen his fortifications at Harmozinca (20), and a centurion of legio XII Fulminata, presumably accompanied by soldiers from the legion, is known to have been stationed at a strategic fortress overlooking the Caspian Sea. (21)

(20) ILS 8795 with Bosworth, Antichthon (1976), 72-3 and Halfmann, Epigr. Anat. 8 (1986), 49.
(21) AE (1951), 263; Bosworth, loc. cit. The precise site is indicated on the sketch map published by R. Heidenreich, ZPE 52 (1983), 213-14.

Mitchell, Anatolia: Land, Men and Gods in Asia Minor, Vol I The Celts and the Impact of Roman Rule

So what was going on here? Were these soldiers sent as military observers / trainers (to use modern parlance) into a friendly state? Or was this an actual Roman military enclave or forward base of some sort, perhaps similar to the forts in the Crimea?

[Phaichtos]

This may be old news to some of you, but I’ve never heard of it.

Soldiers were probably regularly sent to various destinations beyond the Euphrates, to help create a system of defence in depth. Legionaries in AD 75 helped the king of Iberia to strengthen his fortifications at Harmozinca (20), and a centurion of legio XII Fulminata, presumably accompanied by soldiers from the legion, is known to have been stationed at a strategic fortress overlooking the Caspian Sea. (21)

(20) ILS 8795 with Bosworth, Antichthon (1976), 72-3 and Halfmann, Epigr. Anat. 8 (1986), 49.
(21) AE (1951), 263; Bosworth, loc. cit. The precise site is indicated on the sketch map published by R. Heidenreich, ZPE 52 (1983), 213-14.

Mitchell, Anatolia: Land, Men and Gods in Asia Minor, Vol I The Celts and the Impact of Roman Rule

So what was going on here? Were these soldiers sent as military observers / trainers (to use modern parlance) into a friendly state? Or was this an actual Roman military enclave or forward base of some sort, perhaps similar to the forts in the Crimea?

I had never heard of this before... I'd like to hear more though...

[Nathan Ross]

This is mentioned by Brian W Jones in The Emperor Domitian. Harmozica is in ancient Iberia, which became a client kingdom under the Flavians, ruled by Mithridates. The text of the inscription reads that "Caesar Vespasian Augustus (titles etc to period 1 July 75 - 31 Dec 75) ... strengthened these fortifications for Mithridates, king of the Iberians, son of King Phrasmenes and Iamaspus, friend of Caesar and friend of the Romans, and for the people of the Iberians."

Jones notes that the location of the inscription is close to Armenia and the strategic Darial pass, mentioned by Strabo (11.3.5) and Pliny (NH 6.29-30). So presumably Roman construction work, or supervision of such, was part of the overall plan of strengthening the borders in the Caucausus, containing Parthian influence from the south and various roving peoples (Hyracanians and Alani) from elsewhere.

The XII Fulminata inscription comes from modern Azerbaijan - Bejuk Dagh - and Jones again says that the position would be of strategic importance, although he notes that there are no indications of fortifications there. The text is as follows (AE 1951: 0263):

Imp(eratore) Domitiano / Caesare Aug(usto) / Germanic(o) / L(ucius) Iulius / Maximus |(centurio) / leg(ionis) XII ful(minatae)

The date is 84. Jones derives from this that 'the presence of a unit of XII Fulminata' is recorded (Jones, p.156) - but that might be a bit of a stretch. The centurion was certainly there, but did he have troops with him, or was he some sort of 'military advisor' perhaps?

Jones continues: 'Just possibly, Maximus' unit was part of the army sent into A[...] under the command of M. Hirrius Fronto Neratius Pansa (AE 1968: 145) - the inscription is incomplete, but the general sense is that an army was sent against either the Alani or the Albani or else into Armenia.' (Jones, ibid)

It's probably worth noting that the inscription mentioned by Jones here is very fragmentary - the 'A[...]' has also been rendered as 'Africa'!

- Nathan

[Kai]

Hello,

Only a few additions as Nathan thankfully covered many things already.

Here is the ILS Nr. 8795 first, so we have the original text:


I don’t know what makes one think Legionaries were involved here, but my ancient Greek is not the best. Other then the imperial family no one is noted to have strengthened the fortifications (i.e. given the order to… of course). I found it fascinating that not only the king but also the people (ethnos) is expressedly noted.

The referenced paper is in the Epigraphica Anatolica. Zeitschrift für Epigraphik und historische Geographie Anatoliens. However I have not read it, since the library holding it is quite far away from my office, some with the Antichthon. The other references I could read though.

Nathan already posted the L’Anné Epigraphique entry, so don’t need to repeat it. Last but not least, the ZPE means the Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, online available via JSTOR. The referenced paper deals with the question where and how this one was found exactly.
It seems the inscription is a very isolated one, so I am not sure what exactly to make of it. Certainly it is quite a stretch saying he was accompanied by other soldiers or that he was part of a ‘global’ defense network.

However it is interesting that the timeframes of both inscriptions are very close to each other, the first dated in the early 70ies, the second during the reign of Domitian.