The biblical passage concerning the siege of Jerusalem by David (2 Sam. 5:6-10), has drawn scholarly attention numerous times over the years. The formula of exclusion of the blind and lame from the Hebrew cult, which became popular in biblical literature, made this story particularly attractive. Despite the volumes of commentaries devoted to this passage there still remain alternative explanations and interpretations of the phrase that have not been sufficiently explored. To whit, it is possible that the passage contains words the original meaning of which have been forgotten. This article aims to explore the possibility of re-interpreting the saying about blind and lame in Jerusalem and its role, anew....
The paper deals with the problem of swords in the West Balt circle. It has been stated that they lack here almost entirely,
with the exception for several swords known. The author opposes such idea, showing new materials proving the usage
of swords in the Balt cultural milieu, specifically swords from bog sacrificial sites (Wólka, Czaszkowo) and elements of
swords’ scabbards, fittings of baldric belts aimed to hang the scabbard, or sword’s handle fitting discovered in graves
without swords themselves. That phenomenon is observed both in the Roman (the Bogaczewo culture and Dollkeim-
Kovrovo culture) and Migration Period (the Olsztyn group). It seems to prove that Balts frequently avoided placement
of swords in graves what could be expressed by the value of swords (see long usage of broken and then sharpened
swords) or ritual matters/beliefs (e.g. pars-pro-toto principle or taboo)....
Cavalry is not the first thing which comes to mind when one considers the activities of the Roman army. Naturally, that way of thinking is also present in works which focus their attention on the defensive capabilities of Roman frontier systems. Even though turf ramparts, watchtow-ers and camp remains are given the attention they deserve, the arrangements designed for mobile defence which required cavalry use, have received less interest, mostly due to the blurred and sketchy picture provided by the limited and fragmentary archaeological evidence.Moreover, when it comes to the activities of the Roman army, connected with the Crimean Peninsula, the surviving literary records tend to diminish the role of the cavalry. And so, accord-ing to Tacitus’s account, the Roman troops used in the Bosporan war of AD 49 were composed mostly of infantry units, and the cavalry contin-gents were provided by the allied Sarmatian Aorsi tribe. Despite the fact that the particular passage in Tacitus’ account could have been a reflection of the real situation during the Bosporan war, the surviving archaeological and epigraphic evidence suggests quite a different overall picture....
Archaeological excavations of three sections of the inner areas of the fort of Apsaros were conducted by the Gonio-Apsaros archaeological expedition of the Cultural Heritage Preservation Agency of Adjara in 2014. Remains of several buildings were unearthed in the Roman cultural levels. Artifacts from these layers reflect a Roman presence in the area from the second half of the 1st to the end of the 3rd century AD....
This paper examines archaeological assemblages containing military artifacts left by the Roman army on the Crimean Peninsula. The analysis allows conclusion on the tasks preformed by the Roman contingent. Dased on the archaeological and epigraphic evidence, acrivites of the temporaty Roman expeditions in the 1 st c. AD are reconstructed. Furthermore, it is argued that in the 2nd c. Roman task forces (vexillationes) served only as a political demonstation intended th show that the allies in the area were not left alone by Rome....
The Roman fort of Apsaros in Gonio (Adjara, Georgia) still holds answers to many issues connected with the Roman military presence on the Chorokhi river in ancient Colchis. In 2014, a Polish team joined the Georgian expedition to carry out excavation in two sectors directly east of the centrally located principia. The sites were chosen based on a study of the results of geophysical prospection carried out in 2012. Two phases, dated to the early and late Roman periods respectively, were recorded. The early Roman architecture was interpreted as part of the installations and structures of a large bathhouse (
balneae
), including a mosaic floor in one of the rooms. The building was destroyed at least twice, most likely in a catastrophic fire. The article discusses the stratigraphy and the dating of the early Roman
balneae
based on glass artifacts and coins....