At The Interface – The Frontier Regions Essay, Research Paper
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Southern boundary
northern half of Mesopotamian plain ? northern across Taurus range and Black
sea? but Armenian kingdom affects this
as does. ?
M main region
political boundary never corresponds with cultural division, similarly in
Armenia even common religion did not stop differing provinces. ?
Aramiac dialect common
in M and Fertile Crescent ? does not mean ethnic homogeneity ? Jewsish, Arabian
all sorts.? No means religious homogeneity? -Zoroastrian in RE and Christians in SM
(more than Zs). ?
See increasing
importance of region with build up of troops from early stage ? Romans also
develop own ties with Arab clientele as Arab form own groups ? v effective
raiders. ?
Frye ? defence of
northern Mesopotamia never relied continuous line of defences – Frye no sign of
structure ? character of zone of transit, concentration of resources in
well-situated cities.? SP hardly
provided structure either. ?
John of Ephesus states
frontier closed during war ? implies relatively easy access during
peacetime.? Millar ? Eastern Frontier
dictated positioning of soldiers and officials but hardly affected attitudes or
movements of people on either side. ?
Why cross? Christian
in Persia want to go to important religious sites ? Jerusalem etc + shrines at
Edessa etc = Persian schooling ? theological problems stop this later on ?
Medical education carriers on ? Khurso I shows preference from Roman trained
medics ?
Interchange letter and
people between Christian and Jewish communities frequent. ?
Some commercial
interchange across border of M ? goods from China and India into Roman Empire. ?
Permeability and
interaction in this region