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