Cold war satellite images reveal hundreds of unknown Roman forts
Declassified spy images point to 396 undiscovered forts in Syria and Iraq, shifting understanding of Roman frontier Caroline Davies Thu 26 Oct 2023 05.00 BST Last modified on Thu 26 Oct 2023 05.29 BST
Declassified cold-war spy satellite images have thrown new light on the workings of the Roman empire by revealing hundreds of previously undiscovered forts, with dramatic implications for our understanding, experts have said.
Archeologists examining aerial photographs taken in the 1960s and 70s said they reveal 396 sites of unknown Roman forts in Syria and Iraq across the Syrian steppe.
The findings, published today in Antiquity, an international archeology academic journal, have now forced a re-evaluation of life at the Roman frontier.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Declassified cold-war spy satellite images have thrown new light on the workings of the Roman empire by revealing hundreds of previously undiscovered forts, with dramatic implications for our understanding, experts have said.
A previous survey of the region in 1934 by Antoine Poidebard, a French Jesuit explorer who pioneered aerial archeology in the Middle East from his bi-plane, recorded a line of 116 forts.
Until now, historians assumed these forts were part of a defensive line built to protect the eastern province of the empire from Arab and Persian incursions, and from nomadic marauding tribes intent on captive-taking and slave-raiding.
“Since the 1930s, historians and archeologists have debated the strategic or political purpose of this system of fortifications,” said the lead author of the research, Prof Jesse Casana, of Dartmouth college in New Hampshire, US.
The 396 new sites, hidden by modern-day development, are widely distributed across the region from east to west, which does not support the argument that the forts constituted a north-south border wall.
Researchers now hypothesise that the forts were constructed to support cross-border trade, protecting caravans travelling between the eastern provinces and the non-Roman territories, as well as facilitating communications between east and west.
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