At The Interface

– The Frontier Regions Essay, Research Paper ? 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