Roman armies sustained military operations in desert environments using specialized logistics and water management.
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Historical and archaeological evidence indicates that Roman military operations in arid regions relied on adapted logistical routes, camel transport networks, and sophisticated water management strategies such as qanat systems.
The Egyptian Eastern Desert, the part of the Sahara Desert that connects the Nile and the Red Sea, is rich in natural resources and meshed with multiple networks. The adoption of the camel as the main mode of transportation in the 1st millennium BC, faster and with a greater load capacity than humans or donkeys, dramatically changed the logistics used to cross this difficult terrain. Our objective, therefore, is to understand and reconstruct circulation in the region during Antiquity through location factors and the evolution of roads. For this purpose, a least-cost network specific to camel movements has been created for this arid and mountainous region. The network is based on the reconstructed itineraries of modern travelers (18th and 19th centuries) who crossed the region under similar conditions to ancient ones. These routes and the travelers’ diaries have enabled us to analyze the main travel constraints; they provide a set of data to calibrate the different movement factors of camel caravans and to validate the calculated least cost paths. The modeled network takes into account transport infrastructures, navigation conditions in plain areas, difficulties of the terrain surface, and the topographical constraints specific to camels. This methodological paper details our approach from the description of movement factors, their mapping, and their use in least cost algorithms to the creation of a network covering 253 archaeological sites and 204 desert watering places. It aims to provide the archaeological and GIS communities with the method and tools to reproduce itineraries based on the hypotheses of movement and empirical data. For this purpose, the data is available and documented by a data paper.
Abstract The site of Udhruh is located in the arid desert of southern Jordan, about 15 km to the east of Petra. The site was built by the Nabataeans but expanded by the Romans (as a defensive site) and was continuously occupied until the Early Islamic period. It receives less than the 200 mm of annual precipitation, which is crucial for agricultural cultivation. Archaeological evidence from earlier excavations together with new data from several survey projects indicate that areas around Udhruh were cultivated throughout the Roman, Byzantine, and Early Islamic periods (300 BCE–800 CE). The fundamental question is: how did the people of Udhruh sustain their community in the desert, and how did they transform the desert into arable land? The landscape could be utilised thanks to sophisticated water management and irrigation techniques. At least four underground qanat systems were identified providing Udhruh with access to groundwater. At the terminal end of the qanat systems, several types of closed surface channels conveyed the water to reservoirs, which subsequently distributed the water to the field systems. The water systems of Udhruh differ from the well-known Nabataean systems in the surrounding area. As Udhruh was taken over by the Roman army in 106 CE, this study analyses how the Nabataean water systems continued to function and adapt through the Roman and Byzantine periods. A complete understanding of Udhruh's water systems helps to reconstruct past land use, agricultural activity, and irrigation practices in a currently arid region.
This work is devoted to a study fo Roman logistics from the Punic Wars through the Principate.
This work is devoted to a study fo Roman logistics from the Punic Wars through the Principate. It explores various aspects of supply: rations, trains, foraging, supply lines; administration and logistics in warfare. The book traces the increasing sophistication of the Roman military supply system.
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