Constructing Roman Identities in Late Antiquity? Material Culture on the Western Frontier

Abstract

Following recent theoretical redefinitions of concepts such as ethnic identity, this paper explores the possibility of using archaeological evidence to investigate Roman identities in the 4th to 5th c. western frontier provinces. The difficulties of the evidence and the complexities of studying identity through material culture are discussed. Possible approaches to the archaeological material are illustrated through a case study of the Rhine-Danube frontier in the 4th and 5th c. The use of material culture to create military identities at death for Roman soldiers on the frontier line is discussed, together with an analysis of the relationship of this military culture to subsequent weapon burials, and the use, by Germanic societies, of elite Roman and Byzantine objects to create ruling, martial identities in the 5th c.