On Agency and Ramparts in the Lower Danube and Spain

Abstract

Having worked mainly on the late Roman and Visigothic walls of the Spanish provinces, I came across the details of Dacian-Moesian frontier defences mostly by chance, through a book by Carl Schuchhardt and his contributions to linear earthworks. I would like to contrast these valla in the specific angle of agency, as the discussions on the Moldovan wall of Athanaric and its chronology are reminiscent of questions posed as well in southwestern imperial contexts. Although no precise equivalences for such extensive, often river-connected ramparts are known in Hispania, I wish to put a few points in perspective and to establish some not strictly archaeological, but rather interpretive correspondences. The purpose is framing a meta-analysis for early Gothic defensive concerns, with a focus on large built structures, from the standpoint of their perceived usefulness, as a trigger for agency. The cultural reality of both territories in contrast is entirely distinct, and may therefore provide an interesting approach for the understanding of investment priorities in the genesis of very early medieval monarchies, and their negotiated implementation through transformed imperial mechanisms.