The defence of Roman - Essay Example

Literary works by Strabo portrayed the Romans as invincible people, and regarded those from the East as less equal humans. Moreover, the geographical works of Strabo that Romans used as references are his personal opinions he puts down without research. For example, he avers that the area occupied by Arabia is found in the Gulf of Aqaba, though he is not sure of the existence of such gulf (Ball 34). As a matter of fact, the Romans’ perception of the East was a paradox of the reality on the ground.

This comes to the forefront when the Romans and barbarians met on the battlefield. Crassus initiated a high-profile campaign, which portrayed Parthians as lazy and weak people. Assumptions about the Eastern people made Rome lose the war to the barbarians. Consequently, the turn of events after war, when Rome fell to states of the East, contradicts their perception. This confirms Orientalism theory (Said 26). Why Were Commagene and Armenia Important for the Defense of Roman Syria? Commagene was situated northeast of the Roman border.

It was strategically located between the river Euphrates and directly adjacent to Mesopotamia and Armenia. Commagene and Armenia played a key role as war entry and exit routes for the Romans since it made the East easily accessible. Because of the geographical position of Armenia, it was critical in strategizing military operations as it enabled easy evasion of threats compared to other neighboring states such as Judea. Trajan specifically employed this as a tactic when strategizing for enemy attacks and counterattacks in the event of war.

The fact that the Euphrates had bridges enabled the Roman soldiers to transit easily during war. Additionally, Commagene had cool temperatures unlike the south, which is an arid area (Edwell 67). Commagene and Armenia acted as buffer states in the sense that their strategic location enabled the Romans to watch what happened across their borders. The location of Armenia and Commagene allowed Rome to access infantry especially from their clients, which indirectly necessitated the expansion of their army.

As a buffer state, Armenia played a role equivalent to a watchtower for Rome. Rome could easily reorganize its troops and respond to attacks owing to its accessibility to the northeast and proximity to the Euphrates (Ando 65). Additionally, the people of Commagene were among the wealthiest in the client kingdom. They were of equal importance because their territory was a section of the middle course crossings of the Euphrates. The Armenians organized Cappadocia into provinces and attached Syria to Commagene.

This threatened the economic stability of Rome, thus making the society vulnerable to external attacks as the loyalty of the Romanians kept altering. Armenia was also a gateway to the northern communities and their hidden treasures. With this knowledge, the Romans fought to gain control and loyalty of those communities, as they were powerful enough to earn the Romans the desired economic might. The Romans understood that they would develop effective structures of governance and safeguard the security of their societies by gaining economic might that could consequently make the development of armies easier.

Armenia was its connection with the northern states and Mesopotamia. By gaining control of Romania,