Influence of Geography on the Development of Rome Eastern Frontier - Essay Example

Running Header: Influence of Geography on the Development of Rome’s Eastern Frontier Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Name & Code: Date of Submission: Running Header: Influence of Geography on the Development of Rome’s Eastern Frontier Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Name & Code: Date of Submission: Influence of Geography on the Development of Rome’s Eastern Frontier Between first century BC and the third century AD, the Roman Syria extended to the area initially occupied by sedentary people1. Today, the Roman Empire extends to three continents. The Eastern frontier runs from the Black sea to the Red sea through the desert, Great Rift Valley and through mountains. It is a frontier that has been developed since it was formed therefore separating Romans from Parthia who were considered to be their greatest enemies. The eastern frontier was formed during the waxing and waning of the Roman power2. At the time of its formation, the frontiers of the Roman Empire had to respond to many and diverse conditions both political and physical. This essay explains how the geography of the area influenced the development of the Rome’s Eastern frontier. The arrival of the Roman military in the eastern frontier initiated settlement in the region that later led to its development3. There were external threats from neighboring countries and every time the army had to be prepared. Sometimes the talks between the leaders of the communities would fail and the empires went on war. The army developed the areas they settled so that they always had the machines and appropriate resources to deal with their enemies4. Due to adequate planning and development, the army was able to win wars over the Parthian which motivated them to continue living and developing the eastern frontier. Presence of good climatic condition that could support the economic activity of a region was the major factor that influenced the kind and rate of development that was experienced in a given region. At the time of settlement, most of the people relied on Agriculture as their main economic activities5. In this case, areas that received a lesser amount of annual rainfall had few people settling while areas. Many people preferred to settle in areas that received high amount of rainfall. Where there were high rates of settlement, the rate of development in these areas was also very high compared with those areas that had few people settled. In particular, areas that were within and around Syrian Desert had very low rate of development since very few people settled there6. However, areas in the northern plain that lies in the rainfall zone are very suitable for cereal crops. As a result the areas are more productive therefore attracting dense population. This is in contrast with areas that relied on dry farming techniques which ended up being less productive7. In addition to rainfall, the fertility of land was also a major factor that influenced the development of the eastern frontier Most of the eastern Rome had relatively fertile land that supported agriculture8. People preferred migrating from northern Syria to Eastern Rome. This is because northern Syria had infertile land, most of which was occupied by massive limestone9. As a result, large group of people moved in the eastern frontier therefore developing the area. Historically, areas that had high population enjoyed high level of development10. The government also made a major contribution in ensuring that fertile land was developed. A direct government was established by the Romans to oversee the areas that were occupied by the cities and the sedentary peasant11. Those areas that were occupied by the nomadic and semi nomadic tribes were put under princes whose duty was to come up with orders that regulated on the kind of lifestyle that would be followed to ensure the areas developed. This also saw some of areas that were territories of urban lifestyle being designated to agriculture. As a result, some people were moved to live in urban areas while their land was developed for agriculture. The geographical conditions of a given area also influenced the rural economy of an eastern frontier, which further influenced the kind and rate of development. Mediterranean regions were areas that offered favorable conditions for agriculture and the pastoralist12. The soil and climatic conditions offered good environment for the growth of wheat, vegetables, vines, grape and fruit trees all of which were of biennial rotation. Animal husbandly was also a very key source of income and development in this region. It was partially stabled which implies that it was used in recourse of the fodder crops13. Furthermore, animal husbandly contributed to the fertilization of the land that resulted to very high agricultural output at that moment. The fertility of this land was further used for growing of olive and grape. The young informal oil processing industry significantly contributed to the development of the frontier. Techniques that were used to process the agricultural materials were grape and olive pressing. The raw material for the oil product was used for cooking14. This created employment opportunities in town, attracting high population therefore leading to development. The by-products were also used for fuelling the lamps and ointment. All these materials had their basic source of agriculture, which was the main economic activity of the people at that time15. It is the good agricultural soil that contributed significantly to the development of this land. Areas near water bodies like rivers also experienced major development16. Water was used for irrigating crops in the area therefore the area becoming good for agriculture. In the alluvial plains for example, there was natural flow of irrigation that significantly contributed to agriculture in these regions17. Unlike in the areas that relied on rainfall, areas that required irrigation required technical expertise to maintain the irrigation systems. For instance, high number of labour force was required to construct the extensive supply and drainage canals18. Furthermore, these canals required maintenance that meant that additional employees were employed at already constructed canals. In this case therefore, more employment opportunities were created in these regions therefore increasing the population in these areas. As a result the area had the combination of expertise and number that contributed to the development. Presence of other water bodies like dams and lakes also significantly contributed to the development of Rome’s eastern frontier. Emesa City is one such good example19. The construction of the dam on the Orontes, which is on the upstream known in modern day as Horns was constructed during the Roman Era. At that time, Emesa City housed most of the worker who were used to construct this dam20. At the same time, most of the construction materials that were used either passed through this city or were stored there. The physical features like mountains also influenced the way an area would develop. Whenever a mountain is in an area, it is difficult to develop the land in which the mountain is. Mountain makes prevents people to settle in the areas that surrounds them and at the same time making the development of that area impossible. Presence of the mountain in an area makes the area to be cold21. It is a climatic condition that does not favour settlement of people around that area and as a result the area remains undeveloped. In northern Syria and north east of Palmyra are some of the areas in eastern Rome that have mountains which in turn hinders the development of those areas to date22. Some parts of southern Syria also have mountains. The development of an area also depended on the rate of communication between the people who lived in the area at the time of development of this region. The major routes that connected Eastern frontier to the outside world majorly depended on the physical state of the region23. People settled in areas depending on the presence of infrastructures that existed in that locality. However, communication lines only passed through designated regions24. Construction of roads was influenced by the physical conditions of the region. Hilly and other areas that had many mountains would have few tracks. At the time of development of this region, the major means of transportation was horses, camels and foot. The physical features dictated the routes that were safe and accessible. When the motor transport came into place, not much was changed on the routes. They only accelerated development in the areas that were accessible by the motor transport. Improvement in the transport system saw development in the commerce25. This was passed to the settled land. Riding on motor vehicles added attraction to the trade and added a sense of great social prestige. Desert areas were also considered inaccessible except in very few cases. Some were considered impassable except in some special cases where camels were used. The main threat was lack of drinking water. Most areas had unreliable wells some of which were at a very far distance from one another26. This made communication between these regions ineffective that translated to low rate of development. The kind of structures that were built in a given area depended mostly on the kind of raw materials that were available at that area27. At the time of Roman Empire, technology was lower that what is there today. Transportation of building materials from one region to another was very expensive and rate of innovation was not as high as that that exists today. This left different areas on the Eastern frontier to develop their localities depending on the kind of materials that were in those areas. Depending on the level of wealth of the individual, people would construct edifice, house or small thatched houses. Most of the people leaving in Eastern Frontier were medium income earners and as a result, they constructed houses. Edifices were majorly constructed by the rich people especially those in the authority28. On the other hand, small thatched houses were either constructed by the rich people for their slaves or workers or by the low income earners. Emesa, a city that arose in the first century is one that developed very fast compared to the rest of the areas due to easy availability of the raw materials. Population distribution was based is based on the availability of resources that support livelihood of the people. The notion of grouping of people is derived from criteria such as size and location of the initial ancient sites. By the end of the first millennium B.C Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Nippur, Borshippa had higher densities of people who had settled compared to other regions29. Transport facilities opened up areas of eastern frontiers to the rest of the world therefore contributing to its development. Most of the cities had high population since they were in great trade routes30. Some of them were Imperial Capitals and therefore being a symbol of prestige and in effect becoming very popular. On the other hand, development of the Muslim cities such as Basra, Easit and Kufa was contributed by the presence of alluvial plain. The greatest capitals in these regions since early history were Baghdad and Abbasid. The early Abbasid was developed mainly due to the presence of Nahran canal system that was used to water the long arc of alluvium in the eastern side of Tigris31. In fact, this town was one of the reasons that the entire country developed since it offered favourable conditions for the trading Arabs. Presence of large geographical properties influenced the way people would settle in a given area therefore determining the way a given land was developed. One such community property was sanctuary. Most of Hierapolis, Baetocaece, Emesa and Damascus cities saw settlement because of the presence of sanctuaries32. Most of the religious people preferred to settle near these areas. Other significant large properties were the Imperial holdings33. The forests of Mount Lebanon are good examples that fell under this category. Rey Coquais observes that the principals that dominated in the time of Herod in the southern Syria had become an important an important domain after the annexation of the principality that happened between 92 and 93 AD34. As a result, there were very many veterans that ended up purchasing land and in turn developing the area. If the Imperial Domains had not have existed at that moment, then the land would not have had the kind of development it received at that moment. Other large properties were those owned by individual. There were such domains that existed such as the premises where boules existed in the cities. These properties were in plains where there were constant human occupation explaining the cause of disappearance of antique remains35. Some of these properties were rarely consisted of single holding but rather consisted of parts of village or the entire village that were dispersed geographically. At the time of the Roman era, the rural areas never reached the absolute limit. Some of the uncultivated land was reserved for cities. It is at these cities that the produce of the farms were reserved waiting for trade with other communities36. For this reason therefore, the uncultivated land produced reserve for cities that were associated with the economic progress. Slow economic growth however was experienced in the Roman era. In turn, the eastern frontier never fully developed at this time. Hindrances from the geographical conditions together with the low level of technology that was used at the time made agricultural activities be slow37. The main economic activity of the people in these areas was agriculture. In conclusion, geographical features were the main factors that influenced the development of Rome’s eastern frontier. Areas that had climatic conditions that favoured agriculture enjoyed higher level of development than the rest of the areas. Presence of water bodies complemented the agricultural activities therefore further influencing settlement and hence development. People preferred to settle in areas that either received high amount of rainfall or were near water bodies like dams. Geographical features also influenced communication and accessibility to the outside world hence development. Areas that were accessible by traders developed to towns and cities. Deserts and areas near mountains were less developed compared to areas that were accessible. Large geographical features like sanctuary and forests also influenced the development. People preferred to settle areas that were near sanctuaries. These areas drew high population that resulted to high development. The rate of economic growth in different regions majorly depended on the kind of infrastructures that were in those areas. Areas with rich and easily available raw materials for development were quicker to develop than those that never had. 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