Department of Archaeology

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Open Access
Analysis of mortar and plaster samples from Catterick bypass (site 433)
(Council for British Archaeology, 2002) Bennett, Julian; Biek, L.; Wilson, P. R.
Open Access
Ancyra, metropolis provinciae Galatiae
(Oxbow Books, 2003) Bennett, Julian; Wilson, P.
Open Access
The annexation of Galatia reviewed
(Koç Üniversitesi Akdeniz Medeniyetleri Araştırma Merkezi, 2019) Bennett, Julian
This article reconsiders the accepted views on the annexation and ‘provincialisation’ of Galatia by expanding on the military-related factors involved. It is argued that the annexation helped provide Rome with the necessary resources, including manpower, to maintain Augustus’ ‘New Model’ Army as established between 30 and 25 BC, as well as providing land for the future discharge of legionary veterans. The achievements of the known governors of Galatia for 25 BC-AD 14 are reviewed also, noting how their senatorial status as pro-praetor or pro-consul had no bearing on the type of garrison they commanded. The process of establishing the Augustan coloniae ‘in Pisidia’ is then re-examined, as is the evidence for the character of Ancyra, Pessinus, and Tavium in the pre- and immediate post-annexation period. The data for the garrison of Augustan Galatia is then surveyed, concluding that the legiones V and VII took part in the annexation and probably remained there until AD 8, these legions being supported by auxiliary units that remained in the province after their departure. Finally, the evidence for the formation of the legio XXII Deiotariana is re-assessed, concluding it was indeed constituted under Augustus using the former Galatian Royal Army.
Open Access
The "Aynalı Martini": the Ottoman Army’s first modern rifle
(Peeters Publishers, 2018) Bennett, Julian
The Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 is generally recognised as the most calamitous of the several wars fought by the ‘modernised’ Ottoman Army of the late 19th century as it ended with the Russian army at the gates of Constantinople in the west, and in occupation of Erzurum in the east. The only major Ottoman feat of arms in that campaign was the ‘Plevna delay’, where between July and December 1877, the garrison of Plevna, under Nuri Osman Paşa, resisted two major attacks by Russian forces and a third with their Romanian allies, thus preventing the Russians from advancing on Constantinople until the following year. The successful defence of Plevna was to a great extent due to the defensive earthworks built there by the Ottoman garrison and which resisted all attempts at destruction through artillery fire. But the main factor in the ‘Plevna delay’ was the wholescale employment by the Ottoman garrison of the Peabody-Martini rifle, a weapon that had only recently entered the Ottoman infantry inventory. While the story of the Siege of Plevna itself within the wider context of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 is well known among those interested in the military affairs of the period, the history and nature of the rifle that played so significant a role there - its biography, as it were - is not well known outside of specialist military reference works, a vacuum this article seeks to fill.
Open Access
Bayonets for the Peabody-Martini Rifle
(Taylor & Francis, 2019-03) Bennett, Julian
From its introduction in 1874 until the turn of the nineteenth century the principal infantry firearm of the Ottoman army was the American-made .45 (11.43 × 55R) calibre Peabody-Martini Rifle. Remaining in use with secondary units until 1916/1917, three bayonet types were provided for the rifle during its official service life: a quadrilateral cross-sectioned socket form, followed by a yataghan-style sword bayonet, and finally a shortened and straightened version of this same yataghan bayonet. As such these three bayonets provide a classic illustration of bayonet typology for the period. However, their history and characteristics have never been assessed in detail, an omission this article seeks to remedy.
Open Access
“Becoming a Roman”: Anatolians in the imperial Roman navy
(Suna & İnan Kıraç Research Institute on Mediterranean Civilizations, 2017) Bennett, Julian
Although much has been written concerning the Roman army and its legions and auxiliary regiments, far less is available and accessible regarding the nature and role of the Roman navy1. This is especially true with regard to the origins and other associated matters of those men who served in this force, a lacuna this article seeks to redress to some extent by focusing on those members of the Imperial Roman Navy certainly or probably recruited from the Anatolian provinces. However, to place this study into context, Part I provides an overview of the origins and nature of the Imperial Roman Navy, a subject likely to be unfamiliar to most readers of this journal, and so an essential prelude to Part II, which details what is known of those certain or probable natives of the Anatolian provinces who served in this force as provided by the evidence of the epigraphic sources available, these being presented in summary form in Part III.
Open Access
British pattern 1907 bayonets marked to the royal air force: an archaeo-historical investigation
(Routledge, 2022-11-14) Bennett, Julian; Ballard, J.M.
A known total of 83 World War One period Pattern 1907 bayonets for the ‘Rifle, Short, Magazine, Lee-Enfield, Mark III’ have pommel markings indicating issue to the Royal Air Force, formed on 1st April 1918. They bear alpha-numeric serial markings best interpreted as stock-taking marks, suggesting a maximum total of 70,000 were allocated for use by that air force. The written sources indicate that from at least 1922 to 1937, bayonets and the rifles to go with them were a regular part of an aircraftman’s equipment. Neither these nor a search of unpublished documents in the National Archives and the British Library provide a possible explanation why these weapons would be issued to the Royal Air Force, suggesting an archaeo-historical approach was more appropriate. This article sets out our results and conclusions on the subject.
Open Access
A call for arms! supplying the sultan’s army, 1916-1918
(Routledge, 2021-03-05) Bennett, Julian
A common feature of Turkey’s principal military-focused museums and of many local ones also, are displays of military equipment used in the First World War and in Turkey’s War of Independence (1919–1923). In many cases these are rifles and bayonets supplied by Germany to the Ottoman Empire during two specific periods: from 1887 to 1903, when Germany supplied all the modern infantry weaponry used by the Ottoman army; and from 1916 to 1918, when Berlin answered the request from Constantinople for the latest models of their own small arms. This article looks into the circumstances behind that request and the German response, with a focus on the bayonets that were provided, as these are most often seen in places open to the public today. In addition, a brief account is provided on how these rifles and bayonets remained in service use, often in a modified form, until the 1950s.
Open Access
Christianity in Lycia: from its beginnings to the “Triumph of Orthodoxy”
(Suna & İnan Kıraç Research Institute on Mediterranean Civilizations, 2015) Bennett, Julian
In his seminal article on the churches of Lycia, R. M. Harrison opined that the relative lack of information about Christianity in that region during the Imperial period was “probably acciden-tal”, basing his observation on the belief that the coastal cities of the region, ‘in close commer-cial contact’ with the Levant and Egypt, were likely to be as “receptive to the new religion as were other, better documented parts of Asia Minor” 1 . The reality is, though, that a broad range of evidence does exist to suggest that some of Lycia’s inhabitants were receptive to the “new religion” from as early as the Apostle Paul’s first missionary journey to Anatolia in c. 46/48. The principal purpose of this article, then, is to identify and elaborate on these items regarding early Christianity in Lycia as a means of correcting this rather one-sided opinion. In addition, however, the opportunity is taken to explore here a greatly neglected topic: namely the reac-tion of the Lycian Church to the various Christological debates that repeatedly divided the early Church from the sole reign of Constantine I and the First Ecumenical Council in 325, to the re-gency of Theodora and the Synod of Constantinople in 842 and its celebration of the “Triumph of Orthodoxy”, marking the final defeat of iconoclasm and so also the genesis of the modern Eastern Orthodox Church. This excursus, though, will naturally necessitate some basic analysis of the underlying issues to elucidate their substance and so better understand the controversies they generated and how these impacted on the wider Church. The picture that emerges with specific regard to Lycia is a mixed but interesting one, for it suggests that up to at least the 7 th century, members of the Lycian Church were often attracted to and embraced dogmas and doctrines that were denounced as heretical by the mainstream Church.
Open Access
CIG 9155B (Anazarbos): An Epigraphic Record of a numerus Phalangarium?
(Suna ve İnan Kıraç Akdeniz Medeniyetleri Araştırma Merkezi, 2013) Bennett, Julian
Open Access
The Garrison of Cilicia during the principate
(Suna & İnan Kıraç Research Institute on Mediterranean Civilizations, 2012) Bennett, Julian
It has long been accepted that each and every Roman province, whether it was an impe-rial province, and so constitutionally the responsibility of the emperor, or a senatorial one, and thus (nominally, at least) under the control of the senate, had a garrison of some kind. However, firm evidence that this was the case with the imperial province of Cilicia, as reconstituted by Vespasian, only emerged in 2004, with the publication of a diploma for the year 121 reporting the cohors IIII Gallorum equitata as the provincial garrison at that time1. Unfortunately, the existence of this document is not as widely known as one might hope for. Thus while the valuable information it contains is well known amongst students of the Roman army, this seems to have e scaped a wider audience. This paper is intended to rectify that fact but will also attempt to establish, as far as the evidence permits, the na-ture of the garrison of Ciliciaprovince during the early and high principate. But first it is necessary to briefly summarise the official standing of Cilicia in the provincial hierarchy at that time, as this has a fundamental bearing on the nature and size of its garrison.
Open Access
The Roman Army in Lycia and Pamphylia
(Suna ve İnan Kıraç Akdeniz Medeniyetleri Araştırma Merkezi, 2007) Bennett, Julian
A central area of research with regard to the archaeology and history of the Roman Empire concerns the military forces stationed within Rome's various provinces. For a variety of reasons, our knowledge on this matter is significantly greater for the North African and European provinces than it is for those in the east. This is immediately apparent from the three most recent reports of the tri-annual Congress of Roman Frontier Studies, which despite its formal name covers aspects of the Roman army in all of the provinces: yet of 276 papers and reports in four volumes, only 34, or 12% deal with the eastern territories, an area equal to 35% of the Roman Empire1. One of the reasons for this imbalance in research and knowledge is the lack of any systematic analysis of the epigraphic evidence for the Roman military in the eastern territories. This is especially true of the provinces within Asia Minor, although it has long been recognised that the wealth of epigraphic material found in the region might be used to rectify this lacuna2• Consequently this paper, which is intended to make a start on redressing the situation by reviewing and assessing the epigraphic evidence for the presence of Roman army units in Lycia and Pamphylia in the imperial period, that is to say between the Julio-Claudian period and the events that sparked the beginning of the so-called "Third Century Crisis" (i.e., c. AD 14-235/8). Before going any further, however, some initial remarks on the type of epigraphic resources used here might prove useful, as not all will be familiar with those used in the esoteric field of Roman military studies. This is probably especially the case when it comes to the matter of distinguishing those sources that are particularly relevant to identifying the units "in praesidia" in any one region
Open Access
The Roman frontier from Wallsend to rudchester burn reviewed
(Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, 1998) Bennett, Julian
Open Access
Two roman soldiers in İstanbul: Praetorian Guardsmen or Centurions?
(Peeters Publishers, 2020) Bennett, Julian
A relief panel exhibited in the National Archaeology Museum, Istanbul, shows two Roman soldiers in their ‘field-service kit’. The relief belonged originally to a monument built in AD 108/109 near what is now the village of Adamclisi in Romania in connection with the conclusion of the Emperor Trajan’s Second Dacian War. The monument had been furnished with 54 figured panels or metopes, the 49 surviving examples all with scenes relating to the Roman army at the time of Trajan and of considerable importance in Roman military studies in particular and in the field of Roman provincial ‘classical’ art in general. The panel in Istanbul demands greater attention as it appears to be a rare depiction of either Praetorian Guardsmen or Centurions in their ‘field-service kit’.
Open Access
"Un engin de torture, une baïonnette à crochets; une arme blanche déshonorée": an historicalarchaeological evaluation of the Sawback bayonets of the Deutsches Heer
(Taylor&Francis, 2019) Bennett, Julian
The Imperial German Army (Deutsches Herr) was unique among the combatants in World War One (WW1) in issuing to a proportion of its soldiers a bayonet whose blade back was fashioned as a saw. A common belief developed quickly among the Allies that these sawback bayonets were weapons specifically intended to inflict a particularly vicious type of wound. After setting out the origins of this class of weapon and explaining their real purpose, the two main types of sawback bayonet available to the Deutsches Heer during WW1 are then concisely described. Its reputation as a weapon of especial barbarity is outlined, along with an overview of bayonet use in combat between the mid-nineteenth century and 1918, as evidenced by official sources, highlighting the lack of any specific contemporary references to the use of or the wounds caused by sawback bayonets. The article concludes by detailing the contemporary German sources relevant to its withdrawal from service use in 1917.
Open Access
Why did Claudius Annex Lycia?
(Suna & İnan Kıraç Research Institute on Mediterranean Civilizations, 2011) Bennett, Julian

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