Euphrates in ancient times was considered a border river, dividing the Roman world and the world of Parthian / Sassanids. Presence of Romans east of the Euphrates is poorly known today. The traces of the Romans in these lands will be sought by dr Michał Marciak from the Jagiellonian University.
The scientist has already started extensive research. He mainly want to focus on the period from the 1st BCE until the 7th century CE, when Rome had i.e. the province of Mesopotamia. The researcher will conduct his research in Iraq, Turkey and Armenia, based on sources and excavations. What’s more, the latest technologies will help him to find remains of sediments.
The researcher will undertake not only the analysis of the political-military-social aspect but also, as it was a borderland area, the analysis of religious interactions, and especially the mutual influence of Greek-Roman and local-pre-Christian cults.
The research is to last 5 years and their culmination will be an English-language monograph.