Suffer, Reinterpret, Conceal and Forget. Defeats and losses as phenomena of an 'expanded military history' of the Roman Imperial Period

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Oliver Stoll
• Subject Area: Ancient History
• Term: from 2015 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 271866908

The project examines defeats and losses as phenomena of an expanded military history of the Roman imperial period (1st-3rd centuries). In the process, first the term defeat is to be clearly defined theoretically and then connected with a military history in extended form: This means adopting a cultural historical perspective of the military historical phenomenon. Starting out from the sources to hand (literary, epigraphic, archaeological sources), conceptional models or theories are to be developed or deduced. In concrete terms, this project will search for patterns and strategies that appear in the sources when dealing with Roman defeats, losses and losers (in particular the commanders or even the emperor himself). Above all, the historiography of the Roman imperial period is to be examined to see what reasons, interpretations or explanations are given there for suffering a defeat and whether and how these are part of narrative strategies. In the course of the work on and with the sources, individual defeat phenomena such as Death for the state or Captivity are also to be examined. It is intended to bring out how Rome dealt with its own war dead and prisoners. The direct effects of a defeat on the army are also taken into consideration: mutinies, disturbances, traumata. In addition, the question is examined whether Roman defeats led to a change in political strategies, whether there were social repercussions resulting from the defeats and losses in the course of military conflicts that also caused lasting changes to Roman society and Elite. The question of the Role of defeats in the collective memory and a cultural historical comparison with the Greek Poleis are then intended to prepare an assessment of how defeats were specifically dealt with in Rome and to give an answer to how Roman culture or Roman political culture itself shaped how the military phenomenon was dealt with. At the end there is a Theory of the Roman defeat that is connected with the Roman culture, society and political system and lets the phenomenon be understood once again in context.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants