The Life of the Frontier Soldier in the Early Byzantine Empire, from Recruitment to Retirement

Jordan, Israel, Palestine, and Egypt provide us with a significant body of papyri that illuminate a range of aspects of the often-complex relationship between soldiers and civilians in the late antique world. With the publication of the final volume of the Petra papyri close to a decade ago, we now have material that covers all aspects of a frontier soldier’s life and career. In this presentation, I intend to use the material from three sites, Syene in Egypt, Nessana in Israel/Palestine, and Petra in Jordan, to illuminate varied aspects of a soldier’s career. In particular, the Elephantine papyri from Egypt inform us about the recruitment and service of the soldier Patermouthis; the papyri from Nessana illuminate the complex relationships between soldiers and civilians during their service, from marriage to divorce; while the Petra papyri provide glimpses of life beyond the military into retirement.