Hostname: page-component-77c78cf97d-5vn5w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-04-24T15:36:48.124Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Centenarium

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 November 2014

Massimiliano Munzi ,
Giancarlo Schirru  and
Ignazio Tantillo
Massimiliano Munzi
Affiliation:
Sovraintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, Italy
Giancarlo Schirru
Affiliation:
Università degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale, Italy
Ignazio Tantillo
Affiliation:
Università degli Studi di Cassino e del Lazio Meridionale, Italy
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The neuter substantive centenarium appears in a series of documents to designate a particular type of building. The etymology and precise meaning of this word have long been debated by scholars, who have proposed a wide range of explanations, none of which appears to be entirely satisfactory. In this paper, we put forward a different solution, taking into account textual, archaeological and linguistic evidence. In our opinion, the word centenarium comes from centenum, which means a kind of a cereal; thus, centenarium indicates a ‘fortified grain-house’. It seems probable that original centenaria were military structures of varying shape and size, first created in the third century and then spreading in the Tetrarchic period. They appear to be distinctive of the African provinces, from which comes most of the evidence, but one cannot exclude that the same name was applied to similar structures in other parts of the Empire (such as in the Iberian Peninsula, for instance). The military centenaria were later imitated by private landlords – maybe even indigenous chieftains in charge of the defence of sectors of the frontier – who transferred the name to their unofficial or para-official defensive structures. This process of emulation was already advanced in Constantinian age.

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Libyan Studies , Volume 45 , November 2014 , pp. 49 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Libyan Studies 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Adams, J.N. 2007. The Regional Diversification of Latin 200 BC – AD 600. Cambridge.Google Scholar
Atlas archéologique = Gsell, S. 1911. Atlas archéologique de l'Algérie. Alger-Paris.Google Scholar
Bagnall, S., Bülow-Jacobsen, A. and Cuvigny, H. 2001. Security and water on the Eastern Desert roads: the prefect Iulius Ursus and the construction of praesidia under Vespasian. Journal of Roman Archaeology 14: 325–33.Google Scholar
Baradez, J. 1949. Fossatum Africae. Recherches aériennes sur l'organisation des confins sahariens à l'époque romaine. Paris.Google Scholar
Barker, G. and Mattingly, D. (eds) 1996. Farming the Desert. The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey. Volume 1, Synthesis, Volume 2, Gazetteer and Pottery. London-Tripoli.Google Scholar
Barrington Atlas = Talbert, R.J.A. (ed.) 2000. The Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton.Google Scholar
Berbrugger, A. 1861. Burgus Centenarius ou une réduite romaine en Kabilie. Revue Africaine 5: 184–87.Google Scholar
Berger, A. 1988. Untersuchungen zu den Patria Konstantinupoleos. Bonn.Google Scholar
Bibesco, N. 1865. Les Kabyles du Djurdjura. III. La Kabylie au temps des Romains. Le passé en regard du présent. Revue des Deux Mondes 56: 862–97.Google Scholar
Böcking, E. 1839–1853. Notitia dignitatum et administrationum omnium tam civilium quam militarium in partibus Orientis et Occidentis Ö, I-II, Bonn.Google Scholar
Brogan, O. and Smith, D.J. 1984. Ghirza. A Libyan Settlement in the Roman Period. Tripoli 1984.Google Scholar
Brogan, O. 1964. The Roman Remains in the Wadi el-Amud. Libya Antiqua 1: 47–56.Google Scholar
Brugnatelli, V. 1999. I prestiti latini in berbero: un bilancio. In Lamberti, M. and Tonelli, L. (eds), Afroasiatica tergestina. Papers from the 9th Italian Meeting of Afro-Asiatic (Hamito-Semitic) Linguistics (Trieste, April 23–24 1998). Padova: 325–32.Google Scholar
Brun, J.P. and Reddé, M. 2003. L'architecture des praesidia et la genèse des dépotoirs . In Cuvigny, H. (ed.), La route de Myos Hormos. L'armée romaine dans le désert oriental d'Égypt. Fouilles de l'IFAO 48. Le Caire: 73–185.Google Scholar
Bruno, M. G. 1969. Il lessico agricolo latino. Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Cagnat, R. 1912. L'armée romaine d'Afrique et l'occupation militaire de l'Afrique sous les empereurs. II éd., Paris.Google Scholar
Callu, J.-P. 1959. “Follis singularis” (à propos d'une inscription de Ghirza, Tripolitaine). Mélanges de l'École Française de Rome. Antiquité 71: 321–37.Google Scholar
Cardona, G.R. 1995. La foresta di piume. Manuale di etnoscienza. Roma-Bari.Google Scholar
Clemente, G. 1968. La Notitia Dignitatum . Cagliari.Google Scholar
Colin, G.S. 1926. Étymologies maġribines. Hespéris. Archives berbères et bulletin de l'Institut des hautes-études marocaines 6: 55–82.Google Scholar
Corominas, J. 1954. Dicionario crítico etimológico de la lengua castellana. Berne.Google Scholar
Courtois, C. 1955. Les Vandales et l'Afrique. Paris.Google Scholar
Courtois, C., Leschi, L., Perrat, C. and Saumagne, C. 1952. Tablettes Albertini : actes privés de l'époque vandale, fin du Ve siècle. Paris.Google Scholar
De Angelis D'Ossat, G. and Farioli, R. 1975. Il complesso paleocristiano di Breviglieri (el-Khadra). Quaderni di Archeologia della Libia 7: 27–156.Google Scholar
De Vigneral, Ch. 1868. Ruines romaines de l'Algérie / Kabylie du Djurdjura. Paris.Google Scholar
Decker, M. 2006. Towers, Refuges, and Fortified Farms in the Late Roman East. Liber Annuus 56: 499–520.Google Scholar
Destaing, E. 1920. Vocabulaire français–berbère. Paris.Google Scholar
Di Vita-Evrard, G. 1991. Gasr Duib: construit ou reconstruit sous les Philippes. In IVe Colloque international sur l'histoire et l'archéologie de l'Afrique du Nord (Strasbourg 1988), II, L'armée et les affaires militaires. Paris: 427–44.Google Scholar
Durand, O. 1998. Lineamenti di lingua berbera. Varietà ‘tamazight’ del Marocco centrale. Roma.Google Scholar
Edictum de pretiis = Lauffer, S. (ed.) 1971. Diokletians Preisedikt. Texte und Kommentare. Eine Altertumswissenschaftliche Reihe, 5, Berlin.Google Scholar
Elmayer, A.F. 1983. The Re-Interpretation of Latino-Punic Inscriptions from Roman Tripolitania. Libyan Studies 14: 86–95.Google Scholar
Elmayer, A.F. 1984. The Re-Interpretation of the Latino-Punic Inscriptions IRT 889 and 893 from Tripolitania. Libyan Studies 15: 149–51.Google Scholar
Elmayer, A.F. 1985. The Centenaria of Roman Tripolitania. Libyan Studies 16: 77–84.Google Scholar
Erkal, N. 2011. The Corner of the Horn: An Architectural Review of the Leaded Magazine in Galata İstanbul. Journal of the Faculty of Architecture. Middle East Technical University (METU) 28.1: 197–227 (available online at Url: fa.arch.metu.edu.tr).Google Scholar
Ernout, A. and Meillet, A. 2001. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine. Histoire des mots. Fourth edition, Paris.Google Scholar
Faleiro, C.N. 2005. La Notitia Dignitatum. Nueva edición crítica y comentario histórico. Madrid.Google Scholar
Fanciullo, F. 1992. Un capitolo della ‘Romania submersa’: il latino africano. In Kremer, D. (ed.), Actes du XVIIIe Congrès International de Linguistique et Philologie Romane (Trier 1986). Vol. II. Tübingen: 162–86.Google Scholar
Felici, F., Munzi, M. and Tantillo, I. 2006. Austuriani e Laguatan in Tripolitania. L'Africa romana 16: 591–688.Google Scholar
Féraud, L. 1860. Entre Sétif et Biskara. Revue Africaine 4: 187–200.Google Scholar
Gatti, 1900. Centenarium. Dizionario Epigrafico, 2, Roma: 179.Google Scholar
Gauckler, P. 1902. Le Centenarius de Tibubuci. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres: 321–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gauckler, P. 1903. Centenarius, terme d'art militaire. In Mélanges Perrot. Paris: 125–31.Google Scholar
Genaust, H. 2005. Etymologisches Wörterbuch der botanischen Pflanzennamen. Hamburg.Google Scholar
Goodchild, R.G. 1950. The Limes Tripolitanus II. Journal of Roman Studies 40: 30–38 = Goodchild 1976: 35–45.Google Scholar
Goodchild, R.G. 1951. Roman Sites on the Tarhuna Plateau of Tripolitania. Papers of the British School at Rome 19: 43–65 = Goodchild 1976: 72–106.Google Scholar
Goodchild, R.G. 1954a. Oasis forts of Legio II Augusta on the routes to the Fezzan. Papers of the British School at Rome 22: 56–68 = Goodchild 1976: 46–58.Google Scholar
Goodchild, R.G. 1954b. The Romano-Libyan Cemetery at Bir Ed-Dreder. Quaderni di Archeologia della Libia 3, 1954: 91–107 = Goodchild 1976: 59–71).Google Scholar
Goodchild, R.G. 1976. Libyan Studies. Select Papers of the late R.G. Goodchild. Edited by Reynolds, J.. London.Google Scholar
Goodchild, R.G. and Ward-Perkins, J.B. 1949. The Limes Tripolitanus in the Light of Recent Discoveries. Journal of Roman Studies 39: 81–95 = Goodchild 1976: 17–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grosse, R. 1920. Römische Militärgeschichte von Gallienus bis zum Beginn der Byzantinischen Themenverfassung. Berlin.Google Scholar
Gsell, S. 1902. Observations géographiques sur la révolte de Firmus. Recueil des notices et mémoires de la Société archéologique 36: 21–46.Google Scholar
Guilland, R. 1969. Études de topographie de Constantinople byzantine. Berlin.Google Scholar
Hanoteau, A. 1861. Archéologie du territoire des Beni Raten. Revue Africaine 5: 174–83.Google Scholar
Hermeneumata vaticana = Brugnoli, G. and Buonocore, M. (eds) 2002. Hermeneumata vaticana (cod. Vat. Lat. 6925). Vatican City.Google Scholar
IK Iznik – Şahin, S. 1979–1982. Katalog der antiken Inschriften des Museums von Iznik (Nikaia), I–II. Bonn.Google Scholar
Ioannis Malalae Chronographia = Turn, I. (ed.) 2000. Ioannis Malalae, Chronographia. Corpus fontium historiae Byzantinae 35, Berlin.Google Scholar
IRT = The inscriptions of Roman Tripolitania. Edited by Reynolds, J. M. and Ward-Perkins, J. B. (1952). Rome.Google Scholar
Isaac, B. 1988. The Meaning of the Terms Limes and Limitanei . Journal of Roman Studies 78: 125–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Janin, R. 1950. Constantinople byzantine. Développement urbain et répertoire topographique. Paris.Google Scholar
Jones, A.H.M. 1968. Frontier Defence in Byzantine Libya. In Gadallah, F.F. (ed.), Libya in History. Historical Conference 16–23 march 1968, Benghazi: 289–97.Google Scholar
Jongeling, K. and Kerr, R.M. 2005. Late Punic Epigraphy: An Introduction to the Study of Neo-Punic and Latino-Punic Inscriptions. Tübingen.Google Scholar
KAI5  = Donner, H. and Rölling, W. 2002. Kanaanäisch und aramäische Inschriften. I. Fifth ed. Wiesbaden.Google Scholar
Kerr, R.M. 2005. North African centenaria and Hebrew nəṣīḇīm : Some remarks relating to the Latino-Punic inscription from Gasr el-Azaiz (IRT 893). Babel und Bibel 2. Memoriae Igor M. Diakonoff. Eisenebrauns: 475–511.Google Scholar
Kerr, R.M. 2010. Latino-Punic Epigraphy: A Descriptive Study of the Inscriptions. Tübingen.Google Scholar
Kluge, F. 1999. Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutchen Sprache. XXIII ed. (bearbeitet von Elmar Seebold). Berlin.Google Scholar
Kolbe, H.-G. 1962. Die Statthalter Numidiens von Gallien bis Konstantin (268–320). München.Google Scholar
Kossmann, M. 1999. Essai sur la phonologie du proto-berbère. Köln.Google Scholar
Krahmalkov, C.R. 2000. Phoenician-Punic Dictionary. Leuven.Google Scholar
Krahmalkov, C.R. 2001. A Phoenician-Punic Grammar. Leiden.Google Scholar
Lancel, S. 1981. La fin et la survie de la latinité en Afrique du Nord. État des questions. Révue des études latins. 59: 269–97.Google Scholar
Laoust, E. 1920. Mots et choses berbères. Notes de linguistique et d'ethnographie. Dialectes du Maroc. Paris.Google Scholar
Le Bohec, Y. 2007. Limitanei et comitatenses. Critique de la thèse attribué à Theodor Mommsen. Latomus 66: 659–72.Google Scholar
Lehmann, W.P. 1986. A Gothic Etymological Dictionary. Leiden.Google Scholar
Lenoir, M. 2011. Le camp romain. Proche-Orient et Afrique du nord. Rome.Google Scholar
Leonis Diaconi Historia = Hase, C.B. (ed.) 1828. Leonis Diaconi Caloënsis Historiae libri decem et liber de velitatione bellica Nicephori Augusti (Corpus scriptorum historiae Byzantinae 11) Bonn.Google Scholar
Leschi, L. 1941. Centenarium quod Aqua Viva appellatur. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 85.2: 163–76.Google Scholar
Leschi, L. 1943. Le “centenarium” d'Aqua Viva près de M'doukal (Commune mixte de Barika). Revue Africaine 87: 5–22.Google Scholar
Leschi, L. 1957. Études d'épigraphie, d'archéologie et d'histoire africaines. Paris.Google Scholar
Leveau, P. 1973. L'aile II des Thraces, la tribu des Mazices et les praefecti gentis en Afrique du Nord. Antiquités Africaines 7: 153–92.Google Scholar
Lewicki, T. 1951–1952. Une langue romane oubliée de l'Afrique du Nord. Rocznik orientalistyczny 17: 415–80.Google Scholar
LRBC II = Carson, R.A.G. and Kent, J.P.C. 1972. Late Roman Bronze Coinage, II, Bronze Roman Imperial Coinage of the Later Empire, A.D. 346–498. London.Google Scholar
Luschi, L. 1982. Basilicae centenariae tres . Studi classici e orientali 32: 157–78.Google Scholar
Mackensen, M. 2012. Baubestand und Rekonstruktion der porta praetoria des severischen Vexillationskastells Myd(---)/Gheriat el-Garbia am limes Tripolitanus (Libyen). Römische Wehrbauten. Befund und Rekonstruktion. Inhalte – Projekte – Dokumentationen. München: 88–107.Google Scholar
Mango, C. 1996. The Palace of the Boukoleon. Cahiers archéologiques 44: 41–50.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. 1991. The constructor of Gasr Duib, Numisius Maximus, trib(unus Cohortis I Syrorum Sagittariorum) . Antiquités Africaines 27: 75–82.Google Scholar
Mattingly, D.J. 1995. Tripolitania. London.Google Scholar
Mattingly and Dore 1996 = Mattingly, D.J., with a contribution by Dore, J., Romano-Libyan Settlement: Typology and Chronology. In Barker and Mattingly 1996, Vol. 1: 111–58.Google Scholar
Mau, A. 1897. Basilica. In RE III 1, coll. 83–96.Google Scholar
Much, R. 1929. Ulixes in Germanien. Wörter und Sachen 12: 342–61.Google Scholar
Müller-Wiener, W. 1977. Bildlexikon zur Topographie Istanbuls. Byzantion – Konstantinopolis – Istanbul biz zum Beginn des 17. Jahrhunderts. Tübingen, Wasmuth.Google Scholar
Munzi, M. 2010. Il territorio di Leptis Magna. Insediamenti rurali, strutture produttive e rapporti con la città. In Tantillo, I. and Bigi, F. (eds), Leptis Magna. Una città e le sue iscrizioni in età tardoromana. Cassino: 45–80.Google Scholar
Munzi, M., Felici, F., Cifani, G. and Lucarini, G. 2004–2005. Leptis Magna: città e campagna dall'origine alla scomparsa del sistema sedentario antico. Scienze dell'Antichità 12: 433–71.Google Scholar
Munzi, M., Felici, F., Cirelli, E., Schingo, G. and Zocchi, A. 2010. Il territorio di Leptis Magna: ricognizioni tra Ras el-Mergheb e Ras el Hamman (2007). L'Africa Romana 18: 723–46.Google Scholar
Nicetae Choniatae Historia = Pontani, A., Maisano, R. and Dieten, J.-L. (eds), 1994–2001. Niceta Coniata, Grandezza e catastrofe di Bisanzio (Narrazione cronologica). Fondazione Lorenzo Valla. Scrittori greci e latini, 2 Vols. Milan.Google Scholar
Nikolaos Mesarites, Palastrevolution = Nikolaos Mesarites. Die Palastrevolution des Johannes Komnenos. Heisenberg, A. (ed.) 1907. Würzburg.Google Scholar
Notitia Dignitatum = Seeck, O. (ed.) 1876. Notitia Dignitatum. Accedunt Notitia urbis Constantinopolitane et laterculi prouinciarum. Berlin.Google Scholar
Nowicka, N. 1970. A propos des tours – pyrgoi dans les papyrus grecs. Archeologia. Rocznik Instytutu Historii Kultury Materialnej Polskiej Akademii Nauk 21: 53–62.Google Scholar
Origines = Preger, T. (ed.) 1901-1907. Scriptores originum Constantinopolitanarum. 2 vols. Leipzig.Google Scholar
Pelletier 1861. Entre Sétif et le Bou-Taleb. Revue Africaine 5: 447–55.Google Scholar
Petragnani, E. 1928. Il Sahara Tripolitano. Roma.Google Scholar
Portères, R. 1958. Les appellations des céréales en Afrique. II – Les blés et leurs dénominations. Journal d'agriculture tropicale et de botanique appliquée 5: 311–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poulle, A. 1874. Inscriptions diverses de la Mauritania Sétifienne et de la Numidie. Recueil des notices et mémoires de la Société Archéologique du Département de Constantine, 1873–1874 , 16: 363–459.Google Scholar
Poulle, A. 1880. Le centenarium d'Aqua Frigida et le praeses T. Aurelius Litua. Recueil des notices et mémoires de la Société Archéologique du Département de Constantine, 1879–1880 , 20: 255–65.Google Scholar
Rebuffat, R. 1988. Les fermiers du désert. L'Africa romana 5: 33–68.Google Scholar
Reddé, M. 1985. Occupation humaine et mise en valeur économique dans les Vallées du nord de la Libye: l'exemple du wadi Tlal. Bulletin du Comite des Travaux Historiques 19b: 173–80.Google Scholar
Reddé, M. 1988. Prospection des Vallées du nord de la Libye (1979–1980). La région de Syrte à l'époque romaine (= Armée romaine et provinces IV). Paris.Google Scholar
Romanelli, P. 1959. Storia delle province romane dell'Africa. Roma.Google Scholar
Schuchardt, H. 1918. Die romanische Lehnwörter im Berberischen. Kais. Akademie der Wissenshaften in Wien. Philosophische-historische Klasse. Sitzungberichte 188.4. Wien.Google Scholar
Scott, C.W.M. 2011. A Long Walk in the Desert: A Study of the Roman Hydreumata along the Trade Routes between the Red Sea and the Nile. Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 3.4: 16–27.Google Scholar
Scott, E., Dore, J. and Mattingly, D, 1996. The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Archaeological Survey Gazetteer 1979–1989. In Barker and Mattingly 1996, Vol. 2: 1–316.Google Scholar
Shahid, I. 2002. Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Centuries. 2.1, Toponymy, Monuments, Historical Geography, and Frontier Studies. Washington.Google Scholar
Sidebotham, S.E. and Zitterkopf, R.E. 1998. Survey of the Via Hadriana: the 1997 Season. Bulletin de l'institut français d'archéologie orientale 98: 353–65.Google Scholar
Sidebotham, S.E., Zitterkopf, R.E. and Helms, C.C. 2000. Survey of the Via Hadriana: the 1998 Season. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 37: 115–26.Google Scholar
Skok, P. 1930. Zum Balkanlatein III. Zeitschrift für romanische Philologie 50: 484–532.Google Scholar
Smith, D.J. 1968. The centenaria of Tripolitania and their antecedents. In Gadallah, F.F. (ed.), Libya in History. Historical Conference 16–23 march 1968, Benghazi: 299–311.Google Scholar
Southern, P. and Dixon, K. 1996. The Late Roman Army. London.Google Scholar
Speidel, M. 2005. The Origin of the Late Roman Army Ranks. Tyche 20: 205–207.Google Scholar
Tantillo, I., Bigi, F. and del Corso, L. 2010. Catalogo dei monumenti iscritti. In Tantillo, I. and Bigi, F. (eds), Leptis Magna. Una città e le sue iscrizioni in età tardoromana. Cassino: 313–493.Google Scholar
Tantillo, I. Forthcoming. Praesides, comites, duces. La Tripolitania e l'amministrazione dell'Africa tardoromana. Antiquité tardive.Google Scholar
Tiefenbach, H. 1973. Studien zu Wörter volkssprachiger Herkunft in karolingischen Köningsurkunden. München.Google Scholar
Trousset, P. 1974. Recherches sur le limes Tripolitanus. Du Chott el-Djerid à la frontière Tuniso-Libyenne. Paris.Google Scholar
Tsangadas, B. 1980. Fortifications and Defense of Constantinople. New York.Google Scholar
Van Berchem, D. 1952. L'armée de Dioclétien et la réforme Constantinienne. Paris.Google Scholar
Wagner, M.L. 1936. Restos de latinidad en el Norte de África. Coimbra.Google Scholar
Walde, A. and Hoffmann, J.B. 1938. Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. Heidelberg.Google Scholar
Whittaker, C.R. 1994. Frontiers of the Roman Empire. A Social and Economic Study. Baltimore-London.Google Scholar
Zitterkopf, R.E. and Sidebotham, S.E. 1989. Stations and Towers on the Quseir-Nile Road. Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 75: 155–89.Google Scholar