Lorena Pérez Yarza - RELIGIOUS IDENTIFICATION IN THE WEST: REGIONAL RELIGIOUS FORMULATION OF SYRIANS IN PANNONIA AND AFRICA

The  African  epigraphic  record  provides  examples  of  particular  Syrian  cults  during  the  
2nd  and  3rd  centuries  AD  at  the  southern  frontier  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Different  
communities  of  Syrian  soldiers,  mainly  organised  in  numeri  such  as  the  Palmyrene  or  
Hemesan, were detached to African frontier garrisons and militarised cities where they
made  contact  with  other  soldiers  and  the  local  population.  In  turn,  at  the  north  of  the  
Empire, the same migrant communities that came from Syria similarly settled along the
Danube around fortified towns and forts of the Pannonian border. The urban spaces that
hosted these soldiers had their own characteristics, which were influenced by the regional
social  context,  very  different  in  the  case  of  the  inhabitants  of  African  deserts  and
mountains, or in that of the Danubian plains.  
Cults  such  as  the  one  of  Jupiter  Dolichenus  reached  a  remarkable  expansion  through
shared  social  settings,  i.e.  the  Danubian  military,  and  reached  broader  elements  of  the
Danubian  population  while  the  same  cult  in  Africa  seemed  to  remain  confined  only  to
soldiers officers  and Syrians with a very limited  reach. The dispersion of  cults such as
that of Malachbel, non-existent in Pannonia, also exhibit regional variabilities, at the same
time that other worships adapted from the Roman world, e.g. the solar cult, appear shared
among various religious traditions and groups. The study of the Syrian population settled
in Pannonia and Africa, and their religious epigraphic production, can shed light on the
local social composition during the Roman Empire, namely the different mechanisms of
integration,  group  claiming  and  social  dialogue  that  were  expressed  in  the  religious
epigraphy. The analysis of the European and African cases -with communities of similar
provenance, context, and chronology- seeks to advance the study of human adaptability
by identifying the role played by social context on the creation of identifiable religious
communities or, conversely, the integration of individuals into their new social
environment.