What Archeologists Learned From An Ancient Roman Stone In Galilee

The Roman Emperor Diocletian inherited a mess of an empire. By the time he came to power in 284 C.E., Rome was too big, too cumbersome to manage, too corrupt, full of petty and ambitious would-be rulers, and plagued by a series of succession problems that yielded 27 emperors over the preceding 86 years, some of whom ruled for mere months. But Diocletian was as pragmatic as they come — a military man of humble origins and son of an emancipated enslaved person. So he devised a radical solution akin to amputation: Split the empire into two halves, jointly ruled, where the emperor of each appointed and trained his successor — his caesar — directly. This system was known as the Tetrarchy after the four rulers involved: Each co-emperor and each successor.

Ultimately, the Tetrarchy itself only lasted 20 years, but its impact persisted for a millennium. The western half of the Roman Empire crumbled, but the eastern half lived on as Byzantium — modern-day Istanbul — until 1453. And while such facts provide a top-level view of peoples, rulers, and times, it leaves out the day-to-day experiences of those who lived during this period. What about the farmers, merchants, mothers, and more who lived on earth and knew nothing about the dealings of empire?

This is where a recent find in Galilee, Israel comes into play. There, archaeologists discovered a simple boundary marker denoting the border between two towns named Tirathas and Gogol — just a single slab of basalt. But before this discovery, no one even knew these towns existed.

Boundary markers, in general, have been used across many, many lands and peoples for thousands of years. Think about it: What else could be a simpler way to denote the borders of a region, town, private property, etc., than to pull up a rock, set it in place, and chisel something into its surface? And as The Jerusalem Post tells us about the recently discovered stone marker in Galilee, its inscription sum things up perfectly, succinctly, and without the slightest room for confusion: "Diocletian and Maximian, the Augusti, and Constantius and Maximian, the Caesars, ordered the placement of this stone marking the boundaries of the fields of the settlements of Tirathas and Golgol. Made under the supervision of Basiliakos." 

However, this single basalt slab is unique in that it doesn't only delineate boundaries between settlements and lock down precisely when it was made and under whose supervision. It also has administrative records etched into it, details on property ownership, who paid what taxes, and so forth. It's basically a town sign, border marker, and municipal ledger all in one. And as mentioned, it's the first and only time that the two towns, Tirathas and Gogol — towns that were full of people living their lives — show up in our historical record.

Also: Remember we mentioned that Emperor Diocletian's empire-splitting Tetrarchy system only lasted for about 20 years or so? That's a very narrow sliver of time and makes the current discovery even more valuable. The stone even mentions Diocletian by name, along with his co-emperor and both of their successors.

It'd be easy to take the current finding of a boundary stone between Tirathas and Gogol and invent all sorts of stories about the two neighbors. Was there a rivalry between the citizens of both settlements? Acrimony between fellow farmers standing on opposite sides of the boundary stone? While we can't be sure about that, the question begs: Why was there no boundary stone before the current one was created? 

For that, a press release from the University of Jerusalem has some good insights based on Emperor Diocletian's massive restructuring of the Roman Empire (via EurekAlert). When Diocletian was emperor, the region was enormous, extending from modern-day England all the way down through the Middle East. Restructuring it was a gargantuan undertaking and involved a fundamental redistricting of land and restructuring of taxes. According to Hebrew University professor Uzi Leibner, the stone boundary marker discovery "is a testament to the meticulous administrative re-organization of the Roman Empire during the Tetrarchy." 

The stone marker is also one of 20 that have cropped up in the nearby area during the same period. This is likely because there were a lot of small property owners in the area — hence the need for boundary markers. There are also records from rabbis in this exact area complaining about increased taxes imposed by Diocletian's measures. In this way, the stone marker shows how our concerns continue to mirror those of our ancestors, right down to who owns what and where and how much the government is owed.