ABSTRACT
The city of Zeugma was, more or less from the time of its foundation in 300 BC until the mid-7th century AD, on the very border between the Classical Mediterranean World and other civilizations with equally long histories to the East (fig. 18.1). Zeugma derives its name from the linked twin cities of Apamea and Seleucia, sited on either bank of the River Euphrates in modern Turkey, not far from the Syrian border. The cities were linked by a bridge of some kind, and this was clearly an important crossing-point on the river in classical times, despite the often hostile relations between Rome and her eastern neighbours. This gave it considerable military and commercial importance with regard to communications between the Roman World and the East, and it was also home to a military garrison, mostly the Legio IV Scythica from the later part of the 1st century AD, at least until the 3rd century. It lies on one of the East-West trade routes that have become known collectively in modern times as the Silk Route, and may therefore be expected to have witnessed significant traffic between Rome and the Orient.
