Jamie P Sewell
MY BLOG: http://romurbital.wordpress.com/ accompanies my my latest research project to catalogue all the urban and proto-urban centres on the Italian peninsula (350 BCE to 300 CE), undertaken as a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship at the Unversity of Durham, Department of Archaeology.
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Books by Jamie P Sewell
Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplement 79 (Portsmouth R.I.)
pp.190, figs. 63 ISBN-13: 978-1-887829-79-3
Papers by Jamie P Sewell
The article describes the methodology of a two-year research project to create an analytical database and GIS of 583 (proto-)urban centres on the Italian peninsula that existed between 350 BCE and 300 CE. The article is linked to the project's data files, deposited with the ADS, and is essential reading for users of the database. The research design, format and functionality of the database are described in conjunction with the challenges encountered during the methodological development of the project. The relevance of the project to the historical development of urbanism on the Italian peninsula during the period under study is outlined. An overview of the project's results provides an insight into the potential of the research methodology. It is relevant to anyone interested in ancient urbanism, Italian and Roman archaeology, or in the methods and results of combining ancient textual and archaeological legacy data with geospatial data.
Journal of Roman Archaeology Supplement 79 (Portsmouth R.I.)
pp.190, figs. 63 ISBN-13: 978-1-887829-79-3
The article describes the methodology of a two-year research project to create an analytical database and GIS of 583 (proto-)urban centres on the Italian peninsula that existed between 350 BCE and 300 CE. The article is linked to the project's data files, deposited with the ADS, and is essential reading for users of the database. The research design, format and functionality of the database are described in conjunction with the challenges encountered during the methodological development of the project. The relevance of the project to the historical development of urbanism on the Italian peninsula during the period under study is outlined. An overview of the project's results provides an insight into the potential of the research methodology. It is relevant to anyone interested in ancient urbanism, Italian and Roman archaeology, or in the methods and results of combining ancient textual and archaeological legacy data with geospatial data.
Session organisers: Jamie Sewell and Tesse Stek
The Romano-centric historical narrative of the conquest (341 to 265 BC) is well studied, as is the phenomenon of Roman colonisation which came in its wake. Yet an impressive quantity of published results from recent field projects is shedding bright new light on the conquest from the point of view of the conquered. In the period 350 to 300 BC, very large quantities of fortified and rural settlements were created, revealing that communities across much of the peninsula were flourishing. Societal and institutional change at this time is reflected, for example, in settlement dynamics, burial practice, and the development of civic institutions. The conquest created complex patterns of abandonment, continuity and change. New synergies resulted, particularly apparent in new land use strategies, the survival and enhancement of pre-conquest cult places, and the coalescing of new urban centres on or near major pre-conquest settlement sites.
Rather than focusing upon Roman impact versus local reaction, the panel proposes to study the dynamics of the post-conquest period in terms of synergy in a broader framework of Hellenistic technological and ideological developments. By addressing the formative period of Roman imperialism in this way, important parallels with the Roman provinces may be drawn, adding chronological depth to, as well as further exploring currently emerging concepts of Roman imperialism that are less centre- periphery oriented. With papers covering a consistent geographical spectrum, the panel will present results on many aspects of the reconfigurations occurring during and after the conquest period (settlement dynamics, land use, elite roles, religion, cultural and institutional change).
j.p.sewell@durham.ac.uk and t.d.stek@arch.leidenuniv.nl Friday,
Room G15, Henley Business School
9.00 The changing face of South Etruria, Hilary Becker
9.30 Settlement and Society in Hellenistic Etruria, Robert Witcher
10.00 Local elites of Adriatic Italy and their ‘paradoxical’ Romanization, Fabio Colivicchi
10.30 Coffee
11.00 Developments in Larinum and its surrounding territory in the aftermath of the Roman conquest of Italy, Elizabeth Robinson
11.30 The dynamics of higher order settlements on the Italian peninsula (350 - 200 BC): a quantitative analysis, Jamie Sewell
12.00 Village type settlements and Roman expansion in the mid-Republican period: new evidence from Molise and Basilicata, Tesse Stek
ABSTRACTS
The Changing Face of South Etruria
Hilary Becker (University of Mississippi, USA)
After the fall of Veii, cities such as Caere, Tarquinia and Vulci vacillated between peace, cautious truce, to full-out war and even the succession of land to Rome. This paper seeks to map the experience of Romanization in south Etruria during the Hellenistic period. To seek this out, we will look in particular at archaeological and epigraphic evidence to explore how the mechanisms of daily life in Etruria were impacted by Rome’s encroaching presence, in the areas of commerce, trade, and transport, coinage, governance, and warfare. The frescoes of the Tomb of Giglioli at Tarquinia, and its walls decorated with armour, will provide one of the valuable case studies used in this examination.
hwbecker@olemiss.edu
Settlement and Society in Hellenistic Etruria
Robert Witcher (Durham University, UK)
In this paper I examine the changing settlement, population and economy of Etruria during the Hellenistic period. My previous study of Etruria, focussing on the early imperial period, identified considerable sub-regional variability which appeared to result from the long-term effects of Roman colonial control, and the specific economic and demographic impact of the development of Rome as a metropolis. In particular, regional survey suggested that whereas settlement density reached its peak along the coast and in southern Etruria during the early imperial period, settlement across inland Etruria appeared to reach its maximum density during the Hellenistic period before declining, sometimes sharply, in the early imperial period. This paper seeks to review some of the evidence for settlement from Hellenistic Etruria in order to tease out the origins of later settlement trajectories, and to explore the dialogues between Romans and Etruscans, between urban and rural populations, and between elites and commoners which defined the extension of Roman power across Etruria during the final centuries BC.
r.e.witcher@durham.ac.uk
Local Elites of Adriatic Italy and their ‘Paradoxical’ Romanization
Fabio Colivicchi (Queen's University, Ontario, Canada)
Through the discussion of two different case studies, the port city of Ancona and the region of Daunia, a seemingly paradoxical phenomenon is evident that is visible especially in Adriatic Italy – but by no means exclusively - between the 3rd and the 1st centuries BC: a strong increase in signs of ‘Hellenization’ precisely when the political control of Rome is established over Italy. The two case studies confirm that the dualism of ‘Hellenism’ and ‘Romanization’ in the traditional sense of binary opposition is not a productive heuristic tool. In fact Hellenism was not used by the communities of Adriatic Italy to separate themselves from Rome, but to join the developing system of Roman Italy, where Hellenism was a fundamental component for the construction of an increasingly integrated peninsular network.
colivicf@queensu.ca
Developments in Larinum and its Surrounding Territory in the Aftermath of the
Roman Conquest of Italy
Elizabeth Robinson (ICCS Rome,Duke University)
This paper presents a local-level case study of the effects of the Roman conquest on Larinum and its surrounding territory from 400 BC to AD 100. By considering all of the available evidence, it creates a context-sensitive narrative of Larinum’s transition from independent community to Roman municipium. Prosopographical analysis of epigraphic and literary sources shows significant continuity in the local population, particularly among the elites. This is mirrored in the settlement patterns, where reanalysis of the Biferno Valley Survey evidence demonstrates stability of both farms and villas throughout this period. Such findings seem to contrast with new Hellenistic monument types and decorative schemes appearing in the town, but by combining all the evidence it becomes clear that it was the local elites who chose to employ these elements. The stylistic changes reflect the adoption of Mediterranean-wide trends by the local people, rather than the arrival of outside groups at Larinum
Elizabeth.robinson.400@gmail.com
The Dynamics of Higher Order Settlements on the Italian Peninsula (350 - 200 BC): a Quantitative Analysis
Jamie Sewell (Durham University, UK).
My paper examines the impact of the Roman conquest on all fortified settlements larger than 2 hectares on the Italian peninsula south of the Po. For much of central and southern Italy the late 4th and early 3rd centuries BC represent an intense period of settlement creation and renewal. This flourishing coincides exactly with the period of the Roman conquest. How should this phenomenon be understood? Traditionally, it has been studied on a regional basis. As a result, the suggested processes responsible for it differ according to region. My analysis is interregional, comparing local trajectories and their scholarly traditions. Although many centres endured the conquest, by the 2nd century BC their overall number had reduced, and many large urban centres had been redimensioned. This raises an intriguing question, the complexity of which will be explored in the paper: on balance, could Rome be considered as a force for de-urbanisation?
j.p.sewell@durham.ac.uk
Village Type Settlements and Roman Expansion in the Mid-Republican Period: New Evidence from Molise and Basilicata
Tesse Stek (Leiden University, Netherlands)
Roman expansion has typically been associated with urbanism. As a result - and with considerable success - research has often focused on urban contexts, urbanization processes, and, with regard to the hinterland, on the related rationalization of the territory (centuriation). New research hypothesizes, however, that ‘lower-order’ rural settlements and institutions played a considerable role in early Roman expansion and settlement strategies. A combination of the re-reading of epigraphic and archaeological settlement data from colonial territories indeed points to the existence of nucleated or clustered settlement patterns, rather than the anticipated neatly divided landscapes. In this paper, this research direction is further explored and illustrated with new archaeological evidence from the recently started Landscapes of Early Roman Colonization project (NWO), which tests the above hypothesis in the colonial territories of Aesernia (founded 263 BC, modern Molise) and Venusia (founded 291 BC, modern Basilicata).
t.d.stek@arch.leidenuniv.nl