This important new volume examines archaeological evidence of Roman colonization of the Middle Republican period. Themes of land use, ethnic accommodation and displacement, colonial identity, and administrative schemes are also highlighted. In delving deeply into the uniqueness of select colonial contexts, these essays invite a novel discussion on the phenomenon of colonialism in the political landscape of Rome’s early expansion. Roman urbanism of the Middle Republican period brought to the Italian peninsula fundamental changes, an important example of which, highlighted by a wealth of studies, is the ebullience of a dense network of colonies, as well as a mix of senatorial tactics and individual initiatives that underpinned their foundation. Whether Latin, Roman, or Maritimae, colonies created a new mesh of communities and imposed a new topography; more subtly, they signified the mechanisms of the rising hegemony. This book brings to the fore the diversity, agendas, and overall impact of a “settlement device” that changed the Italian landscape and introduced a new idea of Roman town.

Probes evidence of the rising hegemony that became Rome

Roman Republican and Imperial colonies were established by diverse agents reacting to contemporary problems. By removing anachronistic interpretations, Roman colonies cease to seem like ‘little Romes’ and demonstrate a complex role in the spread of Roman imperialism and culture.

This study presents new evidence for the development of commerce and inter-regional trade through survey and analysis of urban layout and architecture. The study of Roman urbanism – especially its early (Republican) phases – is extensively rooted in the evidence provided by a series of key sites, several of them located in Italy. Some of these Italian towns (e.g. Fregellae, Alba Fucens, Cosa) have received a great deal of scholarly attention in the past and they are routinely referenced as textbook examples, framing much of our understanding of the broad phenomenon of Roman urbanism. However, discussions of these sites tend to fall back on well-established interpretations, with relatively little or no awareness of more recent developments. This is remarkable, since our understanding of these sites has since evolved thanks to new archaeological fieldwork, often characterised by the pursuit of new questions and the application of new approaches. Similarly, new evidence from other sites has since prompted a reconsideration of time-honoured views about the nature, role and long-term trajectory of Roman towns in Italy. Tracing its origins in the Laurence Seminar on Roman Urbanism in Italy: recent discoveries and new directions, which took place at the Faculty of Classics of the University of Cambridge (27–28 May 2022), this volume brings together scholars whose recent work at key sites is contributing to expand, change or challenge our current knowledge and understanding of Roman urbanism in Italy. The individual chapters showcase some of the most recent methods and approaches applied to the study of Roman towns, discussing the broader implications of fresh archaeological discoveries from both well known and less widely known sites, from the Po Plain to Southern Italy, from the Republican to the Late Antique period (and beyond).

The Routledge Handbook of the Archaeology of Urbanism in Italy in the Age of Roman Expansion explores trends in urbanism across Italy in the period when Rome extended its power across the entire peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica. Chapters present the most up-to-date archaeological data in the first broad and detailed treatment of this topic, superseding traditional academic particularism. They present a significant re-evaluation of the process of Roman imperialism and the role of urbanization within it. Particular attention is paid to evidence for local agency in different regions and at different sites, but general trends are also highlighted. Various types of urban sites are examined, including Indigenous urban centers that pre-date Rome’s conquest, colonies, both Greek and Roman, small centers in the hinterlands of larger urban entities, and the symbiotic relationship between urban centers and their rural territories. This volume challenges the existence of a standardized “Roman model” imposed on Rome’s vanquished enemies through conquest and highlights that this was a period of intense experimentation. Archaeological data are used to challenge traditional text-based historiographic models and reveal the complex interplay and tensions between Roman imperial control, local and regional traditions, and broader Mediterranean trends. This book is of importance to archaeologists and ancient historians working on urbanism and Roman Imperialism, as well as those interested in early urbanism in the Western Mediterranean and Europe and the comparative study of imperialism and colonialism across geographical areas and historical periods.

Proceedings of a conference held at the University of Kent, 11th and 12th October 2008 There has been, in recent years, a quickening of interest in the condition of Italy and state of those who lived there during the Roman republic. The diverse nature of the evidence, both historical and archaeological, has stimulated scholarly debate. New techniques and ideas are being brought to bear on old questions with interesting results. The papers in this volume, by both historians and archaeologists, are a contribution to the debate. They look at Italy and Rome from an Italian as well as from a Roman perspective. Dogmatism has been avoided in order to present different viewpoints and individual perspectives. Out of such diversity there eventually comes progress in understanding. A wide range of topics will be found scrutinised and discussed here. Issues covered include villas, the ager publicus and agriculture, Italian participation in Roman politics, Roman agricultural writers and some of the methodological problems our evidence poses.

Roman colonization has been seen as a primary model for colonization and colonialism in more recent historical periods. The direct relevance of Roman colonization to wide-ranging historical interpretations and to the self-perception of modern nation-states and empires explains the continuing fascination exerted by Roman colonization in both academic and non-academic circles. Trying to unravel the character and development of the key phase of Roman colonization in the Roman Republican period is therefore essential, not only for ancient history, archaeology, and related disciplines, but also for a better understanding of the modern world. The most comprehensive study on Roman colonization remains Edward Togo Salmon's Roman Colonization under the Republic (1969). In the almost 50 years since the publication of Salmon's seminal book many crucial revisions have been proposed for different aspects of the traditional view of Roman colonization. Despite the obvious importance of these new studies, their impact on our general understanding of Roman colonization and their deeper significance for understanding Roman imperialism has yet to be fully appreciated. The increasing fragmentation of the research field is an important reason that an overarching, radically new, understanding of Roman republican colonization has not, as yet, been brought forward. Issues that are central to the character of Roman colonization are studied in separate disciplines including Roman historiography, urban archaeology, architecture studies, landscape archaeology, Roman religion studies and Roman law. This volume brings together recent insights from a range of different academic traditions, lifting language and cultural barriers. By presenting both new theoretical insights and new archaeological discoveries, it explores the potentially productive interplay between different emerging research areas that are currently isolated.