This survey explores how and why Romans of the late Republic and early Principate were fascinated with landscaped nature. Thematic discussions and case studies work through what 'landscape' represented and how studying Roman identity in terms of place, environment and the natural world helps us better to understand Rome itself.

"This provocative and controversial volume examines the notions of ethnicity, citizenship and nationhood to determine what constituted cultural identity in the Roman empire. The contributors draw together the most recent research and use diverse theoretical and methodological perspectives from archaeology, classical studies and ancient history to challenge our basic assumptions of Romanization and how parts of Europe became incorporated into a Roman culture." "Cultural Identity in the Roman Empire breaks new ground, negating the idea of a unified and easily defined Roman culture as over-simplistic. The contributors present the development of Roman cultural identity throughout the empire as a complex and two-way process, far removed from the previous dichotomy between the Roman invaders and the conquered Barbarians."--Jacket

Throughout the early modern period, the villas of Frascati played a central role in Roman social politics. New families penetrated Roman society and began to climb from the ranks of the ecclesiastical nobility into the secular aristocracy in the mid-sixteenth century. In this study, Tracy Ehrlich analyzes one such villa--the Villa Mondragone--(built by Pope Paul V Borghese) to demonstrate how architecture, landscape and rituals of villegiatura (villa life) were used to forge a new identity as a Roman noble house.

A study of identity and social change in the Roman empire and the relationship of this knowledge to understanding of the contemporary world.

Monografie over onderzoek naar Romeinse villa's en hun omgeving in de noordelijke provincies van het Romeinse Rijk.

In Gardens of the Roman Empire, the pioneering archaeologist Wilhelmina F. Jashemski sets out to examine the role of ancient Roman gardens in daily life throughout the empire. This study, therefore, includes for the first time, archaeological, literary, and artistic evidence about ancient Roman gardens across the entire Roman Empire from Britain to Arabia. Through well-illustrated essays by leading scholars in the field, various types of gardens are examined, from how Romans actually created their gardens to the experience of gardens as revealed in literature and art. Demonstrating the central role and value of gardens in Roman civilization, Jashemski and a distinguished, international team of contributors have created a landmark reference work that will serve as the foundation for future scholarship on this topic. An accompanying digital catalogue will be made available at: www.gardensoftheromanempire.org.

This volume presents the results of the fourteenth workshop of the international network 'Impact of Empire'. It focuses on the ways in which Rome's dominance influenced, changed, and created landscapes, and examines in which ways (Roman) landscapes were narrated and semantically represented. To assess the impact of Rome on landscapes, some of the twenty contributions in this volume analyse functions and implications of newly created infrastructure. Others focus on the consequences of colonisation processes, settlement structures, regional divisions, and legal qualifications of land. Lastly, some contributions consider written and pictorial representations and their effects. In doing so, the volume offers new insights into the notion of ‘Roman landscapes’ and examines their significance for the functioning of the Roman empire.