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The Roman world was a rural world. Most of the Roman population lived in the countryside and had their immediate rural surroundings as their social and economic frame of reference. For much of the Roman period, rural property provided the basis for political power and urban development, and it was in rural areas that the agricultural crops that sustained an expanding empire were grown and many of the most important Roman industries were situated. Rural areas witnessed the presence of some of the most durable symbols of Roman imperial hegemony, such as aqueducts and paved roads. It was mainly here that native and Roman traditions collided and were negotiated. This volume, containing 30 chapters by leading scholars, leverages recent methodological advancements and new interpretative frameworks to provide a holistic view, with an empire-wide reach, of the importance of Roman rural areas in the success of ancient Rome.
List of contents
1. Roman rural archaeology: past, present, and future Gijs Tol and Astrid Van Oyen; Part I. A Rural Lens: 2. Exploring the Roman countryside: conceptual changes and recent advances in fieldwork methodology Stefano Campana; 3. A supra-regional view of the Roman countryside: integrating datasets from systematic field surveys Tymon de Haas, Gijs Tol, Peter Attema, Remco Bronkhorst, Maria-Cristina Capanna, Paolo Carafa, Wim Jongman, Martijn van Leusen, Christopher Smith, Robert Witcher and Niels Wouda; 4. An ideal life: perceptions of the Roman countryside in visual and literary culture Diana Spencer; 5. Reconstructing Roman rural landscapes John M. Marston; 6. Rural continuities, upheavels and resistance: post-colonial implications of Roman imperial landscapes David J. Mattingly; Part II. Rural Lives: 7. Peopling the countryside: the everyday experience of rural life Tamara Lewit; 8. Roman rural burials Liana Brent and Tracy Prowse; 9. Rural religion in the Western Mediterranean: materiality, spaces, dynamics Alejandro G. Sinner and Víctor Revilla; 10. The diversity of Roman rural settlement Astrid Van Oyen and Gijs Tol; 11. Building and dwelling: non-elite rural architecture. raw-earth architecture in the countryside of Roman Etruria Maria Teresa Sgromo; 12. Building and dwelling: Roman villa culture Annalisa Marzano; 13. Cooking and dining in the Roman countryside: the Roman rural diet Maaike Groot and Laura I. Kooistra; 14. Rural connectivity: from local to global networks Cèsar Carreras and Pau de Soto; Part III. Rural Stuff: 15. The diversity of Roman agriculture Dimitri Van Limbergen; 16. Roman livestock husbandry: the importance of the countryside Lídia Colominas Barberà; 17. Rural crafts and industries: consumer goods Benjamin P. Luley; 18. Quarrying and mining in rural landscapes of Rome's west Alfred M. Hirt; 19. Rural Crafts and industries: iron Nadine Dieudonné-Glad; 20. The exploitation of 'marginal' landscapes: the case of the Roman Gauls Frédéric Trément; Part IV. Rural Trajectories: 21. Rural landscapes of Roman Italy Robert Witcher; 22. Roman Iberia: an overview of the archaeology of rural landscapes and societies Ignasi Grau Mira and Jésus Bermejo Tirado; 23. People and place in the Romano-British countryside Martyn G. Allen; 24. The abundant Egyptian countryside Irene Soto Marín; 25. The Galliae Michel Reddé; 26. Roman rural archaeology in North Africa Mariette de Vos Raaijmakers, Redha Attoui and Alessandro Battisti ; 27. Rural structures and the empire: landscape and settlements in South-West Asia during the Roman period Rocco Palermo; Part V. Rural Afterlives: 28. The late Roman countryside: new data and approaches in the twenty-first century Alexandra Chavarría and Tamara Lewit; 29. Roman centuriation: form, function and impact on the landscape Tymon de Haas; 30. Rural landscapes, cultural heritage, and contemporary society: a challenge of public archaeology Giuliano Volpe.
