Rethinking The Roman City

The spatial turn has brought forward new analytical imperatives about the importance of space in the relationship between physical and social networks of meaning. This volume explores this in relation to approaches and methodologies in the study of urban space in Roman Italy. As a consequence of these new imperatives, sociological studies on ancient Roman cities are flourishing, demonstrating a new set of approaches that have developed separately from "traditional" historical and topographical analyses. Rethinking the Roman City represents a convergence of these different approaches to propose a new interpretive model, looking at the Roman city and one of its key elements: the forum. After an introductory discussion of methodological issues, internationally-know specialists consider three key sites of the Roman world – Rome, Ostia and Pompeii. Chapters focus on physical space and/or the use of those spaces to inter-relate these different approaches. The focus then moves to the Forum Romanum, considering the possible analytical trajectories available (historical, topographical, literary, comparative and sociological), and the diversity of possible perspectives within each of these, moving towards an innovative understanding of the role of the forum within the Roman city. This volume will be of great value to scholars of ancient cities across the Roman world, well as historians of urban society and development throughout the ancient world.

According to one narrative, that received almost canonical status a century ago with Francis Haverfield, the orthogonal grid was the most important development of ancient town planning, embodying values of civilization in contrast to barbarism, diffused in particular by hundreds of Roman colonial foundations, and its main legacy to subsequent urban development was the model of the grid city, spread across the New World in new colonial cities. This book explores the shortcomings of that all too colonialist narrative and offers new perspectives. It explores the ideals articulated both by ancient city founders and their modern successors; it looks at new evidence for Roman colonial foundations to reassess their aims; and it looks at the many ways post-Roman urbanism looked back to the Roman model with a constant re-appropriation of the idea of the Roman.

The only monograph available on the subject, this book presents archaeological and literary evidence to provide students with a full and detailed treatment of the little-investigated aspect of Roman urbanism - the phenomenon of suburban development.

Explores the vital links between social order and cosmology by examining the concept of foedus in Roman religion and literature.

The contributors to this volume provide an accessible and jargon-free insight into the notion of the Roman city; what shaped it, and how it both structured and reflected Roman society. Roman Urbanism challenges the established economic model for the Roman city and instead offers original and diverse approaches for examining Roman urbanization, bringing the Roman city into the nineties. Roman Urbanism is a lively and informative volume, particularly valuable in an age dominated by urban development.

What is the study of Roman history all about? What are its aims? What is its place within the discipline of Classics? These and many other questions are asked by Jerry Toner who has seen many changes in the field of Roman history since he first emerged from Cambridge as a budding Roman historian. This short book looks at the transformations that have taken place in research methodology and in the nature of the discipline in recent times. One for the undergraduate.

Discusses what life was like for craftsmen, merchants, slaves, soldiers, and other residents of ancient Roman cities.

A synthesis of recent work in archaeology and social history, drawing on physical, literary, and documentary sources.