Urban Transformation in Ancient Molise


Book Description

Larinum, a pre-Roman town in the modern region of Molise, underwent a unique transition from independence to municipal status when it received Roman citizenship in the 80s BCE shortly after the Social War. Its trajectory during this period illuminates complex processes of cultural, social, and political change associated with the Roman conquest throughout the Italian peninsula in the first millennium BCE. This book uses all the available evidence to create a site biography of Larinum from 400 BCE to 100 CE, with a focus on the urban transformation that occurred there during the Roman conquest. This study is distinctive in utilizing many different types of evidence: literary sources (including the pro Cluentio), settlement patterns, inscriptions, monuments and artifacts. It highlights the importance of local isolated variability in studies of Roman conquest, and provides a narrative that supplements larger works on this theme.




Urban Transformation in Ancient Molise


Book Description

"This book uses all the available evidence to create a site biography of Larinum from 400 BCE to 100 CE, with a focus on the urban transformation that occurs there during the Roman conquest. Larinum, a pre-Roman town in the modern region of Molise, undergoes a unique transition from independence to municipal status when it receives Roman citizenship in the 80s BCE shortly after the Social War. Its trajectory illuminates complex processes of cultural, social and political change associated with the Roman conquest throughout the Italian peninsula in the first millennium BCE. This work highlights the importance of local isolated variability in studies of the Roman conquest, and provides a narrative that supplements larger works on this theme. Through a focus on local-level agency, it demonstrates strong local continuity in Larinum and its surrounding territory. This continuity is the key to Larinum's transition into the Roman state, which is spearheaded by the local elites. They participate in the broader cultural choices of the Hellenistic koiné and strive to be part of a Mediterranean-wide dialog that, over time, will come to be dominated by Rome. The case is made for advancing the field of Roman conquest studies under a new paradigm of social transformation that focuses on a history of gradual change, continuity, connectivity and local isolated variability that is contingent on highly specific issues rather than global movements"--




Social Interactions and Status Markers in the Roman World


Book Description

Proceedings from the ‘People of the Ancient World’ conference held in Cluj-Napoca, Romania in 2016. Ten papers encompass diverse approaches to Roman provincial populations and the corresponding case-studies highlight the multi-faceted character of Roman society.




Urban Transformation in Ancient Molise


Book Description

"This book uses all the available evidence to create a site biography of Larinum from 400 BCE to 100 CE, with a focus on the urban transformation that occurs there during the Roman conquest. Larinum, a pre-Roman town in the modern region of Molise, undergoes a unique transition from independence to municipal status when it receives Roman citizenship in the 80s BCE shortly after the Social War. Its trajectory illuminates complex processes of cultural, social and political change associated with the Roman conquest throughout the Italian peninsula in the first millennium BCE. This work highlights the importance of local isolated variability in studies of the Roman conquest, and provides a narrative that supplements larger works on this theme. Through a focus on local-level agency, it demonstrates strong local continuity in Larinum and its surrounding territory. This continuity is the key to Larinum's transition into the Roman state, which is spearheaded by the local elites. They participate in the broader cultural choices of the Hellenistic koiné and strive to be part of a Mediterranean-wide dialog that, over time, will come to be dominated by Rome. The case is made for advancing the field of Roman conquest studies under a new paradigm of social transformation that focuses on a history of gradual change, continuity, connectivity and local isolated variability that is contingent on highly specific issues rather than global movements"--




Putting Tradition into Practice: Heritage, Place and Design


Book Description

This book gathers more than 150 peer-reviewed papers presented at the 5th INTBAU International Annual Event, held in Milan, Italy, in July 2017. The book represents an invaluable and up-to-date international exchange of research, case studies and best practice to confront the challenges of designing places, building cultural landscapes and enabling the development of communities. The papers investigate methodologies of representation, communication and valorization of historic urban landscapes and cultural heritage, monitoring conservation management, cultural issues in heritage assessment, placemaking and local identity enhancement, as well as reconstruction of settlements affected by disasters. With contributions from leading experts, including university researchers, professionals and policy makers, the book addresses all who seek to understand and address the challenges faced in the protection and enhancement of the heritage that has been created.




Citizens without a City


Book Description

In 2009, after seismic tremors struck the Italian mountain town of L'Aquila, survivors were subjected to a "second earthquake"—invasive media attention and a relief effort that left them in a state of suspended citizenship as they were forcibly resettled and had to envision a new future. In Citizens without a City, Jan-Jonathan Bock reveals how a disproportionate government response exacerbated survivors' sense of crisis, divided the local population, and induced new types of political action. Italy's disenfranchising emergency reaction relocated citizens to camps and sites across a ruined townscape, without a plan for restoration or return. Through grassroots politics, arts and culture, commemoration rituals, architectural projects, and legal avenues, local people now sought to shape their hometown's recovery. Bock combines an analysis of the catastrophe's impact with insights into post-disaster civic life, urban heritage, the politics of mourning, and community fragmentation. A fascinating read for anyone interested in urban culture, disaster, and politics, Citizens without a City illustrates how survivors battled to retain a sense of purpose and community after the L'Aquila earthquake.




Towns in Decline, AD100–1600


Book Description

Many European towns have experienced loss of population, degradation of physical structure and profound economic change at least once since the height of the Roman Empire. This volume is an examination of the various causes of these changes, the results which flowed from them and the reasons why some urban centres survived, revived and eventually flourished again while others failed and died. The contributors bring to bear the techniques of history and archaeology, the perspectives of economics, agronomy, medicine, architecture and planning, geography and law, to the study. The result is a synthesis which connects the Decline of the Roman Empire to the effects of the Black Death and the economic transformation of Renaissance Florence.




Building Mid-Republican Rome


Book Description

Building Mid-Republican Rome offers a holistic treatment of the development of the Mid-Republican city from 396 to 168 BCE. As Romans established imperial control over Italy and beyond, the city itself radically transformed from an ambitious central Italian settlement into the capital of the Mediterranean world. Seth Bernard describes this transformation in terms of both new urban architecture, much of it unprecedented in form and extent, and new socioeconomic structures, including slavery, coinage, and market-exchange. These physical and historical developments were closely linked: building the Republican city was expensive, and meeting such costs had significant implications for urban society. Building Mid-Republican Rome brings both architectural and socioeconomic developments into a single account of urban change. Bernard, a specialist in the period's history and archaeology, assembles a wide array of evidence, from literary sources to coins, epigraphy, and especially archaeological remains, revealing the period's importance for the decline of the Roman state's reliance on obligation and dependency and the rise of slavery and an urban labor market. This narrative is told through an investigation of the evolving institutional frameworks shaping the organization of public construction. A quantitative model of the costs of the Republican city walls reconstructs their economic impact. A new account of building technology in the period allows for a better understanding of the social and demographic profile of the city's builders. Building Mid-Republican Rome thus provides an innovative synthesis of a major Western city's spatial and historical aspects, shedding much-needed light on a seminal period in Rome's development.




Grazing Communities


Book Description

Pastoralism is a diffused and ancient form of human subsistence and probably one of the most studied by anthropologists at the crossroads between continuities and transformations. The present critical discourse on sustainable and responsible development implies a change of practices, a huge socio-economic transformation, and the return of new shepherds and herders in different European regions. Transhumance and extensive breeding are revitalized as a potential resource for inner and rural areas of Europe against depopulation and as an efficient form of farming deeply influencing landscape and functioning as a perfect eco-system service. This book is an occasion to reconsider grazing communities’ frictions in the new global heritage scenario.




The Archaeology of Imperial Landscapes


Book Description

This book examines the poorly understood transformations in rural landscapes and societies that formed the backbone of ancient empires.




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