My research examines how Roman-style material culture was used to express identity, how this changed during the Roman period, whether different types of material culture were adopted at the same time and whether there were differences across different types of site. Evidence for expression of identities related to wealth, status, gender, group identities and ethnicity was also examined. Datasets were analysed by four themes: literacy, including evidence for writing and knowledge of Classical literature; personal appearance, including personal grooming, hair-styling and dress; foodways, what was eaten, how it was prepared and served; and the use of settlement space as the setting for social interaction, and how individuals experienced these spaces. Taken together these provided a more nuanced understanding of the nature of identity expression at each site than is apparent from consideration of each site in isolation, or from consideration of single artefact types. Data from forty-six settlement sites where detailed published excavation reports were available were examined to explore the similarities and differences in the use of Roman-style material culture between 'nucleated settlement', 'shrine', 'estate centre', 'villa' and 'farm' sites, with a comparison against data for 'military', 'urban', and 'Iron Age oppidum' sites. A non-statistical methodology was developed for comparison of different types of artefacts. The four types of material culture were adopted at different rates and in different combinations at the different rural sites types, with a link between the function of a site and the way in which identity was expressed. Consideration of changes over time indicate that, contrary to general assumptions, adoption of Roman-style material culture in the study area was relatively slow and modest, comparable to other areas in Britain at the periphery of the Empire, with little evidence for differentiation of an elite material culture until the elite villa architecture of the later Roman period. Changes in the extent and use of material culture can be linked to the major re-organisation of the landscape in the early second century, and the establishment of Cirencester as the probable capital of the new province of Britannia Prima.

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Since large-scale excavations began in the mid-19th century, scholarly studies of houses in Pompeii and Herculaneum have emphasized the “social” nature of their design. Most Campanian domūs are viewed as spaces with high levels of transparency and permeability to which non-residents were afforded a certain degree of unregulated access. This theoretical paradigm has developed, however, without consideration for doors, partitions, and other closure systems that controlled visual and physical contact between various parts of the residence. That these structures have largely been ignored by students of Campanian archaeology is surprising, given that boundaries were an incredibly influential element in the ancient cultural landscape, delimiting the social, political, and spatial domains that comprised the Roman world. Indeed, the Latin literary sources reveal that boundaries, both inside the house and out, were often afforded special status—they were attended by their own deities and were regularly the focus of ceremonies and rituals. This thesis addresses this oversight by presenting the results of the Doors of Pompeii and Herculaneum Project, a survey of closure systems and their archaeological vestiges in 31 Campanian dwellings. This evidence is complemented by the findings of comparative surveys conducted in houses elsewhere in the Mediterranean world. Analysis of these data reveals that permeable boundaries, in their manifold forms, played a crucial role in structuring ancient domestic space. By repopulating the houses of Pompeii and Herculaneum with doors, partitions, and other bounding mechanisms, this research challenges the concept of the “social house,” demonstrating that access to and movement within the house was, in fact, heavily regulated by the inhabitants. This represents a fundamental reinterpretation of the relationship between house and society in the Vesuvian cities.

This thesis applies stable isotope analysis to the study of diet from a rural Roman estate, Vagnari (1st – 4th centuries AD), in southern Italy. The major objectives of this research are to identify the types of food eaten in the Vagnari skeletal sample from stable isotope ratios, as well as to explore individual variation in diet in the sample. Isotopic composition of collagen and carbonate indicate a diet heavy in C₃ plants with the incorporation of some animal-based proteins. Isotopes of carbon from collagen (δ¹³C) were relatively consistent across the sample, with some variation according to burial type. Nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) values varied with age-at-death and the number of grave goods buried with an individual, suggesting possible status-based variation in diet. Carbon isotopes from carbonate (δ¹³Cₐₚ) suggested variation in total diet with increased age-at-death. Isotope ratios from Vagnari were also compared with other Imperial Italian sites to situate the diet within a broader Roman context. Isotopically, diets at Vagnari were most similar to other inland and rural sites, and distinct from coastal urban diets based on marine fish. These results indicate the diversity in foods eaten in the Roman Empire, both at a local site level and between different settlements. Studying diet from Vagnari provides another window into the lives of people who lived and worked on industrial estates, and bolsters knowledge of the diets of rural residents, which are underrepresented in the literature. / Thesis / Master of Arts (MA)

In the arid Mediterranean world the careful management of water was essential for survival. Control of this resource was akin to political power. Rome and its environs were no different: water was an important status symbol and granting public access to it was considered a particularly generous gesture. During the principate a successful emperor was expected to demonstrate concern for the needs of the populace and one of the most effective ways for him to do this was by providing abundant quantities of water. As a political tool, water proved to be invaluable in its versatility. Imperial gifts could manifest in the form of access to drinking water, leisure spaces such as public gardens and baths, or even spectacular games and shows given on purpose-built artificial lakes. Additionally, massive engineering works such as aqueducts, harbors, and drainage projects, aimed at improving the water and food supply, were carefully designed to showcase the resources and generosity of the imperial patron. This study traces the origins of these forms of largesse, following their development from the Republican period to the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. By examining the water-related monuments and spectacles of each individual Julio-Claudian emperor in the context of their time, this dissertation aims to reconstruct the structures themselves, their intended audiences, and the water policies and patterns of influence created by each Julio-Claudian emperor. The first principes of Rome were still shaping their role and exploring ways in which they could balance their exercise of power with their expected responsibilities to the different strata of Roman society. The early principes began to experiment with water related munificence, and created many new forms of buildings and displays for the public that would eventually become canonical components of Imperial largesse and legitimization. / text

In this thesis, data collected from both previously published material and new surveys conducted using satellite imagery on the architecture and construction of over 2,400 rural structures in nine different regions of Tripolitania and dating between the 1st c. BC and the 7th c. AD are brought together and analysed on a regional scale. The synthesis and standardisation of these data and the creation of new typologies, applicable to structures in all parts of the region have, for the first time, facilitated meaningful comparisons between buildings and settlements across Tripolitania during the period under the study, in a more systematic fashion and on a wider scale than has previously been possible. This first part of this study contextualises the material with discussions on the historical background of Tripolitania, previous investigations and methodological foundations, the evidence for pre-Roman architectures and settlement, and the chronology of rural settlement during the period under study based on ceramic evidence. This is followed by a discussion of the known military buildings in the region, with particular reference to how these structures related and potentially contributed to the development of civilian settlement and architecture. The second part of this study presents quantitative and qualitative analyses of the physical characteristics of the main group of buildings under investigation: unfortified and fortified farm buildings. Discussions of how different spaces may have been utilised and the spatial relationships between the settlement groups formed by these buildings provide insight into how and why different types of buildings developed in the countryside between the 1st c. BC and the 7th c. AD. These analyses demonstrate that the rural buildings of Tripolitania can be seen as meaningful reflections not only of the wide variety of activities taking place in the buildings themselves, but also of the varying histories and patterns of land-use in different parts of the region and even the status, wealth, and socio-cultural structures of the people who constructed and lived in them.

This dissertation interrogates the agency of provincial communities in the Roman Empire to shape their urban environments though the integration of non-local building types, specifically Roman-style baths. By applying an urban-studies approach to the examination of these technologically complex and socially significant building types, this study intervenes in the traditional study of Roman baths, which have primarily studied these facilities in isolation or focused exclusively on their design and layout. Instead, this dissertation explores the placement of Roman-style baths in provincial settlements, the urban contexts of their integration, and the influence that pre-existing baths and bathing culture had on the construction of Roman-style baths. Recognizing that provincial communities made deliberate choices regarding the location of Roman-style baths in their pre-existing urban framework, this dissertation explores the factors that helped dictate the placement of these bathing facilities. Rather than focus on a single region of the Roman world, this dissertation studies the placement of baths in one hundred settlements across eleven provinces that stretch from the Britannia in the west and Asia in the East. This transregional study presents a balance between exploring empire-wide trends and local practices concerning the urban context of Roman baths, as well as the relationship between the two and reveals the widespread preference for placing Roman baths in high-traffic locations, where access and visibility would be greatest. This dissertation ends with a focused examination of baths in Roman Greece and Britain to investigate how pre-existing bathing culture influenced the integration of Roman-style baths in these regions and how the preferred high-traffic locations were adapted by the local communities to accommodate these facilities. These case studies highlight the preference for these provincial communities to construct their baths afresh in new locations that best suited local needs and expectations. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This dissertation examines the placement of Roman-style baths in provincial communities to investigate the factors that influenced the integration of these bathing facilities into pre-established urban landscapes. A total of one hundred settlements across eleven provinces are studied in order to identify the factors that influenced the placement and integration of these non-local building types and how these factors varied between regions. In addition, focused case studies on Roman-style baths in Britain and Greece are used to explore how pre-existing bathing culture impacted the adoption of Roman public baths. This dissertation represents the first transregional study of the placement of Roman-style baths and contributes to a growing trend of scholarship that highlights the agency of local communities in the adoption of the Roman cultural practice of public bathing.

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The economic development of frontier regions has been neglected in the study of the Roman economy. Traditional core/periphery models suggest that frontiers were marginal zones dependent on a wealthy Mediterranean core, and this view has dominated scholarship for more than thirty years. In light of recent work on the Roman economy, it is clear that many old models need to be reappraised; this thesis examines the economic development of frontiers through the case study of the Rhine River Basin. This region formed one of Rome’s northern frontiers for more than 400 years and has a rich tradition of detailed archaeological and historical research. Using data from the Rhine frontier, this thesis re-examines the nature of frontier economies, arguing that they were dynamic, versatile, and complex rather than subaltern and undeveloped. A new model, based in the analytic framework of economic geography, is suggested as a replacement in order to appreciate the realities and potential of frontier economies.