This thesis focuses on the economies of Roman ports and their role in the facilitation and organization of maritime trade, combining both terrestrial and maritime archaeological evidence as well as literary and epigraphic material. The first half of the thesis examines Mediterranean ports from a panoptic level in order to address questions of systems of trade, connectivity and economic development. In doing so, I focus on three particular areas of material culture: ceramics, shipwreck cargoes (typically composed of amphorae, metal ingots or stone) and epigraphy. The second half of the thesis focuses on two case studies, southern Turkey and southern France. For each region, I explore the economic factors which led to the development of each region and the ways in which ports enabled this development. I consider the impact of landscape, the usage of natural resources and the extent of production for both local consumption and export. Importantly, I examine the regional connections of the two regions and their interactions within the wider Mediterranean. I develop a model for the development of ports along each coastline and their degree of integration into the trading network of the Roman Mediterranean. Building on this, it becomes possible to assess the extent and scale of extra-regional interaction and market integration. From the evidence presented in this thesis, I argue that ports were at the core of the Roman market economy and that the development of a port network allowed for the integration and interdependence of Mediterranean markets. This allowed for regional economic growth through the specialization in the production of goods for which a region had a comparative advantage.

This thesis examines the tubulus, a ceramic heating pipe developed by the Romans to create wall cavities through which hot air could circulate. An extension of the hypocaust system, tubuli systems were one of the most advanced heating systems used in antiquity, and were employed throughout the Roman Empire. This thesis focuses on the tubuli from Roman Arabia and particularly those from the site of Humayma, in modern Jordan, where a large corpus of this material has been found. This thesis represents the first study specifically on tubuli in Roman Arabia, and as such, it presents an initial examination of the material and lays the foundation for future studies on the topic. The first chapter of this thesis introduces tubuli, the region of Roman Arabia, and the history of baths in Roman Arabia. In the second chapter, tubuli and their use at Humayma are discussed in detail, and a chronological tubulus typology is presented. The Humayma tubuli are put into their regional context in the third chapter, which looks at tubuli found at sites throughout Roman Arabia. This final chapter also examines the regional trade and reuse of this material. Although this study only scratches the surface of this topic, it is able to reach several conclusions regarding tubuli and their use in Roman Arabia. These findings include revelations about the Nabataeans’ adoption and adaption of the tubulus before the Roman annexation of their territory and insights into the production and trade of this previously poorly understood material. / Graduate / 0324 / 0333 / 0579 / caharvey@uvic.ca

<p>Located in southeast Italy, the site of Vagnari has been explored archaeologically as a Roman <em>vicus</em> that once formed part of an imperial estate. After the discovery of a cemetery on the property in 2002, exploration has yielded important results for understanding the lives and deaths of individuals in rural Italy from the first to early fourth centuries AD. Within the sphere of funerary archaeology and commemoration, there has been a shift in recent scholarship away from the monuments and practices of imperial and senatorial families in urban cities towards those who were underrepresented in epigraphic and textual evidence, namely ordinary individuals. Funerary archaeology presents one medium of exploring both funerary and burial practices in previously understudied areas of Roman Italy.</p> <p>Previous studies of the Vagnari cemetery have been centered around a catalogue of burials, artifacts, and pathology, with more recent work focusing on stable isotopes and ancient DNA. This thesis focuses on the artifacts and patterns of distribution to understand how burial practices may have been shaped by social, economic and legal status. The primary focus is not the artifacts themselves, but the ways in which material culture can be interpreted to address issues of social status and prosperity within the cemetery. Within the wider realm of funerary practices, this study aims to understand funerals in a rural setting based on the burial record by incorporating archaeological, literary and historic evidence, in order to situate the site within our increasing knowledge of death and commemoration in the Roman Empire.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

If as argued the Mediterranean consisted in Antiquity of a unity determined by similar environmental factors and crises which were mitigated through established networks of trade and exchange, the border regions of the Roman Mediterranean, particularly to the South and East, were characterised by a radically different environment. This thesis focuses on the development of three of the arid regions bordering the ancient Mediterranean, namely the Fazzan oases in the Libyan Sahara, the Eastern Desert of Egypt and the region of Palmyra in Syria. These arid regions have received considerable archaeological attention in recent years, and a review of them will highlight the factors which enabled these regions to interact with the Roman Empire through trading dynamics, but also through the development of local resources. Central questions within this thesis concern the extent to which the environment would have tailored the potential of these regions, and if the existence of trade routes and social networks both affected and were affected by settlement and exploitation patterns in the region. Trade was created by geographically much broader social requirements for foreign or exotic goods, yet was restricted by the possibility to pass through these regions. Developments were conditioned by the constant need for balance between the state as a power enforcing and representing peace and security and local entities, and what the local social organisation had to offer in term of rent and stability to the state as an institution. After an introduction (Chapter 1) delineating the aims of the thesis, Chapter 2 defines influential theories and models that will be considered for this thesis, namely environmental factors, social networks and institutional economics. The archaeological evidence is then discussed in each relevant chapter: Chapter 3: The Libyan Sahara; Chapter 4: The Eastern Desert of Egypt; Chapter 5: Palmyra. Chapter 6 discusses major factors that may work as explanations for the development of agriculture, the exploitation mineral resources, and trade in these regions. The choice of regions both inside and outside the Roman Empire also allows a discussion on the rise of economic activities linked to the imperial economy. As such, the thesis moves away from a romano-centric perspective and proposes to look instead for internal factors, such as the development of complex societies with organisational frameworks and social networks which enable them to overcome the challenges of their geo-climatic settings. This study concludes that the developments identified in each chapter were not a factor of environmental changes but human agency. The state, or private individuals or communities successfully organised the resources necessary to integrate the regions into wider networks of intense trade in the imperial period. These concerned both physical infrastructure, and the development of far-reaching social networks.

Les coutumes funéraires dans les provinces romaines reflètent les changements politiques, ethniques, économiques ou religieux survenus au cours du Haut-Empire. L'objectif de ce travail est de proposer une synthèse des pratiques funéraires au Haut-Empire en Pannonie et en Gaule lyonnaise afin qu'elle puisse servir de base solide pour de futures études et le traitement des documents inédits. A travers un bilan documentaire le plus exhaustif possible des données publiées et une analyse détaillée des informations aujourd'hui disponibles, il s'agit de mettre en évidence les tendances observables à l'échelle de la province mais aussi des particularités régionales. Cette étude, menée sur deux provinces de population autochtone majoritairement celtique, nous permet ainsi de mieux comprendre les tendances générales des pratiques funéraires dans les provinces occidentales, mais également de mettre en valeur des particularités régionales ou communautaires liées à diverses influences externes et des évolutions internes. Elle montre également la nécessité de s'intéresser à des indices parfois jugés secondaires, comme la position du mobilier ou son état, qui sont pourtant des indicateurs forts sinon plus représentatifs de ce qui était considéré par les communautés comme les moments forts des funérailles. / Funeral customs in the Roman provinces reflect political, ethnical, economical or religious changes which occurred during the Early Roman period. Their extensive study therefore allows understanding the influence of these events and the evolutions of communities. The main goal of this work is to propose a synthesis of the funerary practices of the Early Roman period in Pannonia and in Gallia Lugdunensis, so that it can serve as a solid basis for future studies and the treatment of unpublished documents. Through a documentary overview, as exhaustive as possible, of published data and a detailed analysis of the information available nowadays, it is to highlight the trends observable on the scale of the province but also regional particularities. This study, conducted in two provinces of predominantly Celtic indigenous population, helps us to understand the general trends of burial practices in the western provinces during the Early Roman Period, but it highlights also regional and local particularities, related to various external influences and internal developments. It also shows the need to focus on indices sometimes considered as secondary, as the position of the furnishings or their state, which however are more representative of what was seen by the communities as the strong moments of the funeral.

Dans l’est des Gaules et les Germanies, quelques monuments encore conservés en élévation témoignent du nombre et de la qualité des constructions publiques en territoire lingon, éduen, leuque, séquane, rauraque ou helvète durant l’époque impériale. Notre connaissance de cette architecture monumentale reste pourtant très lacunaire, du fait de l’absence d’étude monographique sur les monuments ou de catalogue des collections lapidaires. L’étude présentée dans le cadre de cette thèse, consacrée à la ville de Mandeure, révèle une panoplie monumentale ambitieuse, depuis l’époque augustéenne jusqu’à l’époque tétrarchique. Elle s’appuie sur une reprise des recherches sur le terrain depuis 2001, comprenant des fouilles mais surtout des prospections de toute nature. Mandeure, ville où se situait le plus grand sanctuaire civique séquane, présentait sous le Haut Empire toutes les composantes monumentales d’une ville romaine canonique : théâtre, temples, thermes, portes monumentales, horrea , etc. L’étude des vestiges conservés in situ et des blocs isolés permet de restituer les programmes architecturaux de plus d’une dizaine d’édifices complètement inédits et de leurs différentes phases de construction, de restauration ou de réaménagement depuis l’époque médio-augustéenne jusqu’à l’époque sévérienne. L’étude des programmes décoratifs permet également de restituer un répertoire ornemental très riche. L’influence des modèles italiens, sans doute par l’Italie du nord et la Gaule narbonnaise, signale le caractère canonique des réalisations. Plusieurs séries de grands chapiteaux en marbre de Carrare constituent un témoignage rare dans la région de l’activité d’artisans italiens. / In Eastern Gaul and Germanies, several monuments still standing witness of the quantity and the quality of public buildings in lingon, aeduan, leuquan, sequan, raurac and helvet territory during the Imperial period. Our knowledge of this monumental architecture remains however incomplete, since there is no monograph dealing with those monuments or any lapidary collection catalog. This study, devoted to the city of Mandeure, reveals an ambitious display of monuments from the augustean period to the tetrarchian's. It is based on the fieldwork carried out since 2001, including digging and more specifically prospecting of all kind. Mandeure, the city where the largest sequani civic sanctuary was located, displayed during the imperial period every monumental elements of a classic roman city: theatre, temples, thermae, monumental gates, horrea, etc. The study of the preserved remains in situ and of isolated blocks unables us to re-establish all the differents process of construction, restitution or redevelopment from the medio-augustean era to the severinian's. The study of the decoration programs allowed us aswell to restore a very rich ornemental repertoire. The influence of italian models, probably coming from Northern Italy and the Narbonese Gaul, is a sign of the classic dimension of those realizations. Several set of large Carrare marble capitals constitute a rare testimony of the work of Italian craftsman in this area.

This thesis is a comprehensive investigation of the transport containers produced in Roman Sicily over a chronological period composed of five phases: Early Roman period (30 BC–AD 100); Middle Roman period (AD 100–300); Late Roman period (AD 300–440); Vandal Perios (AD 440/535) and Early Byzantine period (AD 536/600). The research investigates the production and transportation of Sicilian foodstuffs (especially wine) from the major ports of the island to Mediterranean ports and northern Europe. The results demonstrate the wide distribution of Sicilian amphorae and their important role within the wider economy of the Roman Empire. The importance of this research lies in the fact that, despite the agricultural prosperity of Sicily in the Roman Period and its strategic topographical position, transport amphorae remain understudied especially in economic terms. In regards to typology, chronology and distribution, our current knowledge of regional containers has not reached a level comparable to that of amphorae manufactured in other territories. The key discussion focuses on the commercial dynamics of Roman Sicilian amphorae from local, regional and Mediterranean-wide perspectives. The research aims to outline the distribution trends of Sicilian amphorae, looking at the different relative quantities of each amphora type and consequently the extent to which they are present in regions inside and outside Sicily, while considering presences and absences within the more general and homogeneous context of the Mediterranean basin. The organisation of Sicilian amphora production is also tackled through the presentation of probable production sites and excavated kilns. Using these examples, the study investigates the management of production of these containers on the island. The initial data obtained by this research represents a first step in determining differences between Sicilian amphorae workshops producing amphorae — therefore trading wine — for Mediterranean export and manufacturing sites specializing in local/regional trade. Other key achievements include the creation of a new illustrated typology with profile drawings of all the amphora forms and a summary and catalogue of Sicilian amphorae fabrics. In the thesis, the results of archaeometric analysis (thin-sections) carried out on more than 120 Sicilian amphora samples, provided by numerous institutions in Sicily and abroad, are presented. These results add significantly to our knowledge of the fabric composition, manufacture technology, origin and consequently movement of these amphorae around the Mediterranean over six centuries. More generally the research shows that the study of Sicilian material culture along with archaeological evidence is essential for recording the economic dynamics of Sicily, with the intent of dispelling the stereotype that Sicily's primary role was as a grain supplier to Rome. Besides grain — widely produced and exported throughout the imperial period, as attested by ancient sources and inscriptions — the archaeological evidence clearly indicates the export of foodstuffs, especially wine, at an inter-provincial level from the 1^st until the second half of the 6^th century AD.

Cette recherche porte sur les techniques de production des matériaux de construction en terre cuiteà l’époque romaine dans les provinces de Gaule et de Germanie. Ces techniques ne nous sontaccessibles directement que par l’archéologie, à la fois par les vestiges mobiliers : les matériauxfabriqués eux-mêmes, et par les vestiges immobiliers : les tuileries qui sont régulièrement mises aujour. Seules les structures de production sont examinées, mais il est souvent fait référence auxmatériaux. L’étude est menée selon deux lignes directrices, l’une horizontale : la chaîne opératoire, l’autreverticale : le temps, du présent vers le passé. Les structures de production sont traitées selon l’ordrede la chaîne opératoire : l’extraction, la préparation de la terre, le façonnage, le séchage et lacuisson. À l’intérieur de chacune de ces cinq phases sont étudiées successivement des structuresd’époque contemporaine (ateliers artisanaux), moderne, médiévale et enfin gallo-romaine. Cettedémarche régressive permet de mettre en évidence les continuités et les ruptures dans lestechniques mises en oeuvre et ainsi de mieux caractériser et comprendre la plus ancienne d’entreelles, celle des tuiliers gallo-romains. Le fonctionnement des structures de production les plusrécentes éclaire celui des structures romaines. Des comparaisons ponctuelles ne sont utilisées quepour tenter d’expliquer certaines caractéristiques originales des structures gallo-romaines. Lesrésultats les plus novateurs ont été obtenus dans l’étude des structures employées dans les phasesde façonnage, de séchage et de cuisson. / This research concerns the techniques of tile and brick-making in Roman time in the provinces ofGaul and Germania. We have only access to these techniques through archaeology. First, there arethe movable vestiges: the objects (tiles and bricks), then there are the real estate vestiges: the tilemakingsites which are regularly uncovered. Only the structures of production are examined here,but it is often made reference to materials. The study is led according to two guidelines. One is horizontal: the “chaîne opératoire”, the other is vertical: Time, from present to past. The structures of production are treated according to the orderof the making process: quarrying, preparing clay, shaping, drying, and firing. Inside each of thesefive phases are successively studied structures of contemporary time (craft production), modern,medieval and finally Gallo-Roman. This regressive approach allows us to bring to light thecontinuities and the breaks in the techniques used and thus, to better characterize and understandthe most ancient of them, the Gallo-Roman tile-makers one. The functioning of the most recentstructures of production sheds light on that of the Roman ones. Punctual comparisons are only usedto try and explain some original characteristics of the Gallo-Roman structures. The most innovativeresults were obtained in the study of the structures used in the phases of shaping, drying and firing.

The port site of Berenike Troglodytica - located on the Egyptian Red Sea coast - served the spice and incense routes that linked the Mediterranean World (specifically the Roman Empire) to India, Southern Arabia and East Africa. In the Greco-Roman period the site was at the cutting edge of what was then the embryonic global economy, ideally situated as a key node connecting Indian Ocean and Mediterranean trade for almost 800 years. It is now located in an arid, marginal, hostile environment but the situation must have been very different 2300 years ago, at the time of its founding. At the time of elephant-hunting trips during the Hellenistic period before the inception of its important role in the global markets of the day in the Roman period Berenike would have to have looked much different to what we can now imagine. What was it like then, when the first prospectors visited this location at the time of Ptolemy II? Why this particular place, and this particular landscape setting seemed such a propitious location for the siting of an important new harbour? Given the importance of the port over almost a millennium it is perhaps surprising that very little is known about the different factors impacting on the foundation, evolution, heyday and subsequent decline of the city; or the size, shape, and capacity of its harbour. The intention of this research is to address this shortfall in our knowledge, to examine the drivers behind the rise and fall of this port city, and to explore the extent to which the dynamics of the physical landscape were integral to this story. Using an innovative Earth Science approach, changes in the archaeological 'coastscape' have been reconstructed and correlated with periods of occupation and abandonment of the port, shedding light on the nature, degree and directionality of human-environment interactions at the site. This work has revealed profound changes in the configuration of the coastal landscape and environment (including the sea level) during the lifespan of Berenike, highlighting the ability of people to exploit changes in their immediate environment, and demonstrating that, ultimately, the decline of the port was partly due to these landscape dynamics. To further explore these themes the landscape reconstructions have been supplemented by semi-quantitative analyses of a suite of variables likely to influence the initial siting of new ports of trade. These have shown that although the site of Berenike was ideal in terms of its coastal landscape potential, possessing a natural sheltered bay and lagoon system, the choice of location was not solely influenced by its environmental conditions. Additionally, a detailed review of vessels that plied Red Sea and Indian Ocean routes is presented here in order to better understand the design and functioning of Berenike's harbour. This serves the purpose of identifying unifying features that provide more detail about the size and draught of vessels and the potential capacity of the harbour basin. By using this multi-scalar approach it has been possible to reconstruct the 'coastscape' of the site through the key periods of its occupancy and those phases immediately before and after its operation. This has wide-ranging implications for researchers studying ancient ports along this trade network as a larger database will tease out more details about how influential the landscape was in the initial siting of the port and its subsequent use and decline.