The study of Roman colonization in Italy is a rapidly changing field which has been transformed by new conceptual approaches and a wealth of new data with which to test these approaches and models. Large-scale projects such as the University of Groningen studies of the Pontine region, the British School at Rome Tiber Valley project and other initiatives have transformed our understanding of Roman settlement in Italy. The two volumes reviewed here represent two contrasting approaches to the study of colonies and colonization in the Republican period.
Roman Republican Colonization: New Perspectives from Archaeology and Ancient History, edited by Tesse Stek and Jerome Pelgrom, presents an ambitious and wide-ranging review of new conceptual approaches to Roman colonization, originating as a seminar on this theme hosted by the Netherlands Institute in Rome. Its focus on building on previous research, highlighted by the editors in their introduction, rather than on merely deconstructing concepts such as ‘Romanization’ and ‘colonization’ is particularly welcome. Although top-down models of colonization are no longer satisfactory as a conceptual framework, one of the more troubling aspects of some recent scholarship has been the tendency to elevate postcolonial approaches to the status of a new orthodoxy. The emphasis of this volume on examining a range of approaches to colonization and on promoting greater collaboration between researchers in different disciplines is one of its great strengths.
The first section of the volume focuses on concepts and models of colonization. The introductory chapter, by the editors, fills a notable gap by presenting a history of scholarship on Roman colonization, a topic which is surprisingly neglected compared with the much closer focus on the historiography of Greek colonial settlement. In it, they trace the divergence between Salmon's emphasis on strategic considerations as the driving force behind colonization, and the German and Italian traditions with their focus on the cultural/integrational aspects. They also highlight the extent to which the study of colonization has been hampered by boundaries between scholarly disciplines. The first chapter, by Terrenato, does not focus on colonization as such, but offers a new perspective on what may have driven Roman expansion in Italy, arguing that military activity leading to colonization in the early Republic was driven by the needs of particular clans rather than the state as a whole. This is a controversial viewpoint, given the scepticism over the importance of the gens expressed by other scholars, but Terrenato makes a convincing case that the Roman state was relatively weak and that the interests of powerful families were important in shaping policy. Bradley addresses colonization more directly, considering the question of the decision-making processes behind colonial foundations, and concluding that both colonization and associated programmes of road-building were fragmented initiatives driven by short-term pressures of various types rather than the result of a coherent imperialist strategy. Pelgrom and Stek both address the question of what a colonia actually was, questioning whether the early and mid-Republican examples conformed to the city-state model and concluding, from their different perspectives, that the socio-political independence of these colonies is open to question and that their organization and relationship with their territories differs from that of the model based on the Greek poleis and Rome. Finally, De Ligt discusses the status of one particular type of colony, the colonia maritima, as an illustration of the legal relationship and military obligations between colonies and Rome.
The second section is devoted to the impact of colonists and colonization, and how the interactions between colonists and colonized shaped the development of the new settlements. Sewell convincingly argues that a concept of colonial planning was developed by the Romans in the fourth century, but sees this as evidence of Rome's widening Mediterranean connections, and driven by the influence of Greek urban planning rather than a desire to replicate Rome or convey any ideal of romanitas. Both Tarpin and Hermon challenge Salmon's categorization of colonies into clear groups. Tarpin takes a juridical approach, unpicking the complexities of legal relationships between different populations and different types of land in colonized areas, while Hermon proposes a model of colonization which takes into account the relationship between a colony and its physical environment. The remaining contributions present a number of contrasting regional studies, covering areas as diverse as Picenum, Daunia, Campania and the Pontine region. This extensive body of new survey evidence offers exciting possibilities for a better understanding of how colonial landscapes developed.
The third section has a much tighter focus, examining the rôle of ritual and cult in colonial contexts. The conventional view that the Capitoline cult had a predominant rôle in almost all colonies from an early stage of their existence is now increasingly challenged by new archaeological evidence, and Bolder-Boos' paper amply illustrates the difficulties by documenting the wide range of cults given prominent positions in Roman colonies, many of which were not prominent in Rome itself. This diversity is further underlined by Carini's study of the rôle of Apollo in the colonies of southern Latium and Liberatore's report on new excavations at the sanctuary of Hercules at Alba Fucens. In all these cases, the evidence points to diversity and the need to reappraise the rôle of the Capitoline cult. In many cases, it was a later addition or co-existed with other cults, often with long-standing local roots, rather than replacing them — a pattern suggesting religious integration rather than the dominance of Roman cults. The volume concludes with two chapters which return to models of colonization and their development. Torelli examines the impact of later grants of colonial status on the urban landscape of existing cities, both in Italy and the provinces. Uniquely for this volume, he focuses on colonies of the imperial period, and on a non-Italian example, Leptis Magna. Finally, Sisani examines colonial foundation rituals in the light of evidence for the Roman pomerium.
The coverage of the volume is impressive, focusing principally on new models of colonization and the impact of colonial settlement in Italy, but including studies of specific areas and colonies from many different regions of Italy. One of its strengths is that although many of the regional studies focus on central Italy, it also covers regions as diverse as Picenum and Daunia. The most striking aspect is that it convincingly refutes the idea that colonization was a cohesive and planned process. The idea, based on Aulus Gellius' famous descriptions of colonies as ‘quasi effigies parvae simulacraque Romae’ (NA 16.13.9), that a colony was a ‘mini-Rome’ designed to replicate a particular vision of Roman urbanism and culture is examined by several authors from different perspectives, all of whom demonstrate that it is unsatisfactory as a model of colonial settlement. What emerges most strongly is the diversity of colonial experience. Roman colonies, particularly in the early to middle Republic, were shaped by many different cultural influences, including local culture and that of the Greek world as well as that of Rome. Regional and local studies demonstrate that relations between colonies and the regions colonized were complex and varied from place to place, and Salmon's systematization of colonies into clearly-defined groups now looks far too simplistic.
The volume by Maurizio Cannatà, La colonia latina di Vibo Valentia, contrasts with this wide-ranging approach and presents the data from a single settlement, the colony of Vibo Valentia in Calabria. In many respects it offers a more traditional approach to the subject than Stek and Pelgrom, but it also addresses some similar themes. The first section of briefly reviews the history of Hellenistic Magna Graecia and the changes in approaches to it, as scholars have moved away from Toynbee's vision of a deserted and subjugated region to a more nuanced picture of long-term cultural change as communities responded to various external influences, from the impact of Aegean and Asiatic Greek cultures to that of Rome. As the author notes, our understanding of Vibo and its development is hampered by the sporadic publication of finds from earlier excavations, many of them lacking proper documentation of their archaeological context. This volume addresses this problem by systematically examining data from four contrasting sites of the Hellenistic period (third to second centuries b.c.), including a cemetery, a votive deposit, a sanctuary and an area of ancient housing. All of these span the period of Roman conquest and colonization, and offer insights into the process of transition from an independent city to a Roman colony in a variety of different aspects of civic life.
The difficulties of reconstructing the history of a settlement which has been continuously occupied since antiquity, and sporadically excavated over many years, are amply illustrated. As the author admits, there are major difficulties in establishing dates, stratigraphic context and association of finds. Perhaps inevitably, given the fragmentary nature of the evidence, the focus is on the finds from these sites, although remains of a Hellenistic cult building were found at Cofino and sections of wall in opus reticulatum were recovered on the Viale della Pace. Nevertheless, C. presents an impressive collection of data, including assemblages from over thirty tombs from the cemetery at Piercastello and a comprehensive catalogue of evidence from the sites studied, analysis of which forms the core of the volume.
The final section presents an overview of the history of the city, pulling together literary and epigraphic evidence for its development from third-century Hipponion to Roman Vibo as context for the examination of the development of the sites studied. The principal conclusion, on the basis of admittedly limited and problematic evidence, is that at Vibo there was considerable continuity of funerary and ritual practice in the early years of the colony, a phenomenon which C. interprets as a result of a high level of integration between the local population (and in particular the local élite) and the colonists.
Although the volume by C. is clearly more conventional in its approach than the work edited by Stek and Pelgrom, and more limited in scope, it nevertheless offers some useful insights into the transition from Greek/Bruttian city to Roman colony. In particular, it underlines the need to evaluate the impact of colonies in the light of their local context and highlights the chronological and regional variations in the impact of colonization. Taken together, these two volumes illustrate the enormous progress made in conceptual approaches to Roman colonization, but also the continuing need for local and regional studies to complement this, and for interdisciplinary collaborations.
