“There is a continuing and growing interest in recent scholarship in the integration of the conquered territories into the framework of Roman dominance. However, the issue of integration has been studied mainly in the context of the ‘Romanization’ of Italy and the provinces, and the cultural and linguistic changes that allow us to trace how this ‘Romanization’ occurred. The active role of the local population, both elites and others, in engaging with Rome is not always recognized.
Furthermore, most studies focus on cultural change. They describe the consequences of increased contact with Rome, namely the emergence of a ‘Romanized’ culture and the adoption of Latin. The causes of these changes, however, have not yet been studied systematically. Therefore, a significant gap is present in our knowledge of the integration processes: we know that the peoples of Italy and the Empire were united in one political unit and that cultural change occurred, but we do not know how these developments were related.
An essential requirement for a clearer understanding of integration in the Roman world is to focus on the day-to-day contexts in which the incorporated peoples interacted with Romans. Such daily contacts would eventually have contributed to the changes that are visible in material culture and language. Some contexts in which interaction took place are:
-Geographical: The Romans established colonies throughout Italy and the Empire; the settlement of a large body of people from outside is expected to have led to contacts between colonists and locals and might therefore have had a large effect on the surrounding population. Moreover, there was a large, but unquantifiable amount of free migration and mobility throughout the Roman world for a number of reasons.
-Political and administrative: Conquered peoples sometimes received full or partial Roman citizenship, which would have brought them into contact with Romans on a regular basis. Others were governed directly by Roman state officials. Regular contact with Roman government may have been an important factor in the integration of Italy and the provinces. Furthermore, Roman law allowed for the settlement of disputes and was often resorted to by people of the provinces, even those who were nominally independent.
-Economic: Many contacts between Romans, Italians, and provincials occurred for economic reasons. Some of these were state-organized, e.g. the transport of grain to the city of Rome, but a very large volume of trade occurred on the free market. This would have led to contacts between different peoples and thus to integration.
-Military: It is often thought that service in the Roman army was an important element of the integration of the incorporated peoples, as soldiers learned Latin and became familiar with the Roman state and its culture. On the other hand, the army was used to control and exploit the defeated peoples and may therefore also have caused resistance to integrative processes.
We would welcome papers on any aspect of the processes by which integration occurred in the Roman Republic and Empire (c. 300 BC – 200 AD), as well as possible obstacles to it. We would particularly like to invite archaeologists and linguists, since it is clear that integration and identity cannot be studied by ancient historians alone. Some suggested – but by no means exhaustive – topics might be:
-Methodology for studying integration: archaeology, epigraphy, linguistics
-Colonies and colonial landscapes
-Legal barriers and/or facilities for integration
-Trade and economic contacts as drivers for integration
-Different modes and tempos of integration for various social classes
-Regional variations in the processes and results of integration
-Exploitation of conquered territory and peoples
The deadline for abstracts is 1 March 2013; if you are interested in speaking at the conference, please send in your abstract no later than this date. If you would like to attend as a non-speaking participant, please let Saskia Roselaar know.”
