Artikelen
Beyond iconography. Roman imperial coins as sources for historical processes
Sven Betjes
This article focuses on the processes underlying the production of Roman imperial coinage. Upon briefly introducing those responsible for the visual language we find on coins, two further sections shed light on how an emperor’s sudden rise to power and his mobility could affect this numismatic iconography. First, imperial coins are discussed that seem to go against the emperor’s wishes. Such examples show that, especially in times of power transitions, communication between the emperor and his mints was occasionally unreliable. Second, the focus shifts to the emperor Aemilian, whose short reign in 253 effected a remarkable change in numismatic iconography that may be linked to this emperor’s travels. Like the section on flawed communications in coin production, this case study serves to demonstrate that coins at times subtly offer us valuable insights into the generally obscure production processes of the past.
Roman land division reconsidered. An interdisciplinary analysis of two colonial landscap
Anouk Vermeulen
Roman land division, also known as centuriation, has long been the subject of intense debate. Reconstructions of land distribution systems based on the modern landscape have often been the main focus of recent research, generally without placing these systems in their socio economic context or comparing them with, for example, settlement patterns. Moreover, these reconstructions have invariably relied on a uniform, stereotypical image of centuriation, consisting of a chessboard pattern of square pieces of land measuring 20 by 20 actus or 720 by 720 m. This article reconsiders both the colonialist uniform image of land distribution and the socio-economic impact of the systems through a combined qualitative and quantitative approach in two case studies: Tarragona/ager Tarraconensis and Arles/ager Arelatensis. Based on the idea of meaningful proximity and agency in the choice of location for settlements, a specially developed proximity analysis is used to contextualise the process of land division itself and its socio-economic impacts. The case studies reveal a diversity that does not correspond to the uniform picture painted so far, with the two areas developing in completely different directions: Tarragona specialising in viticulture, while Arles is characterised by economic diversity. Broader conclusions that can be drawn from this are the invalidity of the (modern) stereotype, and the need to re-examine Roman land division in wider socio-economic and political contexts.
Local networks in Greek river valleys. Religious networks in de Alpheios valley (Peloponnese), 800-146 BC
Roy van Wijk
The loss of the female praenomen is typically seen as yet another sign of the ‘Romanisation’ and demise of Late Etruscan culture. This development would have seen the Etruscan woman reduced from a prominent public personality to a role of secondary importance. However, a thorough examination of this onomastic element shows that its gradual disappearance differs greatly by locality in terms of timing and is strongly linked to the process of Latinisation. Three case studies are investigated – Chiusi, Tarquinia, and Volterra – each showing that this onomastic development is connected to shifts in epigraphic paradigms rather than institutional or social changes. While the change in which women were described in funerary contexts may have had real consequences for their social status, there are also reasons to assume an improvement in their position (e.g. a higher percentage of female epitaphs), painting a complex picture.
An innovative palace on the Euphrates. The impact of new connections in Late Hellenistic Commagene
Lennart Kruijer
This article discusses cultural transformations in the kingdom of Commagene
(Southeast Turkey) during the second and first centuries BC. On the basis of legacy data
pertaining to excavations of a royal palace in Samosata, a change in local object assemblages
is presented that informs us of innovative changes in the early first century BC,
prior to the famous cultural eclecticism witnessed in king Antiochos I’s tomb-sanctuaries.
Samosata’s cultural transformation is discussed in the context of a broader debate
about change in West Asia and its problematic reliance on the notion of Hellenism. As an
alternative approach, attention is drawn to the complex, multi-scalar relations and capacities
of innovative objects, steering discussion of the impact of new connections in Late-
Hellenistic Commagene beyond Hellenism.
recensies
The Archaeology of the Mediterranean Iron Age. A Globalising World c. 1100-600 BCE
Peter Attema
Archaeology, nation, and race confronting the past, decolonizing the future in Greece and Israel
Foteini Tsigoni
Colonial City. Rethinking the Grid
Miko Flohr
introducties op lopend onderzoek
Rituals in Space: reconstructing funerary rituals through gifts and bones
John Turco
Encoffined bodies: on the role of decorated sarcophagi in the funerary customs of Phoenicia during the Roman period
Nicholas Aherne
Dying at the margins of Athens: burial customs, local traditions, and social realities in the Attic deme of Thorikos
Sydney Patterson