Community and Society in Roman Italy

by Stephen L. Dyson

Overview

Selected by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title

Stephen L. Dyson examines rural communities as functioning, largely autonomous societies. Dyson traces the major outlines of community development from the end of the war with Hannibal to the early Middle Ages. He shows how local communities responded to changes in the greater Roman society while still retaining their distinctive identity. He examines the "typical" Roman community during the High Empire and explores the life cycle of rural inhabitants, showing how individuals- the aristocrats, the free poor, and the slaves- developed in relation to society as a whole.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801867606
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	07/01/2001
Series:	Ancient Society and History
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Stephen L. Dyson is a professor of classics at the University at Buffalo and has spent his career writing about archaeology and Roman history. His numerous books include In Pursuit of Ancient Pasts: A History of Classical Archaeology in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, The Roman Countryside, and Community and Society in Roman Italy, also published by Johns Hopkins.

Table of Contents

	Preface	xi
1	Theory and Method	1
2	Roots of the Roman Imperial Community	23
3	The Last Decades of the Republic	56
4	Creation of the Imperial Countryside in Italy	89
5	The Rural Territory of the Italian Community	122
6	Arrival in Town	147
7	The Life Cycle within the Community	180
8	The Later Roman Community	215
	List of Abbreviations	245
	Notes	249
	Bibliography	315
	Index	371
	Books in the Series	383

What People are Saying About This

J. G. Schovanek

This work sets forth a challenging new model for understanding the communities of Roman Italy, their internal dynamics, and their relationships with their surrounding rural territories. Extensive notes, a substantial and up-to-date bibliography, and an adequate index complete this pivotal work. Essential for the study of ancient social conditions or private life.

— J. G. Schovanek, American Library Association

From the Publisher

This work sets forth a challenging new model for understanding the communities of Roman Italy, their internal dynamics, and their relationships with their surrounding rural territories. Extensive notes, a substantial and up-to-date bibliography, and an adequate index complete this pivotal work. Essential for the study of ancient social conditions or private life.
—J. G. Schovanek, American Library Association

Editorial Reviews

Resourceful and imaginative, [Dyson] looks into the humdrum, sometimes quietly desperate lives of Italy's small towns and urban centers and brings them sharply to life.
—Vergilius

A valuable example of how archaeological data can be used alongside conventional sources to produce compelling social and economic history.
—Keith Bradley, American Historical Review

An important addition to the literature on classical Rome . . . Highly recommended.
—Choice

From the Publisher

An important addition to the literature on classical Rome . . . Highly recommended.

Choice

A valuable example of how archaeological data can be used alongside conventional sources to produce compelling social and economic history.

American Historical Review - Keith Bradley

Resourceful and imaginative, [Dyson] looks into the humdrum, sometimes quietly desperate lives of Italy's small towns and urban centers and brings them sharply to life.

Vergilius

A valuable example of how archaeological data can be used alongside conventional sources to produce compelling social and economic history.

— Keith Bradley

American Historical Review

A valuable example of how archaeological data can be used alongside conventional sources to produce compelling social and economic history.
—American Historical Review

Keith Bradley

This work sets forth a challenging new model for understanding the communities of Roman Italy,their internal dynamics,and their relationships with their surrounding rural territories. Extensive notes,a substantial and up-to-date bibliography,and an adequate index complete this pivotal work. Essential for the study of ancient social conditions or private life.

J. G. Schovanek

Despite its formidable political and military power, the Roman state left the administration of most daily affairs to local political units. Dyson (classics, SUNY, Buffalo) examines rural communities as functioning, largely autonomous societies, tracing the major outlines of community development from the end of the war with Hannibal to the early Middle Ages. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews