Digital Maps of the Ancient World

Italia

Embark on a journey through the heart of the Roman Empire with our meticulously curated reading list focusing on the province of Italy.

Explore the rich tapestry of Italy’s ancient past, from its pre-Roman civilizations to its pivotal role as the epicenter of Roman power and culture. Delve into a diverse range of topics, including the social, political, economic, and cultural dynamics that shaped Italy’s development and identity within the Roman world. Uncover the intricate network of cities, towns, and rural settlements that dotted the Italian landscape, and examine the various administrative, religious, and military structures that governed daily life in the province. From the majestic monuments of Rome to the humble villas of the countryside, our reading list offers a comprehensive overview of Italy’s multifaceted history and legacy in the ancient world. Whether you’re interested in urbanization, trade networks, religious practices, or artistic achievements, these scholarly works provide invaluable insights into one of the most influential regions of the Roman Empire.

General

• Cooley, A., A companion to Roman Italy, Chichester, 2016.
• Cornell, T. & Lomas, K., Urban society in Roman Italy, London, 1995.
• David, J. & Nevill, A., The Roman conquest of Italy, Oxford, 1996.
• Lomas, K., Roman Italy, 338 BC-AD 200: a sourcebook, London, 1996.
• Lomas, K. & Cornell, T., Bread & circuses: euergetism and municipal patronage in Roman Italy, London, 2003.

Further Reading

• Arthur, P., ‘Territories, wine and wealth: Suessa Aurunca, Sinuessa, Minturnae and the ager Falernus’ in Roman landscapes: archaeological survey in the Mediterranean region, London, 1991, 153-9.
• Barja de Quiroga, P.L., ‘Empire Sociology: Italian Freedmen, From Success to Oblivion’ in Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte, 2010, 321-341.
• Bispham, E., From Asculum to Actium, Oxford, 2007.
• Bradley, G.J., Isayev, E. & Riva, C., Ancient Italy: regions without boundaries, Exeter, 2007.
• Clarke, J.R., The houses of Roman Italy, 100 B.C.-A.D. 250: ritual, space, and decoration, Berkeley CA, 1991.
• Cooley, A., The epigraphic landscape of Roman Italy, London, 2000.
• Crawford, M.H., ‘Italy and Rome from Sulla to Augustus’ in The Cambridge Ancient History, Cambridge, 1996, 414-433.
• DeLaine, J., ‘Benefactions and urban renewal: bath buildings in Roman Italy’ in Roman baths and bathing: proceedings of the First International Conference on Roman Baths held at Bath, England, 30 March – 4 April 1992, Portsmouth RI, 1999, 67-74.
• de Ligt, L., Peasants, Citizens and Soldiers: Studies in the Demographic History of Roman Italy 225 BC–AD 100, Cambridge, 2012.
• Forbis, E.P., ‘Women’s Public Image in Italian Honorary Inscriptions’ in The American Journal of Philology 111, 1990, 493-512.
• Laird, M.L., Civic monuments and the Augustales in Roman Italy, New York, 2015.
• Laurence, R., The roads of Roman Italy: mobility and cultural change, London, 1999.
• Lomas, K., Rome and the Western Greeks, 350 BC-AD 200: conquest and acculturation in Southern Italy, London, 1993.
• Lomas, K., ‘The idea of a city: élite ideology and the evolution of urban form in Italy, 200 BC – AD 100’ in Roman Urbanism : Beyond the Consumer City, 1997, 21-41.
• Marzano, A., Roman villas in central Italy: a social and economic history, Boston, 2007.
• Miller, F., ‘Italy and the Roman Empire: Augustus to Constantine’ in Phoenix 40, 1986, 295-318.
• Morley, N., Metropolis and hinterland: the city of Rome and the Italian economy, 200 B.C.-A.D. 200, Cambridge, 1996.
• Morely, N., ‘The Transformation of Italy, 225-28 B.C.‘ in The Journal of Roman Studies 91, 2001, 52-62.
• Parkins, H., ‘Cities in context: urban systems in Roman Italy’ in Roman Urbanism : Beyond the Consumer City, London, 1997.
• Parkins, H., ‘Roman households: an archaeological perspective’ in oman Urbanism : Beyond the Consumer City, London, 1997, 112-46
• Patterson, J.R., Landscapes and cities: rural settlement and civic transformation in early imperial Italy, Oxford, 2006.
• Purcell, N., ‘Rome and Italy’ in The Cambridge ancient history: Volume 11: The high empire, AD 70–192, Cambridge, 2000, 405-443.
• Roselaar, S., ‘Colonies and processes of integration in the Roman Republic’ in Mélanges de l’École française de Rome. Antiquité 123, 2011, 527-555.
• Scheidel, W., ‘Human Mobility in Roman Italy, I: The Free Population’ in The Journal of Roman Studies 94, 2004, 1-26.
• Scheidel, W., ‘Human Mobility in Roman Italy, II: The Slave Population’ in The Journal of Roman Studies 95, 2005, 64-79.
• Schultz, C.E. & Harvey, P.B., Religion in Republican Italy, Cambridge, 2006.
• Stevens, S., City boundaries and urban developement in Roman Italy, Leuven, 2017.
• Torelli, M., Tota Italia: essays in the cultural formation of Roman Italy, Oxford, 1999.
• Wallace-Hadrill, A., Rome’s cultural revolution, Cambridge, 2008.
• Ward-Perkins, J.B., ‘Italy under the early empire’ in Roman imperial architecture, New Haven CT, 1994, 157-84.
• Witcher, R., ‘Settlement and Society in Early Imperial Etruria’ in The Journal of Roman Studies 96, 2006, 88-123.
• Witcher, R., ‘Broken pots and meaningless dots? Surveying the rural landscapes of Roman Italy’ in Papers of the British School at Rome 74, 2006, 39-72.
• Woolf, G., ‘Food, Poverty and Patronage: The Significance of the Epigraphy of the Roman Alimentary Schemes in Early Imperial Italy’ in Papers of the British School at Rome 58, 1990, 197-228.