As a part of the research project ‘Fora, stationes and sanctuaries, the role of minor centers in the economy of Roman central Italy’ (Groningen Institute of Archaeology, University of Groningen), we are organizing a two-day conference to be held on November 28 and 29, 2013 at the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome.
The conference will bring together scholars from different disciplines working on the economy of Rome, with a strong (but not exclusive) focus on the countryside of Roman Italy. Aim is to develop a dialogue between different (theoretical, top-down and data-driven, bottom-up) approaches to the rural economy, and to come to new, integrated ways to study its development in the globalizing Roman economy. Emphasis will lie on the economic backgrounds and circumstances that led to the integration of rural economies in a Mediterranean-wide system, including developments in agriculture (specialization, intensification), crafts production and industry (with an emphasis on minor centers and rural areas), and infrastructure (local road systems, waterways, ports).