TRAC 2006 SESSION
Expression of Identities in the Eastern Empire
Hannah Friedman (University of Leicester) hf25@leicester.ac.uk
Jennifer Baird (University of Leicester) jb188@leicester.ac.uk
Newer ways of examining populations of the provinces have recently been put forward,
one being David Mattingly's concept of the expression of identity (Mattingly JRA 2004).
Here, rather than framing discussions around the concept of Romanization or lack thereof,
the identities that the provincials chose to adopt and express is instead the focus. In
this way, diversity rather than homogeneity is explored in discrepant experiences,
highlighting a range of responses to the presence of the Roman Empire. How did the long
history of colonization before the Romans, especially contact with the Greeks, affect
identity? How did the presence of other empires, for example the Sassanians, change or
affect aspects of personal identity? How were issues of power negotiated between Roman
and native, or elite and non-elite, military or civilian, and rural or urban populations?
How did these identities interact, and to what extent were they situational? Most
importantly, how can this been seen in the archaeological record - can meaningful
patterns be identified and related to social groups, thereby finding markers for the way
identity was expressed? The papers of this session will investigate the Roman East using
the framework of discrepant experience and identities to explore what contribution this
theory can offer to provincial studies.
Paper titles
Jennifer Baird (University of Leicester)
"Identity at Dura-Europos: Life in the Roman Far East"
Gaelle Coqueugniot (Université Lumière Lyon 2)
"Europeans under the Romans: Expression of Identity among the Macedonian Rulers of Dura-Europos from 165-256"
Kyriakos Savvopoulos (Leiden University)
"Alexandrian Monumental Tombs:
A Case Study on the Greco-Egyptian Cultural Interaction and its Effects on the Cultural Identity of Roman Alexandria"
Daniela Cottica (Università Ca' Foscari Venezia)
"The Symbolism of Spinning in Funerary Art and Representations"
Dianne Van de Zande (University of Leiden)
"Domestic Structures of the Roman Near East as Reflection of the Construction of Identity"
Hannah Friedman (University of Leicester)
"Pastoral Nomads: The Urban Legend
Abstracts
"Identity at Dura-Europos: Life in the Roman Far East"
Jennifer Baird (University of Leicester)
The nature of the impact of Roman rule in the Near East has long been neglected in comparison with the well-studied West.
This neglect is in part due to the trouble scholars have had distinguishing Hellenic and Roman cultural forms. This paper
explores what can be learned from housing and household assemblages in the Near East under Roman rule. The site of
Dura-Europos is used as a case-study, exploiting archival information in tandem with new fieldwork to examine domestic
architecture and to reconstruct the household assemblages. Although the 'Greek' character of Dura has often be
emphasized, due in no small part to its 'Hippodamian' town-plan, the actual nature of the site and its people has been
little explored, and the reality of daily life shows not only Hellenic elements alongside Mesopotamian ones, but an
existence profoundly impacted by Roman hegemony.
Europeans under the Romans: Expression of Identity among the Macedonian Rulers of Dura-Europos from 165-256
Gaelle Coqueugniot (Université Lumière Lyon 2)
This paper observes the reaffirmation of the ethnic identity of the Graeco-Macedonian elite at Dura-Europos after the
Roman conquest. Under the philhellenic Parthian rule, descendants of the first Macedonian settlers received a large
consideration and privileges, among which the status of polis. This community, that recognised itself as "Europeans" or
citizens of Europos, was established around the governor's palace and the sanctuary of Artemis Nanaia, in the
centre of the city. The few public buildings that have been unearthed in the area, namely the Odeon-bouleuterion
in the sanctuary of Artemis and the chreophylakeion in the agora, provide us with precious information about the
civic institutions and magistrates of Europos during the two last centuries of the city. After the conquest of Dura by
Romans around AD 165, several elements in the textual and archaeological record demonstrate the attempt of the Europeans
to maintain their leadership through an evocation of their Greek origin and a mythical Seleucid past by such means as
renaming magistracies and reviving traditional cults.
Alexandrian Monumental Tombs:
A Case Study on the Greco-Egyptian Cultural Interaction and its Effects on the Cultural Identity of Roman Alexandria
Kyriakos Savvopoulos (Leiden University)
There is no doubt that Alexandria, the capital of Egypt during Hellenistic and Roman periods, constituted one of the
cities of Eastern Mediterranean where contact between diverse cultures was particularly intense. This was due to the
continuous "process" of coexistence and interplay among different ethnic groups, mainly between Greeks and Egyptians,
and their cultural backgrounds. This process started almost three centuries before the arrival of Romans and resulted
in the emergence and development of multiculturalism in the society of Alexandria. The aim of this presentation is to
discuss some ideas on how the long contact and cultural interplay between Greeks and Egyptians affected the identity
of the city, during Roman period. Elite Alexandrian tombs, known also as the Monumental tombs of Alexandria, will be
used as a case study for this discussion, since they constitute one of the most well investigated of archaeological
disciplines of the ancient city, providing us with information about several aspects of its cultural identity.
The Symbolism of Spinning in Funerary Art and Representations
Daniela Cottica (Università Ca' Foscari Venezia)
It is well known that funerary monuments conveyed to posterity an image of
the deceased and communicated information through selected and often
standardized iconographic and epigraphic formulae. Nonetheless tombstones
created a unique identity for each individual and group (i.e. family
identity). The process of communication implied, in order to be
successful, that it operated on the basis of concepts and values shared
by the community (the viewers). Within this conceptual framework, the
paper will try to explore the reasons why spinning implements are so
frequently represented on funerary tombstones found in some Eastern
provinces, while they are almost absent in the West. A possible
explanation seems connected with the meaning(s) attached in Eastern
cultures to spinning tools and with its stratified symbolism. The paper
summarizes the available evidence, presented in a statistic format and
discussed within the overall context of the dynamics of persistence and
change in symbolism of spinning and spinning tools in pre-Classical and
Classical world.
Domestic Structures of the Roman Near East as Reflection of the Construction of Identity
Dianne Van de Zande (University of Leiden)
This paper will focus on domestic structures of the Roman Near East. The Roman period in the Near East is marked by one of
the strongest urban and rural expansions until modern times. During this period habitation expanded, towns and
countrysides became more densely populated, and more wealth was generated. Especially in the later Roman period, the 4th
- 6th centuries AD, the expansion of the settled regions not only incorporated large areas of the countryside but also
marginal areas.
The Near Eastern culture in Roman times was highly fluid, with many different identities and rich of nuances. Existing
local structures as well as Graeco-Roman elements influenced the socio-political stratification. The population consisted
of Romans, Hellenized local elites, and indigenous people, dealing with market systems and a range of modes of
subsistence, often used complementary. Archaeology sometimes seems to define different groups of people with varying
means of existence as separate cultures. Factors such as social formations or political allegiances, which transcend
geographical and economical conditions, can create larger identities which are often not so easily discerned in the
archaeological record.
The question whether the inhabitants of the provinces, who were after the incorporation of the region into the Roman
empire subjects of Rome, indeed saw themselves as Roman, has not been sufficiently answered. When regarding the larger
developments, the view of the Roman world as a homogeneous culture comes into perspective, and correlations in
development between cities, regions or provinces might be detected. City-centers were embellished with monumental
structures which stated incorporation within the Roman empire. It remains to be seen whether domestic structures
can be regarded in the same way and whether these structures were, like monumental or public structures, used to express
(local) identity.
Notably in the countryside, domestic structures don't always show a clear association with the Roman cultural frameworks.
Could a study of domestic structures be used to indicate the level of Romanisation? Could it help to shed light on
questions whether rural populations developed culturally and economically towards the Roman empire. Or did they remain
a closed, self-sustaining society, consisting of the same autarchic peasant communities with a small local market-system
like they had been through the previous ages, to a much larger extent than is generally assumed of provincial populations
that were part of the Roman empire? Examples form the Near East in the Roman period will be used to consider these issues.
Pastoral Nomads: The Urban Legend
Hannah Friedman (University of Leicester)
The theoretical framework of the Roman Levant often begins with the premise of a continuing trend of urbanization
and rural settlement. These theories place emphasis on the Hellenistic cities and agriculture. While these are very
important themes to be explored, they do not create an all-inclusive narrative. The Levant has a long history of
nomadic herders who existed before, during and after the presence of Romans. These individuals would have markedly
different economic stratagems and social behaviours from individuals in the cities and towns.
Pastoral nomads therefore do not presently fit into most of the theoretical frameworks concerning the Roman East. In
order to gain fuller understanding of the period, culture groups such as these must be included rather than marginalized.
This paper puts forth ideas to integrate the nomadic presence in the narrative of the Levant. A region of southern Jordan,
the Faynan, will act as a case study and textual, archaeological and ethnographic evidence will be presented.
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Last updated 14th February 2006 R.M.B.