An Urban Geography of the Roman World, 100 BC to AD 300 (Archaeopress Roman Archaeology)

Although there have been numerous studies of individual cities or groups of cities, there has never been a study of the urbanism of the Roman world as a whole, meaning that we have been poorly informed not only about the number of cities and how they were distributed and changed over time, but also about their sizes and populations, monumentality, and civic status. This book provides a new account of the urbanism of the Roman world between 100 BC and AD 300. To do so, it draws on a combination of textual sources and archaeological material to provide a new catalogue of cities, calculates new estimates of their areas and uses a range of population densities to estimate their populations, and brings together available information about their monumentality and civic status for the first time. This evidence demonstrates that, although there were relatively few cities, many had considerable sizes and populations, substantial amounts of monumentality, and held various kinds of civic status. This indicates that there was significant economic growth in this period, including both extensive and intensive economic growth, which resulted from an influx of wealth through conquest and the intrinsic changes that came with Roman rule (including the expansion of urbanism). This evidence also suggests that there was a system that was characterized by areas of intense urban demand, which was met through an efficient system for the extraction of necessity and luxury goods from immediate hinterlands and an effective system for bringing these items from further afield. The disruption of these links seems to have put this system under considerable strain towards the end of this period and may have been sufficient to cause its ultimate collapse. This appears to have been in marked contrast to the medieval and early modern periods, when urbanism was more able to respond to changes in supply and demand. Table of Contents Preface Part One: Text Chapter One: Introduction Chapter Two: Urban Theory Chapter Three: Numbers, Distributions, and Change over Time Chapter Four: Sizes and Populations Chapter Five: Monumentality Chapter Six: Civic Status Chapter Seven: Spatial Patterns Chapter Eight: Discussion and Conclusions Appendix Bibliography Figures Index Part Two: Catalogue Select Bibliography Index Although there have been numerous studies of individual cities or groups of cities, there has never been a study of the urbanism of the Roman world as a whole, meaning that we have been poorly informed not only about the number of cities and how they were distributed and changed over time, but also about their sizes and populations, monumentality, and civic status. This book provides a new account of the urbanism of the Roman world between 100 BC and AD 300. To do so, it draws on a combination of textual sources and archaeological material to provide a new catalogue of cities, calculates new estimates of their areas and uses a range of population densities to estimate their populations, and brings together available information about their monumentality and civic status for the first time. This evidence demonstrates that, although there were relatively few cities, many had considerable sizes and populations, substantial amounts of monumentality, and held various kinds of civic status. This indicates that there was significant economic growth in this period, including both extensive and intensive economic growth, which resulted from an influx of wealth through conquest and the intrinsic changes that came with Roman rule (including the expansion of urbanism). This evidence also suggests that there was a system that was characterized by areas of intense urban demand, which was met through an efficient system for the extraction of necessity and luxury goods from immediate hinterlands and an effective system for bringing these items from further afield. The disruption of these links seems to have put this system under considerable strain towards the end of this period and may have been sufficient to cause its ultimate collapse. This appears to have been in marked contrast to the medieval and early modern periods, when urbanism was more able to respond to changes in supply and demand. Cover 1 Title Page 3 Copyright Page 4 Contents 5 List of Figures 7 Abbreviations 10 Preface 11 Part One: Text 13 Chapter One: Introduction 15 Current Understanding 16 Aims and Objectives 18 Methodological Issues 19 The Database and GIS 20 Current Debates 21 Imperialism 21 The Economy 22 Growth 23 Integration 24 Using Urbanism as a Proxy for the Economy 25 The Consumer-Producer Debate 27 Consumers, Producers, and Traders 28 New Directions 29 Definitions of Urbanism 30 The Urban-Rural Divide 30 Ancient Perspectives on Urbanism 31 Modern Perspectives on Urbanism 32 Applying Modern Definitions to the Ancient World 33 Focus and Limits 36 Chapter Structure 37 Chapter Two: Urban Theory 39 Early Theories: Smith and Malthus 39 Introduction 39 Site and Situation 40 Von Thünen’s ‘Isolated State’ 41 Christaller’s ‘Central Place Theory’ 42 Urban Primacy and the Rank-Size Rule 43 Settlement Scaling Theory 44 Chapter Three: Numbers, Distributions, and Change over Time 45 Ancient Sources 45 Introduction 45 The Archaeological Record 49 The Barrington Atlas 49 Supplementary Sources 50 Information about Sites 51 A New Catalogue 53 Dating Sites 55 Mapping Sites 55 Results 57 Number 57 Distribution 58 Change over Time 59 _Ref386796597 50 Chapter Four: Sizes and Populations 61 Introduction 61 Existing Estimates 63 Rome 63 Alexandria 65 Antioch, Carthage, Ephesus, and Other Large Sites 66 Using Sizes and Population Densities to Estimate Populations 67 Evidence for Sizes 68 Dating Estimates 72 Population Densities 72 The Extent of the Inhabited Area 73 The Number of Houses 74 The Number of Inhabitants per Household 75 Case Studies 77 Results 78 Individual Cities 78 The Urban Population 81 The Total Population and Urbanization Rate 82 The Urban Hierarchy 85 _Ref424297787 65 _Ref424297911 66 _Ref424297940 66 _Ref424297981 66 _Ref424298009 66 Chapter Five: Monumentality 87 Introduction 87 Evidence for Monumentality 88 Results 89 Chapter Six: Civic Status 93 Introduction 93 Evidence for Civic Statuses 94 Results 96 Chapter Seven: Spatial Patterns 100 Introduction 100 Site and Situation and Central Place Theory 100 Hinterlands 101 Connectivity 102 Chapter Eight: Discussion and Conclusions 106 Economic Growth and Integration 108 The Longue Durée 112 Appendix 116 Bibliography 117 _Ref456445337 128 _Ref459301974 128 _Ref456445482 128 _Ref386635547 128 Figure 1: The development of the Roman Empire over time. 128 Figure 2: The number of places mentioned in Strabo’s Geography by region. 128 Figures 128 _Ref456445597 129 _Ref456445629 129 _Ref456445698 129 _Ref456445773 129 Figure 3: The number of places mentioned in Pliny’s Natural History by region. 129 Figure 4: The number of places mentioned in Ptolemy’s Geography by region. 129 Figure 5: The number of cities in the Roman world over time. 129 Figure 6: The increase in the number of cities in the Roman world over time. 129 _Ref456445797 130 _Ref456446037 130 Figure 7: The number of cities founded and abandoned or destroyed in the Roman world over time. 130 Figure 8: The number of newly-created forts in the Roman world over time. 130 _Ref410139574 131 _Ref424305419 131 Figure 10: The number of properties, average footprints, average numbers of inhabitants, populations, areas, and estimated population densities for various sites in the Greek world (Hansen 2004: Table 2.3). 131 Figure 9: The statistics provided by the Notitia and Curiosum in the Regionary Catalogues, with the differences between them indicated in bold and italics (Wallace-Hadrill 2008: Table 6.1). 131 _Ref431294786 132 _Ref431294853 132 _Ref431294923 132 Figure 11: The estimated populations of selected cities in the Roman world in AD 150, using a fixed range of population densities between 100 and 500p/ha. 132 Figure 12: The estimated population of the average sized city in the Roman world in AD 150, using a fixed range of population densities between 100 and 500p/ha. 132 Figure 13: The estimated urban population of the Roman world in AD 150, based on the sample of 885 sites with estimated sizes and using a fixed range of population densities between 100 and 500p/ha. 132 _Ref410139541 133 _Ref428290944 133 _Ref390331432 133 Figure 14: The estimated urban population of the Roman world in AD 150, based on the sample of 885 sites with estimated sizes and using a sliding range of population densities between 100 and 500p/ha. 133 Figure 15: The estimated urban population of the Roman world in AD 150, based on extrapolating from the sample of 885 sites with estimated sizes to the total of 1388 sites in the catalogue by multiplying the former by various factors from 1.25 to 1.75. 133 Figure 16: The estimated total population of the Roman world in AD 165 (Scheidel 2007: Table 3.1). 133 _Ref428985578 134 _Ref410140423 134 _Ref421354660 134 Figure 17: The possible urbanization rates and total populations of the Roman world, using the estimates for the total urban population of 10.6 or 12.2 million. 134 Figure 18: The number of monuments in the Roman world over time. 134 Figure 19: The increase in the number of monuments in the Roman world over time. 134 _Ref410140485 135 _Ref431295133 135 _Ref427237403 135 Figure 20: The breakdown of different types of monument in the Roman world. 135 Figure 21: The breakdown of different sub-types of monument in the Roman world. 135 Figure 22: The breakdown of different types of monument and the maximum, minimum, and average sizes of sites in which they can be found. 135 _Ref428523829 136 _Ref421353827 136 _Ref410140552 136 Figure 23: The breakdown of different sub-types of monument and the maximum, minimum, and average sizes of sites in which they can be found. 136 Figure 24: The number of cities with civic status in the Roman world over time. 136 Figure 25: The breakdown of the number of sites with civic status in the Roman world over time. 136 _Ref421353417 137 _Ref327260956 137 _Ref421354028 137 _Ref431295433 137 _Ref428900501 137 Figure 26: The number of newly-created coloniae in the Roman world over time. 137 Figure 27: The number of newly-created municipia in the Roman world over time. 137 Figure 28: The number of cities with newly-created rights and privileges in the Roman world over time. 137 Figure 29: The breakdown of different types of civic status and the maximum, minimum, and average sizes of sites in which they can be found. 137 _Ref421354076 138 _Ref390426855 138 Figure 30: The estimated urban population of the Greek world in or around 400 BC (based on Hansen 2004: Appendix 3). 138 Figure 31: The estimated number of cities, urban population, total population, and urbanization rate of Europe, AD 800 to 1900 (based on Bairoch 1988: Tables 7.1; 8.2; and 13.2). 138 Figure 32: The cities of the north-west in the 2nd or 3rd centuries AD (Scheidel 2007: Map 3.2, based on Pounds 1969: Figure 10). Copyright: Cambridge University Press. 139 Figure 33: The cities of the east in the 6th century AD (Scheidel 2007: Map 3.3, based on Jones 1937: Maps II-IV). Copyright: Cambridge University Press. 139 Figure 34: The provinces of the Roman Empire at the death of Trajan in AD 117. 1: Achaea; 2: Aegyptus; 3: Africa Proconsularis; 4: Alpes Cottiae; 5: Alpes Graiae et Poeninae; 6: Alpes Maritimae; 7: Arabia; 8: Asia; 9: Baetica; 10: Bithynia et Pontus; 11: 140 Figure 35: The extent of the Roman Empire in 100 BC. 141 Figure 36: The extent of the Roman Empire in AD 1. 141 Figure 37: The extent of the Roman Empire in AD 100. 142 Figure 38: The extent of the Roman Empire in AD 200. 142 Figure 39: The extent of the Roman Empire in AD 300. 143 Figure 40: von Thünen’s ‘Isolated State’ model (after Morley 1996: 62). 143 Figure 41: Christaller’s ‘Central Place Theory’ (after Carter 1981: 65). 144 Figure 42: Smith’s solar and dendritic central place models (left and right respectively) (after Hodges 2012: Figure 2). 144 Figure 43: Zipf’s ‘Rank-Size Rule’ (after Hodges 2012: Figure 2). 145 Figure 44: The places mentioned in Ptolemy’s Geography (based on the information in Stückelberger and Graßhoff 2006). 145 Figure 45: The cities of the Roman world. 146 Figure 46: The density of cities in the Roman world. 146 Figure 47: The cities of the Roman world over relief. 147 Figure 48: The sites recorded by the Ancient World Mapping Centre and Pleiades project. 147 Figure 49: The density of the sites recorded by the Ancient World Mapping Centre and Pleiades project. 148 Figure 50: The cities of the Roman world in 100 BC. 148 Figure 51: The cities of the Roman world in AD 1. 149 Figure 52: The cities of the Roman world in AD 100. 149 Figure 53: The cities of the Roman world in AD 200. 150 Figure 54: The cities of the Roman world in AD 300. 150 Figure 55: The density of cities in the Roman world in 100 BC. 151 Figure 56: The density of cities in the Roman world in AD 1. 151 Figure 57: The density of cities in the Roman world in AD 100. 152 Figure 58: The density of cities in the Roman world in AD 200. 152 Figure 59: The density of cities in the Roman world in AD 300. 153 Figure 60: The change in the number of cities in the 1st century BC. 153 Figure 61: The change in the number of cities in the 1st century AD. 154 Figure 62: The change in the number of cities in the 2nd century AD. 154 Figure 63: The change in the number of cities in the 3rd century AD. 155 Figure 64: The number of newly-created forts in the 1st century BC. 155 Figure 65: The number of newly-created forts in the 1st century AD. 156 Figure 66: The number of newly-created forts in the 2nd century AD. 156 Figure 67: The sizes of cities in the Roman world, in hectares. 157 Figure 68: The density of the sizes of cities in the Roman world, in hectares. 157 Figure 69: A graph to show the urban hierarchy of the Roman world, with rank against area (the scales are logarithmic). 158 Figure 70: A graph to show the urban hierarchy of the Roman world, with rank against estimated population (the scales are logarithmic). 158 Figure 71: A graph to show the urban hierarchy of Italia and the Alpes Cottiae, Graiae et Poeninae, and Maritimae, with rank against area on the left and rank against population on the right (the scales are logarithmic). 159 Figure 72: A graph to show the urban hierarchy of Mauretania Tingitana and Caesariensis, Numidia, Africa Proconsularis, and Cyrenaica, with rank against area on the left and rank against population on the right (the scales are logarithmic). 159 Figure 73: A graph to show the urban hierarchy of Aegyptus, with rank against area on the left and rank against population on the right (the scales are logarithmic). 160 Figure 74: A graph to show the urban hierarchy of Arabia, Syria Palestina, and Syria, with rank against area on the left and rank against population on the right (the scales are logarithmic). 160 Figure 75: A graph to show the urban hierarchy of Asia, Bithynia et Pontus, Cilicia, Lycia et Pamphylia, and Cappadocia et Galatia, with rank against area on the left and rank against population on the right (the scales are logarithmic). 161 Figure 76: A graph to show the urban hierarchy of Achaea and Macedonia, with rank against area on the left and rank against population on the right (the scales are logarithmic). 161 Figure 77: A graph to show the urban hierarchy of the Balkans (including Raetia, Noricum, Pannonia Inferior and Superior, Dalmatia, Moesia Inferior and Superior, Dacia, and Thracia), with rank against area on the left and rank against population on the ri 162 Figure 78: A graph to show the urban hierarchy of Gaul and Germany (including Gallia Narbonensis, Aquitania, Lugdunensis, and Belgica, and Germania Inferior and Superior), with rank against area on the left and rank against population on the right (the sc 162 Figure 79: A graph to show the urban hierarchy of Britannia, with rank against area on the left and rank against population on the right (the scales are logarithmic). 163 Figure 80: A graph to show the urban hierarchy of Baetica, Hispania Tarraconensis, and Lusitania, with rank against area on the left and rank against population on the right (the scales are logarithmic). 163 Figure 81: The monuments in cities in the Roman world. 164 Figure 82: The density of the monuments in cities in the Roman world. 164 Figure 83: The number of monuments in cities in the Roman world in 100 BC. 165 Figure 84: The number of monuments in cities in the Roman world in AD 1. 165 Figure 85: The number of monuments in cities in the Roman world in AD 100. 166 Figure 86: The number of monuments in cities in the Roman world in AD 200. 166 Figure 87: The number of monuments in cities in the Roman world in AD 300. 167 Figure 88: The density of monuments in cities the Roman world in 100 BC. 167 Figure 89: The density of monuments in cities in the Roman world in AD 1. 168 Figure 90: The density of monuments in cities in the Roman world in AD 100. 168 Figure 91: The density of monuments in cities in the Roman world in AD 200. 169 Figure 92: The density of monuments in cities in the Roman world in AD 300. 169 Figure 93: The increase in the number of monuments in cities in the 1st century BC. 170 Figure 94: The increase in the number of monuments in cities in the 1st century AD. 170 Figure 95: The increase in the number of monuments in cities in the 2nd century AD. 171 Figure 96: The increase in the number of monuments in cities in the 3rd century AD. 171 Figure 97: The cities with bouleuteria, ekklesiasteria, curiae, and comitia in the Roman world. 172 Figure 98: The cities with dikasteria and basilicae in the Roman world. 172 Figure 100: The cities with gymnasia, palaestrae, and baths in the Roman world. 173 Figure 99: The cities with religious structures in the Roman world. 173 Figure 101: The cities with theatres and odea in the Roman world. 174 Figure 102: The cities with amphitheatres in the Roman world. 174 Figure 103: The cities with hippodromes and circuses in the Roman world. 175 Figure 104: The cities with stadia in the Roman world. 175 Figure 105: The cities with walls and ramparts in the Roman world. 176 Figure 106: The cities with aqueducts, nymphaea, and fountains in the Roman world. 176 Figure 107: The capacities of theatres, amphitheatres, hippodromes, and circuses in the Roman world. 177 Figure 108: The sites with civic status in the Roman world. 177 Figure 109: The density of sites with civic status in the Roman world. 178 Figure 110: The sites with civic status in the Roman world in 100 BC. 178 Figure 111: The sites with civic status in the Roman world in AD 1. 179 Figure 112: The sites with civic status in the Roman world in AD 100. 179 Figure 113: The sites with civic status in the Roman world in AD 200. 180 Figure 114: The sites with civic status in the Roman world in AD 300. 180 Figure 115: The density of sites with civic status in the Roman world in 100 BC. 181 Figure 116: The density of sites with civic status in the Roman world in AD 1. 181 Figure 117: The density of sites with civic status in the Roman world in AD 100. 182 Figure 118: The density of sites with civic status in the Roman world in AD 200. 182 Figure 119: The density of sites with civic status in the Roman world in AD 300. 183 Figure 120: Provincial capitals in the Roman world (in AD 117). 183 Figure 121: Conventus capitals in the Roman world. 184 Figure 122: Metropolis capitals in the Roman world. 184 Figure 123: Nome capitals in the Roman world. 185 Figure 124: The coloniae of the Roman world. 185 Figure 125: The number of newly-created coloniae in the 1st century BC. 186 Figure 126: The number of newly-created coloniae in the 1st century AD. 186 Figure 127: The number of newly-created coloniae in the 2nd century AD. 187 Figure 128: The number of newly-created coloniae in the 3rd century AD. 187 Figure 129: The municipia of the Roman world. 188 Figure 130: The number of newly-created municipia in the Roman world in the 1st century BC. 188 Figure 131: The number of newly-created municipia in the Roman world in the 1st century AD. 189 Figure 132: The number of newly-created municipia in the Roman world in the 2nd century AD. 189 Figure 133: The number of newly-created municipia in the Roman world in the 3rd century AD. 190 Figure 134: The cities with rights and privileges in the Roman world. 190 Figure 135: The cities with newly-created rights and privileges in the 1st century BC. 191 Figure 136: The cities with newly-created rights and privileges in the 1st century AD. 191 Figure 137: The cities with newly-created rights and privileges in the 2nd century AD. 192 Figure 138: The cities with newly-created rights and privileges in the 3rd century AD. 192 Figure 139: The extents of ordering and clustering in cities in the Roman world. 193 Figure 140: The estimated hinterlands of cities in the Roman world, using buffers of 40km. 193 Figure 141: The estimated hinterlands of cities in the Roman world, using buffers of 80km. 194 Figure 142: The estimated hinterlands of cities in the Roman world, using buffers of 120km. 194 Figure 143: The estimated hinterlands of cities in the Roman world, using allocations. 195 Figure 144: The rivers of the Roman world. 195 Figure 145: The roads of the Roman world. 196 Index 197 Part Two: Catalogue 205 Select Bibliography 803 Index 805 Roamn Empire,urbanism,Roman cities Although There Have Been Numerous Studies Of Individual Cities Or Groups Of Cities, There Has Never Been A Study Of The Urbanism Of The Roman World As A Whole, Meaning That We Have Been Poorly Informed Not Only About The Number Of Cities And How They Were Distributed And Changed Over Time, But Also About Their Sizes And Populations, Monumentality, And Civic Status. This Book Provides A New Account Of The Urbanism Of The Roman World Between 100 Bc And Ad 300. To Do So, It Draws On A Combination Of Textual Sources And Archaeological Material To Provide A New Catalogue Of Cities, Calculates New Estimates Of Their Areas And Uses A Range Of Population Densities To Estimate Their Populations, And Brings Together Available Information About Their Monumentality And Civic Status For The First Time. This Evidence Demonstrates That, Although There Were Relatively Few Cities, Many Had Considerable Sizes And Populations, Substantial Amounts Of Monumentality, And Held Various Kinds Of Civic Status. This Indicates That There Was Significant Economic Growth In This Period, Including Both Extensive And Intensive Economic Growth, Which Resulted From An Influx Of Wealth Through Conquest And The Intrinsic Changes That Came With Roman Rule (including The Expansion Of Urbanism). This Evidence Also Suggests That There Was A System That Was Characterized By Areas Of Intense Urban Demand, Which Was Met Through An Efficient System For The Extraction Of Necessity And Luxury Goods From Immediate Hinterlands And An Effective System For Bringing These Items From Further Afield. The Disruption Of These Links Seems To Have Put This System Under Considerable Strain Towards The End Of This Period And May Have Been Sufficient To Cause Its Ultimate Collapse. This Appears To Have Been In Marked Contrast To The Medieval And Early Modern Periods, When Urbanism Was More Able To Respond To Changes In Supply And Demand -- Publisher's Website. Pt. One Text -- Ch. One Introduction -- Current Understanding -- Aims And Objectives -- Methodological Issues -- Database And Gis -- Current Debates -- Imperialism -- Economy -- Growth -- Integration -- Using Urbanism As A Proxy For The Economy -- Consumer-producer Debate -- Consumers, Producers, And Traders -- New Directions -- Definitions Of Urbanism -- Urban-rural Divide -- Ancient Perspectives On Urbanism -- Modern Perspectives On Urbanism -- Applying Modern Definitions To The Ancient World -- Focus And Limits -- Chapter Structure -- Ch. Two Urban Theory -- Introduction -- Early Theories: Smith And Malthus -- Site And Situation -- Von Thünen's `isolated State' -- Christaller's `central Place Theory' -- Urban Primacy And The Rank-size Rule -- Settlement Scaling Theory -- Ch. Three Numbers, Distributions, And Change Over Time -- Introduction -- Ancient Sources -- Archaeological Record -- Barrington Atlas -- Supplementary Sources -- Information About Sites -- New Catalogue -- Mapping Sites -- Dating Sites -- Results -- Number -- Distribution -- Change Over Time -- Ch. Four Sizes And Populations -- Introduction -- Existing Estimates -- Rome -- Alexandria -- Antioch, Carthage, Ephesus, And Other Large Sites -- Using Sizes And Population Densities To Estimate Populations -- Evidence For Sizes -- Dating Estimates -- Population Densities -- Extent Of The Inhabited Area -- Number Of Houses -- Number Of Inhabitants Per Household -- Case Studies -- Results -- Individual Cities -- Urban Population -- Total Population And Urbanization Rate -- Urban Hierarchy -- Ch. Five Monumentality -- Introduction -- Evidence For Monumentality -- Results -- Ch. Six Civic Status -- Introduction -- Evidence For Civic Statuses -- Results -- Ch. Seven Spatial Patterns -- Introduction -- Site And Situation And Central Place Theory -- Hinterlands -- Connectivity -- Ch. Eight Discussion And Conclusions -- Economic Growth And Integration -- Longue Duree -- Appendix -- Bibliography -- Figures -- Index -- Pt. Two Catalogue. J.w. Hanson. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.