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The Urban Dimensions of Mountain Society in Late-First Millennium bc Italy: Monte Vairano in Samnium
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 September 2024
Abstract
The mountain communities of late-first millennium bc Italy have been regarded as non-urban societies that reverted to city life mainly owing to Roman intervention. A growing body of archaeological evidence is uncovering the diversity of settlement forms and dynamics in the region's pre-Roman past, which included sites encompassing a range of functions and social agents. This article presents an in-depth, microscale analysis of one such site, Monte Vairano in Samnium, drawing on perspectives from comparative urbanism. Monte Vairano developed urban characteristics such as a complex socioeconomic profile and political cohesion, as well as potentially more unique features such as an apparently balanced distribution of wealth. These results can shed further light on the diversity of ancient urbanization and its sociopolitical implications in late-first millennium bc Italy and the Mediterranean.
Les communautés des Monts Samnites en Italie centrale sont considérées comme non-urbaines, bien qu'ayant atteint des objectifs impressionnants, y compris une vive résistance à l'essor de l'impérialisme romain à la fin du premier millénaire av. J.-C. Un nombre croissant d’études a souligné que les centres samnites combinaient une série de fonctions et qu'on pourrait les décrire comme des agglomérations, voire des centres urbains. L'auteur de cet article présente une analyse détaillée du site de Monte Vairano, dans une perspective urbaine comparative. Le site acquit un profil socioéconomique complexe et aurait pu remplir une fonction cohésive dans l'articulation politique de la société, ce qui le rapproche de certaines notions d'urbanisme. Cette étude concernant le degré d'urbanisation d'une communauté montagnarde italienne de la fin du premier millénaire av. J.-C. est offerte comme contribution aux recherches sur les sociétés urbaines du monde méditerranéen pendant l'Antiquité. Translation by Madeleine Hummler
Die Gemeinschaften der zentralitalienischen Berglandschaft werden als nicht städtisch angesehen, obschon sie beachtliche Ziele erreichten, besonders im Widerstand gegen den wachsenden römischen Imperialismus des späten ersten Jahrtausends v. Chr. Mehrere neuere Untersuchungen haben aber betont, dass Samnitische Siedlungszentren verschiedene Funktionen erfüllten und dass man sie als Sammelsiedlungen oder sogar städtische Siedlungen beschreiben kann. In diesem Artikel wird eine Feinanalyse einer dieser Siedlungen, Monte Vairano, aus der Sichtweise einer vergleichenden urbanistischen Untersuchung vorgelegt. Monte Vairano war sozioökonomisch komplex und konnte potenziell eine einheitliche politische Gemeinschaft bilden, was mit bestimmten Aspekten des Urbanismus übereinstimmt. Der Verfasser hofft, dass die vorliegende Studie des Urbanisierungsniveaus der Berggemeinschaften des späten ersten Jahrtausends v. Chr in Italien als Beitrag zur vergleichenden Erforschung von anderen städtischen Gesellschaften im antiken Mittelmeerraum dienen kann. Translation by Madeleine Hummler
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