ROME AND THE MEDITERRANEAN NETWORK

Course objectives

In consistency with the educational purposes of the MA Mediterranean Archaeology, aim of the course “Rome and the Mediterranean network” is to give students extensive knowledges and comprehension skills in the field of Mediterranean environment and network in interaction with the Roman power. The wide chronological range (3rd BCE – 5th CE) offers the possibility to analyze diachronically phenomena of “longue durée“, i.d. from the phase of the formation to the late developments of the Roman Empire. Thanks to a post-colonial, multidisciplinary approach and to a comparative analysis, the student will be skilled to tackle the complexity of the phenomenon. Based on highly representative key studies, the teaching unit provides students with new approaches on the impact of Rome on the Mediterranean material culture, by investigating the dynamics of acculturation, exchange and interaction. In this innovative perspective, the course will focus on the diversity and complexity of different regional landscapes as well as variegated forms of urban and domestic life influenced by human mobility and technological transfer. Based on a detailed analysis of archaeological contexts, monuments and artefacts, the course will offer new insights on the cultural, ideological and economic factors underlying the Mediterranean connectivity, within the globalised network of the Roman Empire

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NICCOLO' CECCONI Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
Consistent with the educational purposes of "Mediterranean Archaeology", the course "Rome and the Mediterranean network" 2024-2025 proposes to provide students with knowledge and tools to analyse, in an autonomous and critical way, the wide system of relations between Rome and the heterogeneous Mediterranean communities. During the lessons, the fundamental aspects of the discipline's post-colonial approach will be analysed: we will examine the history of studies, the varied concept of "Romanisation", the theoretical nodes of the concept of "Mediterranean network" and the relationship between Rome and the Mediterranean societies as a reciprocity of cultural exchanges. The contexts will be analysed within a broad chronological range (from the 3rd century BCE to the 5th century CE) that will allow us to approach diachronic development analyses. The geographical context is equally extensive. Territorial patterns and contexts of Rome, and of some urban settlements of Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, the Iberian peninsula, Gaul, Germany, Britain, Balkans and the Danubian area, Greece, Asia Minor, Near East, Egypt and the rest of North Africa will be considered. Territories and cities will be analysed according to a comparative and multidisciplinary approach and following innovative methodological procedures. Particular attention will be focused on urban landscapes, monuments and the analysis of objects (furnishings and architectural decorations) in their context. Through this course, students will acquire an in-depth knowledge of the procedures of archaeological analysis of urban landscapes in ancient Mediterranean areas and will be able to form ideas about the cultural, political and economic relations between the Roman Empire and Mediterranean cultures.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites required
Books
Roman Architecture and Urbanism : from the Origins to Late Antiquity / Fikret Yegül, Diane Favro. - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2019. Other handbooks and papers will be recommended during the course.
Frequency
There are no restrictions on the attendance
Exam mode
Brief interview of about 20 to 30 minutes. Some of the contexts examined during the lessons will be considered during the examination.
Bibliography
Roman Architecture and Urbanism : from the Origins to Late Antiquity / Fikret Yegül, Diane Favro. - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2019. Other handbooks and papers will be recommended during the course.
Lesson mode
Classes will be conducted in-person through sharing PPTs and involving students in discussion.
NICCOLO' CECCONI Lecturers' profile

Program - Frequency - Exams

Course program
Consistent with the educational purposes of "Mediterranean Archaeology", the course "Rome and the Mediterranean network" 2024-2025 proposes to provide students with knowledge and tools to analyse, in an autonomous and critical way, the wide system of relations between Rome and the heterogeneous Mediterranean communities. During the lessons, the fundamental aspects of the discipline's post-colonial approach will be analysed: we will examine the history of studies, the varied concept of "Romanisation", the theoretical nodes of the concept of "Mediterranean network" and the relationship between Rome and the Mediterranean societies as a reciprocity of cultural exchanges. The contexts will be analysed within a broad chronological range (from the 3rd century BCE to the 5th century CE) that will allow us to approach diachronic development analyses. The geographical context is equally extensive. Territorial patterns and contexts of Rome, and of some urban settlements of Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, the Iberian peninsula, Gaul, Germany, Britain, Balkans and the Danubian area, Greece, Asia Minor, Near East, Egypt and the rest of North Africa will be considered. Territories and cities will be analysed according to a comparative and multidisciplinary approach and following innovative methodological procedures. Particular attention will be focused on urban landscapes, monuments and the analysis of objects (furnishings and architectural decorations) in their context. Through this course, students will acquire an in-depth knowledge of the procedures of archaeological analysis of urban landscapes in ancient Mediterranean areas and will be able to form ideas about the cultural, political and economic relations between the Roman Empire and Mediterranean cultures.
Prerequisites
No prerequisites required
Books
Roman Architecture and Urbanism : from the Origins to Late Antiquity / Fikret Yegül, Diane Favro. - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2019. Other handbooks and papers will be recommended during the course.
Frequency
There are no restrictions on the attendance
Exam mode
Brief interview of about 20 to 30 minutes. Some of the contexts examined during the lessons will be considered during the examination.
Bibliography
Roman Architecture and Urbanism : from the Origins to Late Antiquity / Fikret Yegül, Diane Favro. - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2019. Other handbooks and papers will be recommended during the course.
Lesson mode
Classes will be conducted in-person through sharing PPTs and involving students in discussion.
  • Lesson code10598852
  • Academic year2025/2026
  • CourseMediterranean Archaeology
  • CurriculumMediterranean Archaeology
  • Year2nd year
  • Semester1st semester
  • SSDL-ANT/07
  • CFU6