Finding the Limits of the Limes: Setting the Scene

Abstract

This open access book demonstrates the application of simulation modelling and network analysis techniques in the field of Roman studies. It summarizes and discusses the results of a 5-year research project carried out by the editors that aimed to apply spatial dynamical modelling to reconstruct and understand the socio-economic development of the Dutch part of the Roman frontier (limes) zone, in particular the agrarian economy and the related development of settlement patterns and transport networks in the area. The project papers are accompanied by invited chapters presenting case studies and reflections from other parts of the Roman Empire focusing on the themes of subsistence economy, demography, transport and mobility, and socio-economic networks in the Roman period. The book shows the added value of state-of-the-art computer modelling techniques and bridges computational and conventional approaches. Topics that will be of particular interest to archaeologists are the question of (forced) surplus production, the demographic and economic effects of the Roman occupation on the local population, and the structuring of transport networks and settlement patterns. For modellers, issues of sensitivity analysis and validation of modelling results are specifically addressed. This book will appeal to students and researchers working in the computational humanities and social sciences, in particular, archaeology and ancient history. 1 Finding the Limits of the Limes: Setting the Scene 1 Philip Verhagen, Jamie Joyce, and Mark R Groenhuijzen Part I Demography and Settlement 2 Current Trends in Roman Demography and Empirical Approaches to the Dynamics of the Limes Populations 23 Isabelle Séguy 3 Modelling the Dynamics of Demography in the Dutch Roman Limes Zone: A Revised Model 43 Philip Verhagen 4 Broad and Coarse: Modelling Demography, Subsistence and Transportation in Roman England 61 Tyler Franconi and Chris Green 5 A Different Vision of Ancient Settlement Dynamics: Creation and Application of a Model of Evolution of Roman Settlement of the Plateau Lorrain (France) 77 Antonin Nüsslein Part II Economy 6 The Economic Archaeology of Roman Economic Performance 95 Willem M Jongman 7 Modelling Agricultural Strategies in the Dutch Roman Limes via Agent- Based Modelling (ROMFARMS) 109 Jamie Joyce 8 The Economy of Laetanian Wine: A Conceptual Framework to Analyse an Intensive/Specialized Winegrowing Production System and Trade (First Century BC to Third Century AD) 129 Antoni Martín i Oliveras and Víctor Revilla Calvo 9 The Role of Forts in the Local Market System in the Lower Rhine: Towards a Method of Multiple Hypothesis Testing Through Comparative Modelling 165 Eli JSWeaverdyck 10 A Multi-scalar Approach to Long-Term Dynamics, Spatial Relations and Economic Networks of Roman Secondary Settlements in Italy and the Ombrone Valley System (Southern Tuscany): Towards a Model? 191 Stefano Bertoldi, Gabriele Castiglia, and Angelo Castrorao Barba Part III Transport and Movement 11 Modelling of Pathways and Movement Networks in Archaeology: An Overview of Current Approaches 217 Philip Verhagen, Laure Nuninger, and Mark RGroenhuijzen 12 Palaeogeographic-Analysis Approaches to Transport and Settlement in the Dutch Part of the Roman Limes 251 Mark RGroenhuijzen 13 Network Analysis to Model and Analyse Roman Transport and Mobility 271 Pau de Soto 14 Footprints and Cartwheels on a Pixel Road: On the Applicability of GIS for the Modelling of Ancient (Roman) Routes 291 César Parcero-Oubiña, Alejandro Güimil-Fariña, João Fonte, and José Manuel Costa-García 15 Rethinking Approaches for the Study of Urban Movement at Ostia 313 Katherine A Crawford Index 329