Being Roman: Rethinking Ethnic and Social Boundaries in the Roman South-Eastern Alpine World

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

This paper considers three specific artifact sets and mortuary practices occurring in the Roman south-eastern Alpine world from the first to third centuries ad. These are the ‘Norican-Pannonian’ costume set, the ‘Norican-Pannonian’ barrow phenomenon, and the Latobici ‘House’ urns. These funerary practices and objects have generally been interpreted as expressions of ethnic, social, and gender identities and as spatial boundaries connected with pre-Roman groups in the area. While current interpretations see the presence of Roman material culture as reflecting the Roman conquest, organization, and administration of the provinces—i.e. debates on Romanization that often concentrate on dichotomies between pre-Roman socio-political groups vs. ‘Romans’; civilians vs. soldiers; and elites vs. non-elites—this paper seeks to re-examine earlier explanations by drawing attention to the facets of personal and group identities that may be reflected upon (or negotiated) through these phenomena.