Familiarity, Repetition, and Quotidian Movement in Roman Tuscany

Abstract

This study investigates the connectivity between a number of places in an ancient Tuscan landscape by developing and testing hypotheses about mobility around and across the region. Interpretatively, it makes use of the concepts of familiarity and repetition in evaluating the quotidian experience of a landscape. Methodologically, it employs a multi-stranded approach, combining traditional topographical and archaeological assessments with GIS and ground-truthing exercises in a recursive dialog. It posits a ‘meshwork of connectivity’, which served to facilitate short- and long-distance travel within and across the region. It explores interactions between natural barriers and routeways, on the one hand, and human interventions and decision-making, on the other, and proposes the existence of both ‘corridors of movement’ and ‘focal points’ in the landscape. Finally, it suggests that seasonal variation in both environmental factors and economic imperatives likely impacted both the ease and the extent of regional travel.