Was there a Byzantine model of settlement in Italy ?

Abstract

Thomas S. Brown et Neil J. Christie, Was there a Byzantine model of settlement in Italy?, p. 377-399. This paper analyses the results of recent research concerning settlement in Byzantine Italy between the 6th and 8th centuries A.D., concentrating on the well-documented provinces of northern and central Italy. It develops themes first proposed in 1978 by Brown who stressed the role of insecurity and the militarisation of society in promoting seulement change in the imperial territories, in particular through the creation of castra. Besides examining the origin and nature of these castra, and their position in current thinking on the later process of incastellamento, comment is also made on the effects of Byzantine rule on the cities of Italy, assessing levels of continuity and change. The paper is divided into two halves : in the first part the regions of Venetia and the Exarchate are surveyed from a primarily documentary viewpoint in the second half archaeological data provide physical image of settlement change in Liguria and central Italy The combina tion of these various sources of evidence allow important conclusions to be drawn regarding the character of Byzantine rule and settlement in Italy