This chapter is an introduction to two of the major aspects of the study of Achaemenid Persian art, namely its definition, and the analysis of quotations of other artistic traditions. Achaemenid art is best defined as consisting of two categories of material. One is the art of the empire, i.e. art produced in furtherance of imperial goals. The…[Read more]

The vast territorial extent of the Achaemenid Empire is often assumed to have impeded connectivity and communication within the empire. This paper challenges the validity of this assumption. Two factors in particular favor this conclusion—the presence of an extensive road network and the high communication speed in the empire, made possible by t…[Read more]

This article is a reconsideration of the Second Persian Period in Egypt (c. 340-332 BCE) in light of Ptolemaic propaganda and the reliefs of the Tomb of Petosiris at Tuna el-Gebel.

The use of digital photogrammetric techniques to document archaeological layers and features has become increasingly common. Software such as PhotoScan uses multiple photographs of an object to model its geometry. In addition to providing more detailed topographical data than those acquired using a total station alone, such photomodeling offers…[Read more]

In his recent study of religion and imperialism in the Achaemenid Persian Empire, Bruce Lincoln depicts the Achaemenids as savage and decadent in order to make a point about contemporary American foreign policy. This paper challenges Lincoln’s vision of the empire by examining the severe methodological flaws that underlie it, especially his…[Read more]

It has recently been argued that a group of five monuments at S. Omobono were part of a single building program, attributed to the Roman consul M. Fulvius Flaccus in 264 BCE, a program that also included a monument at Orvieto, loc. Campo della Fiera. The monuments in question include two altars, a circular ‘donarium’ and fragments of two bases car…[Read more]

It has recently been argued that a group of five monuments at S. Omobono were part of a single building program, attributed to the Roman consul M. Fulvius Flaccus in 264 BCE, a program that also included a monument at Orvieto, loc. Campo della Fiera. The monuments in question include two altars, a circular ‘donarium’ and fragments of two bases car…[Read more]

This article addresses how current archaeological approaches to political boundaries potentially misconstrue evidence for mobile kingship.

The article deals with the tumba (or tomba) and with the diffusion of this building type in the medieval rural territory of Rimini. By tumba we normally mean a fortified settling of modest dimensions, built on high ground in order to protect cultivated areas: its characteristics are well described into the De Agricoltura, a treatise written by…[Read more]

The Roman villa is a classic icon of Western culture, and yet villa can be used to cover a multiplicity of ideas, experiences, and places. In the late Republic and early Imperial periods, villas are inseparable from elite lifestyles, providing a prestigious setting for leisurely and intellectual pursuits. But how did these advanced buildings come…[Read more]

Book review of R. Roth. Styling Romanisation: Pottery and Society in Central Italy

Book review of G. Pucci and C. Mascione (Eds), Manifattura ceramica etrusco-romana a Chiusi: il complesso produttivo di Marcianella

Slow archaeology situates contemporary, digital archaeological practice both in the historical tradition of the modern discipline of archaeology and within a discourse informed by calls for Taylorist efficiency. Rather than rejecting the use of digital tools, slow archaeology calls for archaeology to embrace a spirit of critical engagement with…[Read more]

Excavation of archaic Morgantina (c.700–450 BC), Sicily, has brought to light a significant pattern in the distribution of imported Greek pottery. This pattern, which shows a preference for imports with features that referred to metal vessels, is echoed at sites around the western Mediterranean. We argue that the preference for certain types was c…[Read more]

For at least a decade, scholars examining colonial influences on the material culture of indigenous populations in the ancient Mediterranean have found recourse in the concept of hybridity. These investigators have recognized that in situations where different cultural groups meet and mix, artifactual and behavioral traits from both the dominant…[Read more]

Network analysis is both a method and a theory for exploring the relationships inherent in archaeological materials. In this paper, I direct attention to what may be the lowest-hanging fruit for archaeological network analysis: epigraphic materials. Epigraphic materials are replete with obvious and clearly visible social networks. In their…[Read more]

This paper presents a way of looking at Roman space from a Roman perspective, and suggests ways in which this point of view might open up new approaches in Roman archaeology. It turns on one conception of Roman space in particular, preserved for us in the Antonine Itineraries. Working from a position that considers the context of the itineraries…[Read more]

When we find an archaeological network, how can we explore the necessary versus contingent processes at play in the formation of that archaeological network? Given a set of circumstances or processes, what other possible network shapes could have emerged? This is the problem of equifinality, where many different means could potentially arrive at…[Read more]