Description

This collection of essays focuses on the peoples and communities of ancient, and mainly pre-Roman Italy. Alongside the Etruscans, a range of less well-known ancient peoples of the Italian peninsula are increasingly coming into focus, and it is now possible to write the history of these communities; a history that led eventually to the formation of Roman Italy and ultimately of the Roman empire. 'Ancient Italy' consists of a series of studies, covering the Ligurians and Celts in north-west Italy, the Veneti, Picenes, the Etruscans, the Faliscans, the Latins, the Samnites, the peoples of Campania and the peoples of south-east Italy. Each essay provides a brief introduction to the region and its communities, a summary of recent scholarship and a map showing the location of significant sites, and then goes on to bring out the key issues raised by the most recent research within that region. The book addresses themes in the study of the ancient world: settlement and landscape; identity; religious and funerary ritual; elite stratification and display; social and cultural interaction drawing on evidence from archaeological excavation and survey, numismatics, epigraphy and literature. Designed to be an important tool for researchers working on the ancient Mediterranean, it is also accessible to undergraduates, providing a starting point for anyone interested in the peoples of Ancient Italy.