Writing the Roman Empire

Abstract

The paper offers: a) A critique of traditionalist Roman archaeology, including its lack of contact with such overlapping issues as an archaeology of material culture, gender relati01lS, structuration, the social meanings of power, and human agency. It is suggested that this is linked to the dominant concerns and social strategies of the influential traditionalist Romanist Establishment. b) Some examples of remedial research in the field of villa studies are the Brislington wel~ the Hambleden infant burials, and the distribution of villas in Britain. c) And, linked to the above, a brief a discussion of the opportunities for theory-building in Roman archaeology.

Increasing International Perspectives in Theoretical Roman Archaeology

“…An important component of TRAC has always been its vibrant community of postgraduates and early career researchers who use the conference to display the potential of their research and present alongside more established scholars. Diverse representation among presenting scholars is an extremely important aspect of these conferences, as one of TRAC's aims is to encourage students from diverse backgrounds to participate in shaping evolving research agendas (Scott 1993).…”

Beyond ‘Romanization’: Technologies of Power in Roman Britain

“…Stressing 'eternal youth' rather than eternal verities, I think we should take a rest from the sterile discourse of 'Romanization ' and engage in the more stimulating, productive and contemporary discourse of power (Scott 1993). To do this I will draw on some of the ideas of the Marxist philosopher and social theorist Antonio Gramsci (the influence of Foucault -the most profound analyst of power since the time of Gramsci -will also be apparent in what I say below).…”

“…This is slowly being changed by recent work which has begun to show the inadequacies of the traditional formulation of the idea of 'Romanization' (Hingley 1996;Barrett forthcoming). The time is therefore ripe for new, more credible theories of social change (Scott 1993). By employing the ideas of Antonio Gramsci on domination and hegemony, I hope to restore human actors and action to the scene of Roman Britain.…”

Women and Gender Relations in the Roman Empire

“…This would mean Romanists critically examining their conceptual or interpretive frameworks (Scott 1993a), and I think that it is becoming increasingly clear that this would be no bad thing.…”