In the early history of Rome, the Archaic period (6th–early 5th century BCE) was a pivotal era. In this period, Rome became an important urban centre. It had a sizable population, urban planning was conducted, religion was organized, monumental buildings were erected, and the city was part of an interconnected Mediterranean network system. The history of early Rome has been broadly based on myths from ancient literary tradition, such as Ab Urbe Condita, written by Livy. Over the last few decades, more archaeological finds, and an upsurge of scientific methods in archaeology have offered new insights. The scope of this presentation, grounded in my recently completed PhD project, lies on the merits of archaeological sources in the reading of Archaic Rome. The presentation attempts to interpret archaeological remains on their own terms and encourage more attention to the results of scientific studies and separation of robust archaeological evidence from overinterpreted notions deriving from literary texts.

The lecture is organised by Later European Prehistory Group, Cambridge University and will be online. 

Monday 6th December 2021, 1pm (GMT) (14:00 Danish time). 

Join via this link: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/97394426856