The State of the Samnites

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Curatore: Tesse D. Stek
Anno edizione: 2021
Collana: Papers of the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome, 69
Isbn: 978-88-5491-202-1
Materie: Storia
Formato: 21x28
Pagine: 287
LingueInglese; Italiano

 

As Rome’s most notorious opponents on Italian soil, the Samnites have always occupied a special position in scholarship on ancient Italy and early Roman imperialism. The prominence of the Samnites in classical studies can be traced directly to Livy’s detailed account of the Samnite Wars. Writing centuries after the fact, Livy romantically portrays the Romans and Samnites as formidable opponents, and as almost evenly matched expansionist States. Consequently, scholars have propped up the ‘Samnite State’ by combining historical and archaeological data. However, historiographical research over the last few decades paints a different picture. Recent studies have questioned the historical role of ‘the Samnites’, and have indeed tended to deconstruct notions of strong Samnite socio-political cohesion and organizational capacity. The ultimate conclusions reached by some of the recent ‘deconstructivist’ studies are not yet uniformly accepted across different schools of thought. Especially the issues of a shared Samnite identity or socio-political organization, and the reality of Samnite military power and territorial expansion have become subject of a heated debate. However, these developing theoretical positions have remained partly isolated from a growing body of exciting new archaeological discoveries. To stimulate synergy, this volume brings together an international group of experts from different fields and backgrounds. It opens up the discussion by offering fresh viewpoints and new evidence for the political organization, social life, mountain settlement, cults and cult sites, and finally the character of Samnite and Roman expansionism.

Sommario:

Acknowledgements

Map of Samnium with indication of the sites mentioned in the volume

Introduction

Tesse D. Stek, The ‘State’ of the Samnites and the ‘state’ of research in Samnium 15

Part I. The Samnite State? The development of social and political organization in Samnium

Loredana Cappelletti, Sull’organizzazione statuale degli Italici: percezioni antiche ed evidenze epigrafiche
Elena Isayev, An Oscan public sphere? With insights from Lucania
Federico Russo, Il foedus romano-frentano del 304 a.C. nel contesto dell’Adriatico della fine del IV secolo a.C.
Cesare Letta, La municipalizzazione tardiva del Sannio

Part II. New light on the funerary, domestic and productive landscapes of Samnium


Angela Di Niro, Al margine dell’invisibile. Individui e societa nel mondo sannitico
Marlene Suano, Armi nelle tombe: che fine hanno fatto i guerrieri?
Isabella Muccilli, Angela Di Niro, Diletta Colombo, Il sito di Pesco Morelli a Cercemaggiore (CB): riesame dei dati di scavo e considerazioni generali sul rapporto spazio pubblico e spazio privato nel mondo sannitico
Francesco Giancola, La fornace ellenistica di Castelpetroso

 Part III. Highland archaeology in Samnium

Stéphane Bourdin, I centri fortificati in Abruzzo: definizione, funzione, datazione
Tesse D. Stek, Arthur Hamel, Jesús García Sánchez, A non-invasive archaeological approach to the study of mountain top settlements: first results from the hillfort of Montagna di Gildone in ancient Samnium (CB, Molise)
Gianluca Soricelli, Il sito sannitico-romano in loc. Capo di Campo (Castello del Matese, CE) e l’occupazione antica del massiccio matesino

 Part IV. Cults and cult places in rural and urban landscapes

Gerardo Fratianni, Il santuario italico di Trivento
Gianluca Tagliamonte, Luciano Maria Rendina, Dario Panariti, Luigi Cinque, I Romani nella media valle del Volturno: il santuario del Monte San Nicola a Pietravairano (CE)
Timo Sironen, Elizabeth C. Robinson, L’iscrizione osca in alfabeto latino rinvenuta a Larino (CB): il culto di Mamers documentato

Part V. Samnite expansion from confrontation to co-optation and migration

Amalia Faustoferri, I Sanniti del Nord
Maria Luisa Marchi, Sanniti in Daunia. Forme di popolamento e sistemi insediativi in area apula
Tiziana Ercole, La costruzione del paesaggio di Alba Fucens sulla lunga durata. Riflessioni sull’occupazione dello spazio rurale tra lago, montagne e acquitrini
Albert Ribera i Lacomba, The foundation of Valentia (Hispania Citerior) between Samnites and Italic peoples