Epigraphy and Urban Transitions in Roman Sicily: The Severan Period Reconsidered (20 min)

Presenters

Laura Pfuntner, Queen?s University Belfast

Abstract

Public inscriptions are often the most closely datable records of discrete events occurring in ancient urban centers, and so they frequently form the basis of scholarly efforts to periodize the histories of individual cities. In provinces like Sicily that are largely absent from historical narratives of the Roman period, inscriptions have been key to identifying important moments of political transition in cities, such as the establishment of Roman colonies, and to tracing the often more gradual processes of linguistic and cultural change that could accompany them, such as the increasing public use of Latin and the introduction of new monumental forms. However, recent studies of other regions of the empire have problematized the use of inscriptions as evidence of concrete developments in urban landscapes. This paper seeks to refine understanding of the relationship between public epigraphy and archaeologically traceable changes in the built environment of Sicilian cities by focusing on texts produced during the Severan period, which is often viewed as a time of renewed prosperity for the island, though the archaeological evidence for urban transformation is ambiguous. It argues that the early and middle decades of the third century represent a perceived rather than a real inflection point in the urban history of Roman Sicily. The discrepancy between the vibrant epigraphic output and the apparent inertia in the built environment of towns particularly on the north coast (e.g., Soluntum, Thermae Himeraeae, Halaesa, and Tyndaris) suggests that inscriptions are more reflective of local aspirations than of actual changes to the physical fabric of cities. Nonetheless, the paper concludes that the apparent burst in public dedications in the Severan period reflects the continued centrality of urban centers to interactions between local communities and imperial authorities, even if this centrality was now less likely to be expressed through monumental building programs.