Bones, Graves, Tombstones and Colonists: Mortuary Practices and Social Complexity in Roman Dion and Patras

Activity: Talk and presentationAcademic presentationAcademic

Description

The Roman colonies of Dion in Macedonia (North Greece) and Patras in Achaea (Peloponnese)were both founded by Augustus after his victory in the battle of Actium (31 BCE) and flourished until the end of the 3rd century AD. Both cities were intensely connected urban centres and part of the network of colonies established in the Greek peninsula by the Romans. Material evidence testifies to urbanized living conditions with clear signs of prosperity and high artistic achievement. At the same time, there is evidence for a multi-ethnic population that underwent a gradual process of interaction and exchange, leading to the fusion of Roman and Greek cultures in a socially a complex society. Our comparative research investigates whether these processes of change also influenced the treatment of the dead, health and everyday life.
For Patras, these questions were studied by analysing funerary material and epigraphic data from decades old excavations in the city’s Classical to Late Roman cemeteries, carried out by the local Ephorate. For Dion, the research was carried out by analysing 102 Hellenistic to Early Christian burials from the North and West necropolis of the city, excavated under the auspices of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Pieria in 2013-2015.
In this paper we combine and compare the results from our systematic analyses of Roman burials from these two colonies. We focus on patterns of continuity, change and variation in mortuary practices and treatment of the body and aim to show that the local cemeteries of Dion and Patras reflect similar processes of change – despite having been studied through different methodologies.
Period22-Apr-2022
Event titleThe Impact of Rome in the East
Event typeConference
Degree of RecognitionInternational