Bouwen aan het Principaat: Lokale Elites en Monumentale Cultuur in Romeins Umbrië

Staggering amounts of architecture and inscriptions were fabricated all over Roman Italy during the end of the first century B.C.E. and the first two centuries C.E. A lot of these legacies can be related to the mediation of the emperor, such as the construction of roads, aqueducts, public buildings, temples, altars and statues. Scholars agree that the first emperor (Augustus) must be seen as a catalyst for the construction of impressive buildings throughout Italy. There is, on the other hand, less agreement on the accomplishments of this particular process. However, a trend in academic literature gives a preference to a top-down approach: the emperor has a key-position in this model and the inhabitants of Italy consequently emulated the developments in Rome regarding architecture, building techniques and style forms. But can this specific top-down concept provide a sufficient explanation for cities that demonstrate hardly any patronage with Rome, or little imperial interventions, where only marginal social mobility towards Rome can be observed or a divergent kind of building process? Hence, the main question of this thesis: in what way could the local elite contribute to the consolidation of the Principate? The cities and elites in Umbria will be used as a case study in answering this question. A conclusion that can be drawn from this research is that the elite could reinforce concord, cooperation and identity within the Umbrian communities by constructing architecture and sculpture. Therefore, the elite possessed a significant role in the consolidation of imperial rule within Umbria.