Aspects of the relationship between Rome and the Greek cities of southern Italy and Campania under the Republic and early Empire.

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyse the relations of Rome with the Greek cities of Southern Italy during the Republic and the Early Empire, in order to create a "case study" of the processes of political expansion and Romanisation. The first part of this project utilises the historical sources, while the second is an analysis of the epigraphic evidence. No detailed consideration of archaeological material has been included since there has been extensive recent excavation of the area in question, and it is not possible to produce a complete synthesis of available material within the scope of a doctoral thesis. The first section of this project is a reassessment of the historical evidence for the contacts between Rome and the Italiote Greeks in the 4th and 3rd centuries B. C., together with a study of the behaviour of the Greek cities during the Punic Wars and the post-war period. The legal and diplomatic aspects of the relationship built up by Rome with the Greek communities are also reassessed. This seems to indicate that Roman control of Southern Italy developed relatively slowly, with little contact before 200 B. C., and seems to follow a pattern similar to that of Roman expansion in the East. The second section is a survey of the epigraphic evidence for the Greek cities of Southern Italy, undertaken to clarify the social, linguistic and administrative changes occurring as a result of the Roman conquest. It is used to build up a profile of each of the cities studied, including a prosopography of named individuals and studies of changes in language, religious cults, municipal administration, and social composition. This allows some evaluation of the differences in their response to Roman influence. The evidence indicates that Roman influence took root in the South by the 1st century A. D., but that awareness of Greek culture remained strong, and was actively cultivated. The diverse epigraphic habits of the area indicate the extent to which the differences between cities may reflect their differing responses to Romanisation.