A new article from the Gabii Project has been published in the journal Antiquity. The authors include IPCAA students and alumni J. Troy Samuels, Sheira Cohen, Tyler Johnson, Matthew Naglak, Laura Banducci, and Alison Rittershaus as well as Kelsey research specialist Laura Motta.
Abstract
The ancient city of Gabii—an Italian polity of the first millennium BC and a peer to early Rome—has often been presented as an example of urban decline, a counterpoint to Rome's rise from a collection of hilltop huts to a Mediterranean hegemon. Here the authors draw on the results from recent excavations at Gabii that challenge such simplistic models of urban history. Diachronic evidence documenting activity at the site over the course of 1,400 years highlights shifting values and rhythms materialised in the maintenance, transformation and abandonment of different urban components. This complex picture of adaptation and resilience provides a model of ancient urbanism that calls into question outdated narratives of urban success and failure.
The article can be accessed here. Note that subscription or access through U-M Library is required.
