Book Description
The edited volume Epirus under the Romans: Economic Dynamics and the Countryside reassesses Epirus, a region long dismissed as peripheral within the Greco-Roman world. Moving beyond narratives of decline after 167 BC, the volume draws on archaeological and historical evidence to explore how the region was transformed, how it adapted to new conditions, and how it became integrated into Roman economic structures.
The chapters investigate themes including the development of settlements and fortified centres before the Roman conquest and the subsequent restructuring of rural territories through land division and the exploitation of agricultural and pastoral resources. They also examine the emergence of villae rusticae and large agricultural estates, as well as the foundation of Nicopolis as a dominant urban and economic hub.
Case studies address trade and monetary circulation, shifting patterns of rural investment, and, in some areas, the resilience of inland and coastal economies. Further contributions draw on material culture, including mosaics, and on epigraphic evidence. They also develop spatial approaches to rural connectivity and broaden the volume’s perspective through comparative discussions extending beyond the region.
Taken together, the contributions demonstrate that Epirus was defined not by marginality within the Roman world, but by the interaction between its people and landscape. Within this context, pastoral and agricultural traditions were reconfigured as part of the wider economic systems of the Roman Mediterranean.
Introduction: Charikleia Papageorgiadou, Vyron Antoniadis.
The volume includes contributions by: Vyron Antoniadis, Frank Daubner, Adolfo J. Domínguez, Panagiotis N. Doukellis, Ypatia Faklari, Vassiliki Giannaki, Anastasia Giovanopoulou, Ioulia K. Katsadima, Thalia Kyrkou, Vassiliki Lamprou, Kassiani Lazari, Leonidas Leontaris, Milena Melfi, Charikleia Papageorgiadou, Guillermo Pascual Berlanga, Georgia Pliakou, Athanasios D. Rizakis, Dimitris N. Sakkas, Ioulia Stamou, Antonia Tzortzatou, George A. Zachos, Sophia Zoumbaki.
