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Papers by Tjark Blokzijl

Research paper thumbnail of Constructing and Reconstructing City Walls: Responses to Socio-Political change in Roman Italy after the Social War, c. 90-30 BC

Talanta. Proceedings of the Dutch Archaeological and Historical Society 48-49, 2016-7

The period between the Social War and the Augustan settlement is often described by Roman histori... more The period between the Social War and the Augustan settlement is often described by Roman historians as an era of socio-political turmoil: civil wars, proscriptions, random violence, looting and destruction of cities and towns are vividly described in these histories. However, the end of the Social War also marked the beginning of an unprecedented period of building projects which changed cities and towns into monumentalized urban landscapes. This period of so-called monumentalization continued well into the last decades of the Republic and throughout the early Principate. From an empiric perspective there seems to be a discrepancy between these different – literary and archaeological – types of sources. I am arguing, however, that no dichotomy is necessary between these sources. Furthermore, this increase in building schemes can be interpreted as the agency of an elite responding towards crisis and trauma. In framing the argumentation, I have used an approach known as cognitive archaeology (or cognitive-processual archaeology). In this paper I will try to show how architecture was used by the local elite to communicate ideology, identity and memory in the Roman and Italic cities. In doing so, I will use the principles outlined by this cognitive archaeological approach and provide a case study on the building, destruction and rebuilding of city walls which will support my assumptions.

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Research paper thumbnail of Introductie Lopend Onderzoek

This short article gives a very brief outline and introduction of my PhD-research.

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Research paper thumbnail of Op weg naar een Tota Italia? De Ordo Decurionum tussen Republiek en Principaat

Lampas. Tijdschrift voor Nederlandse Classici 47.1., 2014

Summary: After the Social war (91-87 BC), every city on the Italian peninsula with the status of ... more Summary: After the Social war (91-87 BC), every city on the Italian peninsula with the status of municipium or colonia received Roman civil rights as well as the right to assemble members for the city’s council of decuriones. The members of these newly created city councils were selected from the most wealthy and noble families. The implications were vast, because hundreds of noble families, with different ethnic, cultural and social backgrounds, were now part of one common juridical group: the ordo decurionum. I will try to give, in this article, a complete account of the ordo decurionum between 100 BC-AD 200. One of the main problems in writing such a narrative is the enormous scale of urban diversity in Roman Italy. There were hundreds of cities, large and small, each with its own unique cultural, economic and demographic background. It is therefore plausible to state that these urban diversities in cultural customs, economic capacities, population densities and social compositions played a primary role in the determination of the census for membership, the size, financial expenditure and hierarchal composition of the local ordo decurionum.

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Research paper thumbnail of De Julisch-Claudische keizers in het stadsbeeld van Pompeii

Hermeneus, 2009

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Research paper thumbnail of The Maritime Villae of Antium: A Case Study in Coastal Settlement

BAR INTERNATIONAL SERIES: SOMA 2004. Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology.Proceedings of the eighth annual meeting of postgraduate researchers, 2006

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Research paper thumbnail of Wonen en werken: Commerciële activiteiten van Romeinse kustvillae

Paleo-aktueel , 2005

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Research paper thumbnail of Bouwfraude in de Oudheid

Groniek. Historisch Tijdschrift 158-159., 2002

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NWO research project by Tjark Blokzijl

Research paper thumbnail of Keizers en Decurionen. Verspreiding en acceptatie van keizerlijke macht, ideologie, cultuur en mentaliteit in Romeins Italië (27 v.Chr.- 68 n.Chr.)

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Teaching Documents by Tjark Blokzijl

Research paper thumbnail of Crisis and Collapse in Antiquity 'Early civilizations' from a comparative perspective

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Research paper thumbnail of ICT en Romeinse Architectuur VWO 4 5

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Research paper thumbnail of Introductie. De Atheense Democratie

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Research paper thumbnail of Principaat. Beeld en Macht

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Research paper thumbnail of Val van de Romeinse Republiek

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Talks by Tjark Blokzijl

Research paper thumbnail of Crasis Annual Meeting & Masterclass: Crisis! The identification, Analysis, and Commemoration of Crises in the Ancient World, University of Groningen, Febuary 5th-6th 2015

Problems interpreting crisis Roman historians describe the period between the Social War (91-87 ... more Problems interpreting crisis
Roman historians describe the period between the Social War (91-87 BC) and the Augustan settlement (27 BC-AD 14) as a rather dark chapter in the history of the Italian peninsula (For instance; Velleius Paterculus, Florus, Appian and Cassius Dio). It is a grim story of civil wars, proscriptions, random executions, sacking and burning of whole cities and what we today consider genocide of specific ethnic groups. Trusting these literary sources this timespan can be clearly marked as an era of socio-political crisis. However, the end of the Social War marked the beginning of an unprecedented period of building projects which changed cities and towns into, what archaeologists and historians nowadays call, monumentalized urban landscapes. This period of diligent building activity continued in the last decades of the Republic and throughout the Augustan (27 BC-AD 14) and Julio-Claudian period (14-68 AD). How can this discrepancy between these different types of sources be explained? With on the one hand literary sources that speak of social upheaval, destruction and loss of life, which can be categorised as crisis. On the other hand archaeological data reveal unparalleled monumentalization and embellishment of cities and towns, which can be interpreted as an increase in prosperity and wealth.

Explaining monumentalization
In this paper I shall try to provide an answer to the above described discrepancy, although I will focus mainly on the phenomenon of monumentalization. In an endeavour to explain this increase in building activities, most scholars emphasize the euergetic and reciprocal nature of Graeco-Roman society (See especially; Veyne (1976) and Lendon (2005; 1st print 1997)). Religious feasts, dinners, distributions, theatre shows and especially the construction of public buildings were all generously donated by rich benefactors. These different forms of munificence constituted the social and political fabric of civic life in towns and cities throughout the Roman empire. However, in my opinion, it does not provide a sufficient explanation for the very function monumental buildings served within the ideological framework of an urban elite operating during trying times of changing polity in which social and political dynamics and relations were renegotiated. Furthermore, a close examination of the ideology behind these building schemes suggests that they cannot solely be attributed to reciprocity or an increase in wealth, but could also be seen as responses in canalizing a phenomenon we today call ‘national trauma’. Considering the above, the main question I would like to address in this paper is: why were architectural media preferred by Roman urban elites participating in complex constellations during times of significant socio-political crisis?

Monumental Architecture: A Cognitive Approach
Several archaeologists and anthropologists state that architecture in early complex societies was used by their elites as an important medium in the visualisation and communication of certain ideologies and values (e.g. M.E. Smith (2011), (2012), A.T. Smith (2003), Feinman and Marcus (1998), DeMarrais et al. (1996) and Trigger (1990), (2007; 1st print 2003)). The conceptual framework used by these scholars was strongly influenced by a new scientific approach known as cognitive archaeology or cognitive-processual archaeology (Renfrew (1994), (2004) and (2013)). This methodology studies for instance, the symbolic of material culture. In this paper I will try to show how architecture was used by the local elites to communicate ideology, identity and memory in the cities of Italy. In doing so I will use the principles outlined by this cognitive archaeological approach.

Bibliography
- DeMarrais, E., Castillo, L.J. en Earle, T. (1996) ‘Ideology, materialization, and power strategies’, Current Anthropology 37.1.: 15-31.
- Feinman, G.M. and Marcus, J. (eds.) (1998) Archaic states. Sante Fe NM.
- Lendon, J.E. (2005; 1st print 1997) Empire of honour. The art of government in the Roman world. Oxford.
- Renfrew, C. (1994) ‘Towards a cognitive archaeology’ in: C. Renfrew and E.B.W. Zubrow (eds.) Ancient mind: elements of cognitive archaeology. Cambridge. 3-12.
- Renfrew, C. (2004) ‘Towards a theory of material engagement’ in: E. DeMarrais, C. Gosden and C. Renfrew (eds.) Rethinking materiality. The engagement of mind with the material world. Oxford. 23-31.
- Renfrew, C. (2013; 1st print 2012) ‘Towards a cognitive archaeology. Material engagement and the early development of society’ in: I. Hodder (ed.) Archaeological theory today. Second edition. Malden MA and Cambridge. 124-145.
- Smith, A.T. (2003) The political landscape. Constellations of authority in early complex polities. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London.
- Smith, M.E. (2011) ‘Empirical urban theory for archaeologists’, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 18: 167-192.
- Smith, M.E. (ed.) (2012) The comparative archaeology of complex societies. Cambridge.
- Trigger, B.G. (1990) ‘Monumental architecture: A thermodynamic explanation of symbolic behaviour’, World Archaeology 22.2: 119-132.
- Trigger, B.G. (2007; 1st print 2003) Understanding early civilizations. Cambridge.
- Veyne, P. (1976) Le pain et le cirque. Sociologie historique d’un pluralisme politique. Paris.

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Research paper thumbnail of Nederlands Klassiek Verbond (Dutch Classical Association)

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Books by Tjark Blokzijl

Research paper thumbnail of Bouwen aan het Principaat. Lokale elites en monumentale cultuur in Romeins Umbrië

PhD-disseration, 2020

Samenvatting Het einde van de eerste eeuw v.Chr. en de eerste twee eeuwen n.Chr. laten voor Itali... more Samenvatting Het einde van de eerste eeuw v.Chr. en de eerste twee eeuwen n.Chr. laten voor Italië een grote hoeveelheid aan materiële cultuur zien, zowel aan survey-materiaal als architectuur. Veel van deze archeologische, maar ook epigrafische, bronnen zijn direct gerelateerd aan het handelen van de keizer: de aanleg van wegen en aquaducten, publieke gebouwen en eveneens heiligdommen, altaren en beelden die gewijd zijn aan de keizercultus. Onder oudhistorici en archeologen is er wel een brede overeenstemming met betrekking tot het functioneren van het Principaat van Augustus als katalysator voor verdere monumentalisering in Italië. Daarentegen bestaat er veel minder consensus over de wijze waarop dit proces zich voltrok. Er is echter een trend te ontdekken waarin de voorkeur gegeven wordt aan een 'top-down'-verklaring waarin de keizer en Rome centraal staan. Maar kan dit 'top-down'-model ook voldoende verklaringen geven voor steden en regio's waar aantoonbaar nauwelijks tot geen patronagebanden ontstonden met Rome, er weinig keizerlijke schenkingen gedaan werden, er een marginale sociale mobiliteit richting Rome waar te nemen is of waar een afwijkend monumentaliseringsproces was? Het 'top-down'-concept beargumenteert onvoldoende de wijze waarop monumentale architectuur op lokaal niveau functioneerde binnen het ideologische en conceptuele kader van zowel inwoners, burgers, bezoekers als de stedelijke elite die opereerde in tijden waarin culturele, sociale en politieke situaties vaak veranderden. De maatschappelijke, politieke en culturele heroriëntatie van de lokale stedelijke elite, die gedurende complexe en dynamische perioden plaatsvond, was mogelijk cruciaal voor het draagvlak van het Principaat. De hoofdvraag in dit proefschrift luidt dan ook: op welke wijze speelde de lokale elite een rol in de consolidatie van het Principaat? Voor de beantwoording van deze vraag zal de regio Umbrië als case study gebruikt worden. De focus van dit onderzoek zal voornamelijk liggen op de lokale stedelijke elite bestaande uit decurionen en augustales. Uit het onderzoek kan geconcludeerd worden dat door middel van monumentale cultuur, (architectuur en sculptuur) de lokale stedelijke elite de sociale cohesie, continuïteit, consensus en collectieve identiteit in de Umbrische gemeenschappen versterkte. Daardoor had de stedelijke elite in Umbrië een voorname rol in de consolidatie van het Principaat.

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Research paper thumbnail of Constructing and Reconstructing City Walls: Responses to Socio-Political change in Roman Italy after the Social War, c. 90-30 BC

Talanta. Proceedings of the Dutch Archaeological and Historical Society 48-49, 2016-7

The period between the Social War and the Augustan settlement is often described by Roman histori... more The period between the Social War and the Augustan settlement is often described by Roman historians as an era of socio-political turmoil: civil wars, proscriptions, random violence, looting and destruction of cities and towns are vividly described in these histories. However, the end of the Social War also marked the beginning of an unprecedented period of building projects which changed cities and towns into monumentalized urban landscapes. This period of so-called monumentalization continued well into the last decades of the Republic and throughout the early Principate. From an empiric perspective there seems to be a discrepancy between these different – literary and archaeological – types of sources. I am arguing, however, that no dichotomy is necessary between these sources. Furthermore, this increase in building schemes can be interpreted as the agency of an elite responding towards crisis and trauma. In framing the argumentation, I have used an approach known as cognitive archaeology (or cognitive-processual archaeology). In this paper I will try to show how architecture was used by the local elite to communicate ideology, identity and memory in the Roman and Italic cities. In doing so, I will use the principles outlined by this cognitive archaeological approach and provide a case study on the building, destruction and rebuilding of city walls which will support my assumptions.

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Research paper thumbnail of Introductie Lopend Onderzoek

This short article gives a very brief outline and introduction of my PhD-research.

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Research paper thumbnail of Op weg naar een Tota Italia? De Ordo Decurionum tussen Republiek en Principaat

Lampas. Tijdschrift voor Nederlandse Classici 47.1., 2014

Summary: After the Social war (91-87 BC), every city on the Italian peninsula with the status of ... more Summary: After the Social war (91-87 BC), every city on the Italian peninsula with the status of municipium or colonia received Roman civil rights as well as the right to assemble members for the city’s council of decuriones. The members of these newly created city councils were selected from the most wealthy and noble families. The implications were vast, because hundreds of noble families, with different ethnic, cultural and social backgrounds, were now part of one common juridical group: the ordo decurionum. I will try to give, in this article, a complete account of the ordo decurionum between 100 BC-AD 200. One of the main problems in writing such a narrative is the enormous scale of urban diversity in Roman Italy. There were hundreds of cities, large and small, each with its own unique cultural, economic and demographic background. It is therefore plausible to state that these urban diversities in cultural customs, economic capacities, population densities and social compositions played a primary role in the determination of the census for membership, the size, financial expenditure and hierarchal composition of the local ordo decurionum.

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Research paper thumbnail of De Julisch-Claudische keizers in het stadsbeeld van Pompeii

Hermeneus, 2009

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Research paper thumbnail of The Maritime Villae of Antium: A Case Study in Coastal Settlement

BAR INTERNATIONAL SERIES: SOMA 2004. Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology.Proceedings of the eighth annual meeting of postgraduate researchers, 2006

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Research paper thumbnail of Wonen en werken: Commerciële activiteiten van Romeinse kustvillae

Paleo-aktueel , 2005

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Research paper thumbnail of Bouwfraude in de Oudheid

Groniek. Historisch Tijdschrift 158-159., 2002

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Research paper thumbnail of Crasis Annual Meeting & Masterclass: Crisis! The identification, Analysis, and Commemoration of Crises in the Ancient World, University of Groningen, Febuary 5th-6th 2015

Problems interpreting crisis Roman historians describe the period between the Social War (91-87 ... more Problems interpreting crisis
Roman historians describe the period between the Social War (91-87 BC) and the Augustan settlement (27 BC-AD 14) as a rather dark chapter in the history of the Italian peninsula (For instance; Velleius Paterculus, Florus, Appian and Cassius Dio). It is a grim story of civil wars, proscriptions, random executions, sacking and burning of whole cities and what we today consider genocide of specific ethnic groups. Trusting these literary sources this timespan can be clearly marked as an era of socio-political crisis. However, the end of the Social War marked the beginning of an unprecedented period of building projects which changed cities and towns into, what archaeologists and historians nowadays call, monumentalized urban landscapes. This period of diligent building activity continued in the last decades of the Republic and throughout the Augustan (27 BC-AD 14) and Julio-Claudian period (14-68 AD). How can this discrepancy between these different types of sources be explained? With on the one hand literary sources that speak of social upheaval, destruction and loss of life, which can be categorised as crisis. On the other hand archaeological data reveal unparalleled monumentalization and embellishment of cities and towns, which can be interpreted as an increase in prosperity and wealth.

Explaining monumentalization
In this paper I shall try to provide an answer to the above described discrepancy, although I will focus mainly on the phenomenon of monumentalization. In an endeavour to explain this increase in building activities, most scholars emphasize the euergetic and reciprocal nature of Graeco-Roman society (See especially; Veyne (1976) and Lendon (2005; 1st print 1997)). Religious feasts, dinners, distributions, theatre shows and especially the construction of public buildings were all generously donated by rich benefactors. These different forms of munificence constituted the social and political fabric of civic life in towns and cities throughout the Roman empire. However, in my opinion, it does not provide a sufficient explanation for the very function monumental buildings served within the ideological framework of an urban elite operating during trying times of changing polity in which social and political dynamics and relations were renegotiated. Furthermore, a close examination of the ideology behind these building schemes suggests that they cannot solely be attributed to reciprocity or an increase in wealth, but could also be seen as responses in canalizing a phenomenon we today call ‘national trauma’. Considering the above, the main question I would like to address in this paper is: why were architectural media preferred by Roman urban elites participating in complex constellations during times of significant socio-political crisis?

Monumental Architecture: A Cognitive Approach
Several archaeologists and anthropologists state that architecture in early complex societies was used by their elites as an important medium in the visualisation and communication of certain ideologies and values (e.g. M.E. Smith (2011), (2012), A.T. Smith (2003), Feinman and Marcus (1998), DeMarrais et al. (1996) and Trigger (1990), (2007; 1st print 2003)). The conceptual framework used by these scholars was strongly influenced by a new scientific approach known as cognitive archaeology or cognitive-processual archaeology (Renfrew (1994), (2004) and (2013)). This methodology studies for instance, the symbolic of material culture. In this paper I will try to show how architecture was used by the local elites to communicate ideology, identity and memory in the cities of Italy. In doing so I will use the principles outlined by this cognitive archaeological approach.

Bibliography
- DeMarrais, E., Castillo, L.J. en Earle, T. (1996) ‘Ideology, materialization, and power strategies’, Current Anthropology 37.1.: 15-31.
- Feinman, G.M. and Marcus, J. (eds.) (1998) Archaic states. Sante Fe NM.
- Lendon, J.E. (2005; 1st print 1997) Empire of honour. The art of government in the Roman world. Oxford.
- Renfrew, C. (1994) ‘Towards a cognitive archaeology’ in: C. Renfrew and E.B.W. Zubrow (eds.) Ancient mind: elements of cognitive archaeology. Cambridge. 3-12.
- Renfrew, C. (2004) ‘Towards a theory of material engagement’ in: E. DeMarrais, C. Gosden and C. Renfrew (eds.) Rethinking materiality. The engagement of mind with the material world. Oxford. 23-31.
- Renfrew, C. (2013; 1st print 2012) ‘Towards a cognitive archaeology. Material engagement and the early development of society’ in: I. Hodder (ed.) Archaeological theory today. Second edition. Malden MA and Cambridge. 124-145.
- Smith, A.T. (2003) The political landscape. Constellations of authority in early complex polities. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London.
- Smith, M.E. (2011) ‘Empirical urban theory for archaeologists’, Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 18: 167-192.
- Smith, M.E. (ed.) (2012) The comparative archaeology of complex societies. Cambridge.
- Trigger, B.G. (1990) ‘Monumental architecture: A thermodynamic explanation of symbolic behaviour’, World Archaeology 22.2: 119-132.
- Trigger, B.G. (2007; 1st print 2003) Understanding early civilizations. Cambridge.
- Veyne, P. (1976) Le pain et le cirque. Sociologie historique d’un pluralisme politique. Paris.

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Research paper thumbnail of Nederlands Klassiek Verbond (Dutch Classical Association)

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Research paper thumbnail of Bouwen aan het Principaat. Lokale elites en monumentale cultuur in Romeins Umbrië

PhD-disseration, 2020

Samenvatting Het einde van de eerste eeuw v.Chr. en de eerste twee eeuwen n.Chr. laten voor Itali... more Samenvatting Het einde van de eerste eeuw v.Chr. en de eerste twee eeuwen n.Chr. laten voor Italië een grote hoeveelheid aan materiële cultuur zien, zowel aan survey-materiaal als architectuur. Veel van deze archeologische, maar ook epigrafische, bronnen zijn direct gerelateerd aan het handelen van de keizer: de aanleg van wegen en aquaducten, publieke gebouwen en eveneens heiligdommen, altaren en beelden die gewijd zijn aan de keizercultus. Onder oudhistorici en archeologen is er wel een brede overeenstemming met betrekking tot het functioneren van het Principaat van Augustus als katalysator voor verdere monumentalisering in Italië. Daarentegen bestaat er veel minder consensus over de wijze waarop dit proces zich voltrok. Er is echter een trend te ontdekken waarin de voorkeur gegeven wordt aan een 'top-down'-verklaring waarin de keizer en Rome centraal staan. Maar kan dit 'top-down'-model ook voldoende verklaringen geven voor steden en regio's waar aantoonbaar nauwelijks tot geen patronagebanden ontstonden met Rome, er weinig keizerlijke schenkingen gedaan werden, er een marginale sociale mobiliteit richting Rome waar te nemen is of waar een afwijkend monumentaliseringsproces was? Het 'top-down'-concept beargumenteert onvoldoende de wijze waarop monumentale architectuur op lokaal niveau functioneerde binnen het ideologische en conceptuele kader van zowel inwoners, burgers, bezoekers als de stedelijke elite die opereerde in tijden waarin culturele, sociale en politieke situaties vaak veranderden. De maatschappelijke, politieke en culturele heroriëntatie van de lokale stedelijke elite, die gedurende complexe en dynamische perioden plaatsvond, was mogelijk cruciaal voor het draagvlak van het Principaat. De hoofdvraag in dit proefschrift luidt dan ook: op welke wijze speelde de lokale elite een rol in de consolidatie van het Principaat? Voor de beantwoording van deze vraag zal de regio Umbrië als case study gebruikt worden. De focus van dit onderzoek zal voornamelijk liggen op de lokale stedelijke elite bestaande uit decurionen en augustales. Uit het onderzoek kan geconcludeerd worden dat door middel van monumentale cultuur, (architectuur en sculptuur) de lokale stedelijke elite de sociale cohesie, continuïteit, consensus en collectieve identiteit in de Umbrische gemeenschappen versterkte. Daardoor had de stedelijke elite in Umbrië een voorname rol in de consolidatie van het Principaat.

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