Rome and the Polis: Tradition and Change in the Financial Accounts of Tauromenion, I Century B.C. (original) (raw)
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It is certain that the Roman provincial monetary policy was not centralized; on the contrary, elements of decen-tralization can be traced in tandem with the establishment or re-establishment of administrative structures. It was within this framework that capitals and other provincial cities struck coins. The aim of this study is to discuss the complex relationship between the province’s main city – in our case Perinthos – and its hinterland in terms of nu-mismatic policy: excluding issues that can be safely characterized as non-systematic, the city-issues are examined in light of the real needs of the urban centre and in connection with the mobility of the army. Such an approach allows us to explore holistically how networks were developed within the province. Thus, although Perinthos firmly remained the administrative base of Thrace, the monetary centre shifted from time to time, depending on the needs of the province and the empire. Lastly, this paper discusses whether this particular relationship between the capital and local mints in the province of Thrace appears elsewhere.
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In this book, Gabriele Cifani reconstructs the early economic history of Rome, from the Iron Age to the early Republic. Bringing a multidisciplinary approach to the topic, he argues that the early Roman economy was more diversified than has been previously acknowledged, going well beyond agriculture and pastoralism. Cifani bases his argument on a systematic review of archaeological evidence for production, trade and consumption. He posits that the existence of a network system, based on cultural interaction, social mobility, and trade, connected Rome and central Tyrrhenian Italy to the Mediterranean Basin even in this early period of Rome's history. Moreover, these trade and cultural links existed in parallel to regional, diversified economies, and institutions. Cifani's book thus offers new insights into the economic basis for the rise of Rome, as well as the social structures of Mediterranean Iron Age societies.
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