Ancient World Seminar: Saskia Stevens (Utrecht) – “Roman history and archaeology: Roman borderlands: landscapes of social, political and cultural interaction”

2017’s last Ancient World Seminar will be given by Saskia Stevens (Utrecht). Note that our venue is the Court Room, and not one of the usual rooms upstairs. All interested are welcome to join us!

Abstract

This paper focuses on the borderland of Roman cities, an important interactive zone at the city’s edge, and analyses its role in the urban landscape. The urban borderland was a product of the city itself and reflected the local political, social and cultural conditions. It was an area where the urban and non-urban mixed, enabling the coexistence of features that would have been impossible inside cities. Roads were crucial for the borderscape’s development, as they directed the spread of urban concepts. Simultaneously, arteries directed structured and incidental movement in, and out of the city modelling and enhancing the relationship between city and borderland.

Bio

Saskia Stevens is assistant professor of Ancient History and Ancient Culture at Utrecht University. After studying Classical Languages at Radboud University Nijmegen, where she specialised in Classical Archaeology, she did a Master of Studies in Classical Archaeology at the University of Oxford. In 2010 she successfully defended her dissertation in Oxford, entitled “City Boundaries and Urban Development in Roman Italy”, which was recently published as a monograph with Peeters (Louvain).