Shaping the Empire : agrimensores, emperors and the creation of the Roman provincial identities
From the time of Augustus, the Roman agrimensores or land surveyors provided an important connection between those who administrated the Empire on the one hand, and the territories and peoples they controlled on the other. This work is an investigation into the surveyorsâ use of the cultural capital of Roman society to fashion their own identity as experts in the organisation and regulation of land, and their influence on the shape of discourse about Empire. The study focuses on four questions: 1) What was the nature of the relationship between the agrimensores or surveyors and the Roman provincial administration? 2) What was the nature of the relationship between the agrimensores and the people of the Empire whose lands they surveyed? An emphasis will be placed on the population of Italy and the Roman provinces away from the city of Rome itself. 3) How did the surveyors validate their activities as technical specialists, and under what circumstances did the agrimensores undertake surveying work? The thesis will focus on practical and theoretical practices implemented by surveyors in the field to structure the discourse between land-holders and administrators. The topics of boundary disputes and the issue
Morris, Jason
Shaping the Empire : agrimensores, emperors and the creation of the Roman provincial identities. From the time of Augustus, the Roman agrimensores or land surveyors provided an important connection between those who administrated the Empire on the one hand, and the territories and peoples they controlled on the other. This work is an investigation into the surveyorsâ use of the cultural capital of Roman society to fashion their own identity as experts in the organisation and regulation of land, and their influence on the shape of discourse about Empire. The study focuses on four questions: 1) What was the nature of the relationship between the agrimensores or surveyors and the Roman provincial administration? 2) What was the nature of the relationship between the agrimensores and the people of the Empire whose lands they surveyed? An emphasis will be placed on the population of Italy and the Roman provinces away from the city of Rome itself. 3) How did the surveyors validate their activities as technical specialists, and under what circumstances did the agrimensores undertake surveying work? The thesis will focus on practical and theoretical practices implemented by surveyors in the field to structure the discourse between land-holders and administrators. The topics of boundary disputes and the issue
shaping empire emperor creation roman_provincial identity time augustus roman land surveyor provide_important connection empire one_hand territory people control other work investigation surveyor use cultural_capital roman_society fashion identity expert organisation regulation land influence_shape discourse empire study_focus question nature_relationship surveyor roman_provincial administration nature_relationship people empire whose land survey emphasis_place population italy roman provinces away city_rome itself surveyor validate activity technical specialist circumstance undertake survey work focus practical theoretical practice implement surveyor field structure discourse land administrator topic boundary dispute issue