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Memoria et Monumenta: Local Identities and the Tombs of Roman Campania

EMMERSON, ALLISON L. C.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1384333698

Abstract Details

2013, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences: Classics.
The Romans called their tombs "memoria" or "monumenta" objects intended to preserve the memory of the deceased by recalling aspects of their identities. Indeed, Roman literary sources indicate no other type of material culture that was so closely and consciously linked to identity expression. Tombs, therefore, make an ideal case study of Roman identity, representing a dataset of almost unparalleled richness and complexity. This thesis undertakes an analysis of Roman identity expression on tombs, examining a sample that is one of the best preserved and most diverse of the Roman world, the tombs of Roman Campania. The analysis focuses on the floruit of Campanian tomb building, from the first century B.C.E. through the third century C.E. I study the tombs of twenty-eight Campanian cities, investigating their funerary architecture, art, and epigraphy. Beyond providing new typological, topographical, and chronological frameworks for the 1769 included tombs, the thesis examines how these objects were used to express identity, as well as what types of identity were communicated through them. I argue that the Campanian tombs indicate plural identities, which consisted of elements that were both local — being related to home cities and/or sub-regional groups of neighboring cities — and personal — being related to social status, family life, and gender. Notably, identity emphases shifted through time, with the significance of local elements largely disappearing by the second century C.E. I attribute this phenomenon to various factors, but most notably connect it to a larger trend that favored local identity expression during the first centuries B.C.E. and C.E. The larger trend, I argue, was the result of a contemporary mentality that stemmed from and responded to the new concept of a united Italy, the tota Italia. My analysis indicates that as Italy became increasingly unified under the Roman administrative system, the preservation of pre-Roman identities gained a new importance for Italians. Over the past several decades, identity has become a key theme of Roman studies, with particular interest devoted to the transitions from the pre-Roman to Roman periods in Italy and the provinces. Identity in Roman period Italy, however, has received less attention. The thesis, therefore, not only brings together an unprecedented collection of Campanian tombs, most of which formerly have been published only preliminarily, but also provides new evidence for the construction of identity in Roman Italy. This case study encourages future research on the interaction of material culture and identity, recognizing the possibility that different types of objects might have been used in varied ways to express diverse identities. At the same time, it demonstrates the value of an approach focused on one class of material. Campania's tombs indicate the complexity of Italian identities; Campanians could conceive of themselves as "Roman" without losing their essential, local character.
Steven Ellis, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Eleni Hatzaki, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Kathleen Lynch, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
927 p.
Archaeology
Rome; Pompeii; Identity; Tombs; Campania; Funerary

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • EMMERSON, A. L. C. (2013). Memoria et Monumenta: Local Identities and the Tombs of Roman Campania [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1384333698

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • EMMERSON, ALLISON. Memoria et Monumenta: Local Identities and the Tombs of Roman Campania. 2013. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1384333698.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • EMMERSON, ALLISON. "Memoria et Monumenta: Local Identities and the Tombs of Roman Campania." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1384333698

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1384333698
537
© 2013, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Memoria et Monumenta: Local Identities and the Tombs of Roman Campania by ALLISON L. C. EMMERSON is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.