Colonia Iulia Nobilis Cnosus - The Roman colony at Knossos. Experts say that Roman Culture was not heavily introduced in the region and it kept many of its traditional cultural themes and material culture. When we think of the Roman Empire, we think of it as a standardized cultural union where the overall people of the Empire fully embraced the idea of being Roman. This begs the question, what is Roman? A huge debate in the academic world still surrounds this topic and many are realizing that the term Roman changed over the centuries. Many cultures under the Roman empire adopted what they believed was their own Roman identity (Especially the wealthy and aristocratic elements of society.). I am of the opinion that there was no standard notion of what a Roman was. The majority of the poorer classes remained as they had done for hundreds of years before. The conquest of Gaul brought about the term Romanization(Although that term is hotly debated too) yet the majority of the people in Gaul stuck to their old ways and traditional values, but influenced by the importation of Roman material culture from Italia, Hispania etc. Knossus was slightly effected by Roman culture, though over the years it would have gradually built up enough Roman culture to be viewed as a typical Roman colony (Maybe). Many scholars believe that the colony at Knossus was only lightly touched by Roman culture and that it never transformed itself into a traditional Roman bastion of culture like we think of the Roman empire today as a single cultural entity. Rome was never a single political entity either. Rome had, under its command and within its territory, a vast network of client states, client kings and individual territories that were subject to the mother city. Modern maps that show the empire in its entirety are only a fraction of what it was in real life. You could in fact, call the Ager Publicus the traditional Roman territory (Which did not amount to as much in comparison to the entirety of the empire.). However, as always, this is a very long, ongoing topic, which I have not the time for to explain in depth anyway. Then again, I am no real expert on it. However, for those wishing to know more I recommend reading the following books, one of which my Professor wrote: Imperialism, Power, and Identity: Experiencing the Roman Empire (Miriam Balmuth Lectures in Ancient History and Archaeology) Globalisation and the Roman World: World History, Connectivity and Material Culture. Becoming Roman: The Origins of Provincial Civilization in Gaul Roman Archaeology for Historians (Approaching the Ancient World) Enjoy! - Zeno
Posted on: Fri, 31 Oct 2014 20:19:18 +0000
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