Socio-Economic Studies in the Territory of Antioch in the High Roman Empire
Although it occupied a central position in the politics of the Roman East, Antioch on the Orontes still presents a challenge to historians and archaeologists who seek to define the city's physical and socio-political configuration. While the modern development of Antakya, Antioch's successor, impairs fieldwork in the ancient city, the study of its rural districts to the North, East and West is ideal for investigating this ancient urban system. In this work, I present the results of ten years of research in the khora of Antioch conducted by the Amuq Valley Regional Project. Through survey data it was possible to investigate the infrastructures that connected town and country as well as the factors that led to the creation of a distinct Roman landscape in the High Empire. I demonstrate that the increased density of rural settlement in the region during the first two centuries CE was grounded in the opportunities offered by a fertile, well-watered landscape. Yet the scale and pace of this phenomenon suggests the presence of institutional frameworks that propelled the "colonization" of Antioch's plain and hills. In particular, veterans of the Syrian legions who were discharged at a presumably high rate between the late 1 st century CE and the early 2 nd century CE, were in all likelihood the actors who shaped this region in fundamental ways.
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