 previous article in this issue | next article in this issue  |
Preview first page |
Document Details : Title: The 2nd-Century AD Crisis in Altinum (Venetia, Northern Italy) Subtitle: A Mixture of Historiographical Determinism and Archaeological Scarcity? Author(s): DANCKERS, Jonas Journal: BABESCH Volume: 86 Date: 2011 Pages: 143-165 DOI: 10.2143/BAB.86.0.2128097 Abstract : Traditionally, the 2nd century AD in Roman Altinum (Northern Italy) has been described as a period of crisis. As a similar ‘commercial and agricultural’ setback has earlier been proposed for the whole Italian peninsula in general, this article evaluates the epistemological basis of this local variant. A historiographical research firstly contextualises the origins of the classical pan-Italic crisis idea. Starting from critiques on this influential concept, a new archaeological methodology for tracing a crisis in antiquity is proposed. Applying this approach to Altinum and the Venetia region, it can be argued that the alleged ‘2nd-century AD crisis’ for the town was not a reality but rather a mixture of historiographical determinism and archaeological scarcity. |
|
