Villas, Farms and the Late Roman Rural Economy (third to fifth centuries AD) 9781841716893, 9781407348650

Table of contents :
Front Cover
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgements to the 1991 edition
Acknowledgements to the 2004 edition
Introductory chapter to new edition
Reference list for works published 1989-2003
1. Introduction
2. Methodology
3. Analysis of the graphs
4. The Fifth Century
5. Other regions of the empire
6. Evidence for trade
7. The towns
8. Textual evidence
9. Conclusion
Gazetteer of sites used
Bibliography
Graphs

Citation preview

Villas, Farms and the Late Roman Rural Economy (third to fifth centuries AD) Tamara Lewit

BAR International Series 568 2004

Published in 2019 by BAR Publishing, Oxford BAR International Series 568 Villas, Farms and the Late Roman Rural Economy (third to fifth centuries AD) © Tamara Lewit and the Publisher 2004 First published in 1991 as 'Agricultural Production in the Roman Economy A.D. 200-400'; reprinted in 2004 with a new introductory chapter. The author’s moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored, sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted in any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher. ISBN 9781841716893 paperback ISBN 9781407348650 e-book DOI https://doi.org/10.30861/9781841716893 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library This book is available at www.barpublishing.com BAR Publishing is the trading name of British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd. British Archaeological Reports was first incorporated in 1974 to publish the BAR Series, International and British. In 1992 Hadrian Books Ltd became part of the BAR group. This volume was originally published by Archaeopress in conjunction with British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd / Hadrian Books Ltd, the Series principal publisher, in 2004. This present volume is published by BAR Publishing, 2019.

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This book is dedicated to the farmers of the third and fourth centuries, who speak to us only through the dust and debris of their homes; and to my mother , who listened.

Contents Acknowledgements to the 1991 edition ........ ....... .......... ................. ....... .......... ..... ................... .......... ............... ii Acknowledgements to the 2004 edition .......................................................................................................... Introductory chapter to new edition ........... ........................... ..............................................................................

iii v

Reference list for new edition ...........................................................................................................................

xv

I. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................

1

2. Methodology .......................................................................................

8

........ ...................................................

3. Analysis of the graphs .................................................................................................................................. 4. The fifth century ....................................... ........... .............................................. 5. Other regions of the empire ............................................

16

........................................... 22

................ ..............................................................

6. Evidence for trade ........................................................................................................................ 7. The towns ......... ......................................................................................................................

29

................ 31 ...................... 34

8. Textual evidence ...........................................................................................................................................

38

9. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................................

51

Gazetteer of sites used ...................................................................................................................

................. 55

Britain .................................................................................................................................... 56 Gallia Belgica ........................................................................................................................ 70 North Gaul ............................................................................................................................. 83 South Gaul ............................................................................................................................. 86 ltaly ....................................... ......... ................................................................ ............. ........... 91 North Spain .......................................................................................................................... 101 South Spain ................... ............................................................ ........................................... 110 Bibliography -Primary sources ............. .......................................................................................................... General works ........................................................................

...... ............................ ....................................... 116

Archaeological reports ........................................................................

..... ................... ......... ............. .............. 135

Graphs 1 to 8 ..................................................................................................................................................

ii

114

155

Acknowledgements to the 1991 edition My very grateful thanks go to the following people:

Helene Lewit , for her months of unflagging hard work typing the bibliography , photocopying , searching library catalogues , and proof reading , for her invaluable advice on the text, and for her loving support. My supervisor , Dr Richard Reece , for his excellent guidance, advice , and encouragement. David Dodemaide, for writing computer programs to sort the archaeological data. The British Council and the Association of Commonwealth Universities, for providing the financial resources which enabled me to undertake the study. J-M Doyen , G De Boe , P Van Ossel, R Etienne , J-P Bost, A Ferdiere , and P Arthur , for generously offering their time, help and unpublished material.

iii

Acknowledgements to the 2004 edition

In addition to those acknowledged in the 1991 edition , my very grateful thanks go to the following people: My friend and colleague , Alexandra Chavarria , for her generous help and for inspiring me to come back to this book . Bryan Ward-Perkins and Shimon Dar, for their kind, detailed and invaluable advice. The editor , David Davison , for suggesting and encouraging me in the project. Trinity College , The University of Melbourne ; Professor Don Markwell (Warden of Trinity College) ; Ms Diana Smith (Director of Trinity College Foundation Studies) ; Ms Amanda Crawley (Director of Human Resources) ; and my patient friends and colleagues Janusz Sysak, Clare McKnight , Richard Finch , and History of Ideas team , for giving me the financial , practical and personal support without which I could not have completed my research. My loving husband, Philip Mendes , for his whole-hearted encouragement and help; and my beautiful children, Miranda and Lucas Lewit-Mendes, for understanding and patience beyond their years. My mother, Helene Lewit, to whom this book was first dedicated, and who has continued to listen, to inspire and to endlessly edit over the last fourteen years.

iv

Introductory chapter to new edition

apogee of ' civilisation', and the use of classical cultural forms was assumed to indicate wealth and order. Change was therefore equated with poverty and decline. It was overwhelmingly assumed that Roman forms would be abandoned only out of sheer necessity , due to a disastrous loss of wealth and technical skill. Typical of this viewpoint was the statement by Hodges and Whitehouse that "the growing evidence from both urban and rural excavations ... supports the historical impression that ... an irreversible decline set in" (1983 , 52).

Changing concepts of the Late Roman rural economy 1989-2003 Interpretations of the Late Roman economy have been considerably transformed since research on this book was completed in 1989 (to emerge in print in 1991). Up to this time, the economy of late antiquity had received little attention. In spite of re-evaluations of late antique sociocultural life as dynamic and creative (most notably by Brown 1), it was still widely assumed that the period AD 200-400 was a time of unalloyed economic decline and crisis. Much archaeological evidence had only recently been excavated, and general historical analyses rarely incorporated this new data. The purpose of this book was to question those assumptions, and to collect and analyse the relevant archaeological evidence. This chapter will point to where more recent research has confirmed or modified the hypotheses formed in 1991.2

However , international ideologies have seen rapid change in the past few decades: conquered and colonised nations have challenged the 'benefits' of imperialism. Old theories of the superiority and inferiority of different cultures have been superseded, to be replaced by a fashion for self-determination and respect for ethnic diversity. It is in this context that in the last 10 years we have begun to formulate a new view of the third and fourth centuries. The military break-up of an empire unified by force is no longer assumed to be the starting point for economic crisis.

Prior to the original publication of this book, only a handful of writers had discussed the rural economy of late antiquity in detail. Yet the single decade since 1991 has seen far greater focus on this issue, and researchers have increasingly challenged many elements of the traditional picture of economic decline and crisis during the third to fourth centuries. Studies of the last ten years have highlighted areas of prosperity , and even rural expansion , in this period, and have often reinterpreted observed changes in settlement and trade patterns in terms of evolution , rather than collapse. This new approach is typified in the recent Cambridge Ancient History, in which all the old assumptions of crisis, rural decline, depopulation, the end of trade, and coercive state control are systematically examined and questioned (Whittaker and Garnsey 1998: 286, 297-8, 299-300). I argued in 1991 that the then dominant paradigm of the late imperial economy was that of an organism in its death throes, and that the weight of evidence should prompt an overturning of this paradigm (p 6-7). What Lepelley has dubbed an "obsolete Gibbonian theory of decline" (Lepelley 1992: 66) has now clearly been challenged.

Non-Roman cultures and groups are accorded a new attention and respect. Wells, for example , focuses on nonRoman influences throughout the imperial period (Wells 1999). Writers such as Randsborg (1991) give attention to non-Roman forms of settlement and material culture. Writers such as Van Dam (1992) and Mitchell (2000) call attention to the cultural importance and influence of 'barbarian' groups. Older conceptions of a dichotomy between 'Roman' and 'native' cultures have been replaced by the notion of an 'imperial' culture which combined diverse elements (Woolf 1995). The abandonment of classical forms has gradual Iy come to be viewed less negatively as a process of transformation , rather than necessarily decline: the new approach is typified by Carver when he states that "the social strategies of the Germanic peoples ... were the product of ideological choice... If it did not include towns ... we are not entitled to assume that this implies ineptitude, ignorance or barbarism... [we require] a suspension of all those traditional concepts of civilization and its decline." (1993: 56-57). The old imperialist viewpoint has been replaced by a culturally relativistic approach (Lewit 2001; see also Liebeschuetz 2001 b for a critique of the new viewpoint).

The chapters which follow (pp 5, 26-28) note the imperialistic ideology which underpinned past historiography of the Late Roman economy. This viewpoint was formulated and perpetuated by historians like Gibbon himself - and archaeologists who came from cultures which had forcefully conquered other nations. The imperial culture of the conquerors was defined as the

Increasingly, the traditional division between 'classical' and 'Medieval' periods has been replaced by attention to the period running from the fourth-seventh centuries , in both East and West. Late antiquity is discussed as period in its own right (much to the disgust of Giardina 1999, who bemoans "la crisi del grande paradigma temporale "

1

Brown, P R L 1971 The World of Late Antiquity. From Marcus Aurelius to Muhammad London; see further discussion in Ward-Perkins in press: ch 1. For a broader bibliographic survey of recent archaeological research on the late Roman countryside, see Chavarria and Lewit 2004. 2

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TAMARALEWIT

(1999: 168)), with unique characteristics worthy of study, not merely as a time of 'decline' from the High Empire or a proto-feudal prelude to the Middle Ages (Ward-Perkins in press: ch 1).

from broad syntheses of developments, and regional even micro-regional - studies have become increasingly favoured. Most recent works on late antiquity have been edited works , consisting of articles by different authors on specific regions. For example (excluding introductions) , all but one of the 18 articles in Burns and Eadie (2001) is a specifically regional study. Christie warns that "we should recognize a need to avoid single models for single provinces or kingdoms ..." (2000: 297).

However , in spite of the increasing attention which has been given to the economy of the fourth to eighth centuries , the third century has tended to remain a little of a poor cousin, often neglected in both studies of the High Empire and those of late antiquity, which is frequently defined as beginning in the fourth or fifth centuries . Diaz has recently noted that the third century is still "interpreted in most of the current literature as a crisis or decline " (Diaz 2000: 4), a startling anomaly in the context of the historiographic changes noted above. Faulkner , for example, writes (2000: 86) of "the anguish of the third-century crisis " and "the scars of trauma ". There has been little thorough re-examination of the concept of a third century crisis (with a few exceptions , such as the works of Witschel 1998 and , in a regional context, Bar 2002).

This is, perhaps , an outcome of current views regarding late antiquity: I myself suggested in 1991 that "[ w ]holesal e descriptions of "agricu lture in the Roman empire " are inadequate. There were many regional changes and differences " (52-53). While generalized analysis was associated with the old ' imperial ' viewpoint , localized studies seem more in accord with the attention to ethnic and regional diversity typical of current scholarship. However , although regional studies are invaluable , I would argue that there is also a place for attempts to see patterns across different regions , such as is presented in this book . Indeed , it is surely part of our task as historians to do so, and to look broadly beyond the boundaries of individual cities, territories or regions, if only to note contrasts.

In addition, rural settlement and economic history remains considerably under-studied , in contrast to the attention which has been paid to towns. Only a handful of books have focused specifically on the rural economy of this era (notably Brogiolo 1996; Ouzoulias et al. 2001; Christie 2004; Bowden, Lavan and Machado 2004). In contrast, the towns and urban economic life have received much more attention, with a number of recent works published on this topic (eg Rich 1992, Carver 1993, Christie and Loseby 1996, Brogiolo and Ward-Perkins 1999, Ripoll and Gurt 2000 , Brogiolo , Gauthier and Christie 2000, Burns and Eadie 2001 , Lavan 2001, Liebeschuetz 2001 a). Although a couple of these accord a nod to rural "territories" or "contexts", their overwhelming focus is on the urban environment. Significantly, Burns' and Eadie's introduction begins with the words "At the dawn of the Greek polis" (2001: xi), and Gauthier's conclusion takes as its starting point "l'idee de la ville" (2000: 371). Although they emphasise that "Roman society was predominantly rural" (Burns and Eadie (2001: xvii), in fact they discuss rural changes only briefly , and the great bulk of data and focus of discussion in the articles is urban. Balzaretti (2000: 23536) attributes this imbalance to a lack of comparable rural archaeological excavation, but, as the material in this book shows , there is a large body of often neglected rural archaeological evidence. A more convincing explanation lies in our cultural saturation with the "ideological concept" of city, which Carver has pointed out: "For Europeans ... the city, the citizen and civilization have in their meanings become so entangled... that we take the implantation and development of cities for granted as the inevitable goal of the world's people" (Carver 1993: 3-4). Thus the challenges to traditional ideas of economic crisis and decay have mostly been framed in the urban context , and there have been very few broad revisions of ideas about rural settlement and economy since my 1991 study.

Rural settlement and economy in the West, 3rd to 4th centuries: Findings 1989-2003 The aim of this book was to examine the main tenets of the traditional view of the Late Roman rural economy (AD 200-400) in the light of as large a survey of detailed archaeological data as it was possible to amass. The specific elements which I contested , on the basis of this data , were: destruction and crisis caused by invasions ; general decline in rural population and production, including abandonment of land and demise of export production and trade ; and decline of the "free peasantry " into an oppressed colonate , with concentration of landownership in autarchic latifundia. My conclusions were primarily based on detailed and published excavations of villa sites in the West , together with some field survey evidence for both West and East. Unfortunately , although it is increasingly recognised that villas were only one component of the rural landscape , in many regions there has still been only limited study of smaller farm sites and villages (for exceptions , see Louis 2004; Trement 2001, (Gaul); Millett 1990: 205-11; Dark and Dark 1997; Esmonde Cleary 2001 (Britain) ; Wilson 1995 (Italy); Gurt Esparraguerra & Palet Martinez 2001 (Hispania)). Thus our knowledge of the third to fourth century rural economy is still limited by our lack of material evidence from non-villa sites (see discussion below) .

In addition , recent writers have increasingly retrea ted vi

VILLAS , FARMS AND THE LA TE ROMAN RURAL E CONOMY

In many of the excavation reports used in the 1991 edition of this book , the apparent end of site occupation was automatically attributed to invasion period. However , the concept of a widespread destruction of farming by invasions is now generally treated with some scepticism. Chavarria Arnau (1996: 170-72) concludes that , as argued in this book (p 20-21 ), the destructive effect of invasions was over-emphasised in past archaeology and historiography (see also, for example, Polfer 2001 re North Gaul). Van Ossel and Ouzoulias (2001 , 233) emphasise that in northern Gaul those regions which we know from literary sources were most affected by invasion actually show the strongest occupation levels in the fourth century.

There is also evidence for a decline in the number of sites occupied in some regions of northern Spain in the fourth century. However , both pollen analysis and archaeological survey suggest that this reflects a movement towards settlement based on intensive pastoralism in more inland areas , rather than an absolute decline in population or prosperity (Gurt Esparraguerra & Pal et Martinez 2001 ). In 1991, I suggested that the fourth century was a time of high prosperity in Britain , South Gaul, and Spain (p 17), and possibly the Danube (p 29). This pattern has generally been confirmed by more recent studies , and in fact the fourth century has emerged as a period of dramatic rural vitality in these regions.

Similarly , the concept of a general demographic decline from the third century is no longer unquestioningly accepted (see, for example , Esmonde Cleary 1989, 33; Van Ossel and Ouzoulias 2000 ; Whittaker and Garnsey in Cameron and Garnsey 1998, 280). However , a number of recent surface surveys carried out in the western provinces have indicated that , as I argued in 1991 (p 34), there was a decline in the number of settlements occupied in certain regions or micro-regions, during the third century , although there are varied interpretations of the scale and significance of this phenomenon.

Thus , for example , Chavarria has demonstrated that many fourth century villas in North-East Spain were characterised by new and rich building programs carried out in residential quarters , and an apparently in.creased productive capacity (Chavarria 2004). Similarly , Esmonde Cleary describes the fourth century as the "heyday of the villa in Roman Britain " (1989 : 41 ), and postulates an increase in population , settlement and agricultural exploitation (1989: 104-5). The "great prosperity " of fourth century villa life in southern Gaul has been acknowledged (Sivan 1992: 138-140. See details in Balmelle 2001). Recent survey in the Danubian provinces confirms that in the fourth century there was flourishing rural settlement and considerable prosperity (Christie 1996b; Visy 2001 ; Bender 2001). Sodini has traced the development of rich rural villas in fourth century Britain , Gaul, Sicily, Southern Gaul, Hispania , and Pannonia (1995: 153, 162, 174-5; 1997: 520). Hirschfeld concludes: "The high point of private construction came in the fourth century , which saw the building of magnificent urban complexes and of fortified [but see below] villas in rural areas. The prevailing economic prosperity also found expression in the houses of simpler people... The abundance... became widespread among the residents of settled lands and also extended to outlying areas. Farmhouses of varying sizes have been discovered in regions that were previously sparsely settled or not settled at all" (Hirschfeld 2001: 258 ; note in italics my own).

In Italy, I identified a definite decline in the number of rural settlements , but beginning during the second century AD rather than the third (pp. 16, 20-21 , graphs l( e) and (f)). This picture has been confirmed by the Bifemo Valley survey , which showed that that many sites were already abandoned by the second century AD (Barker 1995), a pattern repeated in Campania (Christie 1996a: 264). The Rieti survey shows a gradual decline in the number of sites from as early as the first century , but also a more dramatic decline beginning in the fourth (Coccia and Mattingly 1992).

Van Ossel and Ouzoulias's study (2000 ; see also Vermeulen 2001) confirms that in North-East Gaul , many sites appear to have been abandoned in the Late Roman period (as suggested here pp 16-19 and Graph l(b)). But even in this region the picture appears not as dark as was previously painted. They point out that , while many Romanised sites were abandoned , many entirely new, and less Romanised , sites were also founded in the fourth to fifth centuries (2000: 21) and suggest that there was an evolution , rather than a "brutal and uniform decline ", of settlement in the countryside .

In particular , the fourth century seems to have been characterised by a boom in luxury villa building , termed by some scholars 'monumentalisation ' . A common pattern was for a villa to be rebuilt or substantially renovated , with richer decoration , increased luxury, larger bath complexes , more elaborate plans , and particular architectural forms including peristyle courts , ostentatious reception halls, and apsed triclinia (Wilson 1995: 233-34 ; Ellis 1997b; Brogiolo 1997; Balmelle 2001: 112-115; Chavarria 2004 and in press). While these changes are particularly characteristic of Mediterranean villas, a similar process can be discerned elsewhere , for example at the fourth century villa at Kostinbrod in Thrace (Poulter 2004: 231 ; see also detailed discussion in Mulvin 2004 ). In Britain , the fourth century has been

In the Provence region of south-eastern Gaul there was a clear decrease in the number of sites in third to fourth centuries , especially of smaller sites. However , Trement argues for great continuity of site use (possibly by coloni or villagers) , land-ownership , and economic prosperity and dynamism, and points to evidence for diversification of farming, including a tendency towards pastoralism and new exploitation of resources such as salt and wood (Trement 2001 ).

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Ossel and Ouzoulias (2001 ). The old idea of large estates as autarchic has certainly died , and it is generally recognised that large villa centres were, rather , closely connected with local town and trade networks (see, for example , Chavarria 2004 ; for large commercial estates in the East, see Sarris 2004 ).

termed the "golden age of villa culture", and many villas were built or extended with richer and more complex designs (Faulkner 2000: 71-72 ; Higham 1992: 57-59). I assumed in the 1991 edition of this book that such villa building represented general economic prosperity across the countryside. However , the archaeology and historiography of the last ten years has moved away from exclusive focus on villas, to a broader consideration of different elements of the countryside. It has been suggested that the villa boom indicates not general economic prosperity , but rather the increasing wealth and power of a few at the expense of other part s o~ rura l society , reflecting a tendency towards a concentration of property and the socio-political power of the possessores. (Ellis 1988, 1997b and author s cited below ).

Moreover , the evidence for huge , monumental villas is mostly confined to the North Mediterranean region . Halsall (1995b: 41) shows that in the fourth century region of Metz , for example , there is no evidence , in the form of huge villas , for concentration of landownership. The bias of past excavation toward s large villa buildin gs, rather than smaller farm sites, makes it difficult to draw conclusions on this point. The current trend towards explorin g a varied range of sites will gradually provid e more data for future analy sis of thi s question .

rt is debatable whethe r ostentatiou s architecture - the use of triconch ed apses in triclinia, for exampl e - can in itself be taken as evidence of a concentration in land ownership . It is a large leap from the shape of a dining room to the dimensions of an estate . While such architecture undoubtedly reveals wealth , the relationship of the owner to other former landowners is less clear. However , Chavarria (1996 , 199-202 ; in press) argues convincingly that contemporaneously with the 'monumentalisation' of some Hispanic villas , others were disused as habitations and took on altered functions as industrial/agricultural buildings. She suggests that this was a result of a concentration of land-ownership , arguing that some former villas were converted to work buildings when their land was incorporated in larger estates, rendering the decorative and luxurious habitations superfluous. Similar arguments are put forward for the regions of south-eastern Britain and of Apulia by Dark (2004: 285-86) and Volpe (2001 331-56) respectively , who also suggest a change to fewer , but far larger and more luxurious villas , in the fourth century , due to a concentration in the ownership of estates (for Italy see also , for example , Saggioro 2004 and Sfameni 2004). Raynaud (2001) argues , similarly , that the conglomeration of smaller , more ephemeral sites around larger villa sites in Languedoc indicates that the apparent declin e in the number of rural sites was not the simple result of depopulation but rather reflects the economic dominance of rich landowners.

The 5th century West At the time that this book was written , the economic history of the fifth century had received very little attention from scholars. As noted above, in the last decade this period has become the focus of vigorous scholarship. The picture which emerges is that it was not the third or fourth century AD which saw significant changes in the rural economy and settlement , but rather the fifth to sixth centuries. In the West, settlement was radically altered, although the exact nature of the transformation is still to be unravelled. Further , from the fifth century the development of the East and the West diverged dramatically , and in contrast to the West , both rural settlement and economic life in the East clearly boomed. A number of recent field surveys in the West have confirmed the evidence presented in the 1991 edition of this book (pp 22-23 and Graphs 6(a) i and 6(b) i) for a significant decline in identified sites from the fifth century . For exampl e, the Aisn e Valley field survey project rev ealed a significant drop in the number of sites betw een c. AD 450 and later centuries (Haselgrove & Scull 1995: 62). Halsall (1995a 175-198) cites evidence of a dramatically decreased number of sites in the region of Metz in the fifth to sixth centuries. Faulkn .er (2000: 144-146) summarizes the results of two large field surveys of ' native' sites in Britain , which also revealed a huge reduction in site occupation in the fifth century. The question s still to be answered are whether such results indic ate a true thinnin g of settlement , with lower population levels and decreased exploitation of land; a shift or nucleation of settlement ; or, alternatively , a chan ge in the nature of sett lement , and if so its cause s.

Thus , although I suggested in 1991 that the excavated evidence did not reveal a ruin of the sma11peasantry and development of autarchic latifundia, more recent studies suggest that there may indeed have been a concentration of wealth among few rich landowner s, at least in some regions . However , the traditional picture must still be modified: Whittaker and Garnsey (1998: 304) suggest that even if ownership became more concentrated , there was probably little real change in patterns of settlement or units of exploitation , with scattered holdings farmed by permanent tenants (more like peasants than downtrodden servile workers) being more typical than large agglomerated estate s. An important refutation of the "myth " of the latifundia, has been presented by Van

When this book was publi shed in 1991, it was widely assumed that the dearth of coins , fine pottery , and dated mosaics in fifth century western villas indicated a widespread abandonment of farmland , depopula tion and economic decline. I argued then that the apparent viii

VIL LAS, FARMS AND THE LA TE ROMAN RURAL EC ONOMY

phenomenon of changed use of villas throughout the West , whereby many villas were converted into cemetery sites, churches or monasteries , or used for industrial and agricultural functions (pp. 24-25). Chavarria (1996 , 17589; 2004) has now clarified and systematized the different types of villa transformations as "productive ", "cultic ", "habitational " and "funerary " use. I argued in 1991 that this use of villas for burials , sacred or other purposes demonstrates that there was still a rural population in the area , and that there must have been a yet to be identified rural settlement nearby (p 26). Others have argued similarly (Esmonde Cleary 1989, 33; Van Ossel and Ouzoulias 2000 ; Le Maho 1994).

disappearance of rural occupation was deceptive , that many more villas and other sites were occupied than was recognised , and that the pattern was a result of the end of the Romanised lifestyle (including population shift to new sites), due to socio-political evolution , rather than to economic decline (for a recent discussion of villa building as Romanisation , see Smith 1997). Recent pottery and archaeological studies confirm that the terminal dates allocated in the past to many sites may be far too early , and were influenced more by assumptions of decline than by compelling evidence. I commented (p 24) that the interpretation a great many sites containing African Red Slip Ware as occupied only to the fourth century may be far too pessimistic. Since publication , the continued manufacture and export of this pottery up to the seventh century has been confirmed (Reynolds 1995). Closer examination of some sites , with improved dating of pottery finds and mosaics , and more attention to post-classical ephemeral structures , has extended their period of occupation much later than was formerly supposed. A large seventh century post-built structure has now been identified at the Spanish villa of Vilauba , for example , which was interpreted by Jones (1983; p 108 here) as abandoned after its sixth century phase (Azkarate Garai-Olaun & Quir6s Castillo 2001 ). The long work of revising the interpretation of sites surveyed and excavated in the past remains to be done.

The evolution of many western villas into churches , cemeteries or monasteries , which was identified and described in great detail by Percival nearly three decad es ago (Percival 1976, 190-99) , has been confirmed by mor e recent studies (Percival 1997; Ripoll and Arce 2000: 7099 ; Bowes 2001 ). While in 1991 I discussed only a few examples of villas converted to utilitarian use , more recent excavations have reveal ed that such changed use of villas was a consist ent pattern of throughout the West (Lewit 2003). The phenomenon appears in Italy (for example , at Caldera di Reno , used for agricultural , glass-making , and metalworking ; Ripoll and Arce 2000: 72) ; North- East Gaul (for exampl e at Lixhe , used in the fourth century for both domestic and industrial purposes ; Van Ossel 1983 & 1984; Van Ossel and Ouzoulias 2000 , 147); southern Gaul (for example , at Labastide d' Armagnac , where pottery kilns were built in the central peristyle court some time after the fourth century ; Balmelle 2001 , 358-59) ; and Spain (metallurgical and other industrial activities appear at the sumptuous villa of El Ruedo , for example ; Vaqu erizo Gil and J. R. Carillo 1995; many more exampl es are given in Chavarria 1996, 175-89, including Tossa de Mar , where the bathhouse was converted into an industrial comple x, and Els Munts and Vilauba , where the habitations were used for oil production).

In the previous edition of this book, I suggested (p 23) that due to the lack of datable Roman-style finds , many more sites may have existed than have been identified. It is becoming increasingly obvious that this speculation was well founded , and scholars now routinely note that in both town and countryside fifth century and later occupation is characterised by features which are often "archaeologically almost invisible " (Reece 1989, 236) such as wooden building ; the use of highly friable local pottery , often undated at the time of excavation ; lack of coins ; lack of durable classical style decorative elements such as marble and mosaics , and their replacement with decoration in ephemeral materials such as paint and stucco (see, for example , Brogiolo 1994; Van Ossel and Ouzoulias 2000 ; Esmonde Cleary 2001 ; Wickham 2001 ; Ward-Perkins 2000a , 324 -25 ; ). Startling evidence is presented by Randsborg ( 1991, 65-67, esp fig. 3 7) of the archaeolo gical evidence (in the Rhineland and adjacent regions) for ' Germanic ' style , rather than Roman style, rural settlements: in complete contrast to the many studies of Roman style sites (which appear to show a pattern of abandonment) , the number of foundations of new ' Germanic ' sites increases significantly from A.D. 400 to A.D. 700. Similarly , Gojda (1988) reveals an increased density of ' Germanic' and ' Slavic ' style wooden settlements in some areas of Bohemia in the fifth to seventh centuries. Such evidence suggests that in some cases (as suggested here pp 25-28) , we may be seeing a disappearance of Romanis ed features , rather than a disappearance of occupation. In the 1991 edition

Moreover , recent excavations , devotin g far more attention to the fifth century and later phases of occupation , reveal a consistent pattern throughout the West of so-called ' squatter ' occupation: building or alterations at villa sites in a very different architectural style, using ephemeral materials or rougher building techniques , disregarding the classical floor plan (for example , partitioning of large , luxury areas into smaller rooms) , and often violating formerly decorative elements such as mosaics with hearths and post-holes. For example , at the sumptuous villa of St-Andre-de-Codols , in southern Gaul (which had been richly reconstructed in the fourth century) , walls were demolished and a new 150 m 2, two-room structure , supported by heavy wood posts , was built only a few metres from the fa9ade (Pe11ecuer and Pomaredes: 513-516). A typical exampl e in Italy is the villa of Nuvolento , where late sixth century wooden houses with clay floors were built within the demolished walls of the former bathhouse (Rossi 1996). In Spain, at

of this book, I outlined the

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Torre de Palma, unmortared subdividing walls and hearths appear in the formal rooms in the fifth to seventh centuries (Maloney and Hale 1996, 293); and at El Val, a 14 x 19 m. wooden structure, with habitational and utilitarian use, was built on top of the mosaic in the main reception room (Rascon Marques et al. 1991; Further analysis and summary of Spanish examples in Azkarate Garai-Olaun & Quiros Castillo 2001: 43-46). In the Danubian region, the latest, fifth century phase of the villa at Babarc consists of "poorly made" dwellings overlying the formerly stone-built rooms (Visy 2001, 177). Van Ossel and Ouzoulias (2000, 140-50) discuss the process in northern Gaul.

Haselgrove and Scull, 1995; Wickham 2001; Hamerow 2002; Arthur 2004; Louis 2004). Does this changed character of rural settlement reflect impoverishment or general economic decline in terms of retraction of cultivation , depopulation and thinning of settlement, or reduced surplus production? There is certainly a dramatic reduction in the levels of finds of imported goods (such as fine-ware) on rural sites across Europe (Ward-Perkins, in press), to the point where, although many cemeteries have been uncovered, it is often extremely difficult to identify contemporaneous settlements (see, for example , Christie 1995). Further , settlement sites seldom show much distinction in rank, with little variation in size and finds between habitations in early medieval hamlets. The dearth of imports and changed use at the villa sites are still widely interpreted as evidence of decline and the end of significant or elite habitation at the site, as they were in 1991 (p. 26-27): Hostetter and Howe (1997 , 141), for example , describe the industrial activity and roughly built structures at the Castle Copse villa as "decline ... "squatter" habitation ... primitive construction ... of a character not normally seen in the main spaces of a Roman villa until after their abandonment".

In 1991, I also suggested that there may have been a settlement shift during the fifth and later centuries, and that "fifth century and later rural occupation was usually not located in or on existing Roman farm buildings ... Many villas were abandoned ... while new wooden habitations , which have seldom been discovered were built at new locations " (pp 25-26). The shifting of settlements does seem to have been a feature of the fifth to seventh century western countryside. The characteristic early Medieval hamlets were often "wandering settlements", shifting location within a small area (Damminger 1998; Hamerow 2002: 106), such as the well-published example of Mucking, in Britain, which shifted three times between the fifth and seventh centuries (Clark 1993).

In this book, I suggested that rather than indicating an impoverished lifestyle, these changes reflected the evolution of a different socio-political system. I proposed that the abandonment of the classical lifestyle was due to socio-cultural factors, and that the population chose to live in a different style and often in different locations, rather than being forced to do so by economic and military crisis (pp. 26-27). This theory is further explored in my more recent work (Lewit 2003), where I have argued that the changed use of villas reflects not insignificant and temporary 'squatter occupation', but rather the traces of significant occupation in the new, non-classical , ephemeral style characteristic of the fifth to seventh century West.

Some scholars (eg Randsborg 1991, 60-63) have argued that in some regions the population moved away from isolated villas to fortified hilltop settlements in search of security, an explanation on which I touched only very briefly in 1991 (p. 26). This process seems to have occurred particularly in the Danube region (Bender 2001; Poulter 2004) The prevalence of fortified gsur in Late Roman North Africa is also notable (eg Mattingly and Hayes 1992, 415; Mattingly 1995). However, although some rural sites were fortified, fortification is not a very common feature at fifth century sites (Ward-Perkins 2000a: 336). Even where there is evidence for walls, their existence does not necessarily indicate true defensive fortification: Mattingly and Hayes suggest that the development of walled farms in Africa is as much a social as military phenomenon. They point out that at the site of Nador, for example, the wall would not have served any real defensive purpose (Mattingly and Hayes 1992, 416). Trement (2001: 297) also argues that hilltop villages in southern Gaul were not defensive in purpose.

Some other writers have also suggested that wooden and other non-Roman forms of building should not be equated with impoverishment , and that in the fifth century rural settlement underwent an evolution rather than economic decline (eg Van Ossel & Ouzoulias 2000; Trement 2001: 290-291 ). It has been suggested that the military elite of the fifth and later centuries chose to mark their status with burials rather than stately homes (Halsal I 1995: 250, 261; Wickham 2001: 560). Others present a contrary view, arguing that there was indeed a dramatic collapse of the economic system from the fifth century onwards. Faulkner , for example, writes of "a full-blown systems failure" (2000: 143), and Ward-Perkins (in press: chapter 5) of the disintegration of the ancient economy.

Recent excavation of Early Medieval sites suggests that rural occupation in most western regions during this period was characterised not by fortified nucleated villages , but rather by single wooden buildings , surrounded by smaller annexes, or small hamlets consisting of several wooden houses , with associated agricultural and work buildings (often including sunken huts), and usually an enclosing fence. The evidence suggests that in most regions of Europe rural settlement remained quite dispersed (Halsall , 1995a: 212 ;

It seems clear that the Roman villa-estate, closely tied to a commercial market exchange, was no longer the basis of rural exploitation. However , we have yet to reach consensus in defining with what it was replaced. It is generally agreed that our ability to identify and,

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especially , date , post-classical forms of occupation and settlement is still very limited. Thus our understanding of the material evidence does not yet permit us to draw decisive conclusions or whether , or to what extent , depopulation , abandonment of land, or thinning of settlement occurred.

Jordan in the Byzantine period (Walmsley 1996). The Wadi el Hasa survey has revealed an increase in the numb er of sites during the third to fourth centuries , and a peak in the Byzantine period , when the highest levels of rural population since Nabataean times were reached in this micro-region (MacDonald 1988: 215-232 , 295).

Africa and the East I argued in 1991 (p. 29-30) that the African provinces saw their highpoint of land-use and rural export , production in the third and fourth centuries. This is now widely recognised , and has been confirmed by more recent survey and excavation (see, for example , Ghedini 1993; Whittow 2003). The Kasserine survey in Tunisia reveals a pattern of increased agricultural exploitation in the third to fifth centuries , with an occupation peak from the fourth to fifth centuries (Bruce Hitchner 1990). Further survey in Tunisia has uncovered many farmhouses built and used from the second to the seventh centuries (Hirschfeld 200 I: 266-67). In the Segermes region , there seems to have been intensification of rural settlement from the fourth century through to the first half of the sixth (Leone and Mattingly 2004 : 143). The UNESCO Libyan Valleys Survey revealed a different pattern of development , with a peak in land-exploitation only up to the third century , and a decline in the numbers of open farms from the fourth. However , this must be balanced against the development of fortified gsur , with presses indicating agricultural activity , from the fourth century (Mattingly 1996).

In 1991 I argued that in the East "there was an extraordinary expansion and enrichment of farming which began in the fourth or fifth century and continued at least until the Arab era .. . small and medium sized units of production continued to flourish " (p 30). The astonishing late imperial explosion of settlement and rural economic activity in the East has been increasingly recognized over the last ten years. The character of this settlement differs from both fourth century luxury villas and fifth century wooden hamlets in the West: often (but not always) late eastern settlement consists of many small , usually stone-built houses , gathered in villages with at least one church , and of a clearly agricultural nature (associated presses are typical , and often animals were kept on the ground floor) , with few signs of ostentation or distinctions of rank (see , for example , Safrai I 996; Foss 1994 & 1995; Gatier 1994; Rautman 2000) .

With regard to Palestine , Bar (200 2) has systematically attack ed the notion of a third century crisis. He offers archaeological evidence for continued prosperity and settlement in the Galilee , new settlem ent and cultivation in the Carmel mountains , the Golan (peaking from the mid third to mid fourth century) , coastal and southern regions , and renewed settlement in the Hebron region. From survey evidence, he identifies the whole of the mid second to fourth centuries as the peak settlement era for most of this region. This picture is supported by recent publications of excavated sites: the mountain village of Sumaqa was a centre for intensive export production of olive oil and wine throughout the second to fifth centuries AD , without interruption (Dar 1999). Similarly , the large rural villa excavated at Raqit (also on Mt Carmel) flourished from the second to sixth centuri es AD (Dar 2003 , and personal communication , 26/5/03). At the site of Jalame , an agricultural complex was established in the late third century , and a commercial glass-making complex suddenly flourished from AD 350-83 (Weinberg 1988). Hirschfeld ' s compreh ensive summary (1997) adds many examples from excavations and surveys of prosperous farms and villages , with large oil and wine presses , and often intensification of land-use and settlement , from the fourth century onwards (see also Safrai 1994, 43 7-440 , although he is duly cautious about methodological problems in interpreting the survey data) . A later tloruit has emerged for the Dor hinterland , with a great increase in settlement and commercial viticultur e only in the second half of the fifth century , and the surveyors suggest a possible decline in this area in the third to early fourth centuries (Gibson et al. 1999; Kingsley 2002). In Asia Minor , surveys in the central region of Lycia show a late expansion in the number of villages and farms , probably in the fifth to sixth centuries , although dating is uncertain (Foss 1994). In Pisidia , survey has shown a pattern of increased settlement and reoccupation of earlier sites in the fourth to fifth centuries. In this region , also , this period shows the highest overall number of sites ever recorded (Vanhaverbeke et al 2004 ). A dramatic fifth to seventh century increase in the numb er of rural sites occupied , their size, and the intensity of land-use has been revealed by survey on the Konya Plain (Baird 2004).

Tate has confirmed the much earlier work of Tchalenko pointing to a great expansion and enrichment in fourth t~ sixth century northern Syria , with intensified rural settlement and oil production , and enlargements of village homes (1989 , 1992). East of Petra , the fifth to sixth century saw an intensification of settlement and land-use (Fiema 2002: 231). A number of surveys have revealed a significant increase in rural settlement in

Surveys in Greece have revealed a diverse rang e of settlement patterns, but a number of regions show some intensification of settlement from the fourth to sixth centuries. In the Lasithi region of Crete , the number of rural sites may even have grown to exceed that of earlier periods (Bintliff 1997). Excavations and survey projects in Cyprus demonstrate a diminution of rural settlement in

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Recent revision of evidence for trade in oil, garum and wine from Hispania suggests that, while the first to third century heyday may have passed , production and export (in a new range of amphorae) did continue at least until the fifth century (Reynolds 1995: 67). Recent pollen analysis suggests that in Hispania the earlier focus on cereal , oil and wine production for export was replaced by intensive pastoralism (Gu.rt Esparraguerra & Palet Martinez 2001).

the second to fourth centuries , but a new increase in the number of rural sites during the fifth to sixth centuries (Rautman 2000 , 2001 , 2003). Scholarly attention has mainly been focused on the apparent boom of the fourth to fifth centuries , and little attention has been paid so far to the third (with the exception of Bar 's work , noted above). However , there is little evidence of a crisis or depopulation in Africa or the East in the third century, except in Cyprus and a few micro-regions , and there was clearly late imperial prosperity and even expansion in Africa , Palestine , and Jordan even before the fourth century.

The Towns In chapter 7, I examined the ' decline of the towns ', which was said to be part of the general Late Roman economic crisis. I concluded in 1991 that: "the traditional view of late Roman urban declin e requires some modification "; and that although "many of the changes to north-western cities are unmistakable signs of decline ", "a proc ess more subtle than simple impoverishment was taking place", which I defined as "de-urbanisation, not necessarily impoverishment" (pp 36-37).

Trade I argued in 1991 that the third to fourth centuries did not see a collapse of export production and trade , but rather changing routes and centres of export production. More recent studies have confirmed that this was the case, and that specialised export production and trade continued through the third and fourth centuries (and much later in many regions): "The movement of goods over medium or long distances did not dry up in the late empire" (Garnsey and Whittaker 1998: 336).

In the last decade, many researchers have similarly argued that, while there were clearly radical changes to western towns, many such changes were due more to a transformation in the concept and purpose of the urban environment, than to economic cns1s. Although Liebeschuetz (2001a) argues that there was indeed a real decline of towns, many authors are of the view expressed in this book - that this was not so much a product of economic collapse , as of the growing irrelevance of the classical city, which often evolved into a new and different form of settlement. While the classical polis had been a centre for classical public life and socio-cultural activities , and a theatre for elite euergetism , from the fourth century, the new imperial bureaucracy eroded the civic role of the local elite. In addition , the tradition of secular building as a form of euergetism appears to have been partially superseded by church building and other forms of spending. Due to the influence of Christianisation , the focus of both private and public spending shifted from monumental urban temples (often rendered obsolete) , theatres , amphitheatres , and large, luxurious public baths , and was redirected to churches , monastic foundations , and episcopal palaces. The late-antique city had become an administrative , trade or episcopal centre. Its new foci were the cathedral, market , and sometimes bishop's or king 's palace. Thus the disuse of certain monumental public buildings and spaces did not always reflect economic decline or the abandonment of urban settlement. Fourth to fifth century towns were "conceptually radical. .. The conceptual geography of the Christian city ... was ... turned inside-out " (Loseby 1996, 59-60 ; See also, for example, Bamish 1989; Rich 1992 passim ; Carver 1993; Arce 1993 ; Christie and Loseby 1996, passim; Ward-Perkins 1997 (analysis of various viewpoints) ; Slater 2000 passim ; Ripoll and Gu.rt 2000 passim ; Kulikowski 2001; Lavan 200 1; Gauthier 2001:

Reynolds' (1995) comprehensive study of fine pottery , amphorae and coarse ware finds in the western Mediterranean has documented the replacement of exports from Baetica and Gaul with a boom in African products in the third century, large-scale fourth century trade in North Tunisian products, and a fifth century "flood" of Eastern Mediterranean exports , attested by amphorae and pottery. Wooding (1996) and Campbell (1996) provide evidence that these Mediterranean products were still traded as far as lreland , West Britain , and Cornwall in the sixth century. Both African and eastern exports still have a strong presence in meridional Gaul in the fifth century (Bruce Hitchner 1992). Kingsley and Decker (2001) have brought together evidence for the widespread presence throughout the eastern Mediterranean of African and eastern exports in the fourth and fifth centuries respectively. There is also evidence for increased trade between the Near East and the Aegean in the fifth century (Abadie-Reyna) 1989). A recent study has revealed export of wine from Egypt to the western Mediterranean and the Rhone valley in the fourth to fifth centuries (Haas 2001 , esp 52). North Mediterranean and northern export products appear to have had a much narrower and more regional range. Southern Gaulish fine-wares reached North Italy and Hispania in the fourth to fifth centuries , but not other western regions , and in far smaller quantities than contemporaneous African wares (Reynolds 1995: 36-37 ; Bruce Hitchner 1992). North Gaulish fine and coarse wares were produced and traded within their local region in the 5th century and beyond (Wickham 2003: 394). xii

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371-86 ; Brandes and Haldon 2001: 141-172). I noted in 1991 that in Britain "there appears to have been a virtual end of urban life" (p 34). But even Faulkner , who presents a most pessimistic view of fourth century Britain , attributes the collapse of towns (at least in part) to an ideological change whereby " living in towns seems to have lost its appeal ". (2000: 121).

disregard for its design and classical aesthetic principles , and rich houses were subdivided , in spite of evidence for prosperity and a continued elite pres ence . In Asia Minor , the former agora at Hierapolis became an area of tile kilns , small houses and workshops in the fifth century. In the sixth century , a rich house was subdivided into smaller rooms , and the former vestibule converted into a shop. At Sardis , rich , decorative houses were subdivided , stripped of their decorative elements , and reused , possibly as workshops. At Ephesos , the grand collegium was sub-divided into small houses and shops in the late fourth and early fifth centuries , and rebuilt as artisanal workshops and a lime-kiln in the sixth (Whittow 2001 , 141-49). In Anemurium , a small house was built in the palaestra of the baths in late antiquity (Ellis 1988: 568).

In 1991 I argued that "in the eastern and African areas of the empire the situation was quite different" , and that the late empire was "a time of rich and glorious building activity " in Africa and the East (pp 34-35, 37). I would now somewhat modify this viewpoint. While eastern towns were undoubtedly centres of vigorous activity and continued building in the later empire (see , for example, Walmsley 1996) , some of the transformations seen in western towns are echoed even in the very different environment of the eastern towns in the fifth to sixth centuries. Kennedy (1985 , a work which I failed to note in 1991) has outlined the consistent transformation of cities in the Syrian region , especially the process of ' encroachment ', by which small shops, houses and other utilitarian buildings were built over wide classical streets and open fora, disregarding the earlier monumental urban plan , and encroaching on public space. Ellis has shown a consistent pattern of subdivision of rich urban peristyle houses , whereby their grand decorative features were disus ed - usually , porticoes and peristyles were blocked and smaller houses , shops or apartments were built inside , or formed by sub-dividing large rooms. These sub-divided rooms often incorporated utilitarian functions in what had formerly been decorative habitation areas (Ellis 1988& 1997a).

The fact that such changes took place in the conte xt of the eastern agricultural and trade floruit described above , suggests that - at least in some regions - these changes were a product of changing ideology rather than economic decline: "While the presenc e of decaying and socially irrelevant monuments would have been common in late-antique towns , they repres ent changing community beliefs and expectations and not indiscriminate urban decline" (Walmsley 1996, 148).

Conclusions In 1991 I summarised my findings as showing that "there was no agricultural crisis or even widespread agricultural decline in the Roman empir e in the third and fourth centuri es AD.. . [but an] unexpected agricultural boom in South Gaul , South Spain , Sicily, Pannonia and the East" . I point ed to a "dominance of African and , slightly later, East ern exports " and to the "diff erenc es between East and West" . I concluded: " ... It seems that the political chaos of the third and fourth centuries had little effect on either agriculture or trade... The collapse of the Roman government in the West in the fifth century does coincide with a marked change in rural settlement. However , ... we cannot speak of a general economic crisis in the later empire. .. The empire was not a sick and senile body whose various vital organs - politics , economy , art, morality- were decaying " (pp 51-53).

Tsafrir and Foerster describe a 'typical Byzantine approach ' whereby 'monumental public buildings and large open squares , once the pride of the Roman city, were removed or modified in order to make room for commercial or social needs ' (Tsafrir & Foerster 1994: 105-109) . In Palestine , excavations at Scythopolis , for example , have revealed a typical process of evolution in this city, beginning in the fourth and intensifying in the fifth to sixth centuries: grand buildings such as the amphitheatre and theatre were abandoned. Shops were built in the monumental colonnade and its deliberately dismantled reflection pool. The classical style open and decorativ e spaces of the old civic centr e were filled in, and the city refocussed on new, more irregular commercial suburbs. Yet at the same time the city reached its peak in size and probable population , and fine church and synagogue building indicate prosperity. (Tsafrir and Foerster 1994). Similar processes occur elsewhere in Palestine : at Gerasa colonnades were blocked , and houses and shops encroached on the street grid , although during the same period the city was evidently a powerful and prosperous regional centre (Zeyadeh 1994: 120-121).

Research over the last decade has confirmed these central conclusions: that there was no general agricultural crisis in the third to fourth century ; that the fourth century was a time of rich villa building in many regions ; that there was a change in rural settlement in the fifth century West ; and that from this time there is a marked contrast between western and eastern developments , including a boom in eastern export production.

Baity (1989) comments on the greatly changed character of the urban centre in sixth century Apamea (Syria) , where the agora was abandoned , spolia used with notable

The contrast between East and West has emerged as even more marked than I suggested in 1991, with the fifth century an undoubted high in terms of both export xiii

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production and density of settlement throughout the East. The question has been raised as to whether the story of the fourth century villas - their increased building , enrichment , and monumentalisation - should be interpreted as a sign of rural prosperity (as I assumed in 1991) or rather the increasing wealth of a few at the expense of smaller landowners. The sharp change in rural settlement patterns in the fifth century West has been confirmed, but its explanation and the exact nature of the use of Roman villa sites after this time are still to be decided.

The Gazetteer While it is beyond the scope of this chapter to rework the gazetteer and graphs on the basis of more recent findings, it should be noted that although the general direction of findings has remained substantially unchanged , a number of important excavation reports and surveys of rural excavation have appeared since earlier publication, both updating and reinterpreting some of the material analysed here and adding new sites. See bibliography below , and those published in Chavarria 2004 and in press (Hispania), Brogiolo 1996 (Italy), Balmelle 2001 (southern Gaul), Ouzoulias and Van Ossel 2001 (western provinces , especially Gaul) , Dark and Dark 1997 (Britain), and Chavarria & Lewit 2004 (including field surveys).

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Reference list for works published 1989-2003 (Articles within edited works are not listed separately unless directly referred to in the text; for works published before 1989 referred to in this chapter, see footnotes and bibliographies at end of book) Abadie-Reynaul, C 1989 ' Ceramique et commerce dans le basin egeen du IVe au VIie siecle ' in Lefort and Morrisson , 143-162. Arce , J 1993 ' La ciudad en la Espana tardorromana: lCOntinuidad o discontinuidad? ' in Ciudad y comunidad civica en Hispania (s. II y Ill d. C.) Madrid Arce , J 1997 'Otium et negotium: the great estates , 4th-7th century ' in Webster and Brown 19-32. Arnold , CJ 1988/1997 An Archaeology of the Early Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms London Arthur P 2004 'From vicus to village: Italian landscapes , AD. 400-1000' in Christie , 103-133 Avramea A 1997 Le Peloponnese du /Ve au Vllle siecle . Changements et persistances Paris Azkarate Garai-Olaun , A and Antonio Quir6s Castillo , J 2001 'Arquitectura domestica altomedieval en la Peninsula lberica . Reflexiones a partir de las excavaciones arqueol6gicas de catedral de Santa Maria de Vitoria-Gastiez , Pais Vasco ' A rcheologia Medievale XXVIII, 25-60 Baird , D 2004 ' Settlement Expansion on the Konya Plain , Anatolia: 5th- 7th Centuries AD .' in Bowden et al., 219-246 Balmelle , C 2001 Les demeures aristocratiques d 'Aquitaine. Societe et culture de l 'Antiquite tardive dans le Sud-Ouest de la Gaule , Aquitania supp 10 Bordeaux Baity , JC 1989 ' Apamee au Vie siecle: Temoignages archeologiques de la richesse d' une ville ' in Lefort and Morrisson 79-96 Balzaretti , R 2000 ' Monasteries , Towns and the Countryside: Reciprocal Relationships in the Archdiocese of Milan , 614-814 ' in Brogiolo et al., 235-257 Bar , D 2002 ' Was there a 3rd-c. economic crisis in Palestine? ' in Humphrey , 43-54 Barker G 1995 The Biferno valley survey. The archaeological and geomorphological record London Barker Get al. 1996 Farming the Desert. The UNESCO Lybian Valley Archaeological Survey Tripoli Barnish , S 1989 ' The transformation of classical cities and the Pirenne debate ' Journal of Roman Archa eology 2, 385-400. Bassett , S (ed.) 1992 Death in Towns. Urban Responses to the Dying and the Dead , 100-1600 Leicester Ben Abed, A and Duval , N 2000 ' Carthage, la capitale du royaume et Jes villes de Tunisie 163-218

a l'epoque

vandale ' in Ripoll and Gurt ,

Bender , H 2001 ' Archaeological Perspectives on Rural Settlement in Late Antiquity in the Rhine and Danube Area ' in Burns and Eadie , I 85- 198 Bintliff J L 1997 ' Regional survey , demography and the rise of complex societies in the Aegean ' Journal of Field Archaeology 24, 838 Bintliff , J and Hamerow , H (eds) 1995 Europe Between Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages . Recent archaeological and historical research in Western and Southern Europe BAR S617 Oxford Blanton , R E 2000 Hellenistic , Roman and Byzantine Settlement Patterns of the Coast Lands of Western Rough Cilicia , BAR S879 Oxford Bowden , W 2001 ' A new urban elite? Church builders and church building in late-antique Epirus ' in Lavan , 57-68 Bowden , W, Lavan L and Machado C (eds) 2004 Recent Research on the Late Antique Countryside . Late Antique Archaeolo gy 2, Leiden Bowerstock , G W, Brown , P and Grabar, 0 (eds) 2001 Interpreting Late Antiquity Cambridge , Mass. Bowes , K 2001 "' ... Nee sedere in villam": Villa-Churches , Rural Piety, and the Priscillianist Controversy ,' in Bums and Eadie , 323348

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Bowes , Kand Kulikowski , M (eds) in press Hispania in the Late Antique World: Twenty-First Century Approaches Leiden Brandes , W and Haldon , J 2001 'Towns , Tax and Tran formation: State, Cities and their Hinterlands in the East Roman World , c.500-800 ' in Brogiolo et al., 141-172 Brogiolo , G P (ed.) 1994 Edilizia residenziale tra V e Vlll secolo. 4 seminario sul Tardoantico e l 'Altomedievale in Italia centrosettentrionale . Monte Barro-Galbiat e (Lecea) 2-4 settembre 1993 Mantua Brogiolo , G P (ed.) 1996 La fin e de/le ville romane: trasforma zioni nelle campagn e tra tarda antichita e alto medioevo Mantua Brogiolo , GP 1997 'Le ville rustiche e l' organizzazione del territorio perilacustre ' in Roffia, 245-313 Brogiolo , G P 2000 ' Capitali e residenze regie nell 'Italia Longobarda ' in Ripoll and Gurt, 135-161 Brogiolo , GP , Gauthier , N and Christie , N (eds) 2000 Towns and their Territories Between Late A ntiquity and the Early Middl e Ages Leiden Brogiolo , GP and Ward-Perkin s, B (eds) 1999 The idea and ideal of the town between late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages Leiden Bruce Hitchner , R 1988 'T he Kasserine archaeological survey, 1982-1986 ' Antiquit es Africaines 24, 7-41 Bruc e Hitchn er, R 1990 ' The Kasserine archaeolo gical survey -1987' A ntiquites Afri caines 26, 231-260 Bruce Hitchner , R 1992 ' Meridional Gaul, trade and the Mediterranean economy in late antiquity ' in Drinkwater and Elton , 122-13 l Bums , TS and Eadie , J W (eds) 2001 Urban Centers and Rural Contexts in Late Antiquity East Lansing Campbell, E 1996 'The Archaeological evidence for external contacts: Imports , trade and economy in Celtic Britain A.D. 400-800 ' in Dark , 83-96 Cameron , A 1993 The Later Roman Empire AD 284-430 London Cameron, A and Garnsey , P (eds) 1998 Cambridge Ancient History XIII The Late Empire, A.D. 33 7-425 Cambridge Cameron , A, Ward-Perkins , B and Whitby , M (eds) 2000 Cambridge Ancient History XIV Late Antiquity: Empire and Successors, A.D. 425-600 Cambridge Carandini , A, Cracco Ruggini , L and Giardina , A (ed) 1993 Storia di Roma II Turin Carver , MO H 1993 Arguments in Stone . Archaeological Research and the European Town in the First Millennium Oxford Chavarria Arnau , A 1996 'Transformaciones arquitect6nicas de los establecimentos rurales en el nordeste de la Tarraconensis durante la antigi.iedad tardia ' Butlleti de la Reial Academia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi X, 165-202 Chavarria Arnau , A 2004 'Interpreting the Transformation of Late Roman Villas: The Case of Hispania ', in Christie , 67- l 02 Chavarria A in press El final de las villas romanas en Hispania (siglos JV- VJJJ) Turnhout Chavarria, A and Lewit , T 2004 'Recent Archaeological Research on the Late-Antique Countryside: A Bibliographic Essay ' in Bowden et al., 1-51 Christie , N 1995 'From bones to homes : looking for the Longobards ' Accordia Research Papers 5, 97-114 Christie N 1996a 'Barren fields? Landscapes and settlements in late Roman and post-Roman Italy' in Shipley and Salmon, 254-83 Christie , N 1996b ' Towns and Peoples on the Middle Danube in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages ' in Christie and Loseby, 71-98 Christie , N 2000 ' Towns , Lands and Power: German-Roman Survivals and Interactions in Fifth- and Sixth-Century Pannonia ' in Brogiolo et al., 275-297 Christie , N and Loseby , ST (eds) 1996 Towns in Transition : Urban Evolution in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages Aldershot Christie , N (ed) 2004 Landscapes Of Change : Rural Evolutions in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages Aldershot Curchin , L A, Ennabli , A, and Neuru , L 1998 ' Surface Survey at the Roman Villa at Sidi Ghrib , Tuni sia' Echos du Monde Class ique/Classical Views XLII ns 17. 2, 373-384

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Clark , A 1993 Excavations at Mucking , 1, the site atlas London Coccia S and Mattingly D 1992 ' Settlement history , environment and human exploitation of an intermontane basin in the central Apenines: The Rieti Survey 1988-1991 I' Papers of the British School at Rome 60, 213-89 Curta, F 2001 ' Peasants as "Makeshift Soldiers for the Occasion " : Sixth-Century Settlement Patterns in the Balkans ' in Bums and Eadie , 199-217 Dagron , G 1991 '« Ainsi rien n' echappera a la reglementation »: Etat , Eglise , corporations , confreries: apropos des inhumations Constantinople (IVe-Xe siecle)' in Kravari, Lefort and Morrisson , 155-182

a

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Le Maho, J 1994 'La reutilisation funeraire des edifices antiques en Normandie au cours du haut Moyen Age ' in Fixot and ZadoraRio, 10-21 Lefort , J and Morrisson , C (eds) 1989 Hommes et richesse dans I 'Empire byzantin I /Ve-VIie siecle Paris Leone, A and Mattingly , D 2004 ' Vandal, Byzantine and Arab Rural Landscapes in North Africa ' in Christie , 135-162 Lepelley, C 1992 ' The survival and fall of the classical city in Late Roman Africa ' in Rich , 50-76 Lewit, T and Anderson, J L 1992 'A Contract with the Barbarians? Economics and the Fall of Rome ' Explorations in Economic History 29, 99-115 Lewit, T 2001 'Changing concepts of Late Antiquity: The decline and fall of Gibbonism' Bulletin de l 'Antiquite Tardive 10, 33-37 Lewit, T 2003 ' Vanishing Villas: What happened to elite rural habitation in the West in the 5th and 6th centuries A.D.? ' Journal of Roman Archaeology 16, 260-275 Liebeschuetz J H W G 2001a The decline and fall of the Roman city Oxford Liebeschuetz , J H W G 2001b ' The uses and abuses of the concept of ' decline ' in later Roman history, or, Was Gibbon politically incorrect? ' in Lavan , 233-238 Lodewijckx , M (ed.) 2001 Belgian Archaeology in a European Setting II Acta Archaeologica Lovaniensia Monographiae 13 Leuven Loseby, ST 1996 'Aries in Late Antiquity: Gallula Roma Areias and Urbs Genes ii' in Christie and Loseby, 44-70 Louis E 2004 ' A de-Romanised landscape in northern Gaul: the Scarpe Valley from the 4th to 9th centuries A.D. ' in Bowden et al. 479-504 MacDonald , B 1988 The Wadi El Hasa archaeological survey 1979-1983 , West-Central Jordan Waterloo Maloney, S and Hale , J 1996 ' The villa of Torre de Palma (Alto Alentejo )' Journal of Roman Archaeology 9, 275-94 Mattingly , D J 1995 Tripolitania London Mattingly, D J and Bruce Hitchener , R 'Roman Africa: An archaeological review' Journal of Roman Studies 85 1995, 165-212 Mattingly, DJ and Hayes , J W 1992 'Nador and fortified farms in North Africa ' Journal of Roman Archaeology 5, 408-418 Mattingly, DJ with Flower , C 1996 ' Romano-Libyan settlement: site distributions and trends ' in Barker et al. 159-190 Millett M 1990 The Romani zation of Britain. An Essay in Archaeological Interpretation Cambridge Mitchell , J 2000 ' Artistic Patronage and Cultural Strategies in Lombard Italy', in Brogiolo et al., 347-370 Mulvin , L 2004 ' Late Roman villa plans: the Danube-Balkan Region ' in Bowden et al. 377-410 Ouzoulias , P, Pellecuer , C, Raynaud , C, Van Ossel, P, and Garmy, P (eds) 2001 Les campagnes de la Gaule Actes du colloque Montpellier , 11-14 mars 1998 Antibes

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Introduction The Roman government appeared every day ... more odious and oppressive to its subjects. The taxes were multiplied with the public distress; economy was neglected in proportion as it became necessary; and the injustice of the rich shifted the unequal burden from themselves to the people ... If all the Barbarian conquerors had been annihilated in the same hour, their total destruction would not have restored the empire of the West. (Gibbon 3 1776-1788/1904: 571572) The organic disease of the economic, war was the apparent cause of death. (Lopez 1967: 23)

empire

was

The historiography of the later empire has always been permeated with the idea that the third and fourth centuries were a time of economic crisis and collapse. This belief is integral to most writing about the events and causes of Rome's decline and fall and has never been substantially questioned. The same picture of the crisis is reiterated again and again in works on the later empire: the countryside was depopulated and impoverished by invasions and burdensome taxation; huge areas of agricultural land were deserted and reverted to waste; the free peasant farmers were ruined and forced to become oppressed, serf-like tenants bound by law to the estates of rich landowners· large estates swallowed up the small and huge latifundi~ became the characteristic form of landholding; trade came to a virtual end because of soaring inflation and political turmoil and there was a general reversion to small subsistence production and large autarchic estates; towns were deserted and the urban population was impoverished. The traditional view has become entrenched in orthodoxy by its presentation in such authoritative works as Rostovtzeffs Social and economic history of the Roman empire (1926) and Jones' The later Roman empire 284602 (1964) and, although writers differ about the causes or emphasise different aspects of the situation, the general picture of decay is almost universal (see for example Stein 1928/1959; Lot 1931; Rostovtzeff 1930; Heichelheim 1938/1970; Oertel 1939; Frank 1940; Ruggini 1961; Latouche 1967; Lachica 1961; Oliva 1962; Lopez 1967; Remondon 1964; Jones 1964; Chambers 1966; Mazzarino 1966; Rouge 1966; Walbank 1969; Bautier 1971; Desbordes 1974 * (works marked with an asterisk are archaeological reports, listed in the separate bibliography); Jones 1974; Petit 1974; Rouge 1975; MacMullen 1976; Sperber 1978; Galliou 1981; Millett 1981; Starr 1982; Chastagnol 1982; Williams 1985; Depeyrot 1987).

The supposed crisis has four central features. The first is a general rural impoverishment and decline in the quantity of land under cultivation. Huge areas of farmland are said to have been abandoned: [T]he general productivity of the Empire constantly decreased. Larger and larger tracts of land ran to waste (Rostovtzeff 1926/1957: 476) That the area of land under cultivation shrank considerably cannot be doubted (Jones 1964: 812). Some historians suggest that this was due to depopulation caused by warfare and plague: 'There are many indications that there was a chronic shortage of manpower in the later empire' (Jones 1964: 1041); 'the shortage of agricultural labor was acute' (Boak 1955: 48), or that farmers simply gave up the struggle to cultivate their land in the face of overtaxation intolerable poverty and chronic political insecurity; 'The principal cause of the progressive abandonment of land was ... the heavy and increasing load of taxation' (Jones 1964: 1039; see also Lopez 1967: 19-23; Wightman 1985: 246). The second feature of the crisis is the destruction of the free peasantry and growth of huge "proto-feudal" estates. The owners of small and medium sized farms are said to have been forced by poverty to sell their land to rich landowners who gradually accumulated huge latifundia.. The peasants became mere tenants, or coloni, who were bound by law to the land they farmed and reduced to an oppressed and servile status little better than that of a slave. Thus the whole structure of land ownership and rural labour is said to have changed from a system of many different sized farms, worked by owners, slaves, free tenants, or hired labour, to one of a few agglomerated estates farmed by a "quasi-feudal" and oppressed colonate: 11 y eut ... concentration des terres. La grande villa fut caracteristique du Bas-Empire. (Depeyrot 1987: 27); The rise of large agricultural units... was an important economic development of the Later Empire (Starr 1982: 171); [La] crescita de lie dimensions medie della proprieta fondiaria ...comportava a sua volta una redistribuzione della manodopera agricola ...Lo schema ... delle affittanze e della colonia parziara tendeva ...ad assumere un ruolo preminente se non ancora esclusivo (Colognesi 1986: 358361);

TAMARALEWIT

The status of tied coloni was gradually degraded, until they were scarcely istinguishable from agricultural slaves (Jones 1974: 306).

"villa", farm and settlement sites which offer invaluable insight into agricultural production in the later empire. This has been accompanied by urban excavations which have uncovered parts of Roman towns, and by the identification and analysis of many pottery and amphora types which provide evidence regarding late Roman trade.

Thirdly , political insecurity and the decline of productivity are said to have crippled trade, which was reduced to merely local exchanges. Farms, especially the huge estates, reverted to subsistence production and became almost totally autarchic, in contrast to the market-oriented villas of the early empire:

Some writers have examined small sections of this new body of evidence and suggested on this basis that particular aspects of the traditional view be modified: Whittaker has pointed out some archaeological evidence against widespread desertion of land in the third century (Whittaker 1976); and Dyson has pointed to evidence for the continuity of small peasant farming in Italy in the later empire (Dyson 1985c ). However , no general survey has been made of the whole body ofrecent archaeological discoveries relating to the late Roman economy , nor has there been any thorough reevaluation of the traditional picture of the late Roman economic crisis in the light of this data.

The exchange of goods became more and more irregular , and the various parts of the Empire came increasingly to depend on what they themselves produced... every home , large and small, endeavoured to become as self-supporting as possible (Rostovtzeff 1926/1957: 476-477) ; Que la crise ait amene une decadence a peu pres totale du commerce maritime est un fait qui nous semble assure d'une maniere certaine (Rouge 1966:476);

It is the purpose of this study to make such a general survey of the archaeological evidence in order to test the

l'evoluzione nel senso piu specificamente latifondistico... comportava una tendenza all a chiusura della grande proprieta verso I' estemo (Colognesi 1986: 360).

traditional view of late Roman agriculture. Thus the study aims to bridge the gap between history and archaeology: to examine archaeological evidence which has not come to the attention of historians; and to provide a broad survey of this evidence directed towards answering historical questions about the condition of late Roman agriculture. The study focuses on the evidence of the rural farms and settlements and the agricultural aspect of the crisis, but also takes into account archaeological evidence for the condition of towns and trade in the later empire.

Finally, towns are said to have declined as a result of inflation, overtaxation, and the general economic malaise and political chaos. The urban population, especially the decurions , were impoverished, and often fled the towns: [The third century was characterised by] a retrogression in urbanisation;... little, if any, activity in public works; ... the impoverishment of the population of the cities (Charanis 1975: 552)

Throughout the study agricultural, industrial, and commercial activities are referred to as "the economy". This is in no way intended to imply that ancient economic life was essentially the same in nature as our own, or that modem "economic" laws may be assumed to apply to this historical case. Almost half a century ago , Polanyi applied the principles of substantivist anthropology to history and argued that the character of economic life is determined by cultural traditions rather than by universal pseudo-physical laws. His view was developed by Finley in the landmark work The Ancient Economy (1973). Finley states that

Le spectacle de desolation des villes est un theme qui devint de plus en plus courant dans Ies ecrits de Ia fin du quatrieme siecle (Depeyrot 1987: 23). This conventional picture is based on the evidence of certain historical and legal texts of the period. Since few scientific archaeological excavations had been carried out on rural sites when the view was formulated, it does not take archaeological evidence into account, although some more recent historians mention a few selected sites which seem to support the traditional view (Gage 1964: 395 ; Wightman 1970: 147-165 ; Wightman 1985: 243-261 ; Depeyrot 1987: 27; Percival 1976: 124-126, with some reservations).

The economic language and concepts we are all familiar with ..., the models we employ , tend to draw us into a false account... We have, I suggest, to seek different concepts and different models , appropriate to the ancient economy , not (or not necessarily) to ours. (Finley 1973: 23, 27).

However, a large mass of archaeological data of great significance to the history of the late Roman economy has been brought to light by scientific excavation in the last few decades , particularly in the 1970s and 1980s. There has been extensive excavation of hundred s of rural

Since the publication of Finley's work, the substantivist (or prirnitivist) model of the ancient economy has been much discussed , applied , and to some extent modified 2

VILLAS , FARMS AND THE LA TE ROMAN RURAL ECONOMY

in production , in government revenue , and in the flow of goods , and to the growth of autarchic estates (Remondon 1964). Similarly , Rouge argues that the Western invasions obstructed private commerce and resulted in an autarchic economic system (Rouge 1966).

(see for example Hopkins 1983a ; Gillam and Greene 1981 ; Hendy 1985: 3-5 ; Carandini 1981). It is clear that different factors were important in ancient " economic " life and that modem economic laws cannot be unquestioningly applied. However , the exact extent and nature of the differences between ancient and modem economic life are still a matter for debate. Although the issue has bearing on late Roman farming , it is nevertheless beyond the scope of this study to draw general conclusions on this question.

The most highly developed and influential version of this approach is that of Jones , who argues that the central factor in Rome's fall was military pressure which necessitated an impossible level of taxation. Overtaxation then led to depopulation , a decline in production , and widespread abandonm ent of land: The basic economic weakness of the empire was that too few producers supported too many idle mouths ... some of the more serious [weaknesses of the later Roman empire] were the result , direct or indirect , of barbarian pressure. Above all, the need to maintain a vastly increased army ... necessitated a rate of taxation so heavy as to cause a progressive decline in agriculture and indirectly a shrinkage in population (Jones 1964: 1045 , 1067) .

Previous Work The economic history of the Roman empire has been little studied. The earliest major studies of the economy are Rostovtzeffs The Social and economic history of the Roman empire (1926/1957) and Frank's An economic survey of ancient Rome (1933-1940) and there are still relatively few major works on Roman economic life (Finley 1960, 1973 , 1976a; Jones 1964 and 1974 ; Duncan-Jones 1974 ; Rouge 1966 and 1975 ; D 'Arms and Kopff 1980; D ' Arms 1981 ; Giardina and Schiavone 1981 ; Garnsey , Hopkins , and Whittaker 1983; Hendy 1985; Giardina 1986) . The overwhelming majority of writers have been concerned with Roman political and social life, making observations on the economy only as a part of their more general conclusions.

Marxist historians have traditionally espoused explanations which focus on the " slave mode of production ", in accordance with Marx ' s analysis of ancient economic life. According to this view , the political decline of Rome can be attributed to the inherent weaknesses of this economic system. Steyermann , for example , argues that the high costs and inefficiency of this mode of production caused a crisis which led to a decline of the towns , the growth of proto- feudal estates , and fmally the political chaos of the later empir e:

For this reason the historiography of the late Roman economy has been dominated by the spectre of the political and social "decline and fall" of anci ent civilisation. The central concern of historians of the later empire has been not the economy but the explanation of Rome 's political collapse , and this concern has to a large ext ent determined their picture of the rural economy . Remondon , for example , writes

la crise qui commen~a a la fin du lie siecle ... etait au fond un crise du systeme de production base sur le travail des esclav es et qui fut le resultat de (' aggravation de tous les conflits propres a ce systeme (Steyermann 1958: 312).

[Les evolutions economiques du Bas- Empire] sont inseperables du declin de la civilisation romaine universelle des cites et de la defaillance de I'Etat. II va de soi que cette evolution porte en germe la dislocation de !' Empire. (Remondon 1964: 322).

Similarly , Oliva claims that an internal crisis in the slave mode of production led to the formation of th e late Roman colonate and an agricultural and financial crisis (Oliva 1962 : 70-1 2 1, 363).

The state of farming has been seen primarily as either a cause or an effect of whatever is argued to be the crucial factor in Rome ' s political demise .

Modifications to the Marxist model have recently been suggested by Wickham , who also sees the mode of production as the key factor but redefmes it. He claims that the mode of production was not slav ery but the extraction of surplus through taxation , and that th e cri sis of Roman soci ety and economy was created by succ essful tax-evasion (Wickham 1984).

Some writers favour military explanations of Rome ' s decline , and therefore see the invasions of the third and later centuries as the crucial economic influence. Remondon , for example , attributes the fall of Rome to her failure to create a universal empire which would have perman ently eliminated the threat of invasion: ' Au fond , la crise commence des le moment oil le monde romain est domin e par le souci de sa defens e.' (Remondon 1964: 263). The military crisis creat ed by the pockets of unconquer ed nations led to fatal depopulation , a decline

The most common view , however , is that the underlying cause of Rome ' s political collapse and the dominant feature of the late economy was a " lack of freedom " . One version of this view is that the growing authoritariani sm 3

TAMARALEWIT

or despotism of the central government destroyed the state and the economy. Heitland argues that the growth of a ' virtual monarchy' crushed the intellectual vitality of the citizen body and thus prevented any effective challenge to the development of the latifundia and the bound colonate (Heitland 1922). A very similar argument is presented by Frank, who sees the suppression of individual initiative by a totalitarian regime as responsible for the destruction of the free peasantry and the growth of the colonate and latifundia which were fatal to the empire:

century civil wars and invasions necessitated a ' structure of economic compulsion ', in particular crushing taxation , which ultimately undermined the power of Roman government since its result was tax evasion :

The decline of Rome may in the last analysis be attributed to. .. [the willingness of the landed gentry] to betray the free yeomanry ... and their readiness during the empire to accept a totalitarian regime (Frank 1940: 304).

Most recently, Williams has described the ' command economy ' of the later empire, claiming that civil disruptions and inefficient taxation in the third century created a shortage of government revenue which prompted a devaluation of the currency followed by widespread inflation. This, in turn, caused urban stagnation and encouraged rural self-sufficiency, necessitating a command economy (Williams 1985).

The Roman countryside was ... enchained ... the colonate... in its slow, steady spread from province to province... brought forth ... the bound tenant, that creature of crisis. His bent figure joined the bound decurion , soldier, and shipowner (MacMullen 1976: 180-181).

Another variation focuses on the despotism of central government in specifically economic affairs. This view perhaps originates in Rostovtzeff s theory that the late Roman government, the tool of a peasant-proletarian army, destroyed the 'infant capitalism' of the empire and replaced it with a state-centred socialism, characterised by liturgies, grain-doles, and the careful supervision of commerce. The result, he claims, was the impoverishment of the bourgeoisie, who were 'tracked out and persecuted, cheated and maltreated' (Rostovtzeff 1926/1957: 454), and the ruin of the empire. A similar view is presented by Oertel, who states that the constant interference by the government in economic affairs and its waste of resources amounted to a 'state socialism ' which caused a decline in industry , a reversion to barter, the abandonment of agricultural land, and the development of autarchic estates (Oertel 1939: 267-269). Bark states that economic oppression by the government destroyed private enterprise and paralysed the economy (Bark 1958). Petit also considers that government intervention caused economic paralysis and the development of a system of "proto-feudal" great estates:

A third variant of the "lack of freedom" theme focuses not on economic or political freedom, but on personal liberty. Warren Hollister encapsulates the spirit of this view when he describes the 'stifling prison' of late Roman society as a mummified autocracy , a police-state teeming with spies and informers , with a predatory and stultified economy based on a caste system (Warren Hollister 1966: 204). An early exponent of this view is Westermann, who argues that the erosion of the free peasantry and its replacement by the bound colonate destroyed the 'intellectual vigour ' of Roman society, thus leading to a decline in both the quantity and quality of production (Westermann 1915). The most complete exposition of the "lack of freedom " theme is that of Walbank , who incorporates elements of all three versions. Walbank argues that the institution of slavery precluded technical development and the growth of free capitalist production for a large market , and resulted in a ' domain economy' of self-sufficient estates and bound coloni. The natural result was a crisis in resources which prompted the development of a structure of political , economic, and personal compulsion. The ultimate cause of Rome ' s decline was the slave system and the resulting general limitation of personal freedom , because of which Rome lack ed the necessary productive forces and intellectual flexibility necessary for the empire to withstand pressure: the third century emperors created

l'Etat acroit ses ponctions sur la production et etend sur tous les domaines de l' activite economique une surveillance etroite et paralysante: c' est un regime de totalitarisme naissant (Petit 1974 : 355). Some writers focus on interventionism as the result rather than the cause of crisis, although still according it a central place in the late economy and in the explanation of Rome's fall. Stein sees the late empire as a period of oppressive state interventionism in reaction to plagues and depopulation , the crisis created by the barbarian invasions, a metal shortage, reversion to barter , and the growth of great rural estates (Stein 1928/1959). Chastagnol describes a ' dirigisme ' necessitated by a drop in production and commerce and reversion to barter, although he concludes that the sources are too scanty for us to discern the ultimate causes of this crisis (Chastagnol 1982). MacMullen states that the crisis created by third

the iron shackles of an authoritarian state ... increasingly the collegia becam e the instrument by which men ' s freedom of action was limited ... The characteristic component of the world they shaped was compulsion... the

4

VILLAS, FARMS AND THE LATE ROMAN RURAL ECONOMY

world of free exchange and laissez-faire was officially dead (Walbank 1969: 68, 71, 78).

Further , the subject of the "decline and fall" of Rome is one which invites bias and tends to arouse ideological fervour. Historians commonly explain the collapse of the Roman empire according to their political and social ideologies, blaming the fall on whatever feature of contemporary life they most vehemently oppose. Walbank states quite explicitly that his account of Rome's fall is intended to demonstrate the evils of a contemporary trend when he writes that there is

Similarly, Starr combines all three versions when he describes a situation in which the state sought to lock men of all trades and services in their places ... To modem eyes the corrupt and brutal regimentation of the later empire appears as a horrible example of the victory of the state over the individual (Starr 1982: 165)

no necessity whatsoever driving the world of the twentieth century towards authoritarian tyranny ...it is our duty ...to exert ourselves against any tendencies in our own society which resemble those predominating .in the late empire (Walbank 1969: 115, 119).

In sum, most descriptions of the late Roman economy have been shaped by the authors' theories about the causes of the political decline of the empire. The study of late Roman economic life has thus been strongly coloured by historians' focus on Rome's political collapse. The very idea of an economic crisis in the later empire is to a large extent a product of this politically-oriented approach. The all-pervasive concern with explaining the political fall has meant that historians see the late empire only as a period of crisis. The viewpoint almost amounts to a teleological belief that the empire declined because it fell. Although this is obviously a reductio ad absurdum, it is in fact the implicit basis of many ideas about the late Roman economy.

We can discern an underlying ideology in all three of the approaches to the late economy described above. The military approach is based on an essentially imperialistic ideology which implicitly legitimates the Roman empire. The empire is seen as inherently successful and stable, and the disruption and chaos of the third and later centuries are blamed on the "barbarians". It was pressure from the outside which caused economic crisis and political destruction. This ideology is apparent in Remondon' s statement that La domination de Rome ne peut etre qu'universelle: le concept d'Empire et celui de limitation sont contradictoires... La crise de !'Empire est avant tout celle d'une domination universelle ... [le choix d' un domaine limite etait] une premiere defaillance de l' imperialisme romain. (Remondon 1964: 264, 319).

Another powerful influence has been the desire to trace the origins of the feudal system in late Roman history. This purpose underlies many ideas regarding the late Roman economy. Although several centuries intervene between the later empire and a fully developed feudal system, we know so little of these centuries and the non-Roman influences which shaped them that the temptation is to ignore their role and see in the better documented later empire the beginnings of medieval institutions:

and in portrayals of the barbarians as savage , wantonly destrucive, and essentially inferior beings: tous les maux dont l' empire souffrait...ont pour origine ... la guerre perpetuelle menee par les bandes inorganisees de ces Germains qui, aux frontieres de !'empire , avaient reussi a vivre pendant des siecles sans se civiliser (Piganiol 1972: 466);

el Feudalismo era Ia immediate y l6gica evoluci6n del tipe politico-administrativo del Bajo Imperio y de sus estructuras agrario sociales. No hubiera sido por la "iugatio ", la "adscriptio glebalis" y el servicio personal impuesto en el Bajo Imperio.. . los antiguos "possessors" protegidos, formarian la base de estas casi pequeflas cortes, los vasallos. Sus castillos seran los herederos de las "villae " de los latifundios ... la vfa econ6mica , ya en el Bajo Impero... va simplific{mdose en tipos de "economfa domestica" que es la caracterfstica econ6mica de la primera fase medieval (Lachica 1961: 168-169)

Tramping over the mosaic floors , the Franks must have wondered at the intricate designs and shaded pictures that were beyond their power to copy, and at the warmth that came through the floors and made it seem like summer inside. But more important, there were silver platters to grab and good wine to drink ... [and] the beautiful house and the fields could be burned (Brauer 1975: 77).

Just as the belief in the crisis reflects an assumption that the empire declined because it fell, the belief in certain elements of the supposed crisis is a product of the similarly teleological assumption that the late empire was proto-feudal because the next period was feudal.

The marxist approach is based explicitly on marxist ideology , according to which the underlying mechansim of history is the mode and resultant relations of production.

5

TAMARAL EWIT

which is so pervasive and unquestioned that it may be properly termed a paradigm , in Kuhn's phraseology. A paradigm is an analogy: a trick of picturing a phenomenon which likens it to something else, such as picturing light as waves. The paradigm provides a framework for study and explanation, but by the same token determines and limits the concepts, terminology, and even type of data considered suitable for the study of the phenomenon (Kuhn 1970a and 1970b; Masterman 1970).

All other aspects of society are a superstructure which merely reflects this basis. Marx classed the ancient mode of production as the 'slave mode' and therefore the conditions and decline of the Roman empire are explained by marxists in terms of slavery in order to confirm his analysis . The basis of the "lack of freedom" approach is clearly a Western liberal ideology. The very concept of a "lack of freedom" is essentially a moral one and the argument that the Roman empir e brought about its own destruction by crushing personal freedom and laissez-faire capitalism is often developed into a moral indictment of the empire and the Romans. Maclennan , for example, writes that the upper classes absorbed 'the individuality and life-force ' of the lower classes in 'a sort of economic and social cannibalism ' (Maclennan 1935: 36), and states regarding the system of patronage in the late empire that:

The paradigm of the Roman empire which has long held sway is that of a living organism. The empire is pictured as a body politic made up of economic , social, political , cultural, and religious life, living in symbiotic interdependence like the cells of an actual body. Remondon speaks explicitly of 'l'organisme de !'Em pire' (Remondon 1964: 114). The condition of the empire during a particular period or in a particular region is seen as a state of health or sickness . Jones writes: 'the East seems to have been stronger and healthier than the West...The Western empire was poorer and less populous , and its social and economic structure more unhealthy' (Jones 1964: 1064, 1067).

It is a commentary on the negative state of society that obscure security became more desirable than the adventure of living (Maclennan 1935: 53). There is a strong flavour of "evil brings its own punishment" in many of these accounts, an underlying belief that the empire fell because it was wicked, which can perhaps be traced back to early Christian writers such as Salvian. This can most clearly be seen in descriptions of the supposedly increasing polarisation of rich and poor in the later empire:

The organism paradigm entails several assumptions crucial to the traditional view of the late Roman economy. The first of these is that, being a living organism , the empire must have undergone a natural cycle of birth , growth , maturity, senile decline or mortal illness, and , inevitably, death ( cf Reece 1983, who suggests that a similarly organic paradigm has determined past views of Roman art). The late empire is pictured as the period of senile decay: Brauer entitles his chapter six 'The empire as a tired old man' (Brauer 1975); Perowne writes

La divisi6n de clases se hizo mas aguda ... Este negro cuadro de la angustiosa situaci6n social, llena de pobreza , miseria, odios , resentimentos e incomodidades , determin6 la desintegraci6n psicol6gico-social del Imperio (Lachica 1961: 167).

[Rome] had decayed within before it was overthrown from without. Rome was old ...the resistance of the body politic was lowered , so that it fell victim to internal and external assaults it no longer had the vitality to resist...[the eclipse] was the result of a general debility (Perowne 1966: 156).

The ideological, rather than historical, basis for the " lack of freedom" approach becomes even clearer when we consider that the exponents of this approach ignore the fact that in the preceding period Roman society was based on slavery. It is difficult to see how a society based on slavery can objectively be considered "free".

The political breakup of the Western empire in the fifth century is seen as the death of the organism . Lopez, for example, writes that

Certain exponents of this approach wrote in response to a specific contemporary political situation. Rostovtzeff wrote after his flight from Russia during the Communist Revolution. His theory of a ' peasant-proletarian' army, the destruction of the bourgeoisie , and the 's ocialism ' of the late empire reflects his political opposition to the contemporary regime in Russia. Frank, in his Oxford lecture of 1939 published in 1940, wrote in opposition to the contemporary Nazi regime in enemy Germany, attributing the decline of Rome to the acceptance of a 'totalitarian regime'.

the organic disease of the empire was economic, war was the apparent cause of death (Lopez 1967: 23). and Piganiol that La civilisation romaine n'est pas morte de sa belle mort. Elle a ete assassinee (Piganiol 1972: 466).

Underlying all these approaches to and theories about the late imperial economy is a view of the Roman empire 6

VILLAS , FARMS AND THE LA TE ROMAN RURAL E CONOM Y

Since the political breakup is considered a "death ", it is seen as the result of either a mortal illness within the organism or a mortal blow from an enemy. This assumption is expressed by the father of late imperial historiography , Gibbon , who speaks of ' a slow and secret poison [introduced] into the vitals of the empire ' (Gibbon 1 1903: 63). Modem historians write in much the same vein: Walbank , for example , speaks of ' a cancer in the flesh of society which grew with society itself' (Walbank 1969: 41).

King and Henig suggest that there was no crisis , but still believe that the economy was ' debilitated' (King and Henig 1981 b : 1-2); Millett suggests that the archaeological evidence does not reveal a crisis , not because the crisis did not exist , but because the evidence is unsuited by its nature to the study of crisis (Millett 1981 ); Hopkins states that there was no economic collapse , but maintains that production became localised and trade declined (Hopkins 1980). According to Kuhn , a paradigm holds sway until the growing body of anomalies , or emerging facts which do not fit the theory , is finally too large to be ignored and the analogy is clearly seen to be false . It is argued that the data presented in this study constitute a body of anomalies large enough to overthrow the organism view of the empire and its accompanying assumption that the late empire was mortally ill and the economy diseased.

The second asswnption is that all aspects of the life of the empire were as interdependent as the cells of a body , and therefore that such a mortal illness and death must surely have affected all vital parts of the organism . Thus the late Roman "sickness " and "death" is considered to necessarily include all areas of life, including social and civic life, morality , culture , and , most importantly , the economy. Remondon states: Alors apparaissent les formes multiples d' une crise possible: politiqu e, economique , religieuse et morale (Remondon 1964: 71) and goes on to describe ' Le probleme politique ' (78) , 'Les problemes economiques et fiscaux ' (85) , ' Les problemes de l'unite (91) , and ' La cris e religieuse et intellectuelle' (269). Similarly , Piganiol writes of a ' Crise politique' , 'Crise du sentiment national ', ' Crise financiere ' , 'Crise economique', ' Crise sociale ', ' Crise morale ', ' Crise religieuse' , and 'Crise intellectuelle ' (Piganiol 1972: 457-464). Thus , because the ruling empire as an organism , always been viewed as disease along with all the its death throes.

paradigm has been that of the the late Roman economy has suffering senility and mortal other parts of a body politic in

According to Kuhn ' s theory , the normal research process of a discipline seeks to fit the available facts into the accepted paradigm. As individual pieces of data which do not fit the paradigm emerge , auxiliary ideas are produced to explain them without the original paradigm ever being called into question. This process has been occurring in studies of the late empire over the last two decades , with the emergenc e of archaeological data anomalous to the traditional view described above. Writers objective enough to acknowledge the existence of these anomalies have produced theories which explain them without fundamentally rejecting the concept of economic illness or decline which is part of the organism paradigm . Galliou , for example , has suggested that ther e was regional variation in the pace and nature of changes (Galliou 1981: 260) ; Reece has proposed that there was a fundamental change in conditions rather than crisis of existing conditions , and that there was a regionalisation rather than complete collapse of trade (Reece 198 la) ; 7

TAMARA LEWTT

2. Methodology

236). It is often unclear from an excavation report whether a destruction layer is dated on the basis of finds or merely because the excavator has assumed that it is related to the invasions of a certain date. Particular caution is required in dealing with destruction layers dated to the invasions of the AD 270s on the basis that the latest coins which they contain are Tetrican. Finds of coin issues from between the Tetrici and Constantine are rare on all sites and Tetrican issues circulated for a long time after the 270s (Buckley 1981: 287).

It is the aim of this study to evaluate the traditional view of late Roman agriculture through a broad survey of the relevant archaeological evidence. As has been shown, the orthodox picture of crisis incorporates the following features: a decline in agricultural productivity due to the widespread abandonment of land and destruction caused by invasions; the impoverishment and destruction of the free peasantry and its replacement by an oppressed bound colonate and a system of latifundia; and a reversion to autarchic production and collapse of trade. How would we expect such proce sses to be reflected in the archaeological record?

A further consideration is that a particular "destruction layer" is only significant if it is part of a pattern: the destruction by fire of a farm may not necessarily be the result of barbarian raiding , but may simply be caused by an accidental domestic fire (Van Ossel 1979: 18; Percival 1976: 44). Only an exce ptional number of destruction layers in a particular period can serve as evidence for destruction caused by invasions.

We would expect a widespread desertion of land to be clearly evident in the archaeological record in the form of numerous abandoned farm habitations. Some caution must be used, since the abandonment of a habitation does not necessarily imply the abandonment of its fields which could have been cultivated as part of a larger fa~ with a habitation elsewhere. However, if farms continued to be inhabited we may assume that fields were still cultivated.

A general decrease in agricultural productivity should be reflected in the archaeological record in the form of a decline in the extent and quality of building activity on many sites. The disuse of parts of a habitation , the disrepair of walls or floor, or poor repairs may be considered indications that less surplus wealth was available and therefore that productivity had declined. Conversely, the rebuilding of a habitation on a grander scale, the addition of a new luxurious bath block or swimming pool, or the addition of new mosaics may be taken as indicators of increased surplus wealth and therefore productivity.

Many sites are considered unoccupied in a particular period because of signs of destruction by fire. Such destruction is usually attributed to barbarian invasion. However, the interpretation of these "destruction layers" is far from straightforward. Few so-called "destruction layers" are in fact complete layers of ash covering a whole site. Destruction is usually inferred by excavators on the basis of finds of a small quantity of ash or blackened stone. It is possible that this inference is not always correct, and that such remains are the result not of the total destruction of the site but merely of minor fires, or even not of fires but of hearths or the blackening of walls by smoke in the course of normal domestic use of buildings (Percival 1976: 44; Van Ossel 1979: 18). Many archaeologists assume that sites must have been destroyed in the invasions of the second half of the third century , and so over-readily interpret very scanty burnt ~emains as evidence for total destruction in this period. It 1s common to find statements such as that of Pita Merce and Diez-Coronel , who write that the Albesa villa must have been ('debio de ') destroyed in the second half of the third century, but do not describe the evidence for this (Pita Merce and Diez-Coronel y Montull 1964-5*). Many such late third century "destruction layers" may in fact be spurious.

Such changes to a farm may have had other causes: the owner may have begun to spend less or more of his time on the farm, thus reducing or increasing the necessity for size, comfort and grandeur. He may simply have chosen to spend more or less of his income on personal luxury, or a new owner 's preference may have been for a simpler or more flamboyant home. On the other hand, a marked change would in only a minority of cases be the result purely of such motives. We may safely assume that, in the majority , building activity would to a large extent reflect economic circumstances such as increased or decreased affluence. This correlation between building activity and farming is widely acknowledged by both archaeologists and historians. Wightman , for example, cites the enlargement of farm habitations as evidence for the farming of more land (Wightman 1985: 258-259; see also Blazquez 1978: 482 , 513) . A particular problem is presented by the phenomenon of rough alterations to formerly luxurious habitations, such as the division of rooms by poorly built or timber walls or the installation of hearths or ovens in mosaics . This is often interpreted by archaeologists as the use of former living quarters for agricultural purposes: Grenier , for example, interprets the divisions inserted in the ga11eryat Chiragan as a conversion of the building into stables (Grenier 1934: 837).

In addition , destruction layers are almost impossible to date precisely (Van Ossel 1979:18; Percival 1976: 44· Wightman 1985: 220), although archaeologists ofte~ assume that sites were destroyed in the invasions of a particular year: Wightman , for example , states that many vici in Gaul were destroyed 'cAD 275', during the Frankish and Alemannic invasions (Wightman 198 la:

8

VILLAS, FARMS AND THE LATE ROMAN RURAL ECONOMY

found on a site has not been used in this study as a basis for interpretation , and sites for which the only dating evidence is the coin series have been excluded from the sample.

Most writers assume that such developments reflect a decline in the prosperity or agricultural activity on the farm. For example , Wightman states that the ' purely utilitarian use of what had been status-granting structures' indicates a reversion to subsistence farming (Wightman 1985: 257). As suggested by Percival , however , it is possible that such developments reflect an increase in the scale of operations, necessitating more farm buildings (Percival 1976: 49) and perhaps a shift in habitation to a nearby location.

We would expect the archaeological record to reflect a general impoverishment and destruction of the free peasantry and development of latifundia farmed by bound tenants in the form of a change from a variety of different size sites to a predominance of very large, rich sites and very small, poor ones, and a gradual impoverishment and abandonment of medium sized farms.

Moreover , it is also possible that buildings supposedly "converted for agricultural use" may in fact have been inhabited , but in a different , non-Romanised manner. Any non-Romanised changes to a building are usually assumed to be indicators of decline. Brodribb , Hands and Walker, for example , see both the insertion of corndrying hearths in building B at Shakenoak farm and the building of a traditional Iron Age style round hut in front of the fa9ade of the villa (building K) as evidence for ' a lower standard of living ' (Brodribb , Hands and Walker 1978*: 203). It is possible, however , that such changes reflect a change in tastes and style of life, rather than economic decline. This will be discussed in more detail below (see chapter 4).

Unfortunately, we cannot reconstruct the field boundaries of farms. Guesses can be made on the basis of modem and medieval toponomy , natural boundaries such as rivers , the location of ancient roads , distances between habitations , and so on, but the results are purely speculative. We are thus reliant on the size of habitations as an indicator of the size of estates. There are circumstances under which the size of a habitation may not reflect the size of the farm. ' The owner of a large estate may simply prefer to live in a small house , or the owner of a small farm may choose to squander a large part of his income on a disproportionately grandiose habitation. The problem may to a large extent be overcome by making the size group within which habitations are classified a very broad one. There are clear differences in scale between a seven room rectangular house with earth or cement floors and a 30 room homestead with a gallery , mosaics, and several outbuildings , and in turn between such a homestead and a 100 room palace with a dozen elaborate mosaics , a monumental garden , and 30 outbuildings. It is highly improbable that habitations which differ so greatly in scale and style did not belong to farms of a corresponding difference in size.

An interesting light is thrown on this question by Sidonius in his description of the villa at Avitacum: he states that on leaving the baths one comes across the front of the ladies' dining-room; joined onto this, with only a barrack partition between them , is the household storeroom frons triclinii matronalis offertur , cui continuatur vicinante textrino cella penaria discriminata tantum pariete castrensis (Sidonius Letters 11.9).

Although the villa is extremely luxurious , living and service rooms are side by side. The storeroom is barely separated from a dining room , and the phrase ' barrack partition ' (pariete castrensi) suggests the kind of rough wall built of ephemeral materials which usually prompts archaeologists to conclude that a habitation was used for agricultural purposes.

This correlation between the size of a habitation and the size of its farm is generally accepted by historians. Corbier , for example , writes of

e

la grande "azienda ", i I cui vasto fundus proporzionale alla grandezza delle superfici construite della vil/a-castello e delle sue dipendenze (Corbier 1986: 690)

In this study, the excavator ' s interpretation of the site has been accepted in the case of farms with such rough alterations , but it is probable that for this reason the results imply more economic decline than may actually have occurred.

and large farm habitations such as Montmaurin and Centcelles are uniformly assumed to have been the centre of correspondingly large estates (Gage 1964: 395 ; Le Glay 1975: 284; Percival 1976: 124-126; Azevedo 1986: 313-334; Depeyrot 1987: 27). This assumption is supported by ethnographic parallels: Delano-Smith describes the contrast between the small habitations of small farm owners in Valencia and the two to three hectare building complexes at the centre of large stockfarms in Apulia or the seven hectares of buildings and yards at the centre of 300 hectare estates on the Po (Delano Smith 1979: 53-55).

Coin finds have often been used as an indicator of productive activity and the date of abandonment of a site. However , it is probable that coin loss reflects not economic activity but the vicissitudes of coin supply (Reece 1978 and 1981b ). An absence of coins may be due to a shortage in supply , rather than to the decline or end of surplus production. Therefore the quantity of coins 9

TAMARALEWlT

A problem does arise in the case of an estate owned by an absentee landlord, where the central habitation is that of the vilicus or a tenant. In such a case, the habitation would be small and poor , even though the estate was a large one. This problem applies only to the category of small sites, which may have been the habitations of either independent small farmers or the vi/ici or tenants of large estates. 'The medium size sites are too rich and luxurious to have housed anyone but the owner of the farm, while the large sites are obviously the residences of rich owners (see below). Thus, although there is some difficulty with small sites , the medium and large sites certainly reflect the actual size of the farm. A further problem is that , as Corbier has pointed out (Corbier 1981 427-444) , there is an important difference between large-scale ownership and large-scale farming. The engrossment of land by a large owner does not necessarily entail the amalgamation of small holdings into one large one , and plots of land owned by the same person may not even be close to each other (Garnsey and Saller 1987: 66- 70). It is even possible that the former owners of small farms continued to live in the same dwelling, farming the land as tenants instead of as free peasants. Thus, of the three elements of a rural landscape settlement pattern, estate pattern and field systems (Taylor 1974), it is the settlement pattern, or size of the units of exploitation, rather than the pattern of ownership or the field system, which is revealed by archaeological sites. This does not reduce the usefulness of archaeology in testing the traditional view of the late Roman economy. As with absentee landlords, the problem does not affect our interpretation of medium sized sites, which are obviously the homes of owner-occupiers, or large sites, which are obviously the centres of rich estates , whether agglomerated or fragmented, but only small sites, which may belong to either owner-occupiers or the tenants of fragmented estates. In addition, the traditional picture of agricultural crisis is based on a supposed change in the settlement pattern: the belief is that small and medium sized units of exploitation were replaced by huge latifundia, or agglomerated estates. A development of large-scale ownership of fragmented holdings farmed by tenants who were the former owners would have constituted virtually no change in the settlement pattern and field system, and therefore be of far less significance to late Roman agricultural history. The final issue is that of a reversion to autarchic production and the collapse of long-distance trade. The most direct means of testing this assumption is by a survey of archaeological finds of foreign trade goods , and the recent identification and dating of many amphora and pottery types provide a large body of evidence. Although it is impossible to tell how many of these goods were transported as a result of free commerce and how many as a result of government requisitioning , the existence of exported goods indicates a high level of surplus

production in their region of origin. Unfortunately, only those goods transported in amphorae (ie wine and oil) have left any archaeological trace. The export of wine transported in barrels , wool or cloth products , and grain is impossible to trace. Scientific excavations of farm sites have been carried out in only a few provinces of the Roman empire and many of the excavations which have been carried out are incomplete or very poorly published. Even in regions where many excavations have been carried out and systematically published , the sites discovered must still be only a small proportion of those which originally existed and it is impossible to know whether their history is typical. However , any study of those excavations which have been carried out is an advance on the approach of the past , which has been to either ignore the archaeological evidence completely or rely on the evidence of as few as one or two sites which support particular theories (for example , Gage 1964: 395 ; Le Glay 1975: 284; Azevedo 1986: 313-334; Depeyrot 1987: 27). It is obvious that there are methodological problems with the use of archaeological data. Nevertheless, these problems are no more numerous or overwhelming than those presented by any other form of historical evidence. Literary, artistic, archival , numismatic, and epigraphic sources are all subject to bias due to their uneven survival through time and to the personal prejudice or ignorance (and often mendacity) of their creators, and are all equally subject to differences in interpretation. As with any other form of historical evidence, it is important to keep the problems clearly in mind when dealing with archaeological data. At the same time, it is vital to examine systematically that archaeological evidence which is available to us, rather than relying on traditional beliefs or the equally problematic primary sources.

VrLLA S, FARM S AND THE LA TE ROMAN RURAL EC ONOMY

The Study

development pattern of sites in the north and south of the two regions are different. Conversely , Italy is not divided in any way as no discernable regional patterns within the province emerge from the currently excavated data.

A sample of 201 rural archaeological sites has been taken from seven regions , and these sites have been analysed with the aim of answering the questions posed above. The number of sites occupied or abandoned in different periods has been investigated to test ideas about the desertion of land. The prosperity of these sites at different periods has been assessed to test ideas about a decline in agricultural productivity. The sites have been classified according to size and the proportion of occupation made up by different size groups , together with their relative occupation and prosperity levels , has been examined to test ideas about an impoverishment and disappearance of peasant farms and dominance of latifundia .

The sample of sites includes all the best investigated and published sites in each region. The size of the sample differs according to the extent to which excavation has been carried out and published in each area. A smaller sample of better excavated sites has been preferred to a larger sample including poorly investigated sites which might provide incorrect information. Thus the study includes , as far as possible , all the most reliable archaeological data available at present. The criteria for selecting sites were that the size of the site should be clear and the different phases of growth and development , rather than simply occupation dates , be established. Thus I have only used sites for which a plan , or at least partial plan , and a description of developmental history supported by the evidence of finds have been published. These criteria have been most strictly applied in Britain and Belgica , which offer a large number of well-published sites. I have of necessity been more flexible in my choice in regions for which less wellpublished data is available. In Spain , for examples , very few full site plans exist. Sites which did not meet these criteria were studied but rejected for the purposes of the sample. They are listed in the bibliography .

The study includes only rural sites. These are defined , following Fulford (Fulford 1982: 404 ), as sites devoted primarily to food production. Thus towns, cities , military , religious and wholly artisan sites (eg pottery kilns) have been excluded. The majority of sites are farms and "villas". For Britain and Belgica vici have also been included, since they were evidently self-supporting rural communities , possibly almost entirely composed of agricultural workers , although they may also have functioned as markets , road-stations , or religious centres (Ferdiere 1978*: 474-475 . I am most grateful to Dr Ferdiere for lending me a copy of this manuscript) . The study sample consists of 201 excavated farm and rural settlement sites in Britain , Italy, Spain, France , and Belgium, together with several hundred surveyed sites in Italy.

Due to the erratic and subjective nature of excavation , it was not possible to obtain equal numbers of sites of different sizes or in differ ent regions. Nor was it possible to obtain as large a sample as historians would ideally prefer. This is due entirely to the natur e of the evidenc e as it is currently availabl e to us, and we must make use of it in spite of the drawbacks . Indeed, the results of the study indicate that the sites chosen do in fact represent a valid sample of considerable historical value (see below).

The choice of regions studied has been determined entirely by the current state of excavation in the former provinces of the Roman empire. Thus, it is not an ideal sample as it does not include the most economically important or the widest possible variety of regions , since unfortunately these are not always the areas in which archaeological work adequate for this kind of detailed study has been carried out.

Excavation in Britain and Belgium is extensive and wellpublished. The main lintitation of work in these provinces is that it has been focused on Romanised sites, so that the history of farmers who preferred to retain a nonRomanised life, or who could not afford the luxury of imported styles , is obscured . Vici are prominent in the rural landscape of Roman Britain and Belgica , and have been included in the survey as a separate size category. The British graphs , unlike those of the other provinces , begin with the first century AD, when the province was fully conquered. The survey includes a total of 52 sites in Britain and 47 sites in the areas of Belgium and NorthEast France included in Roman Belgica.

The sample has been divided into seven regions: Britain , North Gaul , Gallia Belgica , South Gaul , North Spain, South Spain, and Italy. These divisions are based on two considerations. Firstly , the Severan provincial divisions: the region of Britain corresponds to Britannia Inferior and Britannia Superior ; that of Belgica to the province of that name; North Gaul to Lugdunensis ; South Gaul to Aquitania and Narbonensis (later united as the Diocletianic diocese of Viennensis) ; North Spain to Gallaecia , Tarraconensis , and the northern half of Carthaginensis ; and South Spain to Baetica and the southern half of Carthaginensis. Secondly , and more importantly , the divisions between the regions are drawn where patterns emerge naturally from the sites themselves. Thus North and South Gaul and North and South Spain are distinguished because the style, size, and

The current state of excavation of rural sites in Italy is very poor. Most excavation has been concentrated on urban sites such as Veii (Ward-Perkins 1961 *), Eretum (Ogilvie 1965*), Pyrgi (Oleson 1977*), Populonia (Mccann , Bourgeois , and Lyding Will 1977*), Luni (Mills 1983*: 169- 172), and Ostia (see for example 11

TAMARAL EWIT

Carandini and Panella 1977*). Very few rural sites have been fully excavated and many have not been published in detail. It has therefore been necessary to include in the Italian sample some unexcavated sites of which a detailed description has been published, including approximate size and surface finds which indicate occupation dates. It is thus impossible to carry out a detailed analysis of the condition of sites in Italy, as has been done for the other provinces, so the Italian sites have been classified merely as "occupied" or "unoccupied".

chronological divisions have been used for the surveyed sites: Black Glazed Ware: first century BC; Terra sigillata italica: first century AD; Terra sigillata chiara A and C (ARS/RP I and II): second to end fourth century AD; Terra sigillata chiara D (ARS/RP III): late fourth century onwards. It is important to keep in mind when considering the quantities of different pottery types found in such surveys that the production span of the different types is not the same: ARS I, for example, was produced and used for about 300 years , while ARS II was only produced for 200 years , and we would thus expect to find larger quantities of ARS I. Any comparison of the quantity of ARS I found compared with the quantity of ARS II found must take this into account.

A number of field surveys have been carried out in Italy. The information gained from such surveys is inferior to that from excavation in many ways: the size of the site can only be estimated; changes in size over time cannot be traced; there is no indication of the different phases or changes in prosperity of the site; and the occupation date is less secure , since less dating material is available. However , a very large number of sites (often hundreds) can be surveyed, and small sites tend receive more attention than is usual in excavation. The study makes use of those surveys for which detailed information about the sizes and dates of individual sites is available.

The Italian sample includes 30 sites which have been excavated or individually examined and published , together with the results of six field surveys of a total of 1676 Roman sites. Very few recent excavations have been carried out and fully published in France, and the many sites excavated in the nineteenth century are useless to this study as they provide no phases or precise details of material found. There are virtually no well-excavated small southern sites, so this category has been excluded from the study. The survey includes 30 sites in North and South Gaul.

A major problem with the use of surveyed sites is that their dating depends almost entirely on fine pottery finds, since mosaics and coins are rarely found. The characteristic fine pottery of the late imperial Italian sites is African Red Slip (ARS), also called Red Polished (RP) Ware, and known in Italy as terra sigillata chiara A, C and D. The old dating of this pottery, used in several of the Italian surveys (Ogilvie 1965*; Kahane and WardPerkins 1972*), was as follows: ARS/RP I (terra sigillata chiara A) mid first to mid fourth century AD; ARS/RP II (terra sigillata chiara C) mid fourth to mid fifth century AD; ARS/RP III (terra sigillata chiara D) mid fifth to sixth or seventh century AD. This dating has been superceded by that established by Hayes (Hayes 1972): ARS I late first to mid third century AD; ARS II c.AD 220 to c.AD 400; ARS III c.AD 300 to seventh century, with most of the forms dating from the late fourth century onwards.

In Spain, also, very few sites have been completely excavated and thoroughly published. Excavation reports of Spanish sites often include only descriptions of the mosaics found. For this reason the Spanish sample includes many incompletely excavated sites. ln addition, excavation has been concentrated entirely on rich sites which contain mosaics, with the result that there are virtually no well-excavated small Spanish sites and so this category has been excluded. The survey in.eludes 42 Spanish sites. Chronological divisions into half-centuries has been used in the analysis. No chronological divisions based on archaeological materials would be appropriate for all the provinces under study the pottery, for instance, differs from province to province - and it is essential that the divisions in different areas correspond. Divisions according to historical events, such as the much-used "AD 275" or "Tetrarchic period", have been avoided as they encourage a historical bias. Once an independent pattern has emerged from the archaeological data, it is then possible to relate this to historical events if appropriate (as recommended by Reece 1984b).

However, recent excavations make it increasingly clear that ARS I (terra sigillata chiara A) was produced and widely used at least until c AD 400 (Tortorella 1983 and 1986; Anselmino, Coletti, Ferrantini and Panella 1986; Cipriano and Volpe 1986). It thus continued in use well after the introduction of ARS II, and these two wares make up 80% of the fourth century fine pottery deposits at the Terme del Nuotatore in Ostia (Anselmino , Coletti , Ferrantini and Panella 1986). Survey sites containing ARS I (terra sigillata chiara A), therefore, may have been occupied at any point from the late first to the end of the fourth century, and it is impossible to date sites more precisely within this period except where a detailed examination has been made of the particular forms found. Except where more detailed dating based on an analysis of the forms found is available (as in the Northern Campania and Ager Faliscus surveys) , the following

Fifty-year divisions have been chosen since century divisions would be too broad to allow detailed analysis and smaller divisions are inappropriate for the analysis of archaeological material, which must allow for the lengthy use of coins and pottery , and uncertain dating .

12

VILLAS , FARMS AND THE LA TE ROMAN RURAL E CONOM Y

The fifth century presents a particular problem. As few coins are found, and the pottery and building styles are poorly known, there are great difficulties in dating and analysis for this period (see chapter 4 below). For this reason , the chronological period "AD 400+" has been no further defined , and interpretation has been limited to whether or not the habitation was occupied.

Where the condition of a site changes within a halfcentury period , discretion has been used in classifying it so that the best representation of its apparent economic condition is provided. Thus if, for example , a site shows continued prosperity and then a burst of expansion its condition would be classed as expansion. If it declined and was then abandoned , it would be classed as abandoned.

Sites are considered occupied if they yield fmds securely dated to the period in question. They are considered unoccupied if there is no positive evidence for their occupation during a particular period. Thus the occupation figures represent a minimum, rather than a maximum, as is always the case with archaeological evidence.

In order to compare the development of different size sites, it is necessary to establish precisely defmed size classifications which reflect social and economic realities and which can be objectively derived from the archaeological evidence. Most historians are content to refer vaguely to "large estates" or "small farms" without considering the precise meaning of these terms in either historical or archaeological terms (as pointed out by White 1967: 63). Archaeologists tend to describe their sites in such terms as ' modest villa ' (Potter and Dunbabin 1979*), ' big villa' (Adamesteanu 1974*: 223) , or ' average size farm' (Mc Whirr 1981: 83-8) without attempting to define or explain these terms.

The condition of each site in a given period is classified into one of five categories: expansion ; continued prosperity; decline ; abandonment ; and destruction. Classification is based on the following criteria: Expansion: The occupation of a site for the first time ; the reoccupation of a site after a long period of abandonment , except where this occupation is at a much poorer or ephemeral level ; the addition of new building(s); the rebuilding of or substantial additions to existing building(s); an increase in the level of luxury , for example by the addition of mosaic(s) or a decorative fai;ade, or a substantial increase in the number and quality of finds.

In this survey, sites have been classified as "small ", "medium " or "larg e" . 'The term "villa" has been avoided as there is no general consensus regarding its proper use (see White 1967). The size classifications are based on the size of the central buildings of the site (including both residence and service quarters , and excluding obvious outbuildings such as barns) during the period of maximum expansion , together with the general quality and level of luxury of the habitation including such features as type of plan, number of rooms , quality of fmds, and style of decoration. The divisions betw een classifications have been drawn where there is an obvious natural division between groups of sites in these terms.

Continued prosperity: The continued occupation of all significant buildings with continued normal repairs and/or minor alterations of the same quality as previous building ; the maintenance of the same level of luxury, including number and quality of fmds.

The size classifications are slightly different for each province , as the style of farms, especially plan and size , varies from region to region. A feature quite common in one province may be rarer , and denote greater wealth , in another. An average Spanish farm, for example , is much larger and richer than an average British farm.

Decline: The retraction of occupation to a small part of the former habitation , without occupation of new buildings ; repairs and alterations of markedly poorer quality than pr evious building; the lack of repairs , with sections of the buildings allowed to decay or collapse; the abandonment of luxury features such as mosaics ; substantially fewer and poorer finds.

Vici have been treated as a separate size classification. They may have been agglomerated settlements of independent farmers, or of farmers owning land communally. Alternatively , they may have been the residences of the tenants of large estates , incorporated in latifundia . They may also have been settlements of free labourers who hired their services out to either large or medium sized farms in the area.

Abandonment: The complete desertion of a site or its use for a purpose not directly associated with farming, for example as a defensive structure , temporary shelter or burial site .

The "small" farms are sites with habitations of simple , rectangular - often corridor (gallery fai;ade) - plan. The habitations have between seven and 15 rooms. They are built in timber , concrete , and stone , with no or only a very few luxury features: some have small baths , one or two hypocausts , a little wall-plaster , or a single mosaic. In Britain , these sites are under 400 sqm, in Belgica ,

Destruction: The destruction of the habitation(s) by fire.

13

TAMARALEWIT

North Gaul, and Italy they are under 500 sqm. There are no small sites in the sample from Spain or South Gaul. The inhabitants of these sites appear to have existed at or little above subsistence level. They must have been either smal I peasant owners , or the tenants or overseers of large estates with absentee owners.

evidence. A small quantity of material is often spread by the plough over a large area, while a dense collection of finds may remain, as originally deposited , in a small area, so that if distinctions between classes of site are to be made on the basis of the area covered by the surface finds it is essential to take into account and to clearly specify whether this is the central nucleus only, excluding material scattered beyond the original area of habitation , or the distance between the furthest finds. It is rarely stated which of these two types of measurement has been used. The difficulty of making and using such measurements is admitted by Potter, who states that

The "medium" farms are sites with habitations of between 500 (600 in Spain and South Caul) and 2500 (2000 in Britain and Belgica) sqm. The habitations have more complex plans , usually of either winged corridor (gallery fa9ade) or courtyard type. In Spain they are often built around a small central peristyle. They have about 20 to 50 rooms , and often a separate bathhouse and/or separate stone-built service quarters. These habitations have many luxury features: several mosaics , several hypocausts, and painted wall-plaster. They are evidently wealthy farms well above subsistence level. They are too large and luxurious to be the habitations of small tenants or the overseers of large estates with absentee owners. Their occupants were the owners of medium estates.

some sites that in terms of the artifacts found were relegated to low rank, were in fact of very considerable size; here one imagines that ploughing and other factors have combined to remove the diagnostic features of a once rich settlement. Similarly , some of the high-ranking villas appear curiou sly small, suggesti ng that not all of the complex may have been identified in the field-work. (Potter unpublished: 12; I am grateful to Dr Potter for giving me a copy of this manuscript).

The "large" farms are sites with habitations of over 2500 sqm (or over 2100 in Britain and Belgica). They are huge complexes consisting of a magnificent central residence and up to 70 substantial buildings around two or three courtyards. The residences contain over 50 rooms. They are ostentatiously luxurious , with many mosaics (up to 30 or more in Spain) , frescoes , painted stucco , marble decoration, and huge rich baths. They have monumental features such as porticoes , cupolas, apses , fountains , central peristyles often over 400 sqm in area , and decorative pools. The building complex sometimes includes a private temple and/or a second smaller habitation or bath block. They are obviously the palatial centres of very large estates.

The unsatisfactory nature of these classification systems is revealed by the fact that they have not actually been used by the archaeologists who created them. Potter classes only 59 early medieval sites of his 494 sites in the Ager Faliscus (Potter 1975*). The Albegna Valley survey reports make only vague references to the 'biggest villas ' and ' farms' (Attolini , Cambi, Celuzza , Fentress , Pasquinucci and Regoli 1982*; Attolini , Cambi , Celuzza , Fentress, Gualandi , Pasquinucci , Regoli, Ricci and Walker 1983*). The only attempt to classify a large number of sites has been by Dyson (Dyson 1978*) for the Ager Capenas, Ager Veientanus , and Sutri surveys. The weakness of the system is revealed in this study by the fact that Dyson is forced to abandon the four-scale system and resort to classing many sites as "AB" or "BC" when it is impossible to distinguish to which class they belong.

Various ways of classing field survey sites according to size have been suggested in the past (Lloyd and Barker 1981; Dyson 1978*; Potter 1979*; Albegna survey 1986*). All these classification systems were designed for sites in western Italy, and all suggest a scale of four sizes , but they overlap in few other respects . They rely on very different , and sometimes contradictory , criteria for distinguishing between the sizes. For example, according to one system the largest classification includes all sites of over 2500 sqm, or containing mosaics and marble (Lloyd and Barker 1981), while according to another the largest class includes only sites over 4700 sqm and even sites of the second smallest classification can have Italian marble and black and white mosaics. (Potter 1979*).

The classification systems previously suggested fail because they rely on details visible in well-excavated sites but difficult to discern from the more scanty and unreliable evidence of field surveys. It is therefore preferable to use a classification system based on the type and quality of data actually provided by field surveys. The criteria must also be objective and unambiguous , so that material collected and published by different scholars can be compared. For example, description s of sites as 'ex tensive ', 'c onsiderable ' or 's ubstantial ' (Kahane, Threipland and Ward-Perkins 1968*: 86-87 re sites 113,125, and 126) are useless where they are not defined.

Moreover , these classification systems are very difficult to apply to the type of data for which they are designed. They rely on fine distinctions which are extremely difficult to make on the basis of field survey data. Surface finds represent only a very small proportion of the original material , and ploughing and erosion as well as time can obliterate a large part of even this scanty

This study divides the Italian field survey sites used into only two classes , size 1 and size 2, which can be clearly and objectively distinguished in spite of the limitations of survey evidence and its publication.

14

VI LLAS, FARMS AND THE LA TE ROMAN RURAL EC ONOMY

"Size l " sites are those with any non-functional features , no matter how small or fragmentary the evidence of their presence , or with a clear nucleus of concentrated material of over 2000 sqm. Non-functional features include mosaics , painted plaster , decorative carved stonework , columns , monumental cisterns , terraces , and hypocausts. Thus size 1 sites were farms with a level of production clearly above subsistence.

assumptions and results , and to compare the material with other work. The figures have been converted into percentages according to the following method: for the occupation level graphs , the highest level of occupation during the imperial period has been taken as 100%, and the number of sites occupied at other stages given as a percentage of this level. Thus 100% is not the total number of sites in the sample , as this is a meaningless figure , created only by the chance of excavation , publication and selection. For example if 50 sites out of a sample of 55 were occupied in the second century AD , and this is the period of the highest occupation in that region , an occupation level of 25 sites during the fifth century would be given as 50% . For the condition graphs , the figures for each half-century period are given as percentages of the number of sites occupied in the region at the start of that period. Thus if 50 sites were occupi ed at the start of the third century and by AD 250 five had been abandoned , the figure for abandonment would be 10%. If 10 had grown in size during that period , the figure for expansion would be 20%. The graphs for the proportion of different size sites have been drawn up on the same principle , with the number of occupied sites of each size given as a percentage of total occupation at the start of the halfcentury period. If 10 of the 50 occupied sites were small , the proportion of small sites would be express ed as 20% . The graphs for the occupation levels of different size sites are drawn up on the same principle as the occupation level graphs. The percenta ge for each size is calculated as a proportion of the highest Roman occupation level for that size. Thus if the highest number of small sites occupied in the region at any period was 10, and 5 small sites were occupied during the fifth century , the occupation level of small sites durin g the fifth century in that region would be given as 50%. Finally , the expansion/prosp erity levels of the different size sites have been presented as a percentage of the number of that size occupied during that period. If 10 small sites were occupied during the first half of the fourth century and 5 were expanding or continued to be prosperous , the figure would be expressed as 50%. The graphs have been drawn up in this way in order that the figures should represent as truly as possible the realities of occupation , rather than in the interests of mathematical simplicity.

" Size 2" sites are those which contain no evidence at all of the non-functional features listed above . They usually yield only pottery and roof tiles , and sometimes stone blocks , bricks , or cement walls or floors. These sites were small farms existing at or very little above subsistence level. Unfortunately , many size 2 sites contain only undated coarse ware and therefore this size is underrepresented in calculations based on dated sites. The use of any quantity of non-functional material , no matter how small, as a decisive criterion obviates the need for subjective judgements , and compensates for sketchily-published find lists. Most importantly , it mitigates the effect of variations in data survival. A site with only one mosaic may happen to be well preserved and so yield many tesserae while a large site may be so damaged that only tiny traces remain of its luxuries. Sites 532 and 527 in the Ager Veientanus , for example , each yielded only one grey stone tessera , but are described as a ' considerable site, now severely ploughed out ' and a ' heavily ploughed out' villa with marble decoration (Kahane , Threipland and Ward-Perkins 1968*: 138). The size 1 category approximately corresponds to the categories of medium and large excavated sites. The size 2 category corresponds to the small excavated and even smaller sites. All figures have been converted into percentages for the graphs. This has been done in order to make different sets of data comparable - for example , the occupation levels in different regions with different numbers of sample sites - and to compensate for biases in the survival or collection of data - for example , the excavation of more large than small sites. In other words, percentages have been used to minimise the effects of the uneven survival and collection of different types of data. Sophisticated statistical methods have not been used as they are inappropriate to this type of data. Since the interpretation of the sites and the material is often uncertain , and there are many methodological problems , as outlined above , it is better not to compound the uncertainties by adding the kind of assumptions required for mathematical analysis (cf Roberto , Plambeck , and Small 1985: 136-145 , who assume for statistical purposes that a piece of pottery was deposited at the mid-point of its date-range , and then draw conclusions on the basis of computer-drawn variations between 20-year periods). In addition , the absence of sophisticated mathematical analysis allows the untrained reader to better assess the 15

TAMARA LEWJT

3. Analysis of the graphs

Almost all regions suffer a drop in occupation in the second half of the third century. The only exceptions are B_ritainand South Spain, where the occupation level stays high at 94% and 82% of the maximum level. In North Gaul the occupation level sinks to only 45% of the maximum level, in Belgica to 43% , in Italy to 57%, in North Spain to 61 % and in South Gaul to 69%. However , this drop in occupation may not be a genuine picture of !he situation in the later third century. The figures may be mfluenced by the misinterpretation of sites which are falsely supposed to have been destroyed in this period (see above , chapter 2, and below) .

That the area of land under cultivation shrank considerably cannot be doubted (Jones 1964: 812) La grande villa fut caracteristique Empire (Depeyrot 1987: 27)

du Bas-

The rise of large agricultural units ... was an important economic development of the Later Empire (Starr 1982: 171)

In the first half of the fourth century all regions show a new rise in the occupation level. However , in Italy , North Gaul and Belgica (the regions which saw the greatest drop in occupation in the third century) occupation remains well below high imperial levels in spite of this renewal. By contrast , in Britain , South Gaul , North Spain and South Spain the new fourth century level reaches or even exceeds that of the second century boom. In Italy, Belgica and North Gaul the level of occupation rises again to 71 %, 55% and 64% of the maximum level. In Britain and North Spain virtually the same number of sites (98% and 93%) are occupied in this period as during the second century boom. In South Spain occupation rises again above the high imperial level to 91 % of the maximum (in the second half of the fourth century). In South Gaul the first half of the fourth century is the period of maximum occupation (100%).

Occupation Levels The first question to be considered is whether there was as has been believed , a widespread abandonment of land in the later Roman empire. As discussed above , we would expect such an abandonment to be reflected in the archaeological record by a large decline in the number of rural habitations occupied. Graphs l (a) to (h) show how many of the sample sites were occupied during different periods of the empire. All the survey regions show a high level of occupation under the high empire. The first century AD sees an increase of between 41 % and 69% in the number of (Romanised) sites in Belgica, North and South Gaul, and North and South Spain, and is the period of maximum occupation in Italy (as is confirmed by the field surveys). The boom continues into the second century, with a further increase of between 9% and 32% in Britain Belgica, North Gaul , and North and South Spain'. Occupation continues at the same high level in South Gaul. The second century is the period of maximum Roman occupation in Britain, Belgica, North Gaul and North Spain. In South Gaul and South Spain the second century occupation level is very high at 94% and 82% of the period of maximum occupation (in the fourth century). Only Italy experiences a decline of 14% in occupation in the second century. This is reflected to differing degrees in the field surveys: in the Cures Sabini occupation drops to 28% in the second to fourth centuries, in Northern Campania to 59%, and in the Cassia Clodia to 97% , while it remains high in the Ager Faliscus at 77%, in the Ager Veientanus at 100% and in the Via Gabina at 100%. '

The same pattern continues into the second half of the fourth century. In South Spain this is the period of maximum occupation. This is confirmed by Ponsich's survey of the Guadalquivir Valley, where 25% of the sites contain terra sigillata chiara D but no earlier pottery. In South Gaul and North Spain the boom-level of occupation continues at 100% and 96% of the maximum level. In Britain, occupation drops a little to 79% of the second century level. This figure may be overly pessimistic, however , as many British sites are considered abandoned only because they contain no post AD 350 coins. As discussed above ( chapter 2), coin finds are not a reliable indicator of activity. The absence of coins may well be due to a lack of coin circulation rather than the abandonment of the sites. If these sites were in fact occupied , the figure for Britain would be 87%, which would accord better with the continuity of occupation in Britain up to the second half of the fourth century. By contrast , occupation in North Gaul , Belgica , and Italy remains low in the second half of the fourth century. In Italy occupation drops again to 67% of the maximum level, in North Gaul the figure is 55% of the second century level and in Belgica occupation is only 36% of the second century level. The field survey sites in Italy show an extraordinary drop in occupation at around this per!od , with only 8% (Cures Sabini), 21 % (Ager Fahscus) , 15% (Ager Veientanus) , 9% (Cassia Clodia) , 19% (Via Gabina) , and 2 1% (Northern Campania) of

The high imperial boom in occupation continues at virtually the same high level in the first half of the third century. In Britain the occupation level in this period is 98% of that of the second century , in North Spain it is 96%, in Belgica 91 % and in North Gaul 82% , while in South Gaul occupation is still 88% of the maximum level. In South Spain occupation actually increases by 9%. In Italy , however, the second century decline continues , and the occupation level drops to 76%.

16

VILLAS, FARMS AND THE LA TE ROMAN RURAL ECONOMY

sites yielding terra sigillata chiara D (RP Ware III) pottery. This picture is so much more pessimistic than that of the more closely investigated sites in Italy , of which about two thirds contain terra sigillata chiara D, that it seems probable that much of the later pottery of the field survey sites has been lost through erosion and ploughing.

Spain , and 100% in South Spain. The picture in Belgica and North Gaul remains dark , with only 36% and 55% of sites expanding or prosperous. The low figure of 62% for Britain , which contrasts with the high level of prosperity typical of this region throughout the third and the first half of the fourth century, may result from the misinterpretation of sites with no post AD 350 coins , discussed above , since only 15% of sites show decline.

All regions show a considerable drop in occupation in the fifth century, in most cases to around half that of the period of maximum occupation. In South Gaul the level of occupation is 69% , in Italy 57%, in South Spain 55%, in North Spain 54% , and Britain 47%, while in North Gaul and Belgica occupation drops to only 9% and 19% of the maximum level.

With scattered exceptions , about 20% to 65% of sites in all regions are expanding at any one period. In over half the cases the figure is over 30%, or between one third and over half of the sites. In all regions , the first half of the fourth century is the period when the highest percentage of sites are expanding: in North Spain 65%, in South Gaul 63% , in Britain 53%, in South Spain 45% , in North Gaul 38%, and in Belgica 34% of sites expand.

Level of Prosperity In contrast to the number of sites which show expansion or continued prosperity in the later empire , only a small percentage decline. In most regions in most periods only 0% to 10% of sites show decline. The only exceptions are fourth century Belgica and North Gaul , with 21 % to 33% of sites in decline , and late fourth century Britain , with 15% in decline.

The second crucial question is whether there was a decline in the scale of agricultural production or a decline in prosperity at those sites which were occupied during the later empire. Graphs 2 (a) to (f) show the percentage of sites occupied at the start of each half-century period which expand , continue to enjoy the same level of prosperity , decline, are destroyed or are abandoned during the 50-year period. The sites are interpreted according to the criteria outlined above (chapter 2). Italy is not included because excavation and publication in this region are not detailed enough for such an analysis.

Similarly , few sites are spontaneously abandoned during the third and fourth centuries. In most regions in most periods only 0% to 14% of sites are abandoned. The widest abandonment occurs in the second half of the third century , when 20% of sites in North Gaul , 17% in Belgica , 8% in Britain , and 7% in North Spain are abandoned. In Italy the occupation level drops by 19% (see graph l(e)). Even in this period , the highest proportion of sites abandoned is only 20% , or one fifth. Apart from the second half of the third century , the only abandonment in excess of 13% is in Britain and Belgica in the second halfofthe fourth century (19% and 43%).

All the regions show a very high level of expansion or continu ed prosperity in the first half of the third century , with betwe en 80% and 100% of the occupied sites falling into one of these two classes. 100% of sites in South Spain , 97% in North Spain , 92 % in Britain , 90% in North Gaul, 82% in Belgica , and 81% South Gaul are either expanding or continue prosperous between AD 200 and 250.

The combined figure for decline and abandonment is less than 20% in most regions in most periods. In the third and fourth centuries , 7% to 19% of sites in South Gaul decline or are abandoned , 3% to 11% in North Spain , 0% to 9% in South Spain, and 8% to 14% in Britain ( except for in the second half of the fourth century when 34% decline or are abandoned). The exceptions are Belgica in the fourth century (38%-64%) , and North Gaul in the second half of the third and the fourth century (30%44% ).

This high level of prosperity continues into the second half of the third century in Britain (80%) , South Spain (80%) , and South Gaul (71%). In the regions where many destruction layers are found the figures are much lower: 43% in Belgica , 40% in North Gaul, and 60% in North Spain. However , even in these areas about half the sites remain prosperous and in North Spain and North Gaul 19% and 20% of sites are still expanding. The prosperity level in the first half of the fourth century is very high. In all areas at least half the sites are expanding or continue prosperous , and in most the proportion is 84%-100%. In Britain the figure is 84% , in South Spain 91 % , in North Spain 96%, and in South Gaul 100%. The figure is lower in North Gaul (63%) and Belgica (55%).

No more than 7% of sites are destroyed by fire in any region at any period except the second half of the third century. During this period 38% of sites in Belgica , 30% in North Gaul and North Spain , 22% in South Gaul , and 20% in South Spain are destroyed. However , some of these figures may be exaggerated due to the misinterpretation of sites (see below). In Britain the proportion is only 6%.

Even in the second half of the fourth century , 88%-100% of sites in Spain and South Gaul are expanding or prosperous: 88% of sites in South Gaul , 89% in North 17

TAMARALEWTT

Summary

and perhaps of small sites which might be the habitations of coloni, and a decrease in the proportion of medium sites, together with a higher level of occupation and prosperity for large sites than for small and medium sites. Graphs 3(a) to (h), 4(a) to (h), and 5(a) to (t) compare the development small, medium and large farms.

80% to 100% of sites are occupied and 80% to 100% of occupied sites are prosperous or expanding in most regions during most of the third and fourth centuries. There is little change in the pattern of occupation between the high imperial period and cAD 250.

All seven regions show a similar pattern of development. There is no overwhelming change in the proportion of different size sites between the first century BC and the fifth century AD, but the proportion of medium size sites consistently increases as a percentage of total occupation in all regions, while the proportion of small and large sites decreases. The only exception is South Spain, where the proportion of medium sites decreases between the first century BC and second century AD but remains the same thereafter. The fifth century figures must be used with caution , since it is difficult to judge whether a site was occupied in the fifth century (see below , chapter 4), but in almost all cases they confirm and continue trends apparent in the second halfof the fourth century.

There is a drop in the number of sites occupied and an unusually high number of sites are destroyed in some regions in the second half of the third century. It is difficult to tell how far archaeologists have tended to too eagerly interpret an archaeological feature as a destruction layer because of the traditional picture of overwhelmingly destructive invasions and civil wars in the second half of the third century , and it is important to keep in mind the difficulties in interpreting apparent evidence for destruction. (see above, chapter 2). The subsequent condition of the regions in the fourth century gives some indication of the reliability of the third century destruction figures: in Belgica and North Gaul there is a low level of occupation in the first half of the fourth century. This supports the picture of widespread destruction in the late third century in these regions. In North Spain, South Spain and South Gaul, however, the early fourth century is a period of very high occupation. This suggests either that there is an extraordinarily quick recovery in these regions but not in North Gaul and Belgica, or that many of the supposed destruction layers in these regions are spurious (see below).

In all regions there is a noticeable decrease in the proportion of small sites during the imperial period (graphs 3(a) to (h)). While small sites make up 26% and 23% of occupation in first and second century Britain, and 26% in the first half of the third century, this proportion declines to 19% in the second half of the fourth century (and only 14% in the fifth century). A similar decline occurs in Belgica, from 25% of occupation in the second century to 22% in the early third, and 12% in the late fourth (0% in the fifth), and in North Gaul, from 18% to 11% and then 0%. In Italy, the decline is earlier: small sites make up 32% of occupation in the first century BC, but only 11%, 6% and 14% in the second, third and fourth centuries AD (8% in the fifth). The size 2 field survey sites , equivalent to or smaller than the small excavated sites, show a similar decline: in the Cures Sabini, Ager Veientanus and Northern Campania the proportion of size 2 sites declines from 56%, 53%, and 57% in the first century BC to 16%, 44% and 43% in the second to fourth century and to only 0%, 20% and 26% in the later fourth to fifth century. The Ager Faliscus shows only a slight decline, from 49% in the first century BC to 41 % in the third and fourth centuries AD (and 46% in the fifth). There are too few excavated small sites in South Gaul and Spain to judge the situation in these regions.

The first half of the fourth century is a period of increased occupation and of a high level of expansion in all regions. There is a very high level of occupation in Britain, North and South Spain and, above all, South Gaul, where occupation in this period exceeds the high imperial level. The second half of the fourth century is an era of high occupation and prosperity in South Gaul and North and South Spain, and occupation exceeds that of the high imperial period in South Spain and South Gaul. Throughout the fourth century the level of occupation and prosperity in North Gaul, Belgica, and Italy is lower than that of other regions. The scale of decline and abandonment during the third and fourth centuries is extremely low, with less than one fifth of sites declining or abandoned in most regions at any period.

The medium sites show a quite different pattern from the small sites. The proportion of medium sites consistently increases as a percentage of total occupation in all regions during the imperial period. While medium sites make up only 20% of the total in Britain in the first century AD , this proportion increases to 26% and 24% in the second and early third centuries and to 35% by the second half of the fourth century (36% in the fifth century , or an increase of 16%). In Belgica the proportion rises from 30% , 32% and 35% between the first century BC and third century AD to 50% in the second half of the fourth

Occupation and prosperity of different size sites The third question is whether an agricultural system of free peasant farms of various sizes was replaced in the later empire by one of huge estates farmed by bound tenants. If such a change had taken place, we would expect to find an increase in the proportion of large sites , 18

VILLAS , FARMS AND THE LATE ROMAN RURAL ECONOMY

century (and 56% in the fifth , or an increase of 26%) ; in North Gaul from 75% in the first century BC , 64% in the second century AD, and 67% in the first half of the third century to 83% in the second half of the fourth century (and 100% in the fifth, or an increase of 25%); in South Gaul from 25% in the first century BC to 4 7% in the second century AD , 50% in the third , and 44% in the later fourth (45% in the fifth , or an increas e of 20%) ; in Italy from 42% in the first century BC to 56% in the second century AD , 69% in the first half of the third century , and 57% in the later fourth (67% in the fifth, or an increase of 25%); in North Spain from 11% in the first century BC to 21 % in the second century AD , 19% in the early third , and 19% in the later fourth (27% in the fifth, or an increase of 16%). In South Spain , after a drop from 67% in the first century BC to 44% in the second century AD , the proportion of medium sites rises again from 40% in the early third to 45% in the later fourth (50% in the fifth, or an increase of 6% from the second century).

level is almost always lower or at least no greater than that of the medium sites from the mid third century onwards. By contrast , the occupation level of the medium sites almost always equals or exceeds that of the large and small sites in all regions from the mid third century onwards (and in South Gaul and Italy from the first century AD). By the second half of the fourth century in Britain , the occupation level of small sites is only 58% that of their period of maximum occupation , and that of the large sites only 78% , in contrast to the medium sites , which enjoy their era of maximum occupation (100%) in this period. In Belgica in the second half of the fourth century the occupation level of the small sites is only 18% of their maximum level of occupation , and that of the large sites is only 38% , while the occupation level of medium sites is still 57% . In North Gaul no small sites are occupied and the occupation level of large sites is only 50% , while that of medium sites is 71 %. In Italy , occupation of small sites is only 33% , and of large sites only 57% , while that of medium sites is 73%. The occupation of size 2 surveyed sites in Italy sinks to between 0% and 16%, in contrast to between 21% and 33% for the size 1 (medium and large) sites. In North Spain the occupation of medium sites is 100%, equal to that in the second century , and that of large sites is 95%. In South Spain and South Gaul the second half of the fourth century is the period of maximum occupation for both medium and large sites. Before this expansion the medium sites in South Spain see an occupation level of 100% , in contrast to 83% for the large sites (in the first half of the fourth century) , and in South Gaul the medium sites see an occupation level of 86% , in contrast to 56% for the large sites (in the second half of the third century).

The proportion of large sites , unlike that of the medium sites , remains approximately the same or declines in the course of the empire in all regions. The percentage in Britain is 20% in the first century AD , 19% in the second century , 20% in the first half of the third , and 19% at the end of the fourth (18% in the fifth, or a decrease of 2% ); in Belgica , 20% in the first century BC , 18% in the second century AD, 18% in the first half of the third century , and 19% in the second half of the fourth century (11 % in the fifth, or a decrease of 9%) ; in North Gaul 25% , 18%, 22% , and 17% (0% in the fifth, or a decrease of 25%); in South Gaul 75% , 53%, 50% , and 56% (55% in the fifth, or a decrease of 20%) ; in Italy 26% , 33% , 25% , and 29% (25% in the fifth century , or a decrease of 1%); in North Spain 89% , 79% , 81% , and 81% (73% in the fifth, or a decrease of 16%); and in South Spain 33% , 56% , 60% , and 55% (50% in the fifth, an increas e of 17% from the republican proportion , but a decreas e of 6% from the high imperial proportion). It is impossible to clearly distinguish between medium and large size 1 field survey sites (see above , chapter 2).

The occupation level of the vici in Britain and Belgica bears no consistent relationship to that of any other type of site, but tends to decrease steadily throughout the Roman period. The occupation level of vici in Britain declines from its maximum in the second century AD to 93% of this level in the first and second half of the third century , 87% in the first half of the fourth century , and 67% in the second half (47% in the fifth). In Bel gica the occupation level of vici drops from its maximum in the second century AD to 91 % in the first half of the third , an extraordinary 9% in the second half of the third , and 64% and 27% in the fourth (27% in the fifth).

The proportion of vici in Britain remains fairly constant throughout the Roman period (between 27% and 34%). In Belgica the proportion of vici is highest at the start and end of the Roman period: 40% in the first century BC and 33% in the fifth century AD , but only 19% to 25% in the intervening period. The occupation levels of the different size sites confirm the picture of a decline of small and large sites in comparison to medium sites in all regions (graphs 4 (a) to (h)). In all regions , although the occupation level of small sites sometimes equals that of the other sizes between the first and third centuries , it is always lower than the occupation level of the medium and large sites after the start of the fourth century. Similarly , while the large sites tend to show the highest level of occupation from the first century BC to the first century AD (and till the mid third century in some regions) , their occupation

Examination can also be made of the proportion of occupied sites of different sizes which show continued prosperity or expansion in the later empire (graphs 5(a) to (f)) . Those small sites which are still occupied in the later empire enjoy a surprisingly high level of prosperity which equals and even at times exceeds that of other sizes in the region. The large sites occupied in the later empire are still prosperous in the third century but see a decline in prosperity in the fourth century. In this period the 19

TAMARALEWlT

prosperity levels of large sites often fall below 80%, and even as low as only 60%, so that during much of this period 20% to 40% of large sites are in decline although still occupied.

of sites which are fully occupied until their destruction. A significant decline in occupation occurs only in those regions where an unusual number of sites contain destruction layers of this period: North and South Gaul, Belgica , and North and South Spain. There is not enough excavated evidence to judge the extent of destruction in Italy, but in any case the situation in this region is different as the decline is merely a continuation, at the same pace, of a decline begun in the second century AD.

By contrast, prosperity levels of the medium sites stay high . Throughout the third and fourth centuries the prosperity level of medium sites in all regions is 80% to 100% (with the exception of North Gaul in the first half of the century and Belgica in the second half). Thus in the fourth century the prosperity level of medium sites almost always equals or exceeds that of the large sites. In Britain it is 85%, in contrast to 71 % to 78% for the large sites; in Belgica 63% to 86% in contrast to 60% to 67%; in South Gaul 100% in contrast to 78% to 100%; and in North Spain 100% in contrast to 90% to 95%. In South Spain all occupied sites, both medium and large, are prosperous. The only exception is North Gaul , where only 67% to 80% of medium sites are prosperous in contrast to 100% of large sites.

The third century drop in occupation, therefore , reflects not a widespread abandonment of farms due to economic hardship or a decline in productivity, but the frequency of destruction layers in farm sites of this period. Moreover , many of these supposed destruction layers may in fact be spurious. Archaeologists tend to be too eager to assume that sites were destroyed in this period , even when there is little objective archaeological evidence for destruction , because of the traditional historical picture of widespread marauding by barbarians during the third century. It seems especially likely that archaeologists have been so influenced in the cases of North and South Spain and South Gaul, where the period of "destruction" in the third century is immediately followed by one of exceptionally high occupation and expansion in the fourth century. In fact, 85% of the sites in these regions which are supposedly destroyed in the second half of the third century are "reoccupied" in the first half of the fourth century. It seems highly probable that the destruction layers on many of these sites are spurious and that the sites were in fact occupied throughout the second half of the third century. The low occupation level in this period would in that case be a falsely pessimistic picture of the situation in these regions.

Summary

Between the first century BC and the fifth century AD there is a decline in the proportion of small sites in all regions where such sites have been excavated. The occupation levels of small sites are lower than those of other sizes from the start of the fourth century, although those smalJ sites which are still occupied show a high level of prosperity. In general, the medium sites account for an increasing proportion of occupation between the first and the fifth centuries, and show the highest levels of occupation and prosperity in the late empire. In general, the proportion of large sites progressively decreases, and these sites show less occupation and prosperity than the medium sites.

The situation is different in Belgica, Italy and North Gaul, where the third century is followed by an unusually low level of occupation in the fourth century, and only 47% of "destroyed" sites are reoccupied in the first half of the fourth century. It is probable that many sites were in truth destroyed in the third century in these regions.

Conclusion The careful and systematic study of excavated sites in seven regions of the empire and surveyed sites in Italy contradicts many traditional assumptions about the state of farming in the later empire. There is no evidence that there was a widespread abandonment of land. The second century boom in occupation continues into the first half of the third century. Although at first glance the drop in occupation in most regions in the second half of the third century suggests that many sites were abandoned, this is not in fact the case. Only a small proportion of sites (0% to 20% in each region, or about 10% of sites in the entire North-West) were spontaneously abandoned in this (or any) period. 33

These conclusions about the comparative validity of destruction layers in different regions are drawn on the basis of the objective archaeological evidence for occupation levels in the fourth century, not preconceived ideas about the third century. However, they do in fact fit well with the historical evidence that, out of the regions surveyed , Belgica , North Gaul and Italy bore the brunt of the late imperial military disturbances and saw at least sixteen major civil wars and invasions between AD 250 and AD 300. South Gaul and Spain, on the other hand, were in fact undisturbed by invasions until the fifth century except for the single incursion of Franks and Alemanni in cAD 257-9.

The reason for the later third century decline in occupation is not abandonment but the destruction by fire

We may note that the v1c1 m Belgica suffer an extraordinary drop in occupation in. the second half of the 20

VrLLAS, FARMS AND THE LATE ROMAN RURAL ECONOMY

third century. This is due to the large percentage of vici which are destroyed: 64%, in comparison with 38% of all sites in Belgica , or only 29% of sites excluding the vici. It is probable that so many vici were destroyed because most of these sites straddled major Roman roads. In fact , all but one of the vici destroyed in the second half of the third century are known to have been on roads. This strongly supports Wightman's contention that such sites were the most vulnerable during invasions (Wightman 1970: 138).

Roman government in the fifth century AD. This supports the view that such agglomerated settlements were a native form , in contrast with the dispersed farms typical of Romanised settlement (Ferdiere 1978*: 475476; Wightman 1978b: 244-246). A surprising result of the survey is the similarity of the situation in different regions (graphs 6(a) and (b), 7 and 8). All seven regions studied show much the same pattern of growth , decline , continuity and change , both of total occupation and of different size sites , except for the lower level of occupation in fourth century Belgica , North Gaul , and Italy .

Except for the second half of the third century , in most regions the occupation level throughout the later empire remained 80% to 100% that of the high imperial boom period. The late empire in fact saw an increase in occupation in South Spain and South Gaul , where more sites were occupied than under the high empire. A decline in occupation occurs only in Belgica and North Gaul , and to a lesser extent in Italy where it is not a late imperial phenomenon but the continuation of a decline begun in the second century AD. If this was due to the military troubles in these regions , the continuity and even expansion of occupation in all other regions , including South Gaul, indicates that the effects of these disturbances were strictly localised.

The repetition of the same pattern in all regions also confirms the validity of the sample. It might be argued that since the excavated sites can be only a small fraction of those which actually existed in the Roman period , the sample used here is not truly representative and contains distortions. Certainly , we cannot be sure that all the excavated sites show a perfectly typical pattern of dev elopment. However , the very close correlation between the patterns shown by sites in different regions strongly suggests that the sample is in fact truly representative . It is highly unlikely that all the regions would show such similar patterns of development if these patterns were random.

Further , there is no evidence for a decline in production or in the prosperity of farmers. In most regions , 80% to 100% of occupied sites enjoy continued or increased prosperity in the first half of the third and in the fourth century. Less than 20% of sites decline or are abandoned in most regions throughout the late empire.

In sum , the archaeological evidence presented here shows that the later empire was far from being a period of agricultural decline and crisis. Rural occupation was at its maximum level or close to it, except in a few specific regions , and in some regions the level of occupation exceeded that of the high empire . Farms continued to prosper , and even to expand , and very few suffered decline or were spontaneously abandoned in any region.

Finally , there is no evidence at all for the destruction of the free peasantry and the growth of huge latifundia farmed by impoverished tenants. The proportion of enormous palatial residences which must be the centres of large estates actually decreases between the first century BC and the end of the Roman empire , as does the proportion of small sites of around subsistence level which might have been the residences of "impoverished " tenants . On the other hand , the proportion of medium farms , with a level of luxury suitable for rich peasant owners but considerably more modest in scale and decoration than the huge rural palaces , increases . By the fourth century these medium sites tend to show the highest level of occupation and the highest level of prosperity. In general , the later empire is a period of comparative decline for the largest and smallest farms , and of prosperity for the medium farms.

Nor did the late empire see a growth of huge "protofeudal " latifundia which crushed free peasant farms out of existence. On the contrary , modestly luxurious medium farms were the most stron g and prosperous component of the late imperial rural landscape and account for an ever-increasing proportion of farming. Very large estates and small holdings or tenant farms did not flourish to the same extent , declined as a proportion of occupation , and were more likely to be abandoned , in the late empire.

The vici of Britain and Belgica do not follow an occupation pattern analogous to either small , medium , or large sites, which suggests that they were not the residences of workers on latifundia or other farms but rather independent settlements. In Belgica the proportion of vici waxes and wanes in inverse relationship to the degree of Roman influence in the region: the proportion is noticeably higher at the time of the Roman conquest in the first century BC and at the time of the collapse of 21

TAMARAL EWIT

or a massive depopulation (cf Hodges and Whitehouse 1983: 40-42). The first explanation is excluded by the obvious decline and abandonment of towns in the West at this period (see below); there cannot have been agglomeration of farms into latifundia , as is usually suggested, since large farms disappear as rapidly or more rapidly than smaller sites in the fifth century; and only an extraordinarily severe and sudden depopulation, far exceeding that caused by the Black Death in the fourteenth century, could account for the abandonment of nearly every farm in North-West Europe within the space of about 20 years.

4. The Fifth Century

Whereas the period up to the early empire was characterised by expansion [in rural Etruria], after the second century AD there was continuous decline. By AD 500, between 50 per cent and 80 per cent of rural sites in various parts of the survey area had come to an end, and the cultivation of marginal land was abandoned untiJ the present century... If the early imperial pattern is interpreted as the culmination of a long period of population increase, the reverse is presumably true after AD 300 (Greene 1986: I 05)

None of these explanations is convincing, and there is, in f~ct, a more likely explanation for the apparent disappearance of sites in the fifth century. It is possible that a large number of sites were in fact occupied during the fifth century, but that this settlement has not been recognised archaeologically. As has been pointed out, there is a hiatus in our archaeological knowledge, but there was not necessarily a hiatus in settlement (Dhondt, De Laet and Hombert 1948). The character of the few known early medieval sites strongly supports this view.

Among the 160 pieces [in the fifth century Traprian Hoard] all but the most robust had been cut up, bent, folded or otherwise mangled. The majority were late Roman silver vessels, many of them bearing figured scenes ... most seemed to have been crudely snipped up and were to be melted down - the hoard had been summarily shared out with no regard for the quality of the vessels represented (Johnson 1980: 75-76)

The hiatus in our archaeological knowledge is due to a number of factors. The first is the almost total lack of secure dating material for the fifth century in the West. Alt~ough eastern sites can be securely dated by coins during the Byzantine era, the minting of bronze coins all but ceased in the West in the fifth century (Reece 1985) and thus of necessity the coin series of all fourth century western rural sites fmish with the end of the century. This reflects not the end of occupation, however, but the virtual end of coin-minting, and we cannot assume, as is often done, that the minting date of the latest coin found on a site represents the latest period of occupation.

The above survey of the archaeological evidence has shown that all the north-western provinces see a similar pattern of occupation during the Roman period. In all areas there is a huge increase in the number of sites occupied in the first or second century AD; a decline, whether slight or severe, in the number of sites occupied in the third century, although the figures are probably over-pessimistic; and an upsurge in the number of sites occupied in the fourth century. In Italy, Belgica and ~orth. Gaul oc~upation remains much lower than the high unpenal level m the fourth century, but in Britain, North and South Spain, and South Gaul it reaches or even surpasses second century levels.

In addition, although the imported late imperial African Red Slip ware is securely dated , work is only just beginning on the local handmade wares which were dominant in the West in the early medieval period (Myres 1969; Whitehouse 1981a; Arthur and Whitehouse 1982· Salvatore 1982; D' Andria 1985; Van Ossel 1986b~ Zadora-Rio 1987*; Reynolds 1985) and thus pottery finds cannot as yet provide a secure and thorough framework for dating sites. All of the over 53,000 sherds found on the Anglo-Saxon site of West Stow, for example, are from little known handmade wares (West 1985*: 128), and Salvatore estimates that 90% of fourth to seventh century Italian pottery· is still unidentified (Salvatore 1982). Without dating material from either coins or pottery,. it is extremely difficult to identify fifth century occupation.

All the north-western provinces show a sharp drop in the number of sites occupied in the early fifth century. Occupation levels in most regions sink to about half those of the second century, and even lower in North Gaul and Belgica (9% and 19%). Very few sites in any western province have yielded evidence of occupation after the early fifth century. This apparent abandonment of western sites is startling on three counts. It follows a period of prosperity and continued occupation in the West in the fourth century. It contrasts sharply with an overwhelming increase in the number of sites occupied in the fourth and later centuries in the eastern half of the empire (see below). It requires as explanation either a mass movement out of rural sites into the towns, a largescale agglomeration of settlement,

The problem of dating is compounded by the fact that fourth century material was reused in later centuries. A number of excavations of early medieval sites have shown that late Roman coins continued to be used whether for commerce or as curios, in the fifth, sixth, and even seventh centuries (Reece 1985; Hayes 1977). At 22

VILLAS, FARMS AND THE LATE ROMAN RURAL ECONOMY

Conimbriga, hoards and destruction levels containing nine dated fifth century coins also contained fourth century coins (Pereira , Bost and Hiernard 1974*: 302303). The Saxon sunken huts and post building at Heybridge have yielded five Roman coins dating from the first to the fourth centuries (Drury and Wickenden 1982*). Hut 57 at Mucking contained 22 Roman coins, mostly of the fourth century (Jones 1970*). The early Saxon site of West Stow contained 289 Roman coins dating from the first to the fourth centuries (West 1985*: 78-79). Fourth century bronze coins have been found in seventh century Merovingian tombs in France (Rigoir 1968: 187). The medieval settlement at Ilot Genetiers yielded several late Roman coins (Archeologie Medievale 1983*: 252). The fifth century tombs and shrine of the villa at Lescar contained six coins dating from the start of the fourth century (Raguy 1978 *: 124-8).

a terminal date for the manufacture of the major northwestern late Roman pottery wares, and thus for the sites on which they are found. It has long been considered that production of Argonne pottery ended in the early fifth century because the latest coins found at the kiln sites date to Honorius and Gratian (Chenet 1941: 155), but , as Van Ossel has pointed out (Van Ossel 1986b ), the lack of fifth century coins is a universal phenomenon on western sites and is no reason for assuming that the kiln sites were abandoned. Production may well have continued into the fifth century, and this seems probable in the light of the fact that rouletted terre sigillee made in Argonne appears in sixth to eighth century Frankish cemeteries (Chenet 1941: 158). Similarly, the latest securely dated forms of Nene Valley Colour Coated Ware are considered late fourth to early fifth century because of their association in a destruction layer at Great Casterton with late fourth century coins , 'some well worn' (Perrin 1981: 447-463). However , such coins could well have been used much later than their minting date, as their worn state suggests, in which case the pottery may well have been manufactured and deposited later in the fifth century. These coins provide only a terminus post quern and no latest possible date can be established at present.

Thus finds of fourth century coins may lead an excavator to date a phase or a layer to this period or to conclude that the site was abandoned after the date of the latest coin when in fact the coins were deposited much later than the minting date. West comments that the range of coins found at West Stow is 'surprisingly close' to that typical of Roman sites, and that only the combination of several features - the worn or filed state of some coins, and the abnormal prevalence of certain issues, each of which feature 'alone would be perfectly consistent with coin finds from a primary Roman site' , betray the fact that the collection is not in fact a Roman deposit (West 1985*: 77).

Italian Red Painted ware is dated to the late fourth/early fifth century because it is found on Molise sites which contain ARS III of this date , but it is possible that the Red Painted ware is later than the dated ARS (Cann and Lloyd 1984).

Further , pottery manufactured in the late Roman period was apparently collected and reused until well into the early Middle Ages. At Maxey , Northants , Roman pottery was stratified above , among , and below handmade mid to late Saxon pottery in the pits (Addyman 1964*: 47). At West Stow, huts dating from all periods of the fifth to seventh century settlement yielded a total of 376 fourth century and 27 second to third century sherds. The assemblage was only distinguishable from a normal fourth century deposit because of the exceptional proportion of fine ware and of base sherds, as well as the adaptation of some sherds for new purposes such as their reuse as spindle whorls (West 1985*: 82-85). Fourth century pottery is associated with the fifth century reoccupation of the Cannington and Cadbury hillforts, from which Rahtz concludes that 'There is no doubt ... that Roman pottery continued in use well into the fifth century' (Rahtz 1974: 97). ARS and terre sigillee estampee grise appear in mid sixth century levels at Saint-Blaise (Archeologie Medievale 1983*: 249) and, with fourth century coins, in sixth to seventh century cemeteries in northern Spain (Maflanes 1980). Fourth century Lezoux pottery has been found in a seventh century tomb at Magincourt-en-Comte (Archeologie Medievale 1979*: 187). The situation is complicated still further by the fact that, because of our lack of post-fourth century dating material , it is virtually impossible at present to determine

The widely distributed Gallic "terre sigillee estampee grise " or "orangee" (so-called "wisigothique " or "paleochretienne " ware) is also traditionally dated to the late fourth or, at the latest , early fifth century. Fouet, for example , states that the villa of Montmaurin , which contains estampee grise and orangee , was probably destroyed in the late fourth century (Fouet 1969*). It is highly probable, however , that this pottery was produced until the sixth , and possibly even the seventh , century as it has been found in association with coins of Justinian (Mayet 1984: 268) and in four successive levels all postdating ARS III at the oppidum of Saint-Blaise (Rigoir 1968). This is supported by evidence from other sites, such as the villa of El Romera) where finds of stamped ARS III and terre sigillee estampee grise are associated with three phases of mosaics laid on top of ARS III (Pita Merce and Diez-Coronel y Montull 1964-65*; DiezCoronel y Montull and Pita Merce 1969-70*; Gorges 1979*: 278), and the villa at Seviac , where several phases of building and finds of Merovingian jewellery indicate that occupation continued until the seventh century but the latest identified pottery is terre sigillee estampee grise and orangee (Monturet and Riviere 1986*; Matignon 1976-1977*). In sum, the latest secure dating of sites containing such late Roman pottery is to the late fourth or early fifth 23

TAMARA LEWIT

century, but there are indications that the wares may have been manufactured and used throughout the fifth century. Thus sites which contain them, which have in the past been considered occupied only in the fourth century, may in fact still have been occupied in the later fifth century.

this reason , and the lack of ARS III on many sites may reflect this change, rather than the depopulation usually suggested (for example by Hodges and Whitehouse 1983: 38-40,46). Other factors may also have contributed to the lack of archaeological recognition of fifth century occupation. The character of known early medieval sites strongly suggests that fifth century habitations were constructed of wood and other ephemeral materials , which are extremely difficult to trace without careful and thorough excavation. As argued by Chapelot and Fossier, there appears to have been a mass abandonment of Roman villas and a movement to new habitations built of such ephemeral materials (Chapelot and Fossier 1985: 53). All the excavated early medieval settlements in North West Europe consist of such buildings , often sunken huts or long-houses (Chapelot 1980). In Italy, brick and tile manufacture came to an end and from the sixth century rural buildings were constructed of timber with footings of local stone and wooden shingle roofs (Arthur and Whitehouse 1983; Andrews 1982: 2). The early medieval habitation at Misobolo was built of small stones and ephemeral materials (Cima 1986*). In Britain, the early Saxon settlements at Purwell Farm, Cassington (Arthur and Jope 1962-1963*), at Sutton Courtenay (Ralegh Radford 1957*), at New Wintles Farm, Eynsham (Hawkes and Gray 1969*), at Portchester Castle (Cunliffe 1970*), at Chalton (Addyman and Leigh 1973*), at Maxey (Addyman 1964*), and at Mucking (Jones 1968*; Jones 1974*) consist of groups of such wooden buildings. Exactly the same type of wooden buildings, usually sunken huts, are characteristic of the French sites of Delle de Derriere ['Eglise, Calvados-Giberville (Archeologie Medievale 1979*: 143-145), Camp de Larina , Hieres-surAmby (Archeologie Medievale 1979*: 309-310) , La Maisonnette , Conde-sur-Aisne (Archeologie Medievale 1980*: 374), Sannerville (Archeologie Medievale 1983*: 251), Ilot Genetiers, Sens (Archeologie Medievale 1983*:252) , Le Gue de Mauchamp , Juvincourt et Damary (Archeologie Medievale 1985 *: 222; Archeologie Medievale 1987*: 172), Les Colombiers , Vitry-en-Artois (Archeolog ie Medievale 1987*: 186), and Ilot des Deux Bornes , Noyon (Archeologie Medievale 1987*: 175).

A reliable post fourth century dating material does exist for Mediterranean sites in the form of African Red Slip ware III (terra sigillata chiara D). In the past, ARS III was regarded as a fourth century ware, and sites on which it was found were supposed to have been occupied in the fourth century but abandoned in the fifth. For example , almost all of the hundreds of sites on the Guadalquivir surveyed by Ponsich yielded this pottery , and he therefore dates them to the fourth century (Ponsich 1974/1979*) . He states that only two cemeteries and a kiln site show indications of fifth century occupation (Ponsich 1974*: 137-208). Similarly , Ri.iger states that occupation at the villa of Centcelles , where the latest pottery is ARS III, ended in the early fifth century (Ri.iger 1969*). Hayes has shown, however, that many forms of ARS III date to the fifth and sixth centuries (Hayes 1972, Hayes 1977, Hayes 1980). It is thus possible that many sites which contain this ware should be dated later than the fourth century, and it is necessary to consider the particular forms found, since these have been dated by Hayes. The villa at Portorecanati, for example, which Mercando states was abandoned at the end of the fourth century , yielded fragments of ARS III forms Lamboglia 38, 55 and 58, dated by Hayes to between the mid fifth and mid seventh centuries (Mercando 1979*: 180-280). Unfortunately , few excavation reports provide information on which forms a site contains. Moreover, recent excavations in Sardinia , Italy and Carthage suggest that even the earlier ARS I and II (terra sigillata chiara A and C) may still have been dominant in the early fifth century (Tortore11a 1983), that ARS II was still widely used in the mid fifth century (Villedieu 1986: 147-162; Tortorella 1983) and that both these wares continued to be used, in ever decreasing quantities , until the sixth or seventh centuries (Small and Freed 1986: 97129; Tortorella 1983). ARS III (terra sigillata chiara D) became totally dominant only at the end of the fifth century (Tortorella 1983). Caution is therefore required in dismissing sites lacking ARS III as abandoned in the early fifth century.

Known early medieval sites also tend to yield very little pottery in comparison with Roman sites. Rahtz notes an almost aceramic level in the post-Roman occupation of the Cadbury-Congresbury hillfort (Rahtz 1974: 97). West suggests that there may have been a post-Roman aceramic occupation at West Stow (West 1985*: 167). The remains of bronze bindings from western France and southern Britain attest the use of wooden vessels during this period (Evison 1981b: 134).

Further, the absence of ARS III on sites may reflect a change in trading patterns, rather than a decline in occupation (Arthur 1985b: 46) . The import of ARS was largely dependent on the import of African bulk goods , since it would have been costly to transport fine pottery alone (Greene 1986: 162-163). African bulk exports to the western Mediterranean , however , seem to have given way to the competition of Levantine and Aegean exports by the mid fifth century. In Naples , for example , finds of African amphorae end with the mid fifth century and are replaced by eastern amphorae (Arthur 1985a). Local pottery may have been substituted for African imports for

In sum, it is likely that far more intensive and careful excavation, aimed at finding traces of such ephemeral remains , is required before we can know the true extent of fifth century settlement.

24

VILLAS, FARMS AND THE LATE ROMAN RURAL ECONOMY

It is also becoming increasingly clear that fifth century and later rural occupation was usually not located in or on existing Roman farm buildings, where it has been sought up till now. A consistent pattern seems to have been the use of villas or villa remains for a religious purpose, either as a chapel or as a cemetery, and the building of wooden habitations and work buildings at a new location a short distance away.

Roman graves were cut into a mosaic at the Fraga villa , and an early Christian basilica was founded there (Serra Rafols 1943*; Gorges 1979*: 267) ; an early medieval cemetery covers the ruins of the Pedrosa de la Vega villa (Palo] and Cortes 1974*); post-Roman tombs were dug into the villas of Cartama (Serrano Ramos and Luque Moraflo 1979*), Cenero (Jorda Cerda 1957*) and Vernat del Sant Crist (Prevosti i Monclus 1981: 158-172) ; the triclinium apse and part of the baths at Mataro were rebuilt as a Christian basilica at the end of the fourth century (Ribas Bertran 1966*); the pars rustica of the Malpica de Tajo villa was converted into a church in the post-Roman period (Palomeque Torres 1955*); and part of the Badajoz villa was converted into an early Christian basilica in the sixth century (Serra Rafols 1952*).

Many exacavated villas are known to have been used in the post-Roman period as chapels or burial sites, as pointed out by Percival (Percival 1976: 183-199). In Britain , a church was founded on part of the remains of the villa of Woodchester (Clarke 1982*); a medieval cemetery is located on the villa of Winterton (Stead 1976*); there are 22 post-Roman burials at the Shakenoak villa (Brodribb , Hands and Walker 1978*); at Lullingstone the villa was converted for use as a Christian cult centre, with farming activity, in the late fourth century (Meates 1963 *, Meates 1979*); a seventh century cemetery (and sunken huts) was found at the Harold Pitt settlement (Dix 1980*); and graves, probably subRoman , were dug into the Fishbourne villa (Cunliffe 1971*).

In Gallia Belgica , a Merovingian cemetery is located 300 metres from the vicus of Saint-Ulrich (Lutz 1972*); an eighth century church was founded on the ruins of Echternach (Metzler , Zimmer and Bakker 1981 *); Merovingian graves and a seventh century church and cemetery cover the vicus of Amay (Willems , Dandoy and Thirion 1969*); 69 Merovingian tombs and a church have been found at Grobbendonk (Wankenne 1972*: 155-158).

In Gaul, a Merovingian cemetery is located in the ruins of the Avoise villa (Lambert and Rioufreyt 1982: 145, 153); Merovingian tombs were dug into the villa at Valentine , and a Merovingian church was built nearby (Raguy 1978*: 189-195; Fouet 1978*); at Seviac, a post-Roman cemetery covers part of the gallery and a church was built on the ruins of the villa some time before it was rebuilt in the seventh century (Monturet and Riviere 1986*; Raguy 1978*: 212-215); there are fifth century inhumations and a medieval cemetery on the Pujo villa (Bulletin de la societe Ramond 1970*; Duret 1971*); eight funerary pits containing terre sigillee estampee and six Merovingian tombs were dug into rooms at Petit Bersac (Raguy 1978*: 58-62) ; a Merovingian cemetery covers the villa of Montmaurin (Fouet 1969*); Montcaret became the site of a Visigothic and Frankish cemetery and a Carolingian church (Raguy 1978*: 56-7) ; a sixth century chapel was built on the villa of Lalonquette (Lauffray, Schreyeck and Dupre 1973*); a Merovingian cemetery covers the ruins of the Labastide villa , and later a Carolingian chapel was built in the south gallery (Bost , Debord, Fabre , Monturet and Riviere 1977*) ; over 180 Merovingian tombs are located in the villa of Escolives (Kapps 1974*); over 41 Frankish graves were dug into the villa of Saint-Aubinsur-Mer (Eble 1948*); fifth century tombs and a sixth century cemetery are located on the remains of a villa at Chapelle Saint-Benoit , Drome (Archeologie Medievale 1977*: 271-272).

Other , more functional , non-habitational uses of Roman villas also attest post-Roman occupation in their vicinity . Two iron-smelting furnaces were built in Room 4 of the Whitwell villa (Todd 1981*); Shakenoak Farm was used for wool production , iron-smelting , and smithing in the seventh and eighth centuries (Brodribb , Hands and Walker 1978*); post-Roman hearths and iron-working furnaces were built at Holcombe villa (Pollard 1974*); an oven and ' com-drying ' flue associated with coins of Valentinian I and Valens , native style pottery , and a fifth century style brooch were inserted in the Great Witcombe villa (Clifford 1954*); the ruins of the Great Casterton villa were used for storage and as the base of a small ' com-drying oven ', probably in the fifth century (Corder 1951-1961 *); in the mid or late fourth century the Gadebridg e Park villa was deliberately demolished and cattle-pens were built on the site (Neal 1974*; Neal 1978). We can only speculate as to the reasons for such changes in the use of villas. Percival suggests that they may have been ancient religious sites, that the impressive nature of the ruins may have made them suitable for religious use, or that they were so used simply because the land they covered was useless for agriculture (Percival 1976: 192193). Regardless of its motivation , such reuse of Roman villas indicates that although in traditional terms the villas were "abandoned ", and thus a count of the numb er of villas occupied during this period shows a decline in settlement , settlement did in fact continue close by. The sites would only have been used as cult centres , cemeteries , or as farm buildings if people were living and working the land in. the immediate vicinity. In other words , the abandonment of vi Ilas and their use for nonhabitational functions in the post-Roman era cannot be

In Italy, Lombard tombs and cemeteries are frequently found on Roman urban and rural buildings (Gelichi , Malnati and Ortalli 1986: 562).

In Spain, the villa at Aguilafuente was used as a Visigothic cemetery (Gorges 1979*: 355) ; two post25

TAMARA L EWIT

taken as evidence for the abandonment of farmland.

Ossel 1983*: 164). But such a change to agglomerated settlement itself requires explanation , and, if there was such a change, why were the villas not incorporated in the settlements as central habitations?

Many known post-Roman settlements are in fact located not in but near Roman villas: in Britain, the post-Roman settlements at Chalton , Mitchell ' s Hill, Grimston End and Mucking are on the fringes or just outside the limits of the Roman settlements (Arnold and Wardle 1981: 147; West 1985*: 167; Jones 1974*: 191). In France, a survey of the Loire Valley has shown that the medieval sites are all located within 500 metres of Roman sites (Zadora-Rio 1987*: 57). Pre-fifteenth century farms, castles, and hamlets are found within 400 metres of three quarters of the Roman villas in Berry (Leday 1978b). The early medieval sites of Delle de Derriere l'Eglise , Calvados , and Prieure de Champlieu , Oise, are located about 500 metres from Gallo-Roman constructions (Archeologie Medi evale 1979*: 145, 156). In Italy, at Pieve di Manerba a late Roman to medieval wooden building is located behind the Roman villa (Brogiolo 1983: 84).

It is sometimes assumed that the non-Roman style settlements were built by immigrant "barbarians " who lacked the technology to build Roman-style villas. It appears , however, that such settlements were universal in the early Middle Ages, with the Roman villas being used by their occupants as outbuildings or religious sites. This implies, firstly, that a larger section of the population than can be accounted for by barbarian settlers were living in "barbarian " style habitations; and, secondly , that although luxurious villas were available nearby they chose not to repair and inhabit them. The key to understanding the change is to recognise that Roman style villas were not the product simply of Roman technology . They were also the product of Roman culture - a complex of social, economic , and religious structures and customs which combined to form the "classical" life. With the Roman conquest, this classical culture was grafted onto provincial life to an astonishing extent , and there is no more eloquent testimony to this grafting than the impeccably Romanised villas - complete with mosaics, hypocausts and peristyles - thickly scattered in the provincial countryside.

The following picture emerges of post-Roman settlement: some Roman villas may have been inhabited in this period but because of the lack of dating materials and the misdating of deposits this occupation has not been identified by archaeologists. Many villas were abandoned and some were used for religious purposes as burial or cult sites, or as farm buildings , while new wooden habitations, which have seldom been discovered , were built at new locations.

The movement away from the villas to early medieval buildings thus represents a mass movement away from classical culture itself. We can trace the beginnings of the movement in the un-classical alterations to villas of the fourth century, such as the installation of an "Iron Age style" round hut in front of the fac;ade of the Shakenoak villa (Brodribb, Hands and Walker 1978*).

One possible reason for such a mass shift in habitation is a movement to sites on higher ground. Several writers suggest that there was a return to hilltop sites like the preRoman Italic and Celtic oppida (Chapelot and Fossier 1985: 67 re France; Wightman 1980: 246 re Belgium; Hodges and Whitehouse 1983: 43-46; Whitehouse 1981a: 586 re Italy; Reynolds 1985 re Spain and Italy). This may have been for the greater security provided , as implied by Sidonius' reference to ' mountain fastnesses ' ('montana sedes circum castella' Letters V.xiv. 1). There may also have been a move to higher ground in response to the climatic change of the fifth and sixth centuries AD (Delano Smith 1979: 314, 338 ; Lamb 1981). The wetter conditions and rise in sea level of this period would have made the river-side sites favoured for Roman-style villas less suitable for occupation.

The common view is that such non-Roman style building, especially in the case of alterations to villas , reflects economic decline (for example Wightman 1985: 257; Brodribb, Hands and Walker 1978*: 203). The assumption is that, given a choice , the rural population would inevitably have preferred to live in the Roman style. Only economic limitations could have prevented them from doing so. This ethnocentric assumption is perhaps due to the influence of Roman literature, and perhaps also to the fact that the historians who have studied the later empire are for the most part themselves representatives of European cultures which have been the centres , rather than the provinces , of empires. The viewpoint is that of the conqueror rather than the conquered. It is assumed that Roman culture was unquestionably superior to that of the provinces , and that any provincial would recognise this and wish only to abandon his own culture and adopt that of the Romans. This ethnocentric perspective is apparent in Johnson ' s claim that ' The barbarian's aim was to become as civilised a ' Roman ' as he was allowed ' (Johnson 1980: 68), and his statem ent that the inhabitant s

However, the theory of a movement to hilltop sites does not take into account the quite common phenomenon of medieval settlement close to Roman villas , described above. It is possible that there was a change from Romanstyle dispersed settlement to - or back to - agglomerated settlement in the small villages which became typical of the Middle Ages (Wightman 1978b; Percival 1976: 177182). Chapelot and Fossier argue that the frequency of Gallo-Roman and German collective suffixes in placenames in France is evidence for a change to collective settlement (Chapelot and Fossier 1985: 23). Van Ossel also argues that there was a radical change in settlement to ' des ensembles plus ramasses , proche du village ' (Van 26

VILLAS, FARMS AND THE LA TE ROMAN RURAL ECONOMY

of Britain would have preserved a Roman lifestyle even after their separation from the empire in the fifth century because 'After so long as part of the Roman world most Britons would additionally have regarded themselves as 'Roman" (Johnson 1980: 140). The tenacity with which the Australian Aborigines have preserved their distinctive art, religion, customs , and bush-lore, and denied identification with the colonial culture and way of life through two centuries of a physical persecution and cultural imperialism far more intensive and numerically overwhelming than any Roman provincial occupation suggests that Johnson's opinion is overly optimistic.

The movement from villas to wooden settlements amounts to no less than a massive culture-shift in the fifth century away from classical customs, a large-scale return to a pre-classical way of life. The culture-shift occurs not only in the peripheral northern provinces, but also in Spain, South Gaul, and even Italy (as suggested by Ferdiere 1978a; Brogiolo 1983), although the lowest occupation level of classical style villas occurs in the less Romanised regions of Britain (4 7% ), Belgica (19%) and North Gaul (9%), while the figures are slightly higher in Italy (57%), North Spain (54%) and South Spain (55%). Such a culture-shift has already long been acknowledged in the pottery and glass styles of the very late empire. Terre sigillee estampee grise or orangee, distinguished by its geometric un-classical decoration, gradually replaces the more classical style African Red Slip ware in Gaul, Hispania , and Helvetia, and even finds its way to Lixus, Athens and Corinth, which had easy access to classicising eastern wares. Rigoir emphasises the fact that the technique represents a change in tastes rather than a decline in quality (Rigoir 1968) and Mafl.anes argues that this represents a revival of native pottery traditions (Mafl.anes 1980). Similarly, stylised stamps of probably local African motifs (including palm branches) replaced classical appliqued motifs on late African pottery (Hayes 1972: 285-287). Various late Roman pottery types in Britain are distinguished by their un-Roman decoration with grooves, bosses , dimples, stamps, and molds. Myres termed them "Romano-Saxon" (Myres 1969: 67-70) but more recent research suggests that they had a native British origin (Gillam 1979; Roberts 1982). The latest style of Argonne pottery revives a native style of rouletted decoration which is used in place of the earlier Roman designs, and which possibly evolved into the sixth century Frankish pottery manufactured at Argonne (Chenet 1941). The same evolution is seen in the coarse ware of Aquitaine , which after following the Mediterranean style in forms and decoration during the first and second century returned to the traditional Celtic style in the third century and even to non-wheel-made forms, while north-eastern carinated forms were used in the fourth century (Santrot 1978 3: 378). In Spain , handmade pottery in local styles appears in the fifth or sixth century (Reynolds 1985). Non-Roman forms and decoration are typical of western glass production in the fifth to seventh centuries, and even in Italy Pannonian or Lombard styles were adopted (Stiaffini 1985).

The assumption that only economic necessity could have broken down adherence to Roman building styles is not warranted. At the villa of Saint Emilion, functional basins, probably for wine production, were installed in violation of classical traditions in the rich and luxurious habitation amid and at the same time as rich polychrome mosaics (Gauthier 1975*). Simple wooden building need not be squalid and uncomfortable but, on the contrary, can be both elegant and comfortable. Priscus, quoted by Jordanes , describes with admiration a wooden Hunnic settlement: we arrived at the village where King Attila was dwelling, a village, I say, like a great city, in which we found wooden walls made of smoothshining boards, whose joints so counterfeited solidity that the union of the boards could scarcely be distinguished by close scrutiny. There you might see dining halls of large extent and porticoes planned with great beauty, while the courtyard was bounded by so vast a circuit that its very size showed it was the royal palace ad vicum, in quo rex Attila morabatur, accessimus, vicum inquam ad instar civitatis amplissimae, in quo lignea moenia ex tabulis nitentibus fabricata repperimus, quarum compago ita solidum mentiebatur, ut vix ab intentu possit iunctura tabularum compraehendi. videres triclinia ambitu prolixiore distenta porticusque in omni decore dispositas. area vero curtis ingenti ambitu cingebatur, ut amplitudo ipsa regiam aulam ostenderet (Jordanes Getica 178-179). Jordanes adds:

Further examples of this popular non-Roman fusion of pre-Roman and barbarian styles as evidenced by sculpture , jewellery, metalwork, and religious practices are given by Hatt and MacMullen (Hatt 1965; MacMullen 1965). However, the change appears to be more than just the resurgence of "Celtic" or "Gallic" traditions which they describe. It appears to have constituted a revival of non-classical ways of life all over the western empire, not only in the decorative arts but in habitation. We can understand this as a preference for styles which, although they may have been

This was the abode of Attila, the king of all the barbarian world; and he preferred this as a dwelling to the cities he captured hae sedes erant Attilae regis barbariae tota tenenti; haec captis civitatibus habitacula praeponebat (Jordanes Getica 179) emphasising the point that using non-Roman wooden buildings could be a matter of choice rather than poverty. 27

TAMARALEWIT

technologically inferior, were more culturally satisfying. In other words , they reflected social and religious customs more closely, and represented links with a native past in a way the Roman styles did not. We can find ethnographic parallels for such a culture-shift in cases such as that of the Australian Aborigines , many of whom are presently leaving European style towns and cities for outback settlements (outstations) which represent a revival of their traditional way of life, values, and living conditions; or reviving , after a period of imitating European art, native geometric art forms which contain symbolic representations of traditional spiritual teachings and social customs. Any attempt to describe the nature and quantity of fifth century rural occupation must take this cultural shift into consideration. As pointed out by Grenier , the number of villas is an index of Romanisation , not necessarily of occupation (Grenier I 934: 867). Rural occupation was no longer Romanised in the fifth century , and the story of the villas , but not of farming, ends there.

28

VILLAS, FARMS AND THE LATE ROMAN RURAL ECONOMY

However, the Mauretanian sites yield less fourth and fifth century terra sigillata chiara D than earlier pottery (Leveau 1984*: 304-463, 502-503; Ponsich and Tarradell 1965*: 116). As discussed above, some caution must be used in drawing conclusions on this basis: well dated sites now show that terra sigillata chiara A and C still made up around 80% of the pottery used in the fourth century, around 50% even in the fifth, and were still in use in the sixth century (Anselmino, Coletti, Ferrantini, and Panella 1986; Small and Freed 1986; Villedieu 1986).

5. Other regions of the empire

The Eastern empire, owing and population and sounder able to bear the burden resources were overstrained same weaknesses as the 1068)

to its greater wealth economy, was better of defence, but its and it developed the West (Jones 1964:

In the crucial agricultural province of Africa, the Kasserine survey has recently revealed that many small hill farms were founded in the third and fourth centuries and that productivity was increased by irrigation and terracing. Pottery finds from agricultural towns in the region date mostly to the third to fifth centuries (Bamish personal communication 30/5/89).

Unfortunately, there is no body of archaeological evidence from other areas of the empire comparable to that from the north-western provinces discussed above. The number of scientific excavations carried out in the eastern, Danubian and African provinces is extremely small. It is therefore impossible to make a comparable study of farm sizes and prosperity for these regions. It is possible, however, to make tentative comparisons with the more complete picture from the North-West on the basis of the evidence from those scattered excavations and the recent surface surveys which have been carried out.

In Libya also the later empire was undoubtedly a period of large-scale rural expansion. Of the 1,100 sites found in the UNESCO Survey, only 168 can be dated to the second century, while 372 have yielded third century and later pottery. Of these 289 were first occupied in the later empire. No terminal dates can be established, but the gsur, or fortified farms, reach their maximum number after the late third century (Jones and Barker 1983*).

In spite of the frequent barbarian incursions in this region, the situation in the Danubian provinces was much the same as in the north-western provinces discussed above. Although some farms were abandoned in Lower Moesia in the third century (Poulter 1983b: 333, although he offers only four examples), many were occupied for the first time in Pannonia and Upper Moesia during this period (Percival 1976: 90; Thomas 1964: 25-27, 111, 123-124) and there is evidence for an early third century boom and enlargement of some farms in Noricum (Alfoldi 1974: 173). The sites surveyed in the Yantra Valley, Moesia, were occupied from the second through to the sixth century (Poulter 1983b: 433). Both small and large farms in Dalmatia continued to be occupied during the third and fourth centuries (Wilkes 1969: 400-402) and Wilkes concludes that 'There is no evidence that Dalmatia suffered greatly from the barbarian invasions of the third century' (Wilkes 1969: 416).

This pattern is typical of the eastern provinces. In Jordan, three surveys show a great increase in the number of rural sites in the fourth century: in Wadi El Hasa, there are only 24 second to third century sites but 54 fourth to seventh century sites (MacDonald, Rollefson, Banning, Byrd, and D' Annibale 1983*). At Wadi 'lsal there are 13 early Roman, 24 late Roman, and 40 fourth century and later sites. In the East Jordan Desert, also, the major period of rural occupation was the fourth and later centuries, and many rustic churches were built in the fourth and fifth centuries (King, Lenzen and Rollefson 1983*). In Palestine, prosperous settlements were established in the Golan region in the third and fourth century, and occupied till the Arab period (Avi-Yonah 1976*: 487). Other settlements also attest the richness of rural life in this period (Avi-Yonah 1976*: 378; Avi-Yonah 1978*: 1097).

During the fourth century there was a large increase in the number of both small and large farms occupied in Pannonia, Moesia, and Noricum, and production at these sites appears to have flourished (Mocsy 1974: 299-300; Percival 1976: 49; Poulter 1983b: 431; Alfoldi 1974:205). In fourth century Pannonia nearly twice as many farms were occupied as in the second century, and this was the period of maximum occupation (Thomas 1964: 21-343).

In Syria, renewed building activity in villages on the Dana Plain during the fourth and fifth centuries indicates a period of heightened prosperity. On the Qatura Plain villages grew or were founded in the fourth to sixth centuries. The apogee of the villages in the East Gebel Barisa Plains occurred in the first half of the sixth century, following steady prosperity in the late Roman period. Even in the mountain region, new villages grew up and farms were built in the fourth to sixth centuries (Tchalenko 1953*: 140, 189-205, 290,296, 325-376).

Surveys in Mauretania indicate that the third century began with a rural boom: garum and salting factories were established, and oil and cereal production flourished, to judge from the quantities of pottery found (Ponsich 1970*: 225; Leveau 1984*: 352, 463). 29

TAMARALEWIT

A distinctive feature of these north Syrian regions is the development of small but carefully built and attractively decorated peasant homes with individual olive-presses, a feature which parallels the triumph of the medium sized farm in the western provinces. Tchalenko considers these remains evidence for an economic transformation which involved a population increase, a rise in the general standard of living, and the growth of a new class of small rural cultivators with complete or de facto independence (Tchalenko 1953*: 408-409).

century and later sites , of which at least six are small farms (Wilson and Leonard 1980*; Wilson 1981 *: 249260). The magnificent villa of Piazza Armerina, possibly an imperial residence, was built in the fourth century and occupied , after gradual transformation into a village, till about the twelfth century (Carandini, Ricci and Vos 1982*). The evidence available from the Danubian, African, and eastern provinces thus supports the conclusion , drawn on the basis of the north-western sites analysed in detail above , that the late empire was not a period of agricultural decline, rural abandonment and impoverishment, or of the annihilation of the small and medium peasant farm. In all these regions, there is ample evidence for continued occupation in the third century and occupation of rural sites increased in the fourth century , except in Mauretania. In Sicily, Pannonia , and all the eastern provinces there was an extraordinary expansion and enrichment of farming which began in the fourth or fifth century and continued at least until the Arab era. This period undoubtedly saw the richest rural flowering of all the provinces from Cyrenaica to Greece and Asia Minor. Less evidence is available about the size of farms, but findings in Dalmatia, Pannonia, Syria, and Sicily suggest that, in these regions at least, small and medium sized units of production continued to flourish.

Lassus also documents the development of valley and mountain villages in Syria in the third and later centuries and their ' magnifique essor economique'. He points to the sumptuous temples , farms and tombs of the third century , the multiplication of farms, their elegant decoration , and the building of many luxurious churches in the fourth century , and the development of a luxurious building style in the fifth and sixth centuries (Lassus 1947: 304-305). These findings have been recently confirmed by a surface survey in northern Syria which revealed no high imperial pottery but 26 sites with fifth to seventh century pottery (Kenrick 1981 *). The same pattern is repeated in Asia Minor. Many large village churches and monasteries in Cilicia and Isauria may be dated to the fifth century (Hill 1987), and archaeological investigation of the Troad has shown a progressive increase in rural occupation from the third century to the sixth century (Cook 1973: 369-373). There is ample evidence from recent surveys of Greece that the fourth to sixth centuries were a boom period for agriculture in this region also. In the South Argolid, many new sites were occupied in the third to sixth centuries, and abandoned pre-Roman sites reoccupied, and new marginal land was occupied on the steep hill slopes. Old terrace walls and dams were restored and new ones constructed (Runnels 1983*; Van Andel, Runnels and Pope 1986*: 120-122). In the Megalopolis area, also, more sites were occupied in the later Roman period than in the high empire (Catling 1984*: 27). Similarly , in Keos the peak of settlement density occurred under the late empire (Catling 1984*: 52). In Boeotia , less than half of the pre-Roman sites were occupied under the republic and high empire , but two-thirds of the abandoned sites were reoccupied in the fourth to sixth centuries and several new sites were occupied (Bintliff and Snodgrass 1985*: 145-149). Indications of a similar development around Corinth are provided by a large luxurious farm, possibly connected to six smaller sites in the immediate vicinity , with intensive occupation from the fourth to seventh centuries (Gregory 1985*: 423). A steady level of occupation is apparent in the regions of Methana and Sparta (Catling 1986*: 28, 30; Catting 1985*: 21-22) and in the highland plains of Crete (Watrous 1982*: 24, 70). Evidence from Sicily suggests a similar pattern in this area. A survey of sites in the Heraclea Minoa region has revealed only five first to fourth century sites but 12 fifth 30

VILLAS, FARMS AND THE LA TE ROMAN RURAL ECONOMY

end of Dressel 20 finds represents the end of Baetican exports. The fact that this type has been found in Germany (Martin-Kilcher 1983; Remesal Rodriguez 1986), Rome (Rodriguez Almeida 1986) and in coastal Gallia Narbonnensis (Zevi and Tchernia 1969*) in fourth to fifth century contexts indicates that export production continued in Baetica during this period. As stated by Beltran Lloris:

6. Evidence for trade Que la crise ait amene une decadence a peu pres totale du commerce maritime est un fait qui nous semble assure d' une maniere certaine , meme s'il ne nous est pas atteste par des documents formels. (Rouge 1966: 476).

51una fijaci6n excesiva en las fechas que proporcionaban los tituli del Testaccio de Roma ha llevado a los autores a conluir err6neamente en el afio 255 como momento de interrupci6n del aceite del Betis, rupture en la que nosotros no creimos , al incluir en la tipologia de las anforas olearias beticas a la forma Dr 23 (Beltran Lloris 1980: 190).

It has traditionally been believed that the later empire saw the virtual end of long distance trade and the reversion to autarchic production on latifundia (Rouge 1966: 476 and passim; Depeyrot 1987: 27; Wightman 1985: 270-271; Stein 1928/1959: 16; Walbank 1969: 51, 88; Remondon 1964: 110, 322).

The last decade , moreover, has seen the publication of the results of major excavations such as those at Ostia (Carandini and Panella 1977*), Berenice (Lloyd 1983*) and Carthage (Hurst and Roskams 1984*) and of new identifications of important amphora types (see for example Blazquez and Remesal 1983 and the excellent summaries in Peacock and Williams 1986). We are no longer dependent for our picture of late Roman trade solely on the finds from Monte Testaccio , a deposit which in any case ends in the late third century (Rodriguez Almeida 1983) and relates only to imports to the city of Rome itself, or on the oil products ofBaetica.

The above surveys of rural sites shed some light on the question of production levels. In most regions the agricultural land was as densely occupied as before, and rural occupation increased in South Gaul, South Spain, the East and the North African provinces , suggesting intensity of land-use. A considerable number of sites in the north-western regions studied expanded in the later empire, presumably because they were producing more surplus and thus greater wealth. There is no evidence for the spread of autarchic latifundia. The level of surplus production and exchange can also be estimated on the basis of the archaeological finds associated with trade in agricultural products: the amphorae which were used to transport wine and oil, and the fine pottery which was transported with bulk goods (as demonstrated by the Port Vendres wreck: Tortorella 1981; see also Greene 1986: 162-163).

This new evidence indicates that fartlung trade in agricultural products and pottery did exist in the later empire , although it is possible that the quantity of goods transported may have declined. The export production and trade which has been most widely recognised (see for example Hayes 1972; Keay 1984a: 409 fl) is that of fine pottery , lamps and oil from Africa. From the first to the seventh centuries AD, especially between the third and fifth centuries , African Red Slip ware was exported to a huge area of the Roman empire. Its area of distribution includes Spain (Reynolds 1985; Reynolds 1984; Nieto Prieto 1984; Beltran Lloris 1970), Gaul (Tortorella 1981; Sollier 1981*), Italy (Freed 1983* ; Freed 1985; Hodges , Moreland and Patterson 1985; Tortorella 1983), the Black Sea region (Minchev 1983), Dalmatia (Tortorella 1983), Asia Minor (Hayes 1972: passim) , Cyprus (Hayes 1972: passim) , Egypt (Hayes 1972: passim) and even, in small quantities , Britain (Peacock 1982; Bird 1977; Thomas 1981; I agree with Peacock that the finds are too many to be dismissed as the personal belongings of immigrants, as suggested by Bird) .

The traditional picture of a steep decline in the level of production and of bulk trade in the later Roman empire is largely based on the fact that the latest Baetican Dressel 20 oil amphorae at Monte Testaccio in Ostia date only to the mid third century AD (see for example Rouge 1966: 475). The Monte Testaccio amphora heap, however, does not constitute the trade of the Roman empire but rather a single amphora dump in the city of Rome. It is quite possible, given its large size, that dumping was simply moved to a different location when there was no more room at Monte Testaccio. This may have been linked with the fact that by the mid third century Ostia had been replaced as Rome's chief port by Portus, further north, (Meiggs 1960: 88), as is evidenced by the fact that all the major horrea from the early third century onwards were built at Portus rather than Ostia (Hermansen 1978: 22). It is possible that amphorae landing at the new port travelled a different route into the city and where dumped elsewhere.

African oil was exported to the eastern Mediterranean , including Greece , Cyrenaica , Cyprus and Palestine, in the first to fourth centuries (Peacock and Williams 1986: 169-70; Riley 1983), and to the western provinces , including Britain (Williams and Peacock 1983; Peacock

Moreover the identification of Dressel 23 as a late Roman Baetican amphora type (Beltran Lloris 1970; Remesal Rodriguez 1983: 115-131) prohibits the argument that the 31

TAMARALEWIT

1982; Peacock and Williams 1986: 171-2; Peacock 1977b) , Spain (Keay 1984a: 411-420 and 1984b: 557; Reynolds 1984) , Italy (Whitehouse 1981b and 1985; Whitehouse, Barker, Reece and Reese 1982*), Mauretania (Peacock and Williams 1986: 171-2) , South Gaul (Tortorella 1981; Zevi and Tchernia 1969*; Sollier 1981 *), and Switzerland (Peacock and Williams 1986: 171-2).

Africa, Cyrenaica, and Nubia (Peacock and Williams 1986: 182-3, 193; Panella 1986b: 267). Finally, the fourth to the seventh centuries saw the export of lamps from the small island of Sicily to Africa , Italy and Greece (Anselmino 1983). The evidence outlined above suggests a peak in the quantity and distribution of exports from the fourth century in Africa and the Aegean. While the export of Ostia VI amphorae from the Aegean ended in the fifth century , this era saw the first peak of Syrian and Palestinian exports and the flowering of Late Roman C pottery exports from Asia Minor. All these products were traded into the sixth century , although there was a decline of African exports in this period (Hodges Moreland and Patterson 1985; Freed 1985 ; Keay 1984b).

African lamps were exported to a wide area between the fourth and the sixth centuries , including Spain, Gaul, Italy , the Black Sea, Asia Minor , Cyprus , Egypt and Britain (Pavolini 1983; Sollier 1981 *; Minchev 1983). This was not by any means the only export production of the late empire. An equally farflung trade existed in Syrian oil during the fifth and sixth centuries. If the identification of Bii amphorae as carriers of Syrian oil is correct (Panella 1986b: 269) , this product was transported to Egypt, Cyrenaica , Palestine, the Aegean , Africa , Italy, Turkey, Spain, the Black Sea, and even Britain (Peacock and Williams 1986: 185-187; Williams and Peacock 1983).

The above survey also reveals an important feature of late Roman trade. The period saw a complete change in import and export regions from those of the high empire. There is no trace of exports from Italy, the dominant wine exporter of the republic and the first century AD (Tchernia 1983; Paterson 1982) and Italian wine appears in Diocletian's fourth century Prices Edict only as an exorbitant luxury nearly four times the price of 'ordinary wine' (11.1-10 Graser edition; Arthur 1982a). The large scale exports of South Gaulish wine which began in the first century and flourished in the second (Paterson 1982; Peacock 1978) and of South-Central Gaulish pottery (Grew 1986) disappeared in the third century. Only the huge export of wine, oil, and garum from South Spain in the first to third centuries (Grew 1986; Keay 1981; Tchernia 1983: 91) was probably continued into the late imperial period in Dressel 23 amphorae (see above) and possibly also Almagro 51 and Benghazi LR8 amphorae (Peacock and Williams 1986: 132-133 , 202-203). The export was probably on a reduced scale, however, as indicated by the decline in the number of shipwrecks with Baetican cargoes in the third century (Guasch 1980).

Similarly, the wine of Gaza reached a large portion of the Roman world between the third and seventh centuries, and especially between the fourth and sixth. Assuming that Almagro 54 amphorae contained this product (Peacock and Williams 1986: 198-199), it was exported to the south-eastern Mediterranean (Peacock and Williams 1986: 198; Riley 1983) and parts of western Europe (Peacock and Williams 1986: 198) including Africa (Fulford 1980; Fulford 1983; Neuru 1980), Italy (Whitehouse 1982*; Whitehouse 1981 b), the Black Sea and Pannonia (Peacock and Williams 1986: 198) and Britain (Redde 1979; Thomas 1981 ). The contents of Biv amphorae, probably from Asia Minor (Peacock and Williams 1986: 188; Panella 1986b: 267), also travelled the length of the empire between the second and sixth centuries, reaching Egypt, Nubia, Palestine, Cyrenaica, Africa, the Black Sea (Peacock and Williams 1986: 188-9) , Italy (Whitehouse 1981 b) and Britain (Thomas 1981 ). They were accompanied by Late Roman C pottery, the export of which began in the fourth century and flowered in the fifth and sixth. This product is found in the Black Sea region (Minchev 1983), Britain (Redde 1979; Nieto Prieto 1984; Thomas 1981 ), South France (Tortorella 1981), Italy (Freed 1985; Nieto Prieto 1984), Spain (Mendez Ortiz 1983-1984; Nieto Prieto 1984 ), and Africa (Keay 1984a: 429).

While these earlier export regions lost their dominance, they were replaced by new sources in Africa and the East which began their large-scale production in the third and fourth centuries. This explains in part the general belief that trade declined: traditional concentration on the early imperial pattern has obscured the fact that new patterns emerged. It would be a mistake moreover , to suppose that those exchanges revealed by amphora and pottery finds were the only ones which existed, or that the regions in which they are found were purely consumer areas , while their places of origin were the only exporters. The presence of imported goods in a region implies that there was a return trade, and that the region was producing some product for which there was demand and which was exported in exchange. We should not, therefore , suppose that provinces such as Italy degenerated from rich export

No less important was the export of products contained in Ostia VI and Bi amphorae , probably from the Aegean region (Peacock and Williams 1986: 182, 193). These have a very wide distribution and are found in contexts of the third to fourth (and to the late sixth in the East) and fourth to seventh centuries respectively in Britain, Gaul, Germany , Spain , Italy , the Black Sea region , Greece , Sicily , Asia Minor , Mesopotamia , Syria , Palestine , 32

VILLAS , FARMS AND THE LAT E ROMAN RURAL ECONOMY

regions enjoying a profitable and one-sided trade to impoverished sources of another region ' s wealth .

In contrast to Parker ' s study , Tortorella ' s survey of 30 wrecks containing African products , found from the Balearics to Turkey , shows that there was no drop in their total number until the late fifth century. Although there are no known wrecks off Elba or Sardinia after the early fourth century and there are fewer known wrecks off South Italy and Sicily from the late third century , his figures show an increase in the number off South France and Monaco in the late third century, and the first known wrecks off Asia Minor date from the late fourth to early fifth century (Tortorella 1981). As we would expect , there is a decline in some areas but an increase in others , following the change in trade routes.

Some important clues to the return trade which has left no trace are found in Diocletian ' s Edict of Maximum Prices of AD 301. This list of about one thousand products and services occasionally names the source of the goods for which it fixes prices. Throughout the Edict, Italy appears as a major exporter of wool and woollen products (XIX, XXI , XXV) and is also named as an exporter of fruit (V .65) and pork and beef products (IV. 8,9, 15 & 16). Britain appears as an exporter of cloth products (XIX.36). The Edict also informs us that Spain produced wool (XXV.3) , Egypt cloth products (XIX.21, XXVI) , Gaul wool (XXV.9 , XXII.21) and cloth products (XIX. 45-48 , 60) and that the Danube was an important exporter of cloth products (XIX. 34,35,53,58, XXIl .23) . Thus, a large proportion of the areas in which imported amphorae of the later Roman period are found are named in the Edict as the exporters of perishable products which have left no archaeological trace. These must have constituted the return trade for African oil and pottery, Levantine wine and oil, and Aegean/ Asian wine, oil, and pottery.

In sum, an overwhelming body of evidence shows that the late Roman period , especially the fourth to fifth centuries , saw not the end of trade and local autarchy but trade both in bulk items such as wine and oil and luxury items such as fine pottery. Goods travelled as far as from Africa to Switzerland and Germany , and from Syria to Britain , a fact which reveals both the availability of goods and the profitability of long-distance trade. Products were even transported to regions with their own export production of similar items : Aegean amphorae travelled to the Levant , which was itself a major exporter of both wine and oil ; Late Roman C pottery was imported by Africa , the overwhelmingly dominant fine pottery producer ; Africa also imported Syrian oil, althou gh the province was itself a large exporter of oil; and African lamps were carried to Sicily at the same time as Sicilian lamps were being carried to Africa. Although there was a change in the sources and routes of exported products , and possibly some decline in their quantity, exchange was not reduced to a bare minimum , and the quality of products and consumers ' tastes were evidently still important factors in the movement of goods.

There remains the question of the quantity of goods traded. Although there appears to have been longdistance trade in the late imperial period , it is possible that the quantity of goods carried was in decline. Certainly the quantity of African products found in Britain , for example , is very small, although a small quantity of such luxury pottery may have travelled with a much larger quantity of imported bulk goods. The decline of the western towns (see below) must surely have had a major influence, so that even if there was no agricultural crisis the loss of this market must have resulted in a lower volume of trade in the West. One possible indicator of the quantity of trade is the number of shipwrecks. Hopkins concludes on the basis of 'the number of dated shipwrecks found' that ' The Late Empire witnessed a significant downturn in trade ' (Hopkins 1980: 105-6). He relies entirely on Parker , but a closer look at Parker ' s data suggests that it is not an adequate basis for such a conclusion . His figures show little change, or if anything an increase, in the number of shipwrecks found in the ports of Asia Minor , Palestine and Sicily. The decline occurs at the ports of South Gaul, Bonifacio , and the Tuscan Islands (Parker 1984). As Hopkins himself cautions , this data relates only to trade in the western Mediterranean , and in fact we would expect these ports to reflect mainly trade between France , Spain, and Italy. A wreck found at Bonifacio in 1975, for example, consisted entirely of a cargo of Spanish amphorae presumably bound for Rome (Liou 1982*). In view of the great change in trade routes outlined above, it is therefore hardly surprising that these ports should see a decline in the number of shipwrecks in the late Roman period , but this does not necessarily suggest a decline in trade , which would have been directed via different ports.

33

, TAMARA LEWIT

Perigueux and Beauvais ; the Forum and Amphitheatre provided stone for the walls of Paris; and tombstones were used in building the walls of Bordeaux (Butler 1959: 40). Many urban sites were abandoned or partially abandoned (Fritsch 1984 : 317). At Lyon, for example , the Upper Town was abandoned by the mid third century (Desbat 1981: 105, 110). Grand was abandoned before the end of the fourth century (Frezouls 1982: 228). At Amiens former residential areas were used as cemeteries from the third century onwards (Frezouls 1982: 79) .

7. The towns [The late empire was characterised by] a retrogression in urbanisation;... little , if any, activity in public works; ... [and] the impoverishment of the population of the cities. (Charanis 1975: 552)

A corollary to the picture of agricultural crisis in the later Roman empire is the supposed corresponding decline of the towns. The economic crisis is said to encompass both elements. It is thus important to consider the archaeological evidence for the urban situation during this period .

In Spain , the occupation of urban sites seems to have declined from the third century onwards (Gorges 1979*: 47 ; Keay 1984b: 552-556) . Emporiae was abandoned in the third century and the only evidence of activity in the late Roman period is rubbish dumped in public area s of the town , sporadic occupation in the Neapolis , and burials (Keay 1983: 69) . The extra-mural settlement of Tarraco was abandoned in the third century and the Forum in the Lower Town was disused in the mid fourth century and the area used for burials (Keay 1983: 84-86). The administrative centre and circus were abandoned in the late fourth to fifth centuries (Keay 1984b: 554). While 64% of the inscriptions from the Upper Town date from the second century, only 22.6% can be dated to the three subsequent centuries (Keay 1983: 84). The town of Baetulo was also abandoned in the third century (Keay 1983: 446), as were Valencia (Montenegro 1978: 497) and, by at the end of the fourth century, Ilerda, Calagurris, Bilbilis, Cadiz, and Numancia (Blazquez 1973: 346).

The traditional view is that the urban aristocracy was ruined and that the towns stagnated , declined , and were gradually deserted in the late imperial period. There is much archaeological evidence from the north-western provinces to support this view. In Britain, streets and buildings were abandoned in the fourth century in many towns and by the start of the fifth century there was a great contraction in their size (Jones and Wacher 1987) and there appears to have been a virtual end of urban life in the mid-fifth century (Brooks 1986). In Gloucester, Cirencester, Winchester and Colchester, houses were abandoned in the fourth century. In the same period the Fora of Wroxeter, London and Exeter were abandoned, and that of Leicester was not rebuilt after a fire, and the Basilica at Exeter was used as a cemetery (Brooks 1986: 81-83 ). The Baths at Exeter and Canterbury were abandoned as was the Theatre at Verulamium (Brooks 1986: 82-83). The sewers of York were blocked in the fourth century (Brooks 1986: 83). There was no known major building in London in the fourth century, and existing buildings were gradually abandoned (Marsden 1985: 105-107). Many towns, including Chichester , Colchester , Exeter , and Lincoln , were completely abandoned by the fifth century , and only two British towns , Wroxeter and Verulamium, have yielded any evidence for occupation beyond the mid fifth century (Brooks 1986: 89 ; Wacher 1974: 421).

In Italy , the preservation of street plans in the postRoman period indicates a degree of continuity at Verona and Pavia (Hudson and Hudson 1985: 235 , 237) , Naples , Turin , Lucca , Florence , and Aosta (Fevrier 1977: 325) , and inscriptions suggest that central towns flowered in the third century (Patterson 1985a chapter 5). However , Ward-Perkins ' recent study has shown that town building declined drastica11y in the later period: from the third or fourth century onwards , no major public building or repairs were carried out , buildings often fell into severe decay , and by the mid fifth century ' almost a11 the traditional secular buildings were already in ruins ' (Ward-Perkins 1984: 14, 22 , 34 , 37). As in Britain , Gaul , and Spain , areas of towns were deserted: for example , insulae were abandoned in Pavia and Verona in the fifth century (Hudson and Hudson 1985: 235, 237).

In the Gallic provinces, many towns were fortified in the third century or later by wa11s which enclosed a greatly reduced area (re their dating see Butler 1959: 43 ; Johnson 1973*). Amiens , for example , which had covered 120 hectares in the second century , was given a wall enclosing only 10 hectares , and a similar reduction occurred at Boulogne , Soissons , Therouanne , Beauvais , Senlis , Rouen , and Bavay (Cheva11ier 1974). The walls were often built with great quantities of spolia , which suggests a widespread destruction or deliberate demolition of what were formerly important civic and religious monuments: at Sens parts of a monumental fa~ade were used; templ es were robb ed for the wall s of

However , in the eastern and African areas of the empire the situation was quite different. In the provinces of the African continent , the late empire was a boom period for urban life, and the first signs of decline occurred only in the fifth century. In Mauretania in the third century there was a great expansion of the towns and in the fourth century rich public and private buildings were erected (Leveau 1984). In the province of Africa , the apogee of the towns occurred in the third and fourth centuries , with the buildin g of fora , temple s, church es, bath s, and aqueducts, especially under the Severi, the Tetrachy and 34

VILLAS, FARMS AND THE LAT E ROMAN RURAL E CONOMY

1978*: 1009), Shiloh Kempinski (Avi-Yonah 1978*: 1099), and Subeita (Avi-Yonah 1978*: 1118). Jerusalem was splendidly embellished with ostentatious public buildings between the fourth and sixth centuries , including the fourth century Church of the Holy Sepulchre , the fifth century city wall, and the sixth century Nea Church and main street extension with its huge colonnade (Avigad 1984*: 226 , 228 , 260 , 262). There are ' late' mosaics in the Stadium , Theatre , Temple of Kore , and Shrine Hat Samaria (Crowfoot , Kenyon and Sukenik 1942*: 39). The apogee of the city of Gaza may be placed in the sixth century, a period of magnificent public building (Glucker 1987*: 4).

Constantine , and in the second half of the fourth century (Lepelley 1979: passim; Kolendo and Kotula 1977: 179; Thebert 1983: 102). At Thuburbo Maius , for example , the Forum , Winter Baths , and Trifolium House were rebuilt in the fourth century (Lezine 1968*). At Mactar the excavations have uncovered a house or temple with 18 mosaics of different periods from the third to early fourth century (Picard , Picard , Bourgeois and Bourgeois 1977*). There were great building works in the lnsulae and Baths of Julia Memmia at Bulla Regia in the fourth century (Thebert 1983: 103). At Cyrene , in Libya, the Agora saw its apogee in the mid third century, was completely rebuilt in the mid fourth century , and underwent a large building programme in the early fifth century (Stucchi 1965*).

Although the city of Palmyra never recovered its former glory after the siege and sack by Aurelian (Michalowski 1970*: 7-8; Schlumberger 1951*: 130-132) , other towns in Syria enjoyed a high degree of prosperity until the mid sixth century (Kennedy 1985). Antioch , for example , saw a magnificent expansion in the third century with the construction of luxury houses and a grand colonnade over four kilometres long, flourished in the fourth century , and saw the construction of a martyrion and palatial houses in the Daphne area in the fifth and sixth centuries (Lassus 1947: 303; Stillwell 1941*: 12-17, 28, 53). In Aleppo new quarters were built and the area of the city increased in the fourth and fifth centuries , the Synagogue was redecorated in the fifth century , and the Cathedral and Episcopal Palace were rebuilt with very sumptuous decoration in the second half of the sixth century (Sauvaget 1941 *: 58-66).

The lack of excavation of Roman settlement in Egypt makes the picture there difficult to paint. In Alexandria , although the area of the city shrank in the fourth century (Rodziewicz 1984*: 335), a programme of urban building in the later empire included a theatre built at the start of the fourth century and large baths (Rodziewicz 1984*: 35, 58). The papyri from Oxyrhynchus provide evidence that this town grew in size and that new streets , three baths , a gymnasium , two churches, and four major shrines were built in the third century (MacLennan 1935: 22 , 33). In the fifth and sixth centuries the situation in the North African provinces began to change , although even in this period magnificent basilicas were built at Sitifis, Tebessa , Sbeitla , Haidra , and Sufetela (Kolendo and Kotula 1977: 182; Thebert 1983: 119). At Belalis Maior , quarters of the city were abandoned and cemeteries filled urban areas in the fifth century , while roads and sewers fell into ruin (Mahjoubi 1985: 391-392). At Carthage , the Theatre , Odeon and Antonine Baths were abandoned and streets neglected in the fifth century (Hurst and Roskams 1984*: 44).

In Asia Minor the cities show no evidence of decline in the later Roman period , and indeed there was much rebuilding and renovation in the fourth and fifth centuries (Richardson 1979: 25 and passim). At Ankara luxury houses with fine mosaics were built in the fourth century (Foss 1977*: 66). At Sardis a magnificent synago gue with marble decoration , mosaics , and paintings was established in the third century (Foss 1976*: 29) and was rebuilt with a colonnade and new mosaics in the second half of the fourth century (Foss 1976*: 41). At the same time the road south of the Gymnasium was paved with marble and a colonnade and 29 shops were added (Foss 1976*: 42 ; Hanfmann and Waldbaum 1975*: 32), Churches M, E, and EA were built , and the House of the Bronzes with its luxurious decorations was erected (Hanfmann and Waldbaum 1975*: 13-16). There was also great building activity in the fifth century when the Pactolus North Baths , with their magnificent mosaics , were erected (Hanfmann and Waldbaum 1975 *: 31 ), along with the new colonnade in the Gymnasium complex (Foss 1976*: 40), and a new residential quarter with a marble paved street, colonnade , and statues (Foss 1976*: 44). The Synagogue received new mosaics and marble decoration (Foss 1976*: 42) , and Sector PN was reoccupied , after long desertion , as the site of large luxury buildings (Foss 1976*: 46). At Ephesus , although spolia were often used, there was much rich building in the later empire (Foss 1979*: 9). In the fourth century the

In contrast , the towns of provinces further east appear to have flourished until a very late date. In Palestine the late empire was without question a period of rich and extensive building in cities and towns. From the fourth to the seventh centuries , rich town houses were built or redecorated with fine mosaics at Beth Govrin (A vi-Y onah 1975*: 194-196) , Beth Shean (Avi-Yonah 1975*: 228229) , Eboda (Avi-Yonah 1976*: 353), Tel Shiqmona (Avi-Yonah 1978*: 1107), and Samaria (Crowfoot, Kenyon and Sukenik 1942*: 135); new synagogues were established or old ones rebuilt with rich decoration at Beth Shean (Avi-Yonah 1975*: 225 , 228) , Caesarea (Avi-Yonah 1975*: 278) , En-Gedi (Avi-Yonah 1976*: 378) , Hammat Gader (Avi-Yonah 1976*: 473) , Husifah (Avi-Yonah 1976*: 526), Na ' aran (Avi-Yonah 1977*: 891-894) , Hammath Tiberias (Avi-Yonah 1978*: 1182), Sberna' Khirbet (Avi-Yonah 1978*: 1097) and Khirbet Susiya (Avi-Yonah 1978*: 1124-1128) ; and churches were erected at Eboda (Avi-Yonah 1976*: 351) , Gerasa (Avi-Yonah 1976*: 422) , Ramat Rahel (Avi-Yonah

35

TAMARA LEWIT

Harbour Baths were rebuilt (Foss 1979*: 59) as was the east residential complex above the Embol.os (Foss 1979*: 74), in the fifth century the road to the harbour was paved with marble (Foss 1979*: 56) and a synagogue was built · south of the palace (Foss 1979*: 54), and in the early sixth century a palace was built for the Governor (Foss 1979*: 51).

and were gradually abandoned. Even in Italy , towns were partially abandoned and urban building virtually came to an end. In the region from Mauretania to Cyrenaica a similar process occurred , but at a later date: the cities of this region flowered in the third and fourth centuries but began to decay in the fifth. By contrast , in the eastern region of the empire , from Palestine to Greece , the classical towns flourished and grew right up to the sixth or seventh century.

The fifth to seventh centuries saw a boom in church building on Crete (Sanders 1976*: 137) and the city of Salamis was the scene of intense activity from the fourth to the seventh century , when the city Baths were transformed and a vast habitation and richly decorated churches were erected (Diederichs 1980*: 7-11). In Thessaloniki there was substantial building in the third to fifth centuries , including the Rotunda , the Odeon , rich houses , buildings in the Agora , and phases of the Baths (Catting 1985*: 42). A complex with courtyard and statues was built in the late Roman period at Thasos (Catting 1986*: 79). Fifth to sixth century street phases have been uncovered at Patras (Catting 1984*: 31). Phases of the Octagon at Phillipi (Catting 1984*: 50) and of the Agora, Odeon and Theatre , and Baths B at Argos (Catting 1983*; Ginouves 1972*: 214) date from the fourth and later centuries. Houses were built in the sixth century at Nemea (Catling 1983*: 24) and in the fourth to the sixth centuries at Sparta (Gregory 1982*: 20). The fifth century was a period of renaissance at Athens: a huge gymnasium and the Omega House were built, and the Old Library area, the Temple, Stoa, and commercial buildings were rebuilt (Camp 1986*: 200; Shear 1984*). Although the Agora area was abandoned in the early sixth century, the evidence of churches built in the late sixth and seventh century suggests a continuation of urban life (Thompson and Wycherly 1972 *: 213, 216). Although the city of Corinth shows some signs of decline, with the abandonment of the Theatre, the area east of the Theatre , and the South Basilica at the end of the fourth century (Stillwell 1952*: 140; Weinberg 1960*; Williams and Zervos 1987*) and the Odeon at the start of the fifth century (Broneer 1932*: 147-148), and the use of the Gymnasium area for burials and dumps in the fifth to sixth century (Wiseman 1972 *), the Small Baths were built in the fourth century and used till the sixth (Broneer 1954*: 159), the South-East Agora buildings were refurbished at the start of the fifth century (Weinberg 1960*). The port of Kenchreai , 10 kilometres to the east , saw vigorous building in the fifth century including a new Christian building and a major renovation of the Aphrodision (Scranton, Shaw, and Ibrahim 1978*: 71, 87). At Askra , a decline in the size and activity of the town in the early imperial period was followed by a remarkable revival and the expansion of the town to its former size in the fourth to sixth centuries (Bintliff and Snodgrass 1985*) .

It has been suggested that the apparent decline of towns in the North-West was not as severe as it seems. Wilkes and Walker have pointed out that the building of town walls is not in itself necessarily an indication of decline , but may rather serve as evidence for civic strength and pride , and that the use of spolia in their building does not mean that they were hastily jerry-built (Wilkes and Walker 1986). It has also been argued that the late Roman city walls did not enclose the entire occupied area of towns, but only the central administrative buildings , serving as a citadel and refuge , while a significant proportion of the population lived outside the walls and built both public and private extra-mural buildings (Fevrier 1980; Bistaudeau 1980: 30; Lineres 1972-1973: 118). It has been argued that we therefore cannot draw conclusions about the state of urban life in the late empire on the basis of the restricted size of town walls. Excavations outside the walls of various towns have uncovered extra-mural buildings and residential quarters dating from the third and later centuries. For example , there are extra-mural markets at Bourg , Bazas , and Dax (Bistaudeau 1980: 30) and fourth to fifth century basilicas at Tours , Poitiers, Paris, Clermont-Ferrand , Rheims (Fevrier 1977: 327) , and even at Lyon , although the Upper Town was abandoned during this period (Reynaud 1981). At Saint Bertrand de Comminges in Aquitaine the walls enclose only 4.2 hectares in comparison to the 100 hectare city of the high empire , but monumental buildings in the Lower City continued to be used, repaired , and altered in the late Roman period (Lineres 1972-1973: 114). At Thessaloniki there are third century baths outside the walls in a former cemetery area (Catting 1985*: 42). Philippi has an extra-mural basilica (Catting 1984*: 50). A great deal of pottery and almost all the early churches have been found outside the walls of Corinth (Gregory 1979* and 1982*: 19). Extramural basilicas were also built at the city of Rome in the late imperial period (Fevrier 1977: 327). At Silchester , it appears that closely-spaced masonry and timber buildings running 400 metres west and east of the city gates were erected in the third century and occupied to the late fourth (Fulford and Corney 1984*: 266-268, 288). Thebert argues that the abandonment of certain buildings within a town may not necessarily be an indication of decline. He points out that the spread of Christianity was responsible for the abandonment of many pagan public buildings and meeting places , such as temples , fora , and baths , in Africa in the fourth century (Thebert 1983: 116).

It seems that we must clearly distinguish between the histories of the towns in the North-West , in the North African region , and in the East. In Spain, Gaul , and Britain , in the third to fourth centuries , towns decayed

36

VI LLAS, FARMS AND THE LA TE ROMAN RURAL EC ONOMY

As outlined above, magnificent churches were built in many African cities during the same period.

ignored the classical street plan and were scattered arbitrarily around the Baths (Rodziewicz 1984*: 59). At Pessinus , the Stoa was converted into a habitation with workshops , and houses were built on the ruins of the Temple Theatre (Devreker and Whelkens 1984*). A flour mill and an olive mill were built in the south-eastern comer of the Athenian Agora in the mid fifth century during the same period as the building of luxury villas in the town (Thompson and Wycherley 1972*: 214; Camp 1986*: 198).

However , many of the changes in the north-western cities , such as the abandonment of private homes , the disuse of roads , and the blocking up of sewers , are unmistakable signs of decline. Nevertheless , there is evidence that a process more subtle than a simple impoverishment or depopulation was taking place. In the western provinces , and possibly even to some extent in the East , there was a change from a classical urban space , with regular street plan , monumental buildings , and a function and character clearly differentiated from rural sites , to a much smaller and more diversified milieu of irregularly placed , often timber buildings , perhaps grouped around churches rather than along laid out streets , interspersed with cemeteries and artisan quarters , and , most importantly , including large areas devoted to food production , either market gardening or the processing of agricultural products.

We may conclude that the traditional view of late Roman urban decline requires some modification. Most importantly , the view ignores the flowering of the African and eastern towns , where the late empire is a time of rich and glorious building activity . In the north-western provinces , and even in Italy , classical style urban occupation came to a virtual end by the fifth century. This decline and abandonment , however , represents a deurbanisation , not necessarily an impoverishment. There was continued occupation and activity in many of the partially abandoned towns , but occupation and activity of a different kind. The former public buildings which symbolise the institutions of classical urban life were used for burials , artisan activity , or as Christian cult laces , and the main activities become market gardening and artisan production. We may picture them as "agrotowns ", settlements with an agricultural function but urban features. Such "agro-towns " were common in medieval Italy , where their walls enclosed gardens , orchards , fields and common land (Delano Smith 1979: 38, 131). As Reece states regarding the province of Britain:

The change is clearest in Britain , where a large number of towns have black soil layers dating to the late and postRoman period. These have been found at Gloucester , Leicester , Cirencester , Chichester , Canterbury , Winchester , and York (Arnold 1984: 30) and even London , where the deposit is one metre deep (Hobley 1986). Although not a11these deposits have been studied in detail , soil and botanical studies indicate that that of London was formed by market gardening in previously built-up areas (MacPhail 1981: 326). It is therefore likely that this widespread phenomenon reflects the use of urban spaces for cultivation (Kent 1979 re London) . In addition , public buildings in Britain were converted from administrative to artisan use. The basilicas of Silchester and Wroxeter were used for metalworking (Frere 1984: 244). Timber buildings replaced masonry , as at Wroxeter, where , Crickmore claims , the many wooden buildings and ovens imply a thriving community and the largescale replanning of the town (Crickmore 1984*: 88, 99) .

The institutions which we recognise as towns in the second century were no longer reco gnisable ... an alternative structure ... based on the villa and village , had been establish ed (Reece 1980: 77-78). The contrast between North-W est and East may have been due to a difference in nature between the longestablished metropolises of the East and the Romanimposed , administrative centres of the West , which collapsed with the collapse of Roman government (cf Reece 1981a). It also reveals a differ ence in the relationship between town and country in the two areas : in the East , urban wealth and growth in the late empire were echoed by rural wealth and growth. In the West , however , urban decline was not echoed by rural decline , and, as has been shown , occupation and prosperity continued and even increased on rural sites in the third and fourth centuries. However , the same process of declassicising appears on both rural and urban sites in the late fourth to fifth century West: both display the recurrent pattern of the use of formerly elegant Romanstyle buildings for burials , cult places , or artisan activity , and of un-classical timber building along an entirely different plan . It appears that a similar cultural , rather than economic , process was taking place in both town and country at this period in the West.

There is similar evidence from Gaul and Spain. At Amiens , a slag layer covered the east of the Forum in the late fourth century (Frezouls 1982: 92). At Eauze and Lectoure , artisan activities replaced occupation in a resid ential area of the Lower Town (Bistaudeau 1980: 30). At Barcino , Baetulo , and Iluro , buildings appear to have been used for agricultural functions in the fourth and fifth centuries (Keay 1984b: 556).

In Africa , Kolendo and Kotula argue that the classical towns evolved into large rural villages (Kolendo and Kotula 1977). At Thuburbo Maius , for example , the road system was abandoned and the city monuments had fallen into ruin by the fifth century , but oil factories were set up, even in the former forum (Thebert 1983: 118; Lezine 1968*: 5; Mahjoubi 1985: 392). There is scattered evidence for a similar process even in Egypt , Asia Minor and Greece. At Alexandria , buildings were erected in the sixth and seventh century , but they

37

TAMARALEWIT

Wild beasts ... kill the strongest men, and, having fed on their flesh, run wild to the ruin of the human race

8. Textual evidence

Debacchantibus per Hispanias barbaris et saeviente nihilominus pestilentiae malo. .. fames dira grassatur, adeo ut humanae cames ab humano genere vi fames fuerint devoratae: matres quoque necatis vel coctis per se natorum suorum sint pastae corporibus. Bestiae ... quosque hominum fortiores interimunt eorumque camibus pastae passim in humani generis efferantur interitum (Hydatius 48).

Salvien ... nous montre - en Gaule , ii est vrai, mais sa description peut s'appliquer, semble-t-il, a toutes Jes regions de I'Empire - Jes petits proprietaires accables par la misere, effrayes de l'avenir, desesperes de leur faiblesse, incapables surtout d'aquitter leur part d'impot (Harmand 1955: 180-181).

The traditional view of late Roman farming has been largely based on the evidence of written sources. It is therefore necessary to examine whether these in fact contradict the picture suggested by the archaeological evidence.

Similarly , Brauer (197 5: 70- 71) quotes Cyprian as evidence for despair engendered by the ' danger and destruction' of the barbarian invasions: In the winter there is not such an abundance of showers for nourishing the seeds; in the summer the sun has not so much heat for cherishing the harvest; nor in the spring season are the cornfields so joyous; nor are the autumnal seasons so fruitful in their leafy products

Among the most influential passages in the written sources are certain ancient laments about a general decline of the Roman state which animadvert on the economic situation. These are often quoted uncritically by modem historians as evidence for the economic condition of the later empire. Depeyrot, for example, states that '(la desolation des villes est] une situation qui semble avoir ete assez courante' (Depeyrot 1987: 22-23), quoting Zosimus' complaint that:

Non hieme nutriendis seminibus tanta imbrium copia est, non frugibus aestate torrendis solita flagrantia est nee sic vema de temperie sua laeta sunt nee adeo arboreis fetibus autumna fecunda sunt (Cyprian Ad Demetrianum 3).

Such was the tum for the worse in the State's affairs: within a short period of time the military forces were lessened in importance and in number alike while the cities were destitute of money, some being exhausted by immoderate levies of tribute, others by the avarice of magistrates... the inhabitants of the cities, afflicted with both penury and magisterial wickedness , led a most unfortunate and pitiable existence

Certain passages in Salvian influential. When he writes that

oucr11cr ouv fiTI 't0tafrtT) 'tftcr &µl "Cfiv 1t0Am:i.av tnl "COXetpov tvaAAayflcr, "COµev cr'tpanconx:ov ev 6Ai.ycoµ£µti.cow xp6vco x:m etcr "CO µT)Ev1t£pttcr'ta"CO, "Ccxcr8e 1t6Aetcr E7ttA£A01.7ttl"CCX xp11µam, "CCX µev \)7t0 "CCOV E7tt't£9Ev"Ccovelcroncov,u1tep~mv6v'tcov "CO µE'tpov, "CCX8e dcr 'tfiv "CCOV&px6v"Ccov tx:evou'to 1tAt0vesi.av (Zosimus IV. 29). He also uses as evidence that 'des barbares ... ruinaient les cites et etaient causes de famines' (Depeyrot 1987: 26) Hydatius' statement that: While the Spanish provinces are delivered up to the excesses of the barbarians and the evil of the plague still rages ... we are attacked by frightful famine: humans are driven by hunger to devour human flesh , and women also feed on their own children whom they kill or cook.

been

especially

they who suffer the incessant and even continuous destruction of public tax levies ... desert their homes... the poor and wretched, despoiled of their few possessions and evicted from their little plots of land, must, even when they have lost their property, bear the taxes for the things they have lost... When either they lose their homes and fields to the invaders or flee as fugitives from the tax collectors, because they cannot hold their land, they seek out the estates of the rich and become their coloni qui adsiduum, immo continuum exactionis publicae patiuntur excidium... domus suas deserunt... plerique pauperculorum atque miserorurn spoliati resculis suis et exterminati agellis suis , cum rem amiserint , amissarum tamen rerum tributa patiuntur ... cum domicilia atque agellos suos aut pervasionibus perdunt aut fugati ab exactoribus deserunt , quia tenere non possunt, fundos maiorum expetunt et coloni divitum fiunt (Salvian De gubernatione dei V.6 and 8) Harmand concludes that

38

have

VILLAS, FARMS AND THE LA TE ROMAN RURAL ECONOMY

Salvien... nous montre - en Gaule , il est vrai, mais sa description peut s'appliquer , semble-t-il, a toutes Jes regions de )'Empire - Jes petits proprietaires accables par la misere , effrayes de l'avenir , desesperes de leur faiblesse , incapables surtout d'aquitter leur part d'impot (Harmand 1955: 180-181)

replaced by confusion, corruption and vice: Livy , for example, writes of our moral decline... the rapidly increasing disintegration , then the final collapse of the whole edifice , and the dark dawning of our modem day when we can neither endure our vices nor face the remedies needed to cure them

Boak cites the same passage as 'conclusive proof of a decrease in the agricultural class' (Boak 1955: 140 n.53), although Salvian at no point implies a depopulation of any kind but speaks only of oppression of the poor and their flight from their homes.

labente deinde paulatim disciplina velut dissidentis primo mores sequatur animo , deinde ut magis magisque lapsi sint, tum ire coeperint praecipites, donec ad haec tempora, quibus nee vitia nostra nee remedia pati possumus , perventum est. (Livy Praef. 9).

Sperber bases his account of the late Roman economy on similar generalised laments. He concludes from passages such as the following

Noone would suppose Livy to be giving a literal account of the social and economic condition of the empire under Augustus , since we believe this period to have been the very heyday of Rome, yet these are very much the sentiments expressed by Zosimus , whose words are taken at face value. In fact, the very notion of an overall decline of the imperial organism and collapse of all aspects of life including agriculture prevalent in modem writings has its roots in this ancient philosophical concept ( cf also Ammianus XIV.6.19-22 , XXVIII.4.6ff , XXXI.5.13 and Aurelius Victor 28.5; 35.14; 39.44 , who also bemoan contemporary immorality).

R Helbo and R A vira and R Jose b Hanina came to this place. They brought before them a peach that was [as large] as a stew pot of Kfar Hino. And a stew pot ofKfar Hino contains ... 5 se'ahs. They ate a third , gave away a third , and gave a third to their animals. A year of so later , R 'El'azar came there , and they brought him a peach and he took it in his hand and said , "A fruitful land into a salt waste , for the wickedness of them that dwell therein" (Psalm 107: 34) (Bavli Ketubot 112a)

The philosophical tradition of decline is given added virulence in the writings of Zosimus by the contemporary conflict between Christianity and Paganism: Zosimus is a pagan apologist and the passage quoted above is an illustration of his central thesis that the abandonment of pagan rites would prove fatal:

and From the day the Temple was destroyed , there is no day that has not a curse in it, and the dew does not descend beneficially , and the taste was taken from the fruits (Mishna Soto 9.12)

since this [ceremony of the Saecular Games] was not maintained affairs necessarily have come to the unhappy state that currently oppresses us

that the picture that emerges from them is of a decline in several different branches of agricultural activity ... these texts presuppose a rather drastic fall in the quality of Palestine's produce (Sperber 1978: 23).

EK 'tOU'tOU 't?tyapouv ~ oi 'tCXcr 1t6Aetcr OtKOUV'tecr 7t£Vta 'tt Kat apxov't(J)V 1Ca1da 'tpux6µevot OU

lt¾. •~~"]--&'!J.l~Mfil.tmt~'f'.fE

~~'llt.~

I I 100

I

i'