The Roman Villa of Hoogeloon and the Archaeology of the Periphery

This book is about the Roman villa complex of Hoogeloon, a key site for the understanding of the impact of empire on a peripheral region in the Roman North. The volume is not a simple site report but the synthesis of an academic research programme. It offers an original, multi-dimensional perspective on the social dynamics that led to the development of a large villa in the relatively poor and peripheral hinterland of the Lower Rhine limes. A central role is attributed to agency and the interplay of military and urban networks and native social structures. At the same time the book offers a synthesis of one of the best investigated rural areas of the Roman empire. Themes discussed include town-country relations, monetization, the agrarian economy of the region, changing settlement systems, and the ethnic identity of the inhabitants. This collection of essays written by leading specialists in the field offers a fresh perspective on the integration of marginal areas in the Roman Empire and is essential reading for anyone interested in the comparative analysis of the Roman countryside.

Nico Roymans is professor of West European archaeology and Ton Derksand Henk Hiddink are assistant professors of Roman archaeology at VU University Amsterdam.