Roman Discussion Forum

The Roman Discussion Forum is a series of seminars that covers all aspects of Roman archaeology and art, and includes many economic themes.

The current and past programmes of talks are listed below.

Please join us on Wednesdays at 1.00 pm (during term time) in the Lecture Room of the Institute of Archaeology, 36 Beaumont Street, Oxford.
Talks are followed by discussion and light refreshments.

RDF Programmes

Week 1 April 25	No Meeting
Week 2 May 2	Reset in stone. Ancient architectural repair techniques Jean Vanden Broeck-Parant, Oxford
Week 3 May 9	Recent excavations at Spasinou Charax Stuart Campbell, University of Liverpool
Week 4 May 16	Women's weights for measuring wool: new artifactual evidence for domestic textile production in Late Hellenistic and Roman Greece Jack Kroll, Oxford
Week 5 May 23	No Meeting
Week 6 May 30	Bridging watersheds: Artificial canals and networks of inland navigation in Central Europe in the Roman and Post-Roman periods Lukas Werther, UCL Institute of Archaeology / Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena
Week 7 June 6	Quantifying cereal production in the north-west Roman provinces Lisa Lodwick, Oxford
Week 8 June 13	The implications of mass production for Roman identities Greg Woolf, Institute of Classical Studies, London

Week 1 January 17	No Seminar
Week 2 January 24	Parasitic Infection in the Roman Empire, New Insights from Ancient Faeces Marissa Ledger (University of Cambridge)
Week 3 January 31	Climate change and the Antonine Plague Brandon McDonald (University of Oxford)
Week 4 February 7	To be confirmed
Week 5 February 14	Rure in Chorte, in Urbe in Tabul[??]o: Rereading Varro on Seasonal Migration in Roman Houses Evan Proudfoot (Lincoln College, Oxford)
Week 6 February 21	The Long Roman Glass Industry Ian Freestone (University College, London)
Week 7 February 28	To be confirmed
Week 8 March 7	Building Private Pompeii. A Structural Survey of Insula I.9 Sophie Hay (University of Reading)

Week 1 October 11	Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire: linking data, and what a hoard of 80,000 coins tells us about coin production under Nerva and Trajan Marguerite Spoerri Butcher, Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire Project, Oxford
Week 2 October 18	Tributary landscapes: castros and mining in north-west Spain Andrew Wilson, Oxford
Week 3 October 25	The Roman Amphorae Assemblage Database and a reassessment of the ‘Annona Militaris' on the Rhine frontier Tyler Franconi, Oxford
Week 4 November 1	Recent research on the sculptural finds from the Agora Gate at Aphrodisias Josh Thomas, Oxford
Week 5 November 8	Settlement scaling theory, infrastructure, and the urbanism of the Roman world Jack Hanson, Boulder, Colorado
Week 6 November 15	Roman Delos Mantha Zarmakoupi, Birmingham
Week 7 November 22	Project MERCURY: computational modelling of Roman economies Tom Brughmans, Oxford
Week 8 November 29	17 Kilograms: The Archaeology of Roman Cavalry Mike Bishop

Week 1 April 26	Working boats in the ancient harbours of Rome and Naples, Italy Giulia Boetto, Centre Camille Jullian, Aix Marseille Université
Week 2 May 3	The transmission of mechanical technologies between the Hellenistic and Roman Mediterranean and ancient China Andrew Wilson, Oxford
Week 3 May 10	TBD
Week 4 May 17	Urban workshops in Pompeii: dyeing plants and other workshops Prof. Jean-Pierre Brun, Collège de France
Week 5 May 24	TBD
Week 6 May 31	TBD
Week 7 June 7	Origins of the Colonnaded Axes of the Cities of the Roman Eastern Provinces Prof. Ross Burns, Macquarie University
Week 8 June 14	Dating the Building Projects in Jerusalem after Herod: The Contribution of the Numismatic Evidence Donald Ariel, Israel Antiquities Authority

Week 1 January 18	The excavation of the Pisa ships. A proposal for chronology and interpretation Dr Andrea Camilli, Director, Cantiere delle Navi Antiche di Pisa
Week 2 January 25	The role of water in production processes in antiquity: evidence from pre- Roman and Roman Spain Dr Elena Sánchez, Universidad de Granada
Week 3 February 1	Walking Between Gods and Mortals: visualizing religious movement at Ostia Katherine Crawford, University of Southampton
Week 4 February 8	Two theatres in the city: a new research project on the theatres of Pompeii Éloïse Letellier-Taillefer, École française de Rome
Week 5 February 15	Urban workshops in Pompeii: potters' and metallurgists' workshops Prof. Jean-Pierre Brun, Collège de France
Week 6 February 22	Mosaic programmes in domestic contexts at Zeugma Prof. Kutalmis Gorkay, Ankara University
Week 7 March 1	A movable feast? Animal exploitation in early Roman Italy Dr Angela Trentacoste, University of Oxford
Week 8 March 8	The birth of private banking in Roman Egypt Prof. François Lerouxel, Université Paris-Sorbonne, Institut universitaire de France

Week 1 October 12	Roman Hoards from the Middle and Lower Danube—General and Specific Patterns Prof. Cristian Gazdac, Romanian Academy of Science
Week 2 October 19	Digital Experimental Archaeology: Realizing (or at least Virtualizing) Hero's Description of Automata Dr Duncan Keenan-Jones, University of Glasgow
Week 3 October 26	Urban Workshops in Pompeii: Tannery 1, the Evolution of Insula I 5 from the Archaic Period to AD 79 Prof. Jean-Pierre Brun, Collège de France
Week 4 November 2	A New Archaeology of Pompeii Prof. Mark Robinson, Oxford University Museum of Natural History
Week 5 November 9	Mining in Roman Dacia Swii Lim, Merton College
Week 6 November 16	Landed Traders, Trading Agriculturalists? Land in the Economy of the Italian Diaspora in the Greek East Dr Lisa Eberle, St John's College, and Énora LeQuéré, Université de Rouen
Week 7 November 23	The Cargo of the Hermapollon and the History of Indo-Mediterranean Trade Prof. Federico De Romanis, Università di Roma “Tor Vergata”
Week 8 November 30	Urban Workshops in Pompeii: Tannery 2, the Tanners' Works Prof. Jean-Pierre Brun, Collège de France

Week 1 April 27	Late Hellenistic to Early Roman Corinth: Traditions and Transformations after 146 BC Dr Sarah James, University of Colorado, Boulder
Week 2 May 4th	Exploitation of natural resources and long-distance Oriental trade in the Eastern Desert of Egypt: 1. From the Ptolemies to the Roman conquest Prof. Jean-Pierre Brun, Collège de France
Week 2 *2 pm, May 5th*	Exploitation of natural resources and long-distance Oriental trade in the Eastern Desert of Egypt: 2. From the Roman conquest to Late Antiquity Prof. Jean-Pierre Brun, Collège de France
Week 3 May 11	Scanning electron microscopy and its application to two under- studied Roman materials: iron slag and ceramic building material Ed Peveler and Steven Crabbe, University of Oxford
Week 4 May 18	Consuming perfumes, cosmetics, and medicaments: Glass and social practice in Roman Britain Thomas Derrick, University of Leicester
Week 5 May 25	Olive oil production in Cyrenaica, northeast Libya Ahmed Buzaian, University of Leicester
Week 6 June 1	The expected and the unexpected: recent archaeological excavations at Cataractonium, Bainess and…Scotch Corner?! (A1 Leeming to Barton Road Improvement Scheme, North Yorkshire) Hannah Russ and David Griffiths, Northern Archaeological Associates
Week 7 June 8	Visualising assemblages and building regions: multivariate spatial analyses for pots, bones and other things Dr Martin Sterry, University of Leicester
Week 8 June 15	The Roman theatre in Scupi : recent finds from excavations Dr Antonio Jakimovski, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, Faculty of Philosophy, Skopje

Week 1 January 20	No Seminar
Week 2 January 27	The Name Game: Roman Naming Conventions v. Electoral Evidence Virginia Campbell, University of Oxford
Week 3 February 3	Retracing Sir Aurel Stein's Limes: combining GIS, satellite imagery and the archives Rebecca Banks, EAMENA Project, Oxford
Week 4 February 10	Introducing MERCURY: an agent-based network model of ceramic distribution for studying Roman economic integration Tom Brughmans, Universität Konstanz
Week 5 February 17	On the Edges of Gaul. The Roman occupation along the southern North Sea-Coast (Flanders/SW-Netherlands) Prof. Wim De Clercq, Universiteit Gent
Week 6 February 24	The imperial quarry of Domitianê, Egypt Prof. Jean-Pierre Brun, Collège de France
Week 7 March 2	Statues, graves and public space – the spatial context of monuments in the cities of Roman Greece Christopher Dickenson, University of Oxford
Week 8 March 9	TBA Prof. Nicola Terrenato, University of Michigan

Week 1 October 14	How Romans improved the productivity of animal husbandry: evidence from ancient Western Europe using stable isotopes and faunal remains Dr Silvia Valenzuela-Lamas, University of Sheffield
Week 2 October 21	Towards an economic geography of consumption in the Roman World? Dr Miko Flohr, Universiteit Leiden
Week 3 October 28	Olive oil production in Roman and late Roman Jordan Dr Tomasz Waliszewski, Instytut Archeologii, University of Warsaw
Week 4 November 4	The Southwestern Fazzan in Garamantian times: new evidence from the Italian work in the Wadi Tanzzuft and the Tadrart Akakus Dr Maria Carmela Gatto, University of Leicester
Week 5 November 11	Roman exploitation of water power: chronological trends and geographical spread Prof. Andrew Wilson, University of Oxford
Week 6 November 18	The Arles-Rhône 3 shipwreck project, from the river to the museum Dr Sabrina Marlier, Musée départemental Arles antique
Week 7 November 25	Endangered Archaeology: the Past, Present and Future of the Middle East Dr Emma Cunliffe, University of Oxford
Week 8 December 2	Gold mining in the Eastern desert of Egypt from Ptolemy I to the Ummayad period Prof. Jean-Pierre Brun, Collège de France

Week 1 April 29	From figlina to buildings: the use of opus Testaceum in Hispania Macarena Bustamante and Lourdes Rodan, Universidad Autonoma de Madrid
Week 2 May 6	Life and death in a Roman colony on the eastern Adriatic coast: an osteoarchaeological perspective Mario Novak, University College Dublin
Week 3 May 13	A late Roman cemetery excavated in Pallene, Attica: The transition from paganism to Christianity in the hinterland of Athens Galatea Klapakis, Greek Archaeological Service
Week 4 May 20	The Port of Clysma revisited Prof. Jean-Pierre Brun, College de France
Week 5 May 27	Iconography of the coinage of the Gallic empire Jerome Mairat, University of Oxford
Week 6 June 3	A foot in the door: laterality and movement in Roman houses Taylor Lauritsen, Cardiff University
Week 7 June 10	Storms and war: Sicily and the sea Paul Roberts, Ashmolean Museum, and Alexandra Sofroniew, University of Oxford
Week 8 June 17	What lies beneath? Interpreting Romano-British ‘votive' assemblages from the River Tees at Piercebridge Philippa Walton, University of Oxford

Week 1 January 21	New work on Late Roman D ware; the discovery and implications of 'Cypriot' Red Slip ware production in Turkey Mark Jackson, Newcastle University
Week 2 January 28	Tabernae and urban economies in Roman Italy: towards a history of commercial investment? Miko Flohr, Universiteit Leiden
Week 3 February 4	The Rural Settlement of Roman Britain Project Prof. Michael Fulford, University of Reading
Week 4 February 11	'Maximising agricultural resources in the Oxfordshire Windrush Valley? - A Roman nucleated settlement at Gill Mill and its environment Paul Booth, Oxford Archaeology
Week 5 February 18	A marginal zone? Roman Mining in the Pyrenees Oriol Olesti Vila, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
Week 6 February 25	Living off the Romans in the 19th and 20th Centuries Janice Kinory, University of Oxford
Week 7 March 4	Economic development along Rome's German frontier Tyler Franconi, University of Oxford
Week 8 March 11	Textile, leather and organic remains in the Roman forts along the routes to Myos Hormos and to Berenike Prof. Jean-Pierre Brun, College de France

Week 1 October 15	Roman military vessels based on the archaeological discoveries in Oberstimm and Mainz Prof. Dr Christoph Schäfer, Universität Trier
Week 2 October 22	Colour on Roman marble portraiture. Speculations and preliminary conclusions Amalie Skovmøller, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek
Week 3 October 29	The Excavations of the Roman fort of Xeron Pelagos (Eastern Desert of Egypt) Prof. Jean-Pierre Brun, Collège de France
Week 4 November 5	Industry or in decline? Preliminary evidence for glass recycling in Britain from the 1st - 7th centuries AD Victoria Sainsbury, University of Oxford
Week 5 November 12	The triumph of propaganda, the propaganda of triumph. Caesar's and Pompey's architecture along the ceremonial path Eleonora Zampieri, University of Leicester
Week 6 November 19	Reflections of Ovid in runic text on a bracteate from 5th c. Norfolk Dr Daphne Briggs, University of Oxford
Week 7 November 26	The ceramic assemblages in the Roman forts along the routes to Myos Hormos and to Berenike Prof. Jean-Pierre Brun, Collège de France
Week 8 December 3	Nullus enim fons non sacer: Religious water-displays in the Roman world Dylan Rogers, University of Virginia & ASCSA

Week 1 April 30	Recycling statuary. Evaluating portrait monuments of the fourth century Dr Julia Lenaghan, Ashmolean Museum
Week 2 May 7	Economy of Roman Pannonia – Achievements and Challenges Dr Tibor Grüll, University of Pécs
Week 3 May 14	"Supplying our most noble soldiers": wine for the army in early Roman Egypt Dr Dorota Dzierzbicka, University of Warsaw
Week 4 May 21	Excavations of the Roman forts at Dios on the Coptos-Berenike route 2006-2009 (Egypt) Prof. Jean-Pierre Brun, Collège de France
Week 5 May 28	TBD Dr Edmund Thomas, Durham University
Week 6 June 4	The construction of aqueducts in Roman Hispania Elena Sanchez Lopez, University of Granada
Week 7 June 11	The use and supply of precious metals in Dacia before the Trajanic Wars Swii Yii Lim, University of Oxford
Week 8 June 18	Late Roman coins as economic and ritual objects in south India Dr Rebecca Darley, University of Birmingham

Week 1 January 22	Rural life in Roman Britain: language, literacy and the hinterland of Canterbury Dr Alex Mullen, University of Oxford
Week 2 January 29	Investigating Isca: new work at the Roman Legionary Fortress at Caerleon Dr Peter Guest, Cardiff University
Week 3 February 5	The Making of a Pompeian Myth: Fiorelli, Le Corbusier, and the (Re-)Invention of the 'open plan' Atrium Evan Proudfoot, University of Oxford
Week 4 February 12	Roman copper supply: Thinking Recycled Prof. Mark Pollard and Pete Bray, University of Oxford
Week 5 February 19	Small-island interaction: Pottery from Roman Malta Maxine Anastasi, University of Oxford
Week 6 February 26	The Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire Project Prof. Chris Howgego and Jerome Mairat, University of Oxford
Week 7 March 5	‘…and for sails they used skins and thin-dressed leather…' (Caesar, De Bello Gallico, 3.12): Ships, Identity and Maritime Communities in the Roman and Late Antique Mediterranean Dr Matthew Harpster, University of Birmingham
Week 8 March 12	The excavations of the Roman fort of Didymoi in the Eastern Desert of Egypt Prof. Jean-Pierre Brun, Collège de France