INTRODUCTION
Key Themes
1) Cultural identity (Roman-ness)
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The "Other"
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Greeks
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Easterners
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Celts and Germans
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Internal Others
2) Tradition & innovation
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Cultural conservatism
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Assimilation of new elements
Sources
Written Evidence
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Documentary texts
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Literary texts
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plays (Plautus)
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poetry (Vergil, Ovid)
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oratory (Cicero)
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history (Livy)
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philosophy (Lucretius, Seneca)
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Linguistic change
Physical evidence
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Art & Architecture
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Material Culture: pottery, artifacts
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Archaeology (Pompeii, Herculaneum)
Physical Setting
Mediterranean: < medius, "middle" + terra,
"land"
Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean & the Mediterranean
World in the Age of Philip II (1949)
Physical Geography
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Geological trough
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Mountain ranges (Apennines, Alps, Pyrenees, Atlas)
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Earthquakes & volcanoes
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Transport & travel: land vs. sea
Climate
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An outdoor society
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Winter rains; summer droughts
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Irregular water supply
Food
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Sheep- and goat-herding
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Fish (and fish sauce: garum)
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Agriculture: olives, grapes, grain
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