Colonization in the Roman Empire (Classics)

Introduction

In the 1st century BCE, the role of colonization gradually changed. Up to the Gracchan period, colonization had been under the control of the Senate, but the Gracchi had tried to establish colonies solely by the vote of the popular assembly. In the 1st century, colonies became the most important way for generals to reward their veteran soldiers: when they retired, they were settled in a colony founded by the general. This ensured their loyalty to their erstwhile generals and created a pool of loyal followers for the general. Since there was very little land available in Italy, Caesar and Augustus established many colonies in the provinces. The Flavian emperors also settled many colonists in various areas of the empire, as did Hadrian. The legal status of these colonies was quite different from the Republican configuration; as time progressed, colonia became an indication of a certain legal status, rather than a term to indicate a settlement consisting of settlers from elsewhere. The status of colonia carried with it specific privileges, such as a favorable tax status, as well as social prestige. As the expansion of the Roman Empire ceased, no more land was conquered from defeated peoples, so that less land was available for the settlement of colonies. Gradually a new form of colonization became more common: granting the honorary title of colonia to existing towns, without an actual influx of new settlers. In total about four hundred towns are known to have been granted the status of colonia at some point in their history, most of them as an honorific title.

General Overviews

There is no single monograph about Roman colonization in the imperial period, but some good overviews of more specific issues exist. Keppie 1984 lists the basis details of colonization in Italy after Augustus, which was fairly limited due to a lack of available land. Mann 1983 presents the details of veteran settlement, which was the basic reason for colonization in the 1st century and early 2nd century CE. Demougin and Scheid 2012 offers thematic and local studies on colonization; Sweetman 2011 likewise offers local studies as well as discussions on thematic issues such as local identity, colonial elites, geopolitics, and imperial cult.

Demougin, Ségolène, and John Scheid, eds. 2012. Colons et colonies dans le monde romaine. Rome: École Française de Rome.
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This volume contains local studies on individual colonies (Italica, Valence, Philippi, Tergeste, Uchi Maius, Antioch-in-Pisidia, Dyrrachium, and London), as well as two thematic studies on the ownership of colonial property and colonial magistrates. The second half publishes new epigraphic material from colonies around the Roman world. It offers interesting new insights into the individual cases studies, but does not offer a complete overview of imperial colonization.
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Keppie, Lawrence. 1984. Colonisation and veteran settlement in Italy in the first century A.D. Papers of the British School at Rome 52:77–114.
DOI: 10.1017/S0068246200008746Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This article lists all colonies founded in Italy from Augustus onward. Very little land was available in Italy, so that colonization mostly took the form of adding small numbers of new settlers to existing towns. The state also tried to reclaim ager publicus that had been occupied by private individuals. These measures caused so much opposition, however, that colonization in Italy ended in the Flavian period.
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Mann, J. C. 1983. Legionary recruitment and veteran settlement during the Principate. Edited by Margaret M. Roxan. London: Univ. of London.
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Mann gives a very clear overview of the settlement of veterans during the principate, presenting the information in tables for settlement per legion and over time. He argues that the location of settlement was decided mostly by the availability of land, rather than strategic, economic, or cultural “civilizing” reasons. Veteran settlement therefore ceased when no more land was available.
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Sweetman, Rebecca J., ed. 2011. Roman colonies in the first century of their foundation. Oxford: Oxbow.
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This volume collects ten papers, some about individual colonies (Mérida, Medellín, Cordoba, Butrint, Corinth, and Cnossus) and some on more general topics such as local identity, colonial elites, geopolitics, and imperial cult. The last paper, by Woolf, draws useful general conclusions about the role of colonies in redistribution, relocation, and urbanization developments in their respective regions and the chronological development of colonization from Republic to empire.
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Sources

An important collection of sources on land distribution in the Roman world are the works of the “Roman land surveyors,” or Agrimensores. This is a collection of texts from the imperial period dealing with the surveying and distribution of land. Most are of a technical nature; most likely their main goal was to give practical information about the measurement and administration of land and the legal status of various categories of terrain. One of these works is the so-called Liber Coloniarum, or Book of Colonies. It gives a list of Italian cities and notes, among other things, how and by whom the land in each of them was measured. Its limitations are many: the text probably dates from the later 4th century CE, although it was based on a survey made under Augustus and Tiberius, and the entries in the Liber have become corrupted over the centuries. Still, when used very carefully, some information about the Republican period can be deducted from this text. The most recent English edition of all the treatises of the Agrimensores, including the Liber Coloniarum, is Campbell 2000. A team of French scholars is currently working on editions of the Agrimensores; the most useful outcome of this project with regard to the Liber Coloniarum is the French translation and commentary Brunet 2008, as well as the conference proceedings published in Gonzalès and Guillaumin 2006. Their ongoing work is published on the Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l’Antquité website. Arnaud 2003 investigates the role of local archives, as described by the Agrimensores and surviving colonial maps.

Arnaud, Pascal. 2003. De Turris à Arausio: les tabularia perticarum, des archives entre colonie et pouvoir central. In Hommages à Carl Deroux III: Histoire et épigraphie, droit. Edited by Pol Defosse, 11–26. Brussels: Latomus.
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Using the evidence from the Agrimensores and surviving maps, this article mostly focuses on the formae of colonies, that is, the maps that depicted the territory and terrain assigned to colonists. These maps were archived locally and updated in case of changes. A copy was also held in the central archives at Rome, but this served specifically to safeguard the legal rights assigned to the colony and was not updated.
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Brunet, Claude. 2008. Libri coloniarum (Livres des colonies). Besançon, France: Presses Universitaires de Franche-Comté.
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This edition includes an introduction to the Liber Coloniarum and its significance to surveying, a Latin text with facing French translation, and explanatory notes. Appendices include a list of agrarian laws, their presumed date of passage, and textual sources that mention them; a table recording the legal status of various cities; and an essay on the style of the text of the Liber.
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Campbell, Brian. 2000. The writings of the Roman land surveyors: Introduction, text, translation and commentary. London: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.
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This excellent edition includes a critical edition, translation, and commentary of all the works of the Agrimensores, including the Liber Coloniarum, with an extensive bibliography. It should be considered the definitive edition for the moment, replacing earlier editions (especially the 1848–1852 edition of Rudorff, which was the standard edition until recently).
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Gonzalès, Antonio, and Jean-Yves Guillaumin, eds. 2006. Autour des Libri coloniarum: Colonisation et colonies dans le monde romain; Actes du colloque international (Besançon, 16–18 octobre 2003). Besançon, France: Presses Universitaires de Franche-Comté.
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This is an essential work on the Liber Coloniarum. It starts with four papers on the history of the Liber and the corruption it suffered over the time. Then follow papers on specific localities, in which the theory of the Liber is connected to practical situations: on the centuriation grid Orange B; a very important revisionist paper by Decramer et al. on Orange in general; on Arles; and on Philippi.
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Institut des Sciences et Techniques de l’Antquité. Besançon, France: Univ. de Franche-Comté.
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The Institut is currently working on new editions and French translations of the works of the Agrimensores, which are published both on paper and online. This is a very valuable resource, collecting in one location the latest, very good, editions of these complex texts. The website also contains several useful databases: of ancient territories, of ancient mines, and of ancient centuriation grids.
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Colonies in the Roman Civil War

As stated in the Introduction, in the 1st century BCE, the role of colonization gradually changed. More and more, it became a weapon in the hands of individual politicians and generals, such as the Gracchi, Marius, Sulla, Caesar, and Pompey. Colonization became the most important way for generals to reward their veteran soldiers, thus creating a body of loyal veterans who could always be called upon to fight for their patron. Schneider 1977 is a good overview of the colonization process in the 1st century BCE; a very clear and useful overview of all colonies in Italy in this period is Keppie 1983. Nevertheless, not all these colonies were successful, as Brunt 1962 explores. This meant that veterans were sometimes eager to rejoin the army, if their former general needed them. As Osgood 2006 explains, since most ager publicus in Italy had already been distributed, the generals struggled to find land; often they simply confiscated land from communities who had supported their enemies. A colony therefore often took the form of settlement of veterans in an already existing community, sometimes leading to tensions between old and new inhabitants. Drummond 2000 is a good example of the tension that surrounded land distribution in this period and the uncertainty created by the constant political turmoil. Eventually it turned out to be more feasible to establish colonies in the provinces, as Gaius Gracchus had already done. From the Augustan period onward, provincial colonization became the norm. The first phase of provincial colonization occurred under Caesar and the triumvirate, followed by a more structured approach under Augustus. Caesar was often concerned with improving the economy of a town; in Corinth, for example, Caesar intended to cut a canal through the Isthmus. Augustus founded many colonies in the Iberian Peninsula, Gaul, Africa, Greece, and the Near East. He was less concerned with the economic situation of the towns and was looking primarily for settlement for his veterans and to secure the conquered territory. Some of his colonies developed into important cities in the imperial period, such as Barcelona, Zaragoza, Mérida, Vienne, and Lyons. For developments in these areas, see the sections on specific regions. Individual studies of 1st-century colonies are quite scarce; in many cases, the colonial settlements are discussed in works on the general history of specific towns. Fabrini 2009 is a good example of recent archaeological work on a town that was founded as a colony in the 1st century, illustrating that colonies were fully engaged with general cultural developments in Italy in this period. Minieri 2002 is a good study of the colonization process of Capua, a heated issue in the political debates of the 1st century BCE.

Brunt, Peter A. 1962. The army and the land in the Roman revolution. Journal of Roman Studies 52:69–86.
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This important article investigates the role of land distribution in the 1st century BCE, analyzing how the successive generals used land as a reward for their soldiers. Since many soldiers came from poor backgrounds, land was an essential tool to secure their loyalty. Brunt also discusses how many veteran settlements failed, motivating veterans to rejoin the army if their general needed them.
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Drummond, Andrew. 2000. Rullus and the Sullan possessores. Klio 82:126–153.
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In this article, Drummond analyzes Cicero’s third speech against land distribution (De lege agraria), proposed by the tribune Rullus in 63 BCE. He argues that Cicero was defending the rights of those who had received land from Sulla. The fact that the Sullan possessores could be deprived of their land shows the uncertainty that was created by the constant confiscations and redistributions of land in the 1st century BCE.
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Fabrini, Giovanna M. 2009. Urbs Salvia (Urbisaglia): Indagini di scavo nell’area forense (campagne 2007–2008). Fasti Online.
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Urbs Salvia was founded as a colony during the civil wars of the 1st century BCE. This is a good example of recent archaeological study, many of which have been carried out in Italy in the early 21st century. The excavations focused on the forum area, which was provided with a series of monumental buildings similar to those appearing in many cities in Italy in this period.
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Keppie, Lawrence. 1983. Colonisation and veteran settlement in Italy, 47–14 B.C. London: British School at Rome.
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Despite its age, this is still the most valuable overview of the colonies founded in the second half of the 1st century BCE. Keppie discusses the numbers of veterans in need of land and the settlement and organization of the 1st-century colonies, including the legal rights granted to colonists and previous inhabitants. Eventually there simply was not enough land available for distribution, leading to the settlement of colonies abroad.
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Minieri, Luciano. 2002. La colonizzazione di Capua tra l’84 e il 59 a.C. In La romanizzazione della Campania antica. Edited by Gennaro Franciosi, 249–267. Naples, Italy: Jovene.
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The colonization of Capua was a much-debated issue in late-Republican Rome and was used as a political weapon by both optimates and populares. A colony was finally established by Caesar in 59 BCE, using the only ager publicus still available in Italy, the fertile Ager Campanus. Minieri describes in much useful detail the political battle surrounding the distribution of land in Capua and its political importance.
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Osgood, Josiah. 2006. Caesar’s legacy: Civil war and the emergence of the Roman Empire. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
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Although the aim of this book is to offer a comprehensive picture of the triumviral period, the role played by land confiscation and redistribution in the Second Triumvirate is clearly emphasized. The Romans at the time, such as Cicero, saw private property as sacred and there viewed these confiscations as one of the worst aspects of the triumvirate. The legitimacy of land distributions in colonies was therefore continually questioned.
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Schneider, Hans-Christian. 1977. Das Problem der Veteranenversorgung in der späteren römischen Republik. Bonn, Germany: Habelt.
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Schneider discusses the problem of veteran settlement over a long period, from the Second Punic War until Augustus. As he argues, the 1st-century problem to find land for distribution was a continuation of the problems of the 2nd century, when competing claims were already made on the available land. Schneider lucidly discusses the attempted solution to this problem in the 1st century, such as proscription and, eventually, colonization outside Italy.
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Local Culture and the Development of Roman Urbanism

Some scholars have assumed that colonies played an important role in the “Romanization” of Italy and the provinces, considering them to be “strongholds of civilization” within non-Romanized territory. However, this view has recently been revised. The towns themselves indeed often adopted a typical Roman layout, including the standard buildings such as theaters, temples, and baths, but this was not part of a coordinated Roman “civilizing” mission, as Zanker 2000 argues. Instead, local elites themselves were eager to buy into the possibilities offered by the presence of Roman culture, and adopted these for their own local purposes. Nevertheless, the areas around the colonies in many cases show no marked cultural Romanization in the years after the foundation of the colony. Furthermore, many imperial colonies, especially those in the East, gradually lost any Roman cultural identity they might have had, adopting instead Greek cultural practices. In the West, colonies often expressed a strong Roman or military cultural identity, but this did not mean that the surrounding population adopted this same identity. Not only in the East empire, but also in the West as well, colonies retained strong local identities. Jiménez 2010 discusses this in some detail for Roman Hispania, emphasizing the local variation in cultural developments. Some aspects of Roman culture are assumed to have been reproduced in almost all colonies established by the Romans, such as Capitolia (temples of Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva), as Zanker 2000 argues. However, Capitolia in Roman colonies in the provinces are actually very rare, as shown in Quinn and Wilson 2013. Furthermore, the assumption that all colonies, and especially colonial fora, had a similar layout is incorrect as well. In fact, local city layouts varied from town to town, depending on geographical and economic factors, as well as local politics and power relations.

Jiménez, Alicia. 2010. Reproducing difference: Mimesis and colonialism in Roman Hispania. In Material connections in the ancient Mediterranean: Mobility, materiality and identity. Edited by Peter van Dommelen and A. Bernard Knapp, 38–63. London and New York: Routledge.
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Jiménez investigates the idea of colonies as model settlements for the imperial period. Obviously most did not look like Rome, but they were often quite similar to each other. She notes that some colonies in Hispania consciously mimicked elements of Augustus’s building program. She uses the theory of mimesis to explain these similarities, arguing that colonies imitated some elements of Roman culture, but adapted them to local circumstances.
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Quinn, Josephine Crawley, and Andrew Wilson. 2013. Capitolia. Journal of Roman Studies 103:117–173.
DOI: 10.1017/S0075435813000105Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Capitolia, that is, temples to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva, are often seen as part of the standard urban landscape in Roman colonies, reproducing the Forum Romanum. However, Capitolia appeared mostly in Africa, and often not before the Antonine period. This happened not only in colonies, but also in cities with other civic statuses. Their presence seems to be connected to the growing power of African elites, rather than any colonial association.
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Zanker, Paul. 2000. The city as symbol: Rome and the creation of an urban image. In Romanization and the city: Creations, transformations and failures. Edited by Elizabeth Fentress, 25–41. Portsmouth, RI: Journal of Roman Archaeology.
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Zanker identifies the elements that made a city Roman, for example, the layout of cardo and decumanus within the street pattern and the importance of the Capitolium as the focus of the central square, with the meeting place in front of it. This emphasized the connection between sacred and public space. Thus, towns displayed the power and maiestas of Roman rule, to which local elites were eager to aspire.
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Local Administration

Local communities held an essential position in the government of the Roman Empire: most of the daily business of governing was left in the hands of magistrates of the local communities who held wide responsibilities. For most people, the civitas in which they were born—which could be a town and its territory, or a group of rural communities—determined their political rights, and the settlement in which they lived was the focus of their daily lives. Furthermore, local communities were essential in the economy of the Roman Empire: not only did towns function as markets, but also they were important property owners. Coloniae by definition followed Roman law because their inhabitants were Roman citizens. The difference between municipia and colonies gradually disappeared; indeed the laws of the municipium Irni and the colonia Urso are quite similar. The administrative details of colonies and other types of towns are admirably discussed in Laffi 2007. The daily administration of the Roman Empire is described in much detail in Eck 1995–1998, a basic work on this subject. Fuhrmann 2012 gives a good overview of policing, an essential aspect of local administration. Since there was no state-organized force, policing and maintaining order were organized in different ways in each individual town and region. Many variations also existed in the relationship of local communities to central government. With regard to tax obligations to the Roman state, towns were placed into one of three categories: most were civitates stipendiariae, obliged to pay taxes; some were civitates foederatae, which had a treaty with Rome regulating their rights, including their own systems of jurisdiction, although they usually paid taxes; and some were civitates liberae et immunes, exempt from taxes and not subject to the provincial governor’s jurisdiction. Federated and free towns lay mostly in the East, where such freedom had been granted during the Roman conquest; in the West, most towns were subject to tax. This was paid by the inhabitants based either on the amount of land they held or per person (tributum soli and capitis). Two different types of colonies existed: the basic Roman citizen colony and the Roman citizen colony with ius Italicum. The ius Italicum included tax exemptions, but only for citizens of the community, not for incolae. However, the exact nature of this right is unclear; see Watkins 1983. Shaw 1988 gives a clear overview of tax collection in the Roman Empire: payment of taxes to Rome was usually the responsibility of the council or of a special committee, called dekaprotoi in the East and decemprimi in the West. If not enough tax was collected, the committee members or councillors had to supply the remainder from their own money.

Eck, Werner. 1995–1998. Die Verwaltung des römischen Reiches in der hohen Kaiserzeit. Basel, Switzerland: Reinhardt.
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Eck gives a clear and detailed overview of the administration of the empire. He discusses the role of the emperor himself, the senators, governors, and other imperial officials, as well as local administration in the towns (including colonies) and villages. He also discusses the social mobility of local and provincial elites whose local efforts could attract the attention of the emperor and lead to social and political advancement.
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Fuhrmann, Christopher J. 2012. Policing the Roman Empire: Soldiers, administration, and public order. Oxford and New York: Oxford Univ. Press.
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This very comprehensive work covers policing throughout the empire from 27 BCE to 260 CE. Various arrangements were made for maintaining order and justice at the local level. Fuhrmann discusses all political, social, and military aspects of maintaining order. He discusses the role of various state-instituted forces—indicating that the boundary between police and military was not strict, as well as the involvement of civilians in maintaining order.
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Laffi, Umberto. 2007. Colonie e municipi nello stato romano. Rome: Edizioni di Storia e Letteratura.
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This is a collection of articles previously published between 2000 and 2006. They mostly focus on the institutional and administrative character of colonies and municipia in Italy in the late Republic and early empire. Laffi discusses subjects such as the variety of magistrates in different towns, Augustan changes to urban institutions, and the rights of official settlers and incolae in colonies (see also Legal Status of Colonists and Locals).
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Shaw, Brent D. 1988. Roman taxation. In Civilization of the ancient Mediterranean. Edited by Michael Grant and Rachel Kitzinger, 809–827. New York: Charles Scribner’s.
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This comprehensive overview of taxation in the Roman Empire discusses who paid taxes and on what basis, how they were collected, and the abuse that could occur. Communities paid tax on the basis of the amount of land they held, as established in a detailed survey. Shaw also displays the importance of exemptions, which were eagerly sought after, not only to save money but also as a status symbol.
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Watkins, Thomas H. 1983. Coloniae and ius Italicum in the early empire. The Classical Journal 78:319–336.
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Watkins argues that all citizens who lived in colonies founded through deductio, that is, through a settlement of colonists, shared in the membership of the Roman people, defined as ius Italicum. This offered exemption from tributum soli et capitis and the right to use Roman ius civile. Ius Italicum conferred status on the cities possessing it because they were legally part of Italy and thus shared in the glory of Rome.
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The Legal Status of Colonists and Locals

In colonies, the official colonists held full civic rights, such as voting rights and the right to be elected as magistrates. With regard to the state, these people enjoyed the rights that they held as Roman citizens, such as the use of the ius civile. However, not all people who lived in a colony were in fact official colonists, nor were they all Roman citizens. Colonies also included resident foreigners who were not registered as citizens of the town. These people were called incolae. The municipal charters (see Lex Coloniae Genetivae Iuliae Ursonensis) describe their rights in detail: incolae could not run for offices or priesthoods and were not allowed to use magistrates for arrangements such as manumission and appointing guardians. They were subject to the same laws as the citizens and shared the same munera, including paying taxes; their voting rights were limited since they were assigned to a single curia. Still, incolae participated fully in the social and cultural life of the community, and were therefore not seen as social inferiors. Much debate has focused on the question of whether “double communities” existed. This meant that two separate civic groups lived in the same town, each with their own constitution, administration, and legal system. In fact, there is limited evidence for the existence of “double communities”; as Mitchell 1979 argues for Galatia, Julio-Claudian colonization showed much flexibility. A double community was different from attributio or contributio, in which one group was made subject to the authority of the other. This was often the case with the local population of an area who were subjected to the authority of the colony without enjoying full civic rights in the colony. In the case of the adtributi, the people concerned were of a lower legal status than the inhabitants of the dominant town, and were subjected to the jurisdiction of the town. They could not participate in the government of the town, since retained they their own administration; they held their land directly from the Roman state, so they paid taxes to the central government, not to the town. Contributio, on the other hand, refers to the fusion of two or more previously independent communities into one, with the same rights for all inhabitants; usually this involved two communities with Roman citizenship. The status of these different groups is most fully explained in Gagliardi 2006 and Gagliardi 2014; see also Chastagnol 1996. When the Roman state started to settle colonies in the provinces, it experimented with other types of settlement. Le Roux 1992 investigates how the experimental status of “Latin colony” was used in the Augustan period; however, eventually all colonies became Roman citizen colonies.

Chastagnol, André. 1996. Coloni et incolae: Note sur les différenciations sociales à l’intérieure des colonies romaines de peuplement dans les provinces de l’Occident. In Splendidissima civitas: Études d’histoire romaine en hommage à François Jacques. Edited by André Chastagnol, Ségolène Demougin, and Claude Lepelley, 13–25. Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne.
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Chastagnol investigates the status of incolae; he investigates where they lived, whether they had rights to receive land, and whether they adapted culturally to the presence of the colonists. He also discusses the phenomenon of the “double community,” that is, whether two separate legal communities existed in one colony. Incolae could be independent at first, but were often later to be made subject to the authority of the colony through contributio.
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Gagliardi, Lorenzo. 2006. Mobilità e integrazione delle persone nei centri cittadini romani: Aspetti giuridici. Vol. 1, La classificazione degli incolae. Milan: Giuffrè Editore.
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This book is not about colonization specifically, but focuses on the issue of integration between local inhabitants and new immigrants in Roman towns. Gagliardi focuses especially on incolae, but also discusses other categories of people mentioned in the sources, such as accolae, adtributi, and contributi. For each group, he investigates the legal and civic obligations toward the town and to the state in general.
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Gagliardi, Lorenzo. 2014. Approche juridique des relations entre Romains et indigènes: Le cas des colonies romaines. In Les colonies: Approches juridiques et institutionnelles de la colonisation de la Rome antique à nos jours. Edited by Éric Gojosso, David Kremer, and Arnaud Vergne, 59–76. Poitiers, France: Presses Universitaires Juridiques de Poitiers.
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Gagliardi emphasizes the variety of ways in which the Roman state could incorporate local inhabitants in colonies: by giving them land and an independent administration, or making them subject to the colony’s jurisdiction; and by making them official colonists, or making them subject to the colony without giving them land. The choice in each case depended on local circumstances and shows the flexibility of the Roman state in this regard.
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le Roux, Patrick. 1992. La question des colonies latines sous l’Empire. Ktèma 17:183–200.
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It is quite uncertain what it meant in legal terms to be a colony of Latin status. Using the examples of Avenches, Nîmes, Trêves, and Vienne, le Roux argues that the Latin status was used to incorporate local people in colonies. While the colonists enjoyed the Roman status, the Latin status allowed locals to participate in local civic life because it granted them conubium and commercium.
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Mitchell, Stephen. 1979. Iconium and Ninica: Two double communities in Roman Asia Minor. Historia 28:409–438.
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Mitchell argues that at Ninica and Iconium, local inhabitants and colonists lived side by side in the same town, each with their own form of government. This clearly shows the flexibility of colonial policy in the 1st century BCE. In both colonies, this is attested by the presence of many inhabitants with local or Greek names, and the fact that both the colony and the polis minted coins independently.
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Colonies in Gaul, Britain, and Germany

Many modern cities in the western part of the empire originated in colonies from the Caesarean period, such as Cologne, Lincoln, Arles, Nîmes, and Orange. The urbanization rate in Britain, Gaul, and Germania before the Roman period was not high. This meant that colonies fulfilled different functions in these areas than in more urbanized regions, especially as compared to the eastern part of the empire. Colonies did not necessarily serve as models for “Romanization” as such since the influence they exerted on the surrounding population was not always very great (see also Local Culture and the Development of Roman Urbanism). Still, they presented the most tangible symbol of Roman presence in these provinces and thus were very important in the cultural development of their regions. Colonization studies in Gaul have focused mostly on Gallia Narbonensis; the large centuriation grids in this area allow a detailed study of the colonial landscape. The colony of Orange (Arausio) has received most of the scholarly attention. There is considerable debate about the date and function of the centuriation in Orange, which has led to endless publications. Some are available in Gonzalès and Guillaumin 2006 (see Sources); another useful example is Pérez 1995. The colonization of Gaul and Germania in general is debated in Dondin-Payre and Raepsaet-Charlier 1999, although this volume is not exclusively focused on colonies. The general development of Gaul in the Roman era is discussed in Woolf 1998. There is no single monograph on colonies in Germania, but Eck 2004 is a good study of the most famous colony, Cologne, and the role it played as a representative of Roman power. Colonies in Britain are most comprehensively discussed in Hurst 1999 and in more detail, Hurst 2000. Hurst, like other studies on this part of the empire, places great emphasis on the economic and cultural connections between colonies and hinterland. Even if cultural influence cannot be easily determined, the colonies’ role as regional centers was extremely important.

Dondin-Payre, Monique, and Marie-Thérèse Raepsaet-Charlier, eds. 1999. Cités, municipes, colonies: Les processus de municipalisation en Gaule et en Germanie sous le Haut Empire romain. Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne.
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This book not only discusses colonies, but also gives a good overview of the development of towns in Gaul and Germania, including both municipia and colonies. It discusses the urbanization process in these regions, the institutions of the towns, the military connections, and religious life. Individual colonies studied are Lyons and several colonies in the Rhineland area.
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Eck, Werner. 2004. Köln in römischer Zeit: Geschichte einer Stadt im Rahmen des Imperium Romanum. Cologne: Greven.
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This volume places great emphasis on the role of Cologne as a center for the two German provinces. The town served as the representative of Roman power in the province and had close relationships not only with the direct surrounding territory, but also with the empire as a whole. Eck also describes its development in comparison to other colonies in the empire, for example, the importance of the colonial status.
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Hurst, Henry, ed. 1999. The “coloniae” of Roman Britain: New studies and a review. Portsmouth, RI: Journal of Roman Archaeology.
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This volume collects papers on the four colonies of Britain: Colchester, Lincoln, Glevum, and York. It discusses the history, landscape, archaeological evidence, urban layout, and especially the civic space of each town, that is, the forum and other public buildings. It also looks into the relationship between veterans who were settled here as colonists and civilians in the town, and trade and social relations between soldiers, colonists, and civilians.
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Hurst, Henry. 2000. The fortress coloniae of Roman Britain: Colchester, Lincoln, Gloucester. In Romanization and the city: Creation, transformations, and failures. Edited by Elizabeth Fentress, 105–114. Portsmouth, RI: Journal of Roman Archaeology.
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“Fortress colonies” are colonies built on the site of previous military camps. Hurst investigates three of these, founded in the Flavian period. He points out that the layout of the military camps was mostly removed and the towns were given a civilian look. He concludes that a “canonical military look” was fashionable in the late 1st century CE, but that many local variations on this theme were put in practice.
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Pérez, Antoine. 1995. Les cadastres antiques en Narbonnaise occidentale: Essai sur la politique coloniale romaine en Gaule du Sud; IIe s. av. J.-C.-IIe s. ap. J.-C. Paris: CNRS.
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This is a very clear overview of Roman colonial policy in Narbonensis, based on the evidence of centuriation grids. Recent advances in archaeomorphology have allowed a better dating of these grids. Pérez concludes several phases of land measurement occurred between the 2nd century BCE and the reign of Vespasian; he assumes that Via Domitia was the central axis of the grids at Narbonne, Béziers, Carcassonne, Ruscino, Lodève, and Nîmes.
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Woolf, Greg. 1998. Becoming Roman: The origins of provincial civilization in Gaul. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511518614Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This groundbreaking work is an excellent example of how to combine literary, archaeological, and epigraphic source materials in order to reconstruct the history of Gaul in the Roman era. Woolf discusses the impact of colonies on the surrounding landscape, and their limitations, as well as the function of colonies and other towns as regional economic and political centers.
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Colonies in Hispania

Roman Hispania has been particularly well researched. On the one hand, this was one of the earliest regions in which colonization outside Italy took place, starting from the 2nd century BCE. On the other hand, the survival of several colonial charters from Hispania means that more evidence is available for this province than for any other region in the empire (see Lex Coloniae Genetivae Iuliae Ursonensis). Most studies on the imperial colonies of Hispania are still written in Spanish, which unfortunately creates a communication gap between Spanish historians and those who do not know the language. Still, much excellent work has been done recently, which deserves to be read. Curchin 1991 is a basic introduction on Roman Hispania, although it is now a bit dated. There is no single monograph specifically on the colonization of Hispania, but several good collected volumes offer worthwhile insights. González Fernández and Saquete 2011 is the most recent overview of the colonial policy of Caesar and Augustus in Hispania. Rodríguez Maciá and Mateo 1992 offers various papers on individual colonies in Hispania. León Alonso 1996 is a good, diachronic study of one colony, Corduba, and its role in the regional economic networks. Another good volume, focusing especially on archaeological evidence, is Carreté, et al. 1995. The work illustrates the fairly limited influence of colonial towns on the surrounding area (see also Local Culture and the Development of Roman Urbanism). Panzram 2002 uses three Spanish colonies as case studies to illustrate the relationships between local elites, provincial leaders, and the imperial elite. As in other cases (see for example Colonies in the Greek World), local elites acted mostly in response to local circumstances, so that each town experienced very different economic and cultural developments.

Carreté, Josep-Maria, Simon Keay, and Martin Millett. 1995. A Roman provincial capital and its hinterland: The survey of the territory of Tarragona, Spain, 1985–1990. Ann Arbor, MI: Journal of Roman Archaeology.
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Tarraco was founded in 27 BCE as a colony to serve as the provincial capital. The town’s urban territory measured about seventy hectares, of which 25 percent was covered by public buildings. Its economic importance is shown by the appearance of villas in immediate surroundings and along the coast. Culturally, however, the town had limited influence on the surrounding area, as is also the case with other colonies.
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Curchin, Leonard A. 1991. Roman Spain: Conquest and assimilation. London: Routledge.
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This is a basic and very readable introduction on Roman Hispania in general. Curchin points out that many colonies from the start included both Roman settlers and locals, and many were located on previously inhabited sites. They were important for “Romanization,” but this was not a premeditated plan. Most provincial cities gradually came to follow the Roman urban model, on the initiative of the local elites.
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González Fernández, Julián, and José Carlos Saquete, eds. 2011. Colonias de César y Augusto en la Andalucía romana. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider.
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Caesar founded many colonies in Spain, although it is often not clear which were founded by him and which by Augustus. This volume collects local studies about many Hispanic colonies, including Corduba, Hispalis, Astigi, Tucci, Hasta, and Acci, and looks at the foundation, the colonial landscape, relations with the surrounding territory, and urban layout and development. Importantly, it also looks at Augustan colonies in Morocco, an often-ignored region.
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León Alonso, María del Pilar, ed. 1996. Colonia Patricia Corduba: Una reflexión arqueológica. Seville, Spain: Junta de Andalucía.
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This volume starts with the general history of pre-Roman Corduba and the colonial foundation by Caesar; it then examines the history of town and territory and moves on to the structure and decoration of various public buildings, such as the forum and the temples, and investigates the role played by the local nobility in erecting these buildings. The volume also draws comparisons with other colonies in the region.
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Panzram, Sabine. 2002. Stadtbild und Elite: Tarraco, Corduba und Augusta Emerita zwischen Republik und Spätantike. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.
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Panzram presents three case studies examining the role of the elite in colonial towns. For each colony, she describes the foundation, its role in provincial government, the town’s layout and public buildings erected by the local elite, and the connections between local elites and the empire. She shows that elites acted in different ways according to local circumstances, leading to widely varying economic and cultural developments.
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Rodríguez Maciá, Manuel, and Ramon Martín Mateo, eds. 1992. Conquista romana y modos de intervencion en la organizacion urbana y territorial. Special issue: Dialoghi di Archeologia 10.
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This special edition of Dialoghi di Archeologia collects many papers on colonization, especially in the Iberian Peninsula. It consists mostly of studies on specific towns (Emporiae, Carthago Nova, Tarraco, Gades, Castulo, Corduba, Flaviobriga, Segobriga, Asturica, and Ilici), but also contains a few articles on the Republican period. Although it is not always clear how these relate to later Iberian colonies, they are valuable in themselves.
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The Lex Coloniae Genetivae Iuliae Ursonensis

The small colony of Urso in Hispania was nothing special in itself—apart from the fact that a large part of its charter has survived, making it the most important single source on colonial administration. When a colony was founded, the founding committee granted it a charter enumerating the local laws. The most extensive surviving local charter is that of the Lex Coloniae Genetivae Iuliae Ursonensis. Several bronze plaques have survived on which a great part of the local law was laid down. Urso was a small colony in Andalusia, founded by Caesar in 44 BCE. The surviving version of the law dates to the Flavian period. Despite its small size, the town had a very detailed legal system. Caesar’s law also served as the basis for both colonial or municipal laws—the Lex Ursonensis is very similar to the surviving municipal Leges Salpensana, Malacitana, and Irnitana, all dating from the Flavian period. The Flavian laws vary on minor details; it seems that a template was provided by the state that could be adapted to some degree to local requirements. Gabba 1988 shows the detailed work necessary to reconstruct the text and to explain the similarities and differences with other municipal laws. The Lex Ursonensis has been the subject of much research; here, only the most relevant and accessible works are cited. The most accessible English translation is Crawford 1996. González Fernández 1989 and Mangas Manjarrés and García Garrido 1997 are good collected volumes that offer a variety of insights on the law. Jurewicz 2007 is important for pointing out the similarities between Roman administration and the administration of towns in the empire. Many papers have appeared on specific regulations contained in the law; a good example is Rüpke 2006 on its religious aspects.

Crawford, Michael H. 1996. Lex Coloniae Genetivae Iuliae Ursonensis. In Roman statutes I. Edited by Michael H. Crawford, 393–454. London: Institute of Classical Studies.
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This is the most accessible and recent edition of the Lex Ursonensis in English. It contains a comprehensive bibliography; a history of the inscription; a critical edition discussing the various suggestions for the reconstruction of the text; and a translation and line-by-line comments on the law, including many technical and legal details. This is the starting point for anyone interested in the Lex Ursonensis.
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Gabba, Emilio. 1988. Riflessioni sulla Lex Coloniae Genetiuae Iuliae. In Estudios sobre la tabula Siarensis. Edited by Javier Arce and Julian González, 157–169. Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Centro de Estudios Históricos.
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Gabba focuses on the reconstruction of the text of the Lex Ursonensis; although a great percentage has survived, it is still difficult to determine what was written in the missing parts. He also focuses on the relationship between this text and other municipal laws, which differ in many small but significant details.
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González Fernández, Julián, ed. 1989. Estudios sobre Urso, Colonia Iulia Genetiva. Seville, Spain: Ediciones Alfar.
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This comprehensive volume on Urso discusses all aspects of local administration, from the conduct of trials and the meetings of the local Senate, to the functioning of guardianship, the local mint, and urban development. Some papers expand their focus to other towns; thus, the volume discusses cultural change in the region, the roads of Hispania, and the background of senators from Hispania.
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Jurewicz, Aldona Rita. 2007. La “lex coloniae genetivae iuliae seu Ursonensis”—rassegna della materia: Gli organi della colonia. Revue internationale des droits de l’antiquité 54:293–326.
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Jurewicz emphasizes the degree to which the Lex Ursonensis was based on the standard Roman administrative system: the town had a Senate, a popular assembly, duoviri, aediles, and priests. The Senate (decuriones) made decisions, which were implemented by the magistrates. The popular assembly had a limited role in government by electing magistrates and priests. Clearly the law intended to translate the model of central government to the local sphere.
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Mangas Manjarrés, Julio, and Manuel García Garrido, eds. 1997. La “Lex Ursonensis”: Estudio y edición crítica. Special issue: Studia historica: Historia antigua 15.
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This is the most recent comprehensive volume on the Lex Ursonensis. It starts out with the archaeology of the law and gives a full reconstruct of the full text. Importantly, it also investigates the relationship between colonial and municipal laws. The volume then examines various sections of the law, such as local rules on burial, guardianship, industrial production, communal land, financial administration, and the position of incolae and contributi.
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Rüpke, Jörg. 2006. Religion in the lex Ursonensis. In Religion and law in Classical and Christian Rome. Edited by Clifford Ando and Jörg Rüpke, 34–45. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.
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The sections of the law that concern religion discuss the financing of cults and temples, the duties of priests and augurs, and the organization and financing of games. Rüpke notes the absence of a unified concept of religion; instead, it was mostly concerned with the execution of rituals. He emphasizes that religion was a part of social life that was subject to law, like all other public activities.
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Colonies in Africa

Colonization attempts had taken place in Africa since the Gracchan period, but really got underway under Caesar and Augustus, as Mackie 1983 discusses, pointing out the flexibility of colonial arrangements in this period. There is no single monograph of African colonization, but many works exist on individual colonies. Khanoussi and Mastino 1997 is a good example, focusing on Uchi Maius. Sears 2011 discusses urban development in Africa in general; the work argues that culture in Roman Africa, even in colonial towns, was a unique mix of local and Roman, as was indeed the case in other provinces. Quinn and Wilson 2013 (see Local Culture and the Development of Roman Urbanism) discusses the local adaptation of the Roman Capitolium, which was an especially important aspect of Roman Africa’s culture.

Khanoussi, Mustapha, and Attilio Mastino, eds. 1997. Uchi Maius: Scavi e ricerche epigrafiche in Tunisia. Sassari, Italy: Editrice Democratica Sarda.
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Uchi Maius was founded as a colony by Severus Alexander, although Roman settlers had been present since 103 BCE when Marius settled veterans there. This volume is based on extensive archaeological research and discusses not only the general history of the colony, but also all aspects of town life, such as the city layout, public buildings, topography, local nobility, important inscriptions, religious life, coinage, and the later history of Uchi.
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Mackie, Nicola K. 1983. Augustan colonies in Mauretania. Historia 32:332–358.
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Augustus founded twelve colonies in Mauretania. This seems very odd, because from 25 BCE until the end of Caligula’s reign, Mauretania was ruled by client kings. This problem of authority was solved by attaching these twelve colonies to Baetica, which was made a senatorial province. Thus Augustus’s arrangement satisfied all parties: the veterans received land, Juba a kingdom, and the Senate a new province.
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Sears, Gareth. 2011. The cities of Roman Africa. Stroud, UK: History Press.
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The Roman province of Africa was one of richest in the empire and therefore has some of the most spectacular remains of urban landscapes. This book examines the development of urban space and cultural life in Africa. It considers the cultural change in Roman Africa and the unique local culture that emerged from the mix of Roman and local cultures, as they were shaped by the local elites.
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Colonies in the Balkan Peninsula and Dacia

The colonization process in the Balkan area and Dacia has been relatively little studied. Most colonies in the region were veteran settlements, as discussed in Mann 1983 (see General Overviews); this means that these colonies get only limited attention, either in general works on the Roman army or in general works on the region that do not focus on colonies specifically. The works cited in this section fall into the latter category; however, many northern and eastern parts of the empire, such as Noricum, Pannonia, and Dalmatia, have not been the subject of recent study at all. Dzino 2010 is a good overview on Illyricum, which already attracted many Roman settlers in the Republican period and was established as a province in the 1st century BCE. Mirković 2007 is a beautifully illustrated volume on the province of Moesia, which became a province in the Augustan period. As in Gaul and Britain, the colonies in this part of the empire were important urban centers in less urbanized regions. Nevertheless, they often had only little cultural influence on the surrounding area, as Oltean 2007 demonstrates for Dacia. A few colonies were established here by Trajan, but these had only a limited effect on the cultural and economic development of the region as a whole.

Dzino, Danijel. 2010. Illyricum in Roman politics, 229 BC–AD 68. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511675942Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This is a very clear overview of the history of Illyricum and its relations with Rome. It does not exclusively focus on colonies, but in several places examines the colonies founded in the province in the early 1st century CE. These were not exclusively settlements of veteran soldiers, but also included civilians and Roman settlers who had already moved there in the Republican period.
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Mirković, Miroslava. 2007. Moesia Superior: Eine Provinz an der mittleren Donau. Mainz am Rhein, Germany: Von Zabern.
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This lavishly illustrated volume, based on the latest archaeological evidence, describes the general history of the province of Moesia. Most colonies in the province were founded by the Severans or Trajan, and were closely connected to the army since they were settled by veteran soldiers. Mirković describes the general administration of the different types of town and includes a brief section on the foundation, layout, and history of each.
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Oltean, Ioana A. 2007. Dacia: Landscape, colonisation and romanisation. London: Routledge.
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This is the most recent overview of the history of Roman Dacia. It discusses the general history of pre-Roman and Roman Dacia, including settlement patterns and the exploitation of the land and the mines. Many Roman settlements here started out as military camps; some were later turned into colonies, for example, Sarmizegetusa and Apulum. Oltean discusses the layout of these towns and their transformation throughout the imperial period.
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Colonies in the Greek World

Colonies in the eastern part of the Roman Empire were in some ways different from those in the West. In almost all cases, eastern colonies were founded in preexisting towns, while in the West, they were often created ex novo. This means that the founders and colonists had to take into account the presence of the local inhabitants who, in most cases, were not expelled from their homes. In general it seems that the Caesarean and Augustan colonies in Greece had a great impact on the political, social, and economic structures of the existing towns. There is no general overview of colonization in the eastern part of the empire. The most accessible overview on Roman colonization in Southern Asia Minor is still Levick 1967, despite its age. Some excellent collected volumes discuss thematic issues on colonization in the East, for example Salmeri, et al. 2004; see also several papers in Demougin and Scheid 2012 (cited under General Overviews). Rizakis 2007 discusses Augustus’s strategy in founding colonies in Achaia, which the author argues were well planned. However, the colonies were integrated into a profoundly Hellenized landscape. This meant that despite their usually large political, social, and economic impact, there was often not much cultural change. Some colonies made hardly any impact at all, as Sartre 2001 demonstrates. Katsari and Mitchell 2008 analyzes the local identity of colonies as attested by the coinage they minted: they used these to display messages that were especially relevant to their own identity. In less urbanized areas, however, the colonies quickly became centers of Hellenistic culture, which also spread to nearby urban centers, as Mitchell 1993 demonstrates.

Katsari, Constantina, and Stephen Mitchell. 2008. The Roman colonies of Greece and Asia Minor: Questions of state and civic identity. Athenaeum 95:219–247.
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This article considers the mixed Hellenic and Roman identity of eastern colonies by looking at the numismatic evidence. The Roman state attempted to establish colonies sharing the economic and political characteristics of Rome; colonial coinage adopted Roman weight standards and used Latin instead of Greek legends. Still, eastern colonial coinage displayed local religious and mythological imagery in order to promote a local identity.
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Levick, Barbara M. 1967. Roman colonies in Southern Asia Minor. Oxford: Clarendon.
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This work is still one of the most accessible overviews on Roman colonization in Southern Asia Minor, as far east as Antioch. It discusses the reasons for the foundation of colonies in this area; the origin of the colonists; and local social, economic, and political structures. It examines the later history of the colonies, including cultural change under local influences and the transformation of these towns in Late Antiquity.
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Mitchell, Stephen. 1993. Anatolia: Land, men, and gods in Asia Minor. Oxford: Clarendon.
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This is one of the standard works on the eastern Roman Empire, and especially on the less urbanized regions of Asia Minor. Mitchell does not focus on colonization specifically, but demonstrates that the Hellenization that occurred in this region was greatly stimulated by the establishment of several colonies in the area by Augustus and later emperors. This had important consequences for cultural and economic developments up until the late empire.
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Rizakis, Athanasios D. 2007. Roman colonies in the province of Achaia: Territories, land and population. In The early Roman Empire in the east. Edited by Susan E. Alcock, 15–36. Oxford: Oxbow.
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Rizakis argues that colonies gave Rome a great measure of control over the territory in which they were located. Colonization created a new spatial and social hierarchy and caused great changes in the preexisting social and economic situation. He discusses the territories assigned to the colonies and the rights of the attributed populations, and the way in which natural resources were exploited by the colonial elites, focusing on Patras.
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Salmeri, Giovanni, Andrea Raggi, and Anselmo Baroni, eds. 2004. Colonie romane nel mondo greco. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider.
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This volume collects thematic papers, for example, on the spread of Roman citizenship in Asia Minor, and the relationship between citizenship of a colony and Roman citizenship, the Roman colonies and public security, the role of colonies in cultural change, and the importance of the texts of the Agrimensores for the eastern empire. It also contains some local studies on Knossos, Sicily, Anatolia, and the Near East.
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Sartre, Maurice. 2001. Les colonies romaines dans le monde grec: Essai de synthèse. In Roman military studies. Edited by Edward Dąbrowa, 111–152. Kraków, Poland: Jagiellonian Univ. Press.
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Sartre argues that the first colonies established in the provinces made a great impact on the area in which they were founded. Gradually the impact of colonization became less, just as the cities themselves desired the colonial status as an honorific title. In these cases, there was no impact on local culture; some towns briefly coined money with the colonial title, but even this evidence of colonial status soon disappeared.
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Individual Studies

The works in this section illustrate some of the themes indicated in Colonies in the Greek World, using specific examples. Rizakis has emphasized the great impact of colonies in Greece in many works; one of his most accessible works is Rizakis 2009 on Patras. A rather aggressive policy toward the indigenous population seems to have taken place in this colony, as Dijkstra 2015 explains. A similar impact is visible in Corinth, as Romano 2000 demonstrates. Spawforth 1996 shows that indeed the preexisting local nobility played a very small role in the colony Corinth. Bru 2009 analyzes the impact of Antioch in Pisidia, which served clear strategic aims in Augustus’s overall colonial policy in the region. Despite the fact that in some colonies great changes in social status seem to have occurred, in many cases the Roman colonists adopted existing cults and other cultural habits. Blanco-Peréz 2015 demonstrates this for the case of Apamea, one of the few colonies in Asia Minor: the colonists defended their privileged against the local population, but this did not prevent the settlers from interacting with their Greek environment. This community and other Roman colonies in Asia Minor acted “Greek,” even though their citizens were Roman settlers. Much recent archaeological work has been done in several colonies, producing excellent local studies. Among the great amount of work they have published on, Hansen and Hodges 2007 is the most accessible work. Nikopolis, founded after Augustus’s victory at Actium, is discussed in the very useful work Chrysos 1987.

Blanco-Peréz, Aitor. 2015. Apamea and the integration of a Roman colony in western Asia Minor. In Processes of cultural change and integration in the Roman world. Edited by Saskia T. Roselaar, 136–153. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill.
DOI: 10.1163/9789004294554_009Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Blanco-Peréz shows that members of the colonial elite actively shaped their own identity and that of their home towns, using both Greek and Roman elements. The colonists were perfectly aware of their origin, rights, and privileges, but this community and other Roman colonies in Asia Minor acted in a Greek fashion. Clearly Roman citizenship and participation in local culture were not mutually exclusive.
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Bru, Hadrien. 2009. L’origine des colons romains d’Antioche de Pisidie. In L’Asie Mineure dans l’Antiquite: Échanges, populations et territoires. Edited by Hadrien Bru, François Kirbihler, and Stéphane Lebreton, 263–287. Rennes, France: Presses Universitaires de Franche-Comté.
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Antioch in Pisidia was settled as a colony by Augustus in 25 BCE, when he created the province of Galatia. The aim of the colonization of the region was to emphasize the presence of Rome and institutions there. The colonies created new trade routes, but this was not the main goal. The colony was settled with veterans from the civil wars, whom Augustus could trust to maintain peace in Galatia.
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Chrysos, Evangelos K., ed. 1987. Nicopolis 1: Proceedings of the first International Symposium on Nicopolis. Papers presented at a symposium held in Preveza, 23–29 September 1984. Preveza, Greece: Municipality of Preveza.
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The status of Nikopolis—colony or civitas libera—is debated; here it is argued that it was a double community (see Legal Status of Colonists and Locals). Several papers in this volume emphasize the symbiotic nature of contacts between colonists and locals, which created unique cultural configurations in the Roman colonies in Greece. Other papers discuss the history, urban layout, cults, and late Roman and Byzantine history of Nikopolis.
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Dijkstra, Tamara. 2015. Burial and commemoration in the Roman colony of Patras. In Processes of cultural change and integration in the Roman world. Edited by Saskia T. Roselaar, 154–174. Leiden, The Netherlands, and Boston: Brill.
DOI: 10.1163/9789004294554_010Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
Dijkstra illustrates how the colonists at Patras minimalized the role of the local population. Although these people certainly remained in the town, they become completely invisible: the colonists were buried in the most prestigious parts of the preexisting necropolis, with funerary inscriptions exclusively in Latin. It seems that local agency in this case was very limited, in contrast to events in other colonies founded in the same period.
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Hansen, Inge Lyse, and Richard Hodges, eds. 2007. Roman Butrint: An assessment. Oxford: Oxbow.
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This book is a synthesis of many years of archaeological research at Butrint and offers an overview of the history of Roman Buthrotum. It was founded as a veteran colony by Augustus. The earliest Roman settlers were perhaps civilians. After Augustus’s victory at Actium, the city was refounded as a colony. The book discusses the foundation, the development of town and country, and the role of Buthrotum in imperial ideology.
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Rizakis, Athanasios D. 2009. La colonie de Patras en Achaïe dans le cadre de la colonisation augustéenne. In Patrasso colonia di Augusto. Edited by Emanuele Greco, 17–38. Athens, Greece: Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene.
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Augustus’s colonial foundations in Achaia had clear strategic goals: they ensured peace and quiet in the area. They also served economic functions, creating new trade routes between Greece and Italy. Their foundation changed the political and legal structure of the colonized cities and the relationship with surrounding towns, and created new social hierarchies, in which the colonists took the highest position. Patras played an essential role in this new system.
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Romano, David. 2000. A tale of two cities: Roman colonies at Corinth. In Romanization and the city: Creation, transformations, and failures. Edited by Elizabeth Fentress, 83–104. Portsmouth, RI: Journal of Roman Archaeology.
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This article gives a clear overview of the history of Corinth from the Hellenistic period onward. The first colony was founded here in 44 BCE, the second by Vespasian. Romano focuses on the layout of the town and the centuriation patterns in the territory. These show, he argues, a long-term plan, since in both cases the centuriations were created before the colonies were in fact established.
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Spawforth, Antony J. S. 1996. Roman Corinth: The formation of a colonial elite. In Roman onomastics in the Greek East: Social and political aspects. Edited by Athanasios D. Rizakis, 167–182. Athens, Greece: National Hellenic Research Foundation.
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Spawforth concludes that, based on the epigraphic and numismatic evidence, the leading colonists in Corinth were Roman negotiatores and their freedmen, while the presence of veterans is hard to detect. Native Greeks were not much involved in the political life of the colony, at least in the first decades after its foundation.
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Honorific Coloniae

From Hadrian’s reign onward, the most common form of colonization was the grant of the honorary title of colonia to existing towns, without an actual influx of new settlers. In total, about four hundred towns are known to have been granted the status of colonia at some point in their history, most of them as an honorific title. Being granted the title of municipium or colonia was a great honor; the title became a fixed part of the community’s name and was therefore recorded in public inscriptions, in order to advertise the favor of the emperor. It also brought the town considerable legal and financial benefits, although these differed from colony to colony. Especially in the Severan period, many towns were granted this honor, for example, Heliopolis, Tyre, Emesa, Sidon, Petra, and many others. Boatwright 2000 explains how Hadrian used benefactions, including colonial foundations and honorific grants of colonial status, to promote the interests of the towns. Recently, debate has focused on the question whether there was a real distinction between honorific and “real” colonies. Zahrnt 1988 follows the standard view that colonization ceased after Hadrian and that all colonies established later were honorific. Dąbrowa, however, presents a revisionist view of this idea. He assumes that military colonization occurred much later than was previously thought. His most accessible and recent articles on this debate are Dąbrowa 2003 and Dąbrowa 2012. It is certainly very difficult to determine whether or not a specific town received settlers or not. In “true” honorific coloniae, the impact of the colonial title was often very small. Sometimes the fact that a city was a colony was not even worth mentioning, depending on the context. The Roman terminology regarding colonies, on the other hand, was adopted by Greek and other languages, at least for a while, but sometimes disappeared rather quickly. The history of most colonies indeed shows little impact of the colonial foundation: Hall 2004 and Patrich 2011 are examples of large towns that at some point became colonies—Beirut already in the Augustan period, Caesarea Maritima at a later date—but show very little influence from Roman culture. Millar 1990 offers a very clear overview of the colonies in the Near East, most of which were, in the author’s view, honorific.

Boatwright, Mary T. 2000. Hadrian and the cities of the Roman Empire. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
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Boatwright discusses the colonization activities of Hadrian; he was very interested in the well-being of the towns and promoted their interests in many ways. His benefactions included patronage of temples, engineering projects, sponsorship of athletic and cultural competitions, settlement of boundary disputes, and remission of taxes. Some towns received new settlements of colonists, most notable Jerusalem, but many other towns were granted only honorific colonial titles.
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Dąbrowa, Edward. 2003. Les colonies honoraires ou les colonies de vétérans? Observations sur l’iconographie de quelques types de revers de monnaies coloniales. In Histoire et épigraphie, droit. Vol. 3 of Hommages à Carl Deroux. Edited by Pol Defosse, 127–134. Brussels: Latomus.
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Dąbrowa investigates the iconography of the coins of several eastern colonies. These usually emphasized their connection with Rome, for example, through depictions of the Capitoline Wolf or military signa. He argues that colonies with actual veteran settlers were founded until the early 3rd century, and that town with military symbols on their coins should be considered actual veteran settlements. They were not honorary colonies that simply used military symbolism.
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Dąbrowa, Edward. 2012. Military colonisation in the Near East and Mesopotamia under the Severi. Acta Classica 60:31–42.
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In this article as well, Dąbrowa argues that military colonization occurred after Hadrian, especially under the Severan emperors. Despite the small size of these settlements, they were important in strengthening the financial and social position of towns in the Near East.
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Hall, Linda Jones. 2004. Roman Berytus: Beirut in Late Antiquity. London and New York: Routledge.
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Beirut was founded as a colony by Augustus; the city harbored not only veterans, but also other Romans and local Syrians. This short overview offers a concise history of Beirut between the Severan period and Late Antiquity. At this time Beirut was famous for its legal scholarship and attracted many visitors. This multicultural environment meant that there is very little evidence for Roman cultural influence, apart from the spread of Roman law.
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Millar, Fergus G. B. 1990. The Roman coloniae of the Near East: A study of cultural relations. In Roman eastern policy and other studies in Roman history. Edited by Heikki Solin and Mika Kajava, 7–58. Helsinki, Finland: Societas Scientiarum Fennica.
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This is an essential article of colonies in the Near East. Millar discusses the general impact of colonization on the East; in cultural and linguistic terms, Roman influence was often small and left few traces in the epigraphic record. He then relates the history of the individual towns that were made colonies, and investigates the reason for their elevation, whether real or only honorific.
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Patrich, Joseph. 2011. Studies in the archaeology and history of Caesarea Maritima: Caput Judaeae, metropolis Palaestinae. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004175112.i-500Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
This book offers a general overview of the history of Caesarea Maritima. Chapter 3 focuses especially on the question of whether the town was an honorary colony or actually received veteran settlers—he argues for the latter. However, the cultural impact of colonial status was quite small. The rest of the book gives a good overview of the development of the urban landscape, the rural territory, and economic developments.
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Zahrnt, Michael. 1988. Vermeintliche Kolonien des Kaisers Hadrian. Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 71:229–249.
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This article investigates the epigraphic evidence for some individual colonies in Greece, which are reported to have been founded by Hadrian, in order to see whether they actually received settlers or were honorific colonies. He concludes that by far the greatest number were honorific colonies, apart from Jerusalem and Mursa.
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Colonies in Later Political Thought

There is surprisingly little research on the reception of Roman colonization in later thought. This may be explained by the fact that later colonization, in the 17th–20th centuries CE, took a very different shape than in the Roman period. Still, the Roman example could be used to justify European colonization of Africa, Asia, and America in the Early Modern period. This subject is unfortunately rarely explored, and would benefit from more academic research. Gojosso, et al. 2014 takes a diachronic view of colonization, but unfortunately does not include papers discussing the influence of the Roman era in later periods. Terrenato 2005 is a useful work discussing how Roman colonization has been used as an archetype for colonization in the modern era—the study of Roman colonies in the 19th and 20th centuries was often influenced to an extreme degree by the current political situation in African, American, and Asian colonies. This led to ideas about “Romanization” in which colonies performed a similar civilizing mission as was ascribed to the European nations in Africa, Asia, and America. Africa is the only region for which the reception of Roman colonialism has been studied in some detail. Lorcin 2002 is an exemplary treatment of the way in which the French government and intellectuals appropriated Roman colonies in order to shape colonialism in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Gojosso, Éric, David Kremer, and Arnaud Vergne, eds. 2014. Les colonies: Approches juridiques et institutionnelles de la colonisation de la Rome antique à nos jours. Paris: LGDJ.
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This is one of the few books that discusses colonization as a phenomenon from Antiquity until the modern era. It focuses on the legal aspects of colonization, arguing that jurists have always tried to make a complex reality fit their legal categories. There are only three papers on the Roman world, by Humbert, Gagliardi, and Kremer; unfortunately, the papers on later eras do not draw explicit connections with the Roman world as such.
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Lorcin, Patricia M. E. 2002. Rome and France in Africa: Recovering colonial Algeria’s Latin past. French Historical Studies 25:295–329.
DOI: 10.1215/00161071-25-2-295Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
France appropriated Roman colonization in various ways. At the start of French colonial exploits, sources from Roman literature served as a guide to the methods of colonization. Eventually, French settlers rediscovered and reclaimed a “lost Latin tradition” that justified their position in Algeria; Roman archaeological sites came to be perceived as sites of “ancestral memory.” Social and cultural myths were created that could be used to strengthen Algerian society.
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Terrenato, Nicola. 2005. The deceptive archetype: Roman colonialism in Italy and postcolonial thought. In Ancient colonizations: Analogies, similarity and difference. Edited by Henry Hurst and Sara Owen, 59–72. London: Duckworth.
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In this insightful article, Terrenato looks at the usefulness of Roman colonization as an archetype for (pre-)modern colonialism. He investigates how the study of Roman colonization was colored by ideas in modern society, and finishes by giving some suggestions about the way in which the debate should move forward—by looking at the experiences of the nonelite and the impact that Roman expansion made on their lives.