Agrarian spaces in Roman Italy : society, economy and Mediterranean agriculture.

This article aims to explore some of the wealth of evidence for the diversity of agrarian landscapes in Roman Italy. It takes as it starting point, several recent contributions to the debate about the history and ecology of the Mediterranean and Rome's position within it. In particular, it explores several aspects of Horden and Purcell's Corrupting Sea (2000) and relates these to the archaeological evidence. Horden and Purcell question three concepts of Mediterranean agriculture – subsistence (autarky), self-determination (social independence) and immemorial stability (successful resistance to change). This paper relates these arguments to the archaeological record, particularly the results of recent field survey in the form of land division, settlement classification and the exchange and consumption of material culture