Travel / mobility / migration - Migrant Identities in the Roman Empire

Question 1

Explain the usefulness of migration in the ancient world

Answer 1

Human mobility in the pre-modern Mediterranean was “a structural social principle”, which contributed to the livelihood of many cities, towns, and rural areas
Migration played a key role in the making of the Roman Empire and, in turn, the empire or imperialism played an important role in enabling and developing mobility

Question 2

What evidence is there of ancient migration?

Answer 2

Evidence: literary; archaeological & osteological (isotopic analysis); epigraphic; legal

Question 3

What are the caveats of ancient migration?

Answer 3

Persistence of migration in the ancient Mediterranean does not presuppose any linearity or continuity of the practices;
Mobility did not have the same impact on all Mediterranean regions; realities concerning different forms of mobility, reasons behind it, and status of migrants varied greatly from one place to another

Question 4

Name 3 recent conceptual shifts in the field of ancient migration

Answer 4

Inclusion of migration in the broader concept of mobility: migration as a social process;
Focus on the movement itself and on the flow of people: mobility & migration as a durable process, in which migrants were active agents;
Attention to organisation of people on the move: e.g. transnational networks & diaspora communities.

Question 5

What does Aelius Aristides say on ancient migration and who does he cite?

Answer 5

“Now it is possible for both Greek and barbarian, with his possessions or without them, to travel easily wherever he wishes … And what was said by Homer, “The earth was common to all”, you have made a reality, by surveying the whole inhabited world, by bridging the rivers in various ways, by cutting carriage roads through the mountains, by filling desert places with post stations, and by civilizing everything with your way of life and good order.” Aelius Aristides, Roman Oration (Or. 26), 100-102

Question 6

What evidence is there of ancient migration - especially in Delphi?

Answer 6

People taking their gods with them, also engaging with local customs and practices
Setting up dedications to both native and foreign gods
Mostly dedicated by the military