Call for PhD Project proposals: Roads, rural settlement and the economy of Rome’s hinterland
As part of a collaboration between the Universities of Macquarie (Sydney, Australia) and Groningen (The Netherlands) we invite potential candidates to propose a three-year PhD research project. We are looking for two candidates specialized in Roman History and Archaeology, who wish to propose a project on Rome’s hinterland, on the themes of road infrastructure, rural settlement and the Roman economy. These two PhD projects form a pilot phase for a proposed new Research Consortium that will develop new approaches to the reconstruction of the socio-economic history of Rome and central Italy.
We invite project proposals on two subjects:
Project 1: the economic geography of Rome’s hinterland
Even for regions in the heart of the Roman Empire – such as the hinterland of Rome – the study of transport infrastructure remains underdeveloped. Data for the location of bridges, road paving and routes exist, just as ample data for urban and rural settlements, but in- depth reconstructions of infrastructure and its associated networks is still absent to date, and their evolution over time and relations to settlement developments remains little understood. This situation seriously impedes any research into the economic history of Rome’s hinterland, an area within which city and country became increasingly integrated, both in terms of production, trade and consumption.
We invite proposals on this topic, which are expected to engage with the reconstruction of the road system in relation to settlement and/or artefactual data. Candidates may draw on the rural settlement and artefact database of the Roman Hinterland Project (RHP) that covers substantial parts of Rome’s immediate hinterland as well as additional data on urban and rural settlements in central Tyrrhenian Italy. You are free to propose any (set of) approach(es) to these sources, including (but not limited to) artefact studies, GIS-based approaches, Network Analysis and Agent Based Modeling.
Project 2: the materiality of Roman roads
The material realization of the Roman infrastructure that supported Rome and the urban centers in its hinterland is still understudied. While some scientific data on the provenance of building materials and labor investments needed for the construction of roads, bridges and canals is available, these do not yet allow a full understanding of the process of road construction; issues related to maintenance and deterioration of such infrastructure are even less understood. This seriously impedes our understanding of the scale, investments and organization of road building and maintenance in the Suburbium of Rome.
We invite proposals on this topic, which are expected to combine scientific approaches to roads with a broader historical assessment of the issues highlighted above. You are free to propose any (set of) approach(es), including (but not limited to) provenance studies of building materials, networks for the supply of materials, and the modelling of labor costs.
Procedure
The hiring process will consist of the following steps:
1) Prospective candidates write a letter of motivation, accompanied by their cv and a two-page proposal related to either of the two projects, including a brief problem statement, research question(s), explanation of approaches, methods and data to be used as well as a concise workplan, based on the production of three or four scientific papers as the core of the PhD. Deadline: January 1st 2024
2) The supervisory team selects candidates that are invited to develop their proposal further along the guidelines for a full co-tutella application (https://www.mq.edu.au/research/phd-and-research-degrees/how-to- apply/develop-a-research-proposal). Deadline: 31 March 2024
3) Full proposals are submitted to Macquarie University. Two candidates will be selected by Macquarie for funding and, upon approval there, submitted to the University of Groningen for co-financing.
More information?
https://www.mq.edu.au/research/phd-and-research-degrees/explore-research- degrees/global-research-training/global-phd-programs
Ray Laurence (Macquarie University): ray.laurence@mq.edu.au Peter Attema (University of Groningen): p.a.j.attema@rug.nl Tymon de Haas (University of Groningen): tymon.de.haas@rug.nl
Sensory Studies in Antiquity 