Dr. Alex Walthall (UT-Austin): Beyond Conquest and Decline: Reframing “Roman” Morgantina

5pm Social Sciences 136
Reception to follow in Allen 103A

This paper reexamines the urban trajectory of Morgantina during the centuries following the Second Punic War, challenging long-held perceptions of decline and isolation that have long shaped our understanding of the city’s fate following the Roman siege of 211 BCE. Instead, a combination of new archaeological excavations and the reassessment of legacy material has illuminated Morgantina’s enduring integration within regional and supra-regional networks of exchange and mobility. The material record speaks to shifting trade dynamics as well as to the adaptation of a local community in an era marked by political upheaval and demographic flux. For instance, amphoras and fineware imported from across the Mediterranean attest to Morgantina’s enduring commercial ties, while robust local production of ceramics and terracotta architectural elements (roof tiles, bricks, etc.) signals a continued investment in both domestic and monumental construction. Indeed, major building projects carried out in the agora during the 2nd century BCE, such as construction of a macellum and the remodeling of the theater’s skene, point to an active civic sphere and the enduring demand for commercial and cultural spaces. Recent excavations in the so-called Southwest Temenos—a monumental precinct constructed during the early decades of the 2nd century BCE—shed further light on civic investment during a period of shifting social dynamics. By integrating these and other strands of evidence, this paper situates Morgantina within the broader patterns of material connectivity, mobility, and cultural negotiation that characterized life in the Mediterranean region during the 2nd and 1st centuries BCE.

Also check out other Arts events in Durham, Theatre events in Durham.