Roman Colonies in Republic and Empire

Rome founded colonies across Italy and the provinces for centuries, but those settlements did not all serve the same purpose or follow a single model. Amanda Jo Coles challenges the familiar picture of colonies as military “bulwarks of empire” or miniature copies of Rome, asking instead how their form changed with the political and social circumstances in which they were created.

Literary, epigraphic, archaeological and numismatic evidence reveals considerable variation in foundation practice, law, religion and local structure. Coles also warns against filling gaps in one period with evidence from another. The changing colonial landscape becomes a way to see Roman expansion and settlement policy in motion rather than as a single imperial blueprint.