Abstract: The Roman empire was a carceral state. Prisons dotted the landscape, but an overly credulous reading of legal sources has left Roman incarceration woefully understudied. This lecture outlines the archaeological evidence for Roman incarceration, and shows how archaeological record can help to reframe papyrological, legal, and literary sources for prisons in antiquity.

 

This event is sponsored by the MIT Literature Section Workshop series (Litshop) and the Ancient & Medieval Studies Colloquium (MIT History & Literature).