Religious Architecture and Roman Expansion
Temples, Terracottas, and the Shaping of Identity, 3rd-1st c. BCE

Uses architectural terracottas as a lens for examining the changing landscape of central Italy during the period of Roman military expansion.

Sophie Crawford-Brown (Author)

9781009445115, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 6 March 2025

296 pages
26 x 18.6 x 2.1 cm, 0.78 kg

'This book provides a much needed study of architectural terracottas, which have been almost completely neglected in otherwise vigorous recent debates over sociocultural change in Italy during the Republican period. Many artifacts discussed here have been gathering dust in museum storerooms, and Crawford-Brown does vital work by shining light on these objects, making them newly accessible to researchers. Not only that, but the author presents her subject in theoretically sophisticated ways, which will help center this material in future studies of empire's dramatic effects upon culture and identity. Crawford-Brown's study is sure to interest a wide group of art historians, historians, archaeologists, and scholars of material culture.' Seth Bernard, University of Toronto

Religious Architecture and Roman Expansion uses architectural terracottas as a lens for examining the changing landscape of central Italy during the period of Roman military expansion, and for asking how local communities reacted to this new political reality. It emphasizes the role of local networks and exchange in the creation of communal identity, as well as the power of visual expression in the formulation and promotion of local history. Through detailed analyses of temple terracottas, Sophie Crawford-Brown sheds new light on 'Romanization' and colonization processes between the 3rd and 1st centuries BCE.  She investigates the interactions between colonies and indigenous communities, asking why conquerors might visually emulate the conquered, and what this can mean for power relations in colonial situations. Finally, Crawford-Brown explores the role of objects in creating cultural memory and the intensity of our need for collective history-even when that 'history' has been largely invented.

1. Introduction
2. Chronological Uncertainties and the 'Romanization' Tangle
3. The Power of the Past: Conscious Archaizing and the Development of the 'Standard Temple Kit'
4. Local Identities and Local Networks: Two Case Studies
5. Inventing History, Inventing Identity
6. Reframing and Remediating: Architectural Terracottas in Augustan Rome
7. Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Classical history / classical civilisation [HBLA1]