Structuring of the provincial landscape: the towns of central and western Baetica in their geographical context

Keay, S.J. and Earl, G.P.E. (2006) Structuring of the provincial landscape: the towns of central and western Baetica in their geographical context. Cruz Andreotti, Gonzalo, Le Roux, Patrick and Moret, Pierre (eds.) In La invención de una geografía de la Península Ibérica: II La época imperal. Casa de Velazquez. pp. 305-358 .

Abstract

This paper analyzes the geographical contexts and spatial relationships of Iberian and Roman towns in central and western Baetica. It uses extensive computer-based analysis of c. 350 Iberian and Roman towns in their geographical contexts to understand the significance of inter-urban visibility in structuring the regionalization of relationships between towns. It also uses network analysis to explore relationships between towns, and suggests that the evidence is spatially contingent - the product and producers of both real and imaginary multidimensional networks. Furthermore, it argues that Rome created a new geographical reality in the region in the sense that it worked within geographical constraints, and adapted pre-existing urban settlement patterns to its administrative necessities. When this is set against the geographical descriptions of Baetica by writers such as Pliny, it allows us to appreciate better the relationship between the day to day reality on the ground and the rhetoric of empire.

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Contributors

Author: G.P.E. Earl

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