Overview

The Busy Periphery: Urban Systems of the Balkan and Danube Provinces (2nd – 3rd c. AD) considers the reconstruction of the urban geography of the Balkan and Danube provinces at the time of the Severan dynasty. Four basic parameters governed the focus of research: the origin and socio-economic character of the settlements, their size, micro-location, and the size of their administrative territories. The principal goal was to map the variable developments of the urban network, both between and within the sub-regions that constituted this part of the Roman Empire. This line of inquiry helped in bridging the gap between the regional and the general. In the process of explaining the apparent gaps in the urban map of the study-region or the differential growth of the individual towns and settlements, we were inevitably faced with the question of the role of towns in Roman provincial society and in the economy in general, and with the interpretation of the basic prerequisites for their emergence and prosperity.

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9781789693492

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Reviews

Based on the rich material used in his sophisticated methodological approach, this book will remain an important contribution in the problematic and booming field of urban and spatial studies as well. -- Csaba Szabo * Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology, No. 8.2 *

'Based on the rich material used in his sophisticated methodological approach, this book will remain an important contribution in the problematic and booming field of urban and spatial studies as well.' - Csaba Szabo (2021): Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology 'Intermediate students and established scholars of Roman and Balkan archaeology will find The Busy Periphery a useful springboard for their own research into particular provinces and urban centers. This research stands to further underscore the Balkans' importance to wider narratives of urban life and Roman imperialism in the ancient Mediterranean.' - Matthew Schueller (2022): American Journal of Archaeology 'In conclusion, Donev offers to the readers a very thorough investigation of a diverse and sometimes uneven range of data for the archaeology of Roman towns and territories in the Balkan and Danubian provinces during the Early Roman Empire, introducing new concepts and analysis tools and also opening up new research directions.' - Adriana Panaite (2022): Dacia LXV 'In conclusion, Damjan Donev's book is an important contribution to the urban history of the Roman empire. It vastly surpasses earlier attempts of analyses made on extra-provincial level (for example, Mocsy 1974 includes only Moesia Inferior and Pannonia). The book forms a solid basis which can be expanded further as the archaeological research (and publications) progresses.' - Vladislav Zhivkov (2022): Archaeologia Bulgarica VI, 3

‘Based on the rich material used in his sophisticated methodological approach, this book will remain an important contribution in the problematic and booming field of urban and spatial studies as well.’ – Csaba Szabó (2021): Journal of Ancient History and Archaeology 'Intermediate students and established scholars of Roman and Balkan archaeology will find The Busy Periphery a useful springboard for their own research into particular provinces and urban centers. This research stands to further underscore the Balkans’ importance to wider narratives of urban life and Roman imperialism in the ancient Mediterranean.' – Matthew Schueller (2022): American Journal of Archaeology 'In conclusion, Donev offers to the readers a very thorough investigation of a diverse and sometimes uneven range of data for the archaeology of Roman towns and territories in the Balkan and Danubian provinces during the Early Roman Empire, introducing new concepts and analysis tools and also opening up new research directions.' – Adriana Panaite (2022): Dacia LXV 'In conclusion, Damjan Donev’s book is an important contribution to the urban history of the Roman empire. It vastly surpasses earlier attempts of analyses made on “extra-provincial” level (for example, Mocsy 1974 includes only Moesia Inferior and Pannonia). The book forms a solid basis which can be expanded further as the archaeological research (and publications) progresses.' – Vladislav Zhivkov (2022): Archaeologia Bulgarica ХХVI, 3 ‘All in all, the book is a useful addition to the historiographical landscape not only of the Danube and Balkan provinces but of the Roman Empire overall,9 dealing with a fragmented and heterogeneous territory in a holistic manner. The thorough analysis, the interdisciplinary methods, and the synthetic graphs, tables and maps all contribute to the book’s value for future research.’ – Rada Varga (2022): Journal of Roman Archaeology (2022)

Author Information

Damjan Donev completed his Master’s degree at the department of Archaeology and Art History at Bilkent University, Ankara, and earned his doctoral degree in September 2014, at Leiden University, the Netherlands. Between 2013 and 2017, he worked on the ERC-funded project ‘An Empire of 2000 cities’, hosted by Leiden University. Over the past couple of decades, Damjan has participated in and directed a number of archaeological field projects. His geographic focus is the Balkan Peninsula, while his research interest include regional studies, with a special emphasis on settlement patterns, hierarchies, and territoriality, methods of field survey and remote sensing.

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