In the new research project, Sine Grove Saxkjær will explore the interplay between people and cities, ethnicity and urbanisation, in ancient Latium. During the first millennium BCE, Rome went from emerging as a settlement to becoming one of the central cities of Latium and subsequently the centre of the Roman Empire. Already towards the end of the fourth century BCE, Rome controlled all of Latium. The region thus witnessed one of history's most influential state formations, which came to be of crucial importance to the people and cities that had been subjected to Rome in the process.

Cities and people are closely correlated – they emerge, exist and develop in mutual influence. Cities are hubs in social networks, in which they constitute centres for communication, trade, religion and politics as well as centres for cultural encounters, cultural exchange and cultural development. Urbanisation as well as city and state formation is closely linked to ethnogenesis and ethnicity. These processes together form the core of the project 'Urban Ethnicities: Centre and Periphery in Ancient Latium'. With case studies from both the centre and periphery of Latium, the project aims at studying ethnicity, its significance and expression, in urban contexts, including the emergence and development of ethnic identities in interaction with and in opposition to city and state formation and urbanisation throughout the first millennium BCE, i.e. before and during the Roman expansion. 

The Carlsberg Foundation Reintegration Fellowship

Two-year postdoctoral fellowships at Danish research institutions for postdoctoral fellows subsequent to an Internationalisation Fellowship from the Carlsberg Foundation or an otherwise funded research stay abroad. These fellowships are awarded to outstanding postdoctoral fellows who wish to establish independent research activities in Denmark after a research stay abroad.

For more information about the project'Urban Ethnicities: Centre and Periphery in Ancient Latium', contact Sine Grove Saxkjær here.

For more information about general projects funded by the Carlsberg Foundation in 2019, see here.