Urban Development in the Roman Period

The final chapter in this book, a treatment of urban development during the Roman period, will be relatively short. The reasons for this should by now be obvious. Considerable archaeological evidence and numerous inscriptions might have been adduced to provide a picture of life in the cities. But from the ten preceding chapters it will be clear that however successful the Roman introduction of cities was (and it was by many measures remarkable), urbanization in the region remained relatively weak. Social and political upheaval, involving nomadic or mobile peoples, coupled with powerful, conservative traditions in rural areas and the problem of banditry, hindered city growth and sapped confidence.

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