The Roman Republic
have failed to go beyond him.The greateranalytical sophistication which
hassincebeenachieved,oratleastclaimed,hasnotbeenmatchedbyacom-
parablecapacitytoconfrontsocialandeconomicmodelswiththeempirical
datawhichmightservetotestthem.
There are, however, at least some areas where progress could be made.
Wecouldlookfurtheratthearchaeologyofpublicbuildings,asforinstance
thelateJohnWardPerkinsdidafewyearsago,showingthatRoman-style
publicbuildingscannotbetracedarchaeologicallyinthewesternprovinces
untilthetimeofAugustus.^92 Butofcoursethearchaeologicalevidencenever
tellsthewholestory—weknowforinstancethatinfacttherewasabasilica
atCordubabythemiddleofthefirstcentury..,forCassiusLonginuswas
givingjusticethereinthewinterof/.^93 Alternativelywecouldstudythe
movements of amphorae and other pottery products around the Mediter-
ranean.^94 Wecouldconcentrateonthoseareas,liketheGreekcitiesofAsia
Minor,or Egypt,where there are real concentrations of local documents.
But above all we might hope for general studies of the actual production,
distribution,anduseofalltypesofcoinage—Celtic,Spanish,NorthAfrican,
andGreek,aswellasRoman—overthewholearea;inotherwords,wemight
seehowfarthecoinswouldyieldamonetary,asopposedtoanumismatic
history.^95 Suchahistorywouldstillhavetorecalltheprimitiveandlabori-
ousmeansbywhichmetalcouldbemined,minted,andmovedaround,and
couldnotignoreCicero’sassumptionthatsumspaidtoSiciliancitiesforcorn
willhavebeenbroughttothemonthebacksofmules.^96
But,finally,ifseriousanalysesofthesocialandeconomiccontextofthe
Romanrevolutionarenotyetavailable,wecanatleastseethenatureandthe
limitsoftheeffectsofthesegreatchangesinthelivesofafewindividuals.
. J.B.WardPerkins,‘‘FromRepublictoEmpire:ReflectionsontheEarlyProvincial
ArchitectureoftheRomanWest,’’JRS():–.
. [Caesar],B. Alex.,.
. Note, for instance, D. Manacorda, ‘‘The Ager Cosanus and the Production of the
AmphoraeofSestius:NewEvidenceandaReassessment,’’JRS():–;andseealso
A.GiardinaandA.Schiavone,eds.,Società romana e produzione schiavistica,II(),andthe
surveyarticlebyJ.Paterson,‘‘‘SalvationfromtheSea’:AmphoraeandTradeintheRoman
West,’’JRS():–.
. Forexample,Nash,‘‘Plusçachange’’(n.);Nash,Settlement and Coinage in Central
Gaul(n. ); M. H. Crawford, ‘‘The Financial Organisation of Republican Spain,’’NC
():–;R.C.Knapp,‘‘TheDateandPurposeoftheIberianDenarii,’’NC():
–;cf.A.Giovannini,Rome et la circulation monétaire en Grèce an IIesiècle avant Jésus-Christ
().
. Cicero,Verr. II,.