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A mathematical perspective on Romanisation: Modelling the Roman road activation process in ancient Tunisia

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  • Nataša Djurdjevac Conrad
  • Robin Chemnitz
  • Margarita Kostré
  • Fleur Schweigart
  • Friederike Fless
  • Christof Schütte
  • Benjamin Ducke

Abstract

Romanisation is a multi-faceted historical phenomenon with profound and lasting cultural impact on the ancient world. In the modern-day territory of Tunisia, this is particularly manifest during the first four centuries AD, under the reign of the Roman Empire. We derive a reduced, operational concept of Romanisation as a cultural diffusion process that is observable in the archaeological remains of the Roman era settlement system. We then introduce a novel mathematical model that computes spatio-temporal approximations for the Romanisation of the settlement system. The model is based on the concept of temporal road activation and makes minimal assumptions regarding input data quality. The results of our study contribute to the understanding of the time dynamics of the region’s road network, under the influence of Romanisation. Our model can be applied in similar archaeological research scenarios, to generate spatio-temporal backbones for the analysis of otherwise intractably complex social processes.

Suggested Citation

  • Nataša Djurdjevac Conrad & Robin Chemnitz & Margarita Kostré & Fleur Schweigart & Friederike Fless & Christof Schütte & Benjamin Ducke, 2024. "A mathematical perspective on Romanisation: Modelling the Roman road activation process in ancient Tunisia," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(9), pages 1-28, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0309752
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309752
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Anne Kandler & Charles Perreault & James Steele, 2012. "Editorial — Cultural Evolution In Spatially Structured Populations: A Review Of Alternative Modeling Frameworks," Advances in Complex Systems (ACS), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 15(01n02), pages 1-18.
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