City Life in Antiquity: The Expansion of Cities and Urban Civilization in the Balkans and the Neighbouring Areas from the Hellenistic to the Late Roman Period

?he subject of the project is the city as the prevalent form of social, political, cultural and economic life in the Central Balkan regions in Antiquity. In the Hellenistic period Greek polis civilization penetrated into the interior of the Balkan Peninsula. Paleo-Balkan tribes (Illyrians, Dardanians, Triballi, and Thracians) and the newly arrived Celts were exposed to its influence and accepted some of its accomplishments. At the end of the Hellenistic period, in the wake of the Roman conquests in the Balkans, Roman forms of urban life penetrated the same area. The establishment of colonies and municipia in the Balkan provinces made a notable contribution to the integration of native tribes into the Roman world and greatly facilitated the exchange of material and cultural goods. We expect this project to settle the following disputed issues: chronology of first urban foundations in the Central Balkans, the roles of local tribes and their traditions vs. the Greco-Roman influences, the nature of early urban life regarding its social, economic and cultural aspects, the place of the Central Balkan urban communities within the system of Hellenistic states and Roman Empire. Furthermore, we expect that some related fields of study (social history of ancient Balkans and the neighbouring regions (Greece, Asia Minor, Italy), history of ancient cults, historical geography, onomastics and prosopography) will derive benefit from the results of the proposed research-project.