Purges, Proscriptions, and the Archaeology of Roman Social Organisation: an Agent

Based Simulation of an Ancient Society

Shawn Graham, PhD, RPA, MIFA
Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Roman Archaeology, University of Manitoba
ne of the central iss!es in the social sciences concerns individ!al agency and its
relationshi" to wider society, of how individ!al actions #free will$ give rise to social
re"rod!ction and collective behavio!r% &!rning the '!estion aro!nd we can as( what
ha""ens to collective behavio!r when individ!als are lost from society) &his research
offers a novel e*amination of this "roblem in the light of an archaeological case st!dy%
Using archaeological evidence for social relationshi"s in Roman +entral Italy, I have
been investigating the self,organisation and robustness #the ability to withstand stress$ of
ancient Roman Society% &his wor( has been carried o!t as a Postdoctoral Research
Fellow at the University of Manitoba% &he "ro-ect home"age is
htt".//home%cc%!manitoba%ca/0grahams% Initial res!lts were "!blished in the December
1223 edition of the Archaeological +om"!ting 4ewsletter%
&his wor( is a nat!ral o!tgrowth from my PhD thesis, which dealt with a n!mber of
as"ects of the non,agric!lt!ral e*"loitation of "rimary reso!rces in the Roman world, in
"artic!lar the com"le* social and "hysical dynamics of the e*"loitation of clays for
b!ilding materials for the +ity of Rome% I loo(ed at the social and "hysical networ(s
which enabled this e*"loitation, and the dynamic inter"lay between the different social
levels involved. that of man!fact!rer and landowner% &hese are the social networ(s that I
reanimate and st!dy with agent based modelling%
In that initial st!dy, I fo!nd that these two social levels e*hibited different (inds of
str!ct!ral organisation at different times, and that the changing dynamic between the two
levels co!ld hel" e*"lain otherwise contradictory as"ects of the Roman economy% It was
also fo!nd that these dynamics indicate ways in which the str!ct!re of social
relationshi"s in Roman c!lt!re may acco!nt for "artic!lar develo"ments in Roman
history% &he thesis wor( formed the basis for my contrib!tions to the 5ritish School at
Rome6s 7everh!lme,f!nded 8&iber 9alley Pro-ect6%
&he methodology involved discerning geo"hysical relationshi"s in bric( assemblages
from a wide variety of sites, and tying these into the wider social relationshi"s recorded
in stam"s on the bric(s% &he stam"s recorded the name of the landlord and often that of
the man!fact!rer% ftentimes, the landlords were significant fig!res in Roman society
#incl!ding the :m"eror and other members of his ho!sehold$% &ying these relationshi"s
together #whether "hysical or social$ creates a networ( "attern% &he sha"e of the networ(
has im"lications for the str!ct!re of society; in !sing archaeological data a "ict!re of the
changing sha"e over time may be develo"ed, which allows the res!lts to be "laced firmly
in social and historical conte*t%
In this larger "ict!re, e"isodes of elite self,e*termination mar( many "assages of Roman
<istory, yet seemingly witho!t any f!ndamental conse'!ences for society at large% =hat
was it abo!t the str!ct!re of society in the Roman world which allowed it to weather the
loss of ma-or fig!res in social and economic life) In a c!lt!re where the economy was
embedded in social and "olitical networ(s, the changing "attern of those networ(s had
im"ortant ramifications for !nderstanding historical change% &he initial aim of my c!rrent
research !sing agent based models has been therefore to !nderstand and e*"lain the
str!ct!ral dynamics of Roman society from the "oint of view of individ!als%
Ultimately the "ro-ect aims to answer the '!estions. how robust was Roman society, and
did this rob!stness arise thro!gh a "rocess of self,organisation) In addition to their
intrinsic interest, the answers to these '!estions have wider im"lications for the social
sciences and h!manities as a whole, in "artic!lar, for debates on agency and its
relationshi" to the creation of society #an agenda cham"ioned by the sociologist Anthony
Giddens in his 8str!ct!ration theory6$% Roman archaeology is seldom st!died for its
relevance to wider iss!es in the social sciences, des"ite the wealth of material remains
and literary so!rces from the Roman "eriod which co!ld be investigated; in this regard,
this "ro-ect re"resents an im"ortant first ste"%
&he "ro-ect !ses bric( and tile from +entral Italy as an indicator of the nat!re of land and
agric!lt!ral e*"loitation #and by association social organisation$, from the >!lio,
+la!dians !ntil the reigns of the Gothic ?ings #the first five cent!ries AD$% 5ric( and tile
are s!itable for this "!r"ose beca!se the stam"s on the bric(s record the names of the
individ!al landowners and man!fact!rers% &hese names incl!de men and women from
every level of Roman society, !" to and incl!ding ma-or fig!res s!ch as the :m"eror
himself #the im"ortance of landed wealth for social and "olitical legitimacy in the Roman
world is a common"lace$% Also, the "hysical relationshi" between the different fabrics of
the bric(s can be !sed to discern the changing "atterns of land e*"loitation% From the
a""earance of named individ!als in the stam"s, co!"led with the "atterns of land
e*"loitation, the networ(s of social relationshi"s between man!fact!rers and landlords,
and their social e'!als, can be ded!ced%
My research transforms the static 8sna"shots6 of the social relationshi"s a""arent in bric(
into agent,based models of Roman society% Agent,based models are ones where
tho!sands of inde"endent software 8agents6 interact with each other, given basic r!les of
behavio!r #and these r!les can evolve$% &he emergent behavio!r of agent,based models
can "rovide insight into e*tinct c!lt!res which is otherwise !nobtainable% &he val!e of
this (ind of modelling is that it is dynamic and contingent on the interactions of
individ!als% In effect, the model "rod!ces different (inds of behavio!r de"endent on the
"attern of interactions indicated by the archaeological evidence #the networ(s !ncovered
in the bric( evidence$% 5y altering the "attern on which the agents interact, re"licating
"!rges and other social shoc(s, we will have a tool for e*"loring vario!s hy"otheses
regarding the nat!re of the Roman economy and society, its ability to withstand stress,
and the relationshi" of individ!al to collective behavio!r% &his is the first time that s!ch
models will have been attem"ted !sing Roman material, for which, #given the richness of
this material$, it is ideally s!ited%
In order to do this, I have been engaged in the following wor(.
@$ Drawing o!t the social and "hysical networ(s from the bric( of different "eriods%
Several cent!ries of wor( on bric( stam"s have determined many of the (ith and (in
relationshi"s in the bric( ind!stry%
1$ Modeling the networ(s% &he modelling lang!age !sed is Netlogo, a freely available
and easily !nderstandable shareware "rogramming environment from the +entre for
+onnected 7earning at 4orthwestern University% &o model the social interactions,
software agents are instr!cted to interact according to Game &heory a""roaches for
e*"loring social interaction and co,o"eration%
A$ :val!ating the model% &he interactions are modelled in a way where each agent can
only interact with other agents following the "atterns discerned from the archaeology%
A series of these sim!lations are being r!n, "laying the different (inds of 8games6,
from the vario!s starting "ositions #based on the archaeological "atterns for each
"eriod, and also from a "!rely random config!ration to "rovide a 8control6$%
B$ Analysing the res!lts% &he historical and sociological analytical framewor( is
"rovided by considering how and why and in what regard, do the vario!s 8r!ns6 of the
model conc!r with, or differ from, the (nown history of the region% &he modelling
framewor( also allows vario!s 8what,if6 scenarios to be e*"lored%
5eca!se the software agents interact in archaeologically determined "atterns, it sho!ld be
"ossible to correlate the ty"es of behavio!r which emerge with the constraints and
"otentials for action of historic individ!als% It is also "ossible to identify (ey individ!als
in the networ( and then to 8(ill6 them #remove them from the model$, th!s testing the
rob!stness of the networ(s to "roscri"tions, "!rges, s!icides, and so on% An alternative
a""roach I am wor(ing on, which is m!ch more theoretically so!nd involves b!ilding
constraints into the model where "!rges and "roscri"tions are generated spontaneously
from the social interactions and the "ossibilities for social advancement in the model%

&he agent,based modeling a""roach is desirable for historians and archaeologists #and
indeed, all researchers in the <!manities$ not for its ability for !s to b!ild sim!lacra of
"artic!lar sit!ations% Rather, it is in the "ossibilities it holds o!t for !s to translate o!r
narrative, e*"lanatory descri"tions of historical change into models we can e*"lore and
test in a rigoro!s fashion, to see whether o!r ideas act!ally work% In this way, it holds o!t
the "romise of revol!tion, of "aradigm shift%