«...qui villas non habent». Insediamenti e storie “minori” nelle campagne dell’Apulia et Calabria di età tardoantica

Abstract

This paper aims to offer some preliminary considerations on rural “secondary” settlements of Late Antique Apulia et
Calabria. Besides villas, archaeological field surveys have been showing a widespread diffusion of small-size scattered settlements (the so-called “farms”) and villages (vici). From an archaeological point of view, what do we know about these settlements? What is hidden behind the generic term “farm”? How were villages organized? And, above all, what do these settlements tell us about social and economic conditions, habits and lifestyle of Late Roman peasants? Through the analysis of a sample of case studies, it will be possible to see how this society of pauperes was heterogeneous, differentiated and hierarchized by social status, material and economic resources, activities and functions.