In its broadest sense, Roman archaeology encompasses all forms of study of the material remains of the Roman world, beginning in the 8th century bce and ending with the fall of the Roman Empire. In practice, research in Roman archaeology is typically divided into specializations by material type, geographic location, or chronological era, and often artificially separated into “art history” and “archaeology,” a division frequently reflected in the literature below. Subfields within Roman archaeology include, for example, architecture, field excavation in Rome, Italy, or any of the provinces, pottery studies, sculpture, painting, and mosaics. The purpose of this entry is to acquaint the reader with major subdisciplines within Roman archaeology. Subdisciplines and sites discussed in separate bibliography entries are noted below.
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