Introduction
The Introduction addresses the emerging study of Roman souvenirs and establishes a new framework for their analysis. Whereas prior studies have valuably considered the role of Roman souvenirs in curating memory and their relation to modern memorabilia, this book explores how their craftsmanship relates to perceptions of place. The book’s four case studies focus on artifacts that conjure particular destinations through a combination of words and images. These artifacts are simultaneously portable works of art and material texts. They can be held in the hand yet they evoke monumental buildings, cities, frontiers, and roads. They are Roman, Italian, and provincial in their sites of production and use. The book’s interdisciplinary analysis therefore draws on theories of place, globalization, materiality, and multi-sensory experience in order to answer the following question: how did souvenirs allow residents of the Roman empire to be in one place while imagining another?