JOBNAME: No Job Name PAGE: 1 SESS: 12 OUTPUT: Thu Nov 14 19:28:23 2013 SUM: 825FCD5C /Xpp84/wiley_journal/OJOA/ojoa_v33_i1/2041_ojoa_12027 RAFAEL SCOPACASA BUILDING COMMUNITIES IN ANCIENT SAMNIUM: CULT, ETHNICITY AND NESTED IDENTITIES Summary. This article addresses the meaning of community in an area of the ancient world that is normally seen to diverge from the paradigm of the Classical city-state, by examining the role of sanctuaries in the articulation of identity and belonging. The focus is on Samnium (central Italy) in the last four centuries BC, where archaeological and historical evidence, including a wealth of recent discoveries, supports a dynamic view of a region that is traditionally associated with a cohesive ethnic group. Whilst it is true that the major sanctuary at Pietrabbondante fostered the construction of Samnite ethnic identity as a form of resistance to Roman expansion, this article highlights the importance of other types and levels of belonging in light of a broader range of cult sites. The concept of ‘nested identities’ (a scenario where individuals identify simultaneously with overlapping groups) can bring about a more nuanced view of how cult was used as a means to negotiate belonging on ethnic and non-ethnic levels. I hope to show that local communities, and particularly the local elites, were able to function independently rather than simply as the building blocks of the Samnite ethnos. INTRODUCTION Classical writers inform us that in the last four centuries BC a number of ethnic groups inhabited central Italy, namely the Samnites, Frentani, Marsi, Vestini, Paeligni and Marrucini, all of which were known in antiquity for their resistance to Roman expansion (Livy 8.29.1–7; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 15.3.7–9; Strabo 5.4.2; Pliny HN 3.105–7). 1 Until recently, this ethnic organization of central Italian communities was viewed as backward in comparison with the more urbanized Tyrrhenian zone, where city-states would seem to have been more prevalent (e.g. Colonna 1985, 160; though this evolutionary view is now largely superseded: see Dench 1995). Whilst in Etruria, Latium and Campania one can trace settlement nucleation, urbanization and 1 Ethnic groups in antiquity were defined on the basis of perceived common origins and putative kinship ties, as well as perceived cultural similarities and historical experience (Hall 1997; Jones 1997). See Morgan 2003, 4–16 for a discussion of ancient and modern ideas about the ethnos. Toppan Best-set Premedia Limited Journal Code: OJOA Proofreader: Mony Article No: OJOA12027 Delivery date: 14 Nov 2013 Page Extent: 19 OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 33(1) 69–87 2014 © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 69 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39