• Colour drawing of a staged theatrical scene framed by two symmetrical classical structures with niches containing gilded statues, flanked by trees. At the centre, a painted backdrop shows an island within an archipelago, with a visible settlement; in the foreground, a vessel approaches the shore. Four figures stand before the backdrop holding branches and other objects. The composition is enclosed within a thin rectangular gold border.

Forging Late Roman Italy

by Jeroen Wijnendaele (This text incorporates my introduction for the book launch of Late Roman Italy at Hamburg’s RomanIslam centre – 21.11.2023) Fergus Millar once claimed that “Italy under the Empire has no history.” He meant that it had no…