Dr Nefeli Pirée Iliou

Who invited the Synepirotae to Epirus? Fortified farms and networks of commerce in the late Republic and early Empire

In Epirus, unlike in other areas of Greece, Roman investors were present early in the Roman period. Their holdings and related husbandry were recounted (and partly fictionalised) by Varro as well as alluded to by others (e.g. Cicero and Cornelius Nepos). Too often, the relationship between Roman investors and Epirotes has been reconstructed as one-sided, with notable individuals like Titus Pomponius Atticus reaping agricultural rewards by racking up land lost after an allegedly devastating conquest—in fact, this is not a relationship at all. In my paper I want to redress this imbalance, to explore commercial (and other) networks that underpinned the arrival of Italian landowners as well as products such as wine to Epirus, and specifically to fortified farms in the coastal region of Chaonia in northwest Epirus, during the early Imperial period, networks which were rooted in a web of connections spun during the last two centuries BCE. I will begin by presenting a case-study from my doctoral thesis. 

This case-study focuses on the archaeology of fortified farms in early Imperial times, combining examination of some of the published finds (mainly ceramics, taken as material find concentrations), and of the architecture to highlight the transformations undergone by fortified farms in this period, when evidence for the consumption of Italian goods is also particularly strong. Next, I will trace Italian links back to networks engineered by Epirote families in the late Republic, that brought them into close contact with members of the aristocracy of Rome and attracted Roman credit. I will argue that once the first links between Epirus and the larger trade network of the central Adriatic had been forged, possibilities for phase transition, or the creation of new nodes, abounded, making possible the widespread import of Italian goods to Epirote farms directly or indirectly through cities, ports, and towns. These links were so strong that even after significant disruptions during the Civil Wars, they were sustained and re-invigorated in the early Empire, when in this part of the Roman world, it was fortified farms—not villas—that flourished.

Nefeli Pirée Iliou completed my D.Phil. in Classical Archaeology at the University of Oxford (2022, supervised by Prof A. I. Wilson), with a thesis entitled “The Transformation of the Agricultural Economy. Forms of rural settlement in Epirus from the 2nd century BCE to the 4th century CE”. She has spent considerable time in different parts of Epirus, where she conducted extensive primary fieldwork studying the material culture of ancient farms in collaboration with archaeologists in local Ephorates of Antiquities. Before that, she worked as a field archaeologist in Greece, Turkey, and Italy, participating in archaeological projects including Ancient Messene, Keros island, and Aphrodisias. Nefeli's master’s degree was also in Classical Archaeology at Oxford, as an Ertegun Scholar in the Humanities, and her undergraduate studies in Ancient History & Archaeology were undertaken at the University of St Andrews. Now, she works and lives in Athens, where she divides her time between archaeological research and consulting for a Greece-focused philanthropic foundation. Nefeli is affiliated with the University of Oxford as an Early Career Researcher (ECR).