Romanization, Romanizzazione: a rhyzomatic account of an apparent dualism

This paper accounts for the divisive picture of Romanization that characterizes different national scholarly contexts. Romanization is still a valid interpretive tool in many countries; though, it is harshly criticised – and allegedly abandoned – in others. The aim of this paper is to provide an historical understanding of such divide, by investigating the roots of Romanization within the late 19th-late 20th century period, when historian Theodor Mommsen moulded it. Romanization, both when freely applied to archaeological data and when critiqued, is treated as a uniform model, valid at all times. This attitude is part of the problem: its original outline expressed different views of the world than the ones around today, after the development – and following criticism – of postcolonial and critical theories. These pages will retrieve Romanization a set of dynamic, historically-shaped paradigms that adapt to specific regional and academic environments.