After graduating in Archaeology at ‘La Sapienza’ University in Rome, Francesco spent three years working as a professional field-archaeologist, on various sites in the South of England, including some in Kent.

Following this experience, he undertook a PhD at Birkbeck, University of London, in which he investigated dynamics of creation and change in Trajanic fora.

In 2009, upon successfully completing his examination, he joined Prof Ray Laurence’s ‘Age and Imperialism’ project, in which he is employed as Research Associate.

He came to the University of Kent in April 2010.

back to top

Research

Academic Areas: Roman Archaeology, Archaeological methods, practice and theory, Roman History, Epigraphy, Architectural History.

Social Dynamics in Roman Public Space: Following on from his PhD research, Francesco is pursuing his interest in the material effects of the interaction of agency and the structure of space in Roman fora. This is resulting in a series of publications on statuary, architecture and gaming, as well as plans for field-projects and for the publication of a monograph on the subject.

Age and Ageing in the Roman Empire: In the ‘Age and Imperialism’ project, Francesco’s role is to collect and order a number in excess of 30,000 burial inscriptions, detailing the age at death of the commemorated person. In addition to compiling this data-base, Francesco will transfer its content onto a dynamic GIS interface and ultimately collaborate with Prof Ray Laurence to the publication of a book on the outcome of their joint research.

back to top

Publications

Books

• Trifilò, F. (in preparation). Monuments in Motion. An Archaeological Study of the Space of Imperial Fora.
• Laurence, R. and Trifilò, F. (in preparation) Understanding Age in the Western Roman Empire: An Epigraphic Study.

Articles in Journals

• Trifilò, F. (submitted for publication), ‘Traffic, Congestion and the Creation of Public Space in Cities of the Roman Empire: The Archaeology of the Platea’, in The Journal of Transport History (Proceedings of the “Blocked Arteries: Circulation and Congestion in History” conference held in London on 25th and 26th November 2010) (2012)
• Trifilò, F., ‘Public Architecture and Urban Living in the Roman City. The Example of the Forum of Timgad’, in BABESCH 86 (2011), pp.125-136.
• Trifilò, F., ‘Power, Architecture and Community in the Distribution of Honorary Statues in Roman Public Space’ in Fenwick, C., Wiggins, M. and Wythe, D. (eds), TRAC 2007: Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference, London 2007, (Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2008), pp.109-120.

Book Chapters

• Trifilò, F. (in preparation), ‘Text, Space and Movement: Discovering the Platea in Epigraphy and Archaeology’, in Keegan, P., Laurence, R. and Sears, G. (eds.), Written Space, (London: Continuum Publishers, 2012).
• Trifilò, F. (in press), ‘Gaming in the Forum and the Use of Space’ in: Newsome, D. and Laurence, R.(eds.), Movement in the Roman City: Infrastructure and Experience. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).
• Laurence, R. and Trifilò, F., ‘Vixit Plus Minus. Commemorating the Age of the Dead – Towards A Familial Roman Life Course?’ in Laurence, R. and Stromberg, A. (eds.) (in press) Proceedings of the 2009 conference “Oikos – Familia: The Family in Ancient Greco-Roman society. Framing the Discipline in the 21st Century”, (London: Continuum Publishers, 2011)

Book Reviews

• Trifilò, F. (forthcoming), Review of Baird, J.A. and Taylor, C. (eds.), Ancient Graffiti in Context (London, 2011), Rosetta 11
• Trifilò, F. (2011), Review of Oleson, J.P. (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World. (Oxford, 2008), Rosetta 9: 87-91.
• Trifilò, F. (2011), Review of Van Tilburg, C., Traffic and Congestion in the Roman Empire, (London, 2007). Ancient West and East 10.

back to top

Projects

Investigating Chronological Age in the Roman Empire

The roads leading from Roman cities were lined by tombs and cemeteries for the dead. These were locations where the living remembered their loved ones and set up inscriptions to commemorate their names and other matters concerning their identity in life. Unlike modern cemeteries in the UK, the age at death was not always included in memorials. When the age at death, even down to the months and days of a person's life, is included, it provides us with an insight into how chronological age was used in the Roman Empire.

It has for long been recognized that the inclusion of age in these memorials was far from standard, with considerable variation and we should not use the evidence to re-construct the ages of the living populations of the Roman Empire. Chronological age is included more often in inscriptions to commemorate children in Italy, whereas in modern Tunisia we find age recorded more frequently on the tombs of those over the age of sixty. However, the overall pattern has never been systematically evaluated to observe local, regional and global patterns in the use of chronological age.

Our approach to this problem is rather different to those of the past. We will be examining the overall distribution of the range of chronological age at specific archaeological sites with a view to characterising with reference to two population models, one for a population that reproduces itself from generation to generation, and another that we would associate with an epidemic of the proportion of the Black Death in Medieval Europe. This methodology highlights patterns of convergence within the data, and also considers whether the recurring epidemic or sequence of epidemics known as the Great Plague of the late second century AD might have an effect on the ages recorded.

The use of chronological age, like any other attribute of Roman culture, has a distribution pattern or variation over the geographical area of the Roman Empire. To understand this variation effectively, we will utilized a powerful computer based system that allows for the analysis of distribution patterns in relation to the network of communications: sea, rivers and roads. This system will also make the data available over the internet for others to study at the end of the project; in three years time, readers of this article will be able to conduct their own analysis of the data. The system will be able to isolate variables such as gender, membership of the military, date, and so on. The project as a whole will, for the first time, provide the means to access these variations and present a full interpretation in a book: Age and Communications in the Roman Empire.

back to top