INTRODUCTION

Settling in a changing world, creating a new place for oneself in the rapidly evolving environment of the Roman provinces, and the impact this had on each and every dimension of the lives of local people – that is the core theme of this paper. In general terms, the development of the northernmost provinces of the Roman empire involved the creation of a new administrative structure that included civitates and their capitals, many other urban and rural centres connected by a network of well-constructed roads, and a series of military camps concentrated along the Rhine in particular. These developments can be linked to significant changes to the economic, social, cultural, demographic and political spheres. New markets opened up, new institutions of power were created, new lifestyles were introduced and people's mobility increased significantly. Particularly within the context of their local settlements, the rural population had to deal with this changing world and to create a new place within it, by changing not just the way in which they inhabited and worked the land but how they related to each other and to the outside world. These processes of change can be studied by exploring the development trajectories of rural settlements. After all, the adoption of new materials, forms, objects and (spatial) concepts can be regarded as a way of redefining relationships within local communities as well as between them and the outside world. This paper is about individual people, families and communities actively creating a new place for themselves in the changing world of the Roman provinces and the empire.

To understand more about significant changes in rural settlement and, ultimately, in local communities, as well as to critically assess the concept of ‘villa’ as often used in Roman archaeology, a study has been designed with the following characteristics. First of all, development is the main focus. The reconstruction and interpretation of transformations in rural settlements can shed light on processes of change in rural communities. Secondly, a broad empirical approach has been chosen that reaches beyond the traditional definition of villa.