Joel Bellviure

I am a DPhil student at Lincoln College, Oxford. Previously, I completed an MPhil in Classical Archaeology at Oxford, and two BAs in History and in Archaeology at Barcelona.

The title of my thesis is 'The Emergence of a Provincial Market: Trade during the Early Roman Conquest of Iberia (218–100 BC)', supervised by Prof Andrew I. Wilson. The aim of my research is to examine, from an economic history perspective, whether economic growth or contraction occurred in the first century following the Roman conquest and incorporation of Iberia (modern Spain and Portugal). With this, I try to assess a period of erratic expansion, and how the Roman State, or the decision-makers that constituted it, used the trade of Italian merchandise as a coercive weapon to gain political advantage over the local communities. It is not strange that the presence of Italian imports is often followed by a more favourable reception to Roman conquest. My work involves the compilation, dating, and re-assessment of Italian imports and Iberian exports in second-century Iberia, as well as theorising to what extent trade triggered changes in provincial production. I wish to assess how archaeology can contribute to the idea that trade can be used in advantage to swift opinion and ease military or political intervention in a foreign land by coercing its population.

I also consider fieldwork essential to my research, having participated in approximately 25 seasons at sites in Italy (Pompeii, Fregellae), Spain (e.g. Isla del Fraile), and Tunisia (Meninx).