L'area sabellica e i primi contatti con Roma: cultura materiale, circolazione monetaria e ibridazioni complesse in un territorio italico

The area of the contribution is the mid-Adriatic Apennines (roughly modern Abruzzo). The area presents artistic, architectural, material culture, epigraphic and numismatic sources, which attest the complexity of the local cultures and the different interactions with external influences often coming directly from Campania, Etruria, Puglia, but also from the Celtic area or from northern European cultures, and not necessarily through the Roman mediation. From the end of the 4th century BC the settlement model was based on a 'paganico-vicana' organisation, with fortifications (oppida, castella), villages (vici) and rural and 'inter-paganic' sanctuaries; but over time and with environmental or political changes, these sites have also changed functions and uses. The natural road system constituted the supporting network in the organization and hierarchization of the sites. The progressive rooting of Roman territorial administrative models, at the turn of the 2nd century BC, led to the transformation of some pre-existing minor centres into primary centres, strongly changing the local territorial dynamics. There are many markers of the so-called romanization to take into consideration and they cannot be used individually, otherwise there is a risk of misunderstanding the evolutionary processes. It is therefore obvious that we cannot speak of a "regional model of romanization", but rather of cultural changes differentiated over time and areas. What romanization in short?