ABSTRACT
Much of the rationale behind setting out to study the Roman urban periphery rests on the fact that it was a recognised entity in the ancient world, and thus had meaning within Roman society. The evidence which indicates that this was so, however, can tell us much more than this. Legal documents, literary texts, and visual images provide an insight into the thought-world of the urban periphery, as well as the various means by which Roman observers distinguished the periurban from the urban or the rural.1 This evidence comes primarily from an elite perspective: it was chiefly produced by and for individuals who held a dominant position within Roman society, and who were generally male, wealthy, well-educated and politically active. Specifically, much of it was produced by or for members of the unique metropolitan elite based at Rome. The view of the periurban which it preserves, then, is very much that of a select group. None the less, the very social dominance of those who belonged to this group makes their perspective of particular interest. These people were in a position to disseminate their understanding of the urban periphery to others via art, literature and the law. They were also able to affect the physical appearance of actual urban landscapes, both at Rome and elsewhere, through their control over land and wealth.
