LIVING AND SURVIVING IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE: SKELETAL TRAUMA AND STRONTIUM ISOTOPES OF AN INDIVIDUAL FROM LUCUS FERONIAE (ROME, ITALY).

The study of archaeological human remains allows us to dive deeply into the lifestyle of past populations. When applied to the Roman Empire, it can shed light on the life of a part of the population that was not reported by classical literary sources. In particular, slaves played a fundamental role in the Roman Empire, both in the city of Rome and in outer villages. Our study focuses on the necropolis outside the village of Lucus Feroniae (I-III century CE). From the archaeological record we know that the village was inhabited by local people, war veterans and liberti (freed slaves). Combining macroscopic examinations and radiographic analyses of a subsample of individuals from this necropolis, we were able to identify an adult male with signs, on the skull and postcranial bones, indicative of a harsh life. These are features that, in the literature, are normally associated with a low social status. To explore the life history of this individual we coupled the skeletal evidence with an isotopic study, as to infer the origin of this man and his possible role within the community. Hence, we measured the strontium isotope ratio in the enamel of the second molar to study his geographical origin. The integration of isotopic, skeletal, and archaeological data helps to reconstruct the osteobiography of this man, providing an insight into the life of the lower class in Imperial Rome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]