Lusitanie 1984

Un passé romain en devenir

Abstract

The history of Roman Lusitania has continued to gain in interest over the last fifty years. Portuguese research has kept pace with the changes in historiography that have taken place in Europe, in favour of a better understanding of the ancient territories and their documentation, particularly the promising local epigraphy. J. d’Encarnação’s masterly 1984 book, IRCP, acted as a catalyst and a model: the rigorous method illustrated the fruitfulness of a provincial history based on inscriptions to be discovered and reread. Four decades on, the progress that has been made means that we can now better define the questions that remain unanswered, diversify our methods of investigation, examine epigraphic monuments in a different way, and open up unexplored avenues to bring to life the multiple narratives of a Lusitania that is now better identified as a province created by Roman power.