Urbanization in Roman Sardinia from the Third to the First century BCE

For the study of urbanization in connection with the political, social, and economic transformations of Roman Sardinia between the third and the first centuries BCE, it is crucial to consider the role of the local Nuragic cultural tradition, dating back to the Bronze and Iron Ages, and of the Phoenician and then Punic elements which were present from the eight century BCE and still very much alive after the Roman conquest. The aim of this chapter is to investigate how this cultural syncretism influenced the organization and monumental development of Sardinian urban spaces, the public and private architectural models adopted, and relations between the coastal and inland territories of Sardinia during the Middle and Late Republican periods.