The aim of this shoptalk is to outline some of the ways in which stories of urban complexity can be told from archaeological remains. The subject is the Roman city of Pompeii, specifically the neighborhood under excavation by the University of Cincinnati and the American Academy in Rome. In bringing these excavations to publication, some newer approaches are being explored (and remain needed) to tell both the structural and social making of a city.

Steven Ellis is the ACLS/Frederick Burkhardt Residential Fellow at the American Academy in Rome and associate professor at the Department of Classics at the University of Cincinnati.