Parrish Elizabeth Wright is a PhD candidate in the Interdepartmental Program in Greek and Roman History at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. As the 2020 Samuel H. Kress Foundation Rome Prize Fellow in Ancient Studies, she was working on a project titled “Competing Narratives of Identity and Urbanism in Central and Southern Italy, 750 BCE–100 BCE.”
Can you briefly describe your Fellowship project?
My research centers on stories, specifically foundation and origin stories in southern Italy from the eighth to third century BCE. This is the period when we see the development of communities, whether cities or cohesive ethnic groups, and I study how these communities expressed their identities through stories and myths. This period is exciting, not only because of this moment of state formation, but also because it was a time of intense cultural interaction between the native inhabitants of southern Italy and Greek migrants, who began settling on the shores of Italy (and throughout the Mediterranean) in the eighth century BCE (or so!). I argue that these myths of origin are inherently political and through them we can better understand not only community development in Italy but also how these cities and groups were positioning themselves in the tangled web of Mediterranean alliances.
How did you approach your project while you were in Rome?
While in Rome, my first goals were tackling the research and writing for the last chapter of my dissertation, which focused on a few case studies of foundation stories of Italic peoples in southern Italy. This meant many hours in the library and at my desk. My working method generally involves open books and notebooks and Post-it Notes everywhere, and I occasionally took over a whole table on the fourth-floor balcony as my workspace. This research could not have been accomplished, even in its first attempt format as a dissertation chapter, without the collection of the AAR Library. Much of the Italian scholarship, especially archaeological site reports, are difficult to access in the United States, but were available in the AAR Library. I successfully defended my dissertation in January. I had planned to spend the spring following up on all my “look into this more!” Post-it Notes and visiting or revisiting sites in Italy relevant to my research, but this will have to happen in a post COVID-19 world.
Is there one Roman site, experience, or person that stands out for you in terms of impact on your project, or on your work more generally?
A site and experience which stands out from my time in Rome was visiting the Tomb of the Scipios, a site that has been on my Rome wish list forever! With the support of Giulia Barra, another Fellow was able to obtain a permesso and a few of us tagged along (Thanks, Chris!). While I’ve spent time with Scipio Barbatus’s sarcophagus in the Vatican Museum many times, seeing its original setting and the entire complex brought out in my mind the power and value of these family spaces in the Roman Republic. The visit stuck with me as I continued to think about the next stages for my project. At Rome, the various foundation legends are intrinsically tied not only to political changes at Rome, but also to individual families and their stories of the origins of their gens, such as the Fabii, who trace their lineage back to Heracles, or the Julii, who are connected to Aeneas. This is a critical aspect that was missing in my dissertation and will definitely feature in the next stages of my project.
Being in Rome also gave me the opportunity to attend the large conference in my subfield in Taranto, Italy, where I heard some of the cutting-edge research in the area of Magna Graecia. One of the AAR advisors was instrumental helping me make introductions to key scholars in the field at the conference.
Did your project change over the course of your time in Rome? If so, in what ways?
Being in Rome gave me the time, space, and resources to begin thinking about my project as more than my dissertation and what the next steps will be. Feedback from our writing group, from other Fellows, from scholars (especially Tom Carpenter!), have helped me begin the process of reimagining my research as a book. Some of those changes are those I mentioned above, trying to bring in the Roman example and the role of individuals and families in the process of mythmaking and state formation throughout Italy.
What do you think you will carry forward from the time you spent in Rome?
These experiences, the developments in my research, the accomplishment of finishing my dissertation, and moving into the next stages of my academic career, are all part of my time in Rome. What will I carry forward with me? The walks in Monteverde, the runs in Doria Pamphili, chats at the bar, afternoons at any Rome museum of my choice, dinner conversations that had me falling off my chair laughing, shoptalks that blew my mind, morning coffees on the fourth-floor balcony, and the amazing people I had the honor to meet at AAR, especially my fellow Fellows.