Migration and mobility in Imperial Rome. PhD Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina.

"Migration to Rome in the Imperial period has been under-researched owing to a dearthof epigraphical and historical evidence, particularly regarding the lower classes. A new setof data has come to light in the form of thousands of skeletons from lower-class cemeteries inRome’s suburbium. Two of these cemeteries, Casal Bertone near the city walls and CastellaccioEuroparco in an agricultural area of the Roman suburbs, yielded 183 skeletons for osteologicalanalysis. Combined strontium and oxygen isotope analyses of a subsample of 55 individualsisolated 20 people who came to Rome following a birth elsewhere. Carbon and nitrogen isotopeanalysis of the same sample population demonstrated that there were significant differencesbetween the childhood diet of immigrants to Rome and that of the locals. Immigrants weremore likely to have consumed diets with significant amounts of the C4 plant millet. Prevalenceof skeletal and dental diseases, however, were not significantly different between the immigrantand local populations. Mobility in Imperial Rome can thus be characterized from isotopeanalyses as long-distance migration from the provinces as well as movement of individualswithin the Italian peninsula. The biological identification of immigrants to Rome in the absenceof historical and epigraphical data is a significant first step towards a new understanding ofwho migrants were, where they came from, and what experiences they had upon arrival in theImperial capital."