Roman Economy and Taste

Over the weekend I read Federica Maria Riso, Valentina Limina, and Alexandra Livarda’s new edited volume, Roman Economy and the Acquisition of New Tastes: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (Oxbow 2026) for a review. The book offers six case studies that bring together textual sources and archaeology to trace how Romans (and their neighbors) sought to produce a sense of identity. The concept of taste remains largely tacit throughout this book. There is no mention to Bourdieu, much less Veblen or Simmel or even Daniel Miller who offer a practical and theoretical framework for understanding what constitutes taste as a form of social expression. The absence of a serious discussion of what taste is and how it works both in general and in Roman society perhaps marks the limits of “interdisciplinary perspectives” explored in this book. That said, the contributors do offer a half-dozen interesting contributions to broader discussions on the Roman economy, trade, and identity. Silvia Geraci study…