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Denis Sami

Oxford Archaeology, East (Cambridge), Staff Member

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My interest focus on the archaeology and history of Late Roman and early Byzantine Sicily, the Exarchate of Ravenna and Anglo-Saxon England with particular attention to urbanism and material culture such as pottery and small finds. Field archaeology is also a great passion I enjoy at OAE.
Address: Oxford Archaeology East
15 Trafalgar Way
Bar Hill, Cambridge
CB23 8SQ

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Books by Denis Sami

Sami, D. and Christie, N. 2019, The Roman road and the mansio of Ad Novas at Cà Bufalini (Cesenatico, FC

Enrico Cirelli, Enrico Giorgi and Giuseppe Lepore (eds), 2019, Economia e Territorio, BAR S2926, Oxford , 2019

Due to misunderstanding in the editing proces, the captions and figures published do not match th... more Due to misunderstanding in the editing proces, the captions and figures published do not match the final version of the paper submitted.
In questo contributo sono presentati alcuni risultati preliminari degli scavi condotti nel sito di Ad Novas a Cesenatico. Si tratta di un importante insediamento posto lungo una strada di collegamento tra Rimini e Ravenna. Sono qui analizzati i reperti ceramici e in metallo che mostrano la vitalità economica del sito e la forte spinta alla crescita che tutta la regione e il territorio nei dintorni della nuova sede imperiale ricevettero agli inizi del V secolo.

Denis Sami, The Network of Interregional Roads and Harbours, pp.257-78

(Cosentino, S. ed.) A Companion to Byzantine Italy, Brill, Leiden, 2021

At the time of Emperor Justinian the Byzantine Empire extended its political and economic control... more At the time of Emperor Justinian the Byzantine Empire extended its political and economic control from the Southern coast of Spain and the Balearic Islands to Italy, the Balkans, North Africa, Egypt and the Middle East and reached the regions of the Black Sea. The ideological and the economic unity of such vast territory was guaranteed by the remaining network of interregional land communications, the cursus publicus and the system of major harbours developed during the Roman period and inherited by Constantinople. Investigating the fate of such an articulated organization of roads and ports means tackling the geographical uctuation of Byzantine provincial control, the people's perception of space and time, as well as the Empire's source of wealth and the politic performed by Constantinople in order to master its space. Recent years have seen important contributions in the study of the Roman system of interregional communications in Italy. Roads have been the focus of research aimed at exploring the origin and the economic, as well as the social, in uence of such a network. A cartographic approach has predominated among Italian scholars who have attempted to correlate roads and lodging stations mentioned in itineraria with modern place-names. Other theoretical approaches to the economic or the social impacts have also been explored. A major argument of these last studies has been that land transport was privileged over sea and river transport, and that the organisation of the cursus publicus was the cartographic expression of the Romanisation of Italy and the connection between the Imperial authority and the control of territory.

Sami, D. and Speed, G. (eds), 2010, Debating Urbanism: Within and Beyond the Walls, AD 300 – 700. Leicester, Leicester Archaeology Monograph 17

This monograph contains papers presented at the conference Dedating Urbanism: Within and Beyond t... more This monograph contains papers presented at the conference Dedating Urbanism: Within and Beyond the Walls A.D. 300-700, held at the University of Leicester in 2008. The papers presented by both archaeologists and historians offer new insights, theories, and methods into study of changing urban forms in the late antique world.

Papers by Denis Sami

Prima di Cervia Ad Novas? Le possibili cause della fine della stazione di sosta di Ad Novas-Cesenatico avvenuta nel V secolo

Studi Romagnoli, 2023

After reaching its economic apex around the mid of the 5th century, the post station of Ad Novas ... more After reaching its economic apex around the mid of the 5th century, the post station of Ad Novas suddenly declined and was abandoned. This paper argues that the reason for such event was a political decision and was the effect of the redefinition of the relationship between the imperial court, the Church of Ravenna, and the needs of the contemporary urban society. In addition, the reorganisation of the collection of the revenues, and the needs to secure economic invest in the development of Ravenna also played an important role in the disappearing of Ad Novas

Sami, D. 2019, Road, canal and post-station. The relational capacity of a mansio in Roman and late antique ad Novas-Cesenatico (Italy)

Emilio Gamo Pazos, Javier Fernández Ortea, David Álvarez Jiménez (eds), En ningún lugar… Caraca y la romanización de la Hispania interior, Diputación Provincial de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, pp: 551-62, 2019

If the organization, construction and maintenance of the Roman cursus publicus in Italy is a topi... more If the organization, construction and maintenance of the Roman cursus publicus in Italy is a topic extensively investigated (Sami forthcoming) the stopping posts along the network of land communications remains a field largely unexplored. However, the recent publication of the volume Statio amoena edited by Basso and Zanini (2017) marked the beginning of a new interest in the topic. The volume examined the different aspects of the Italian stopping posts focusing on the form, character and developmentalready subject of previous research by Corsi (2000). In both studies, mansiones, stationes and mutationes were investigated through textual and iconographic sources (Corsi 2000 and 2016; Crogiez-Pétrequin 2016; Di Paola 2016) and through old and more recently excavated case studies.

Sami, D. 2016, A Roman Hipposandal from Cesenatico (Italy)

Studi Romagnoli, LXVII, 2016

A Passage of Troops? Late Roman Small Finds from Ad Novas-Cesenatico (North-East Italy). Aquileia Nostra, 86, (2015)

This paper describes a collection of small finds generally identify as part of the Roman military... more This paper describes a collection of small finds generally identify as part of the Roman military equipment collected during the excavation organised by the university of Leicester at Cà Bufalini in the north-east Italian town of Ad Novas-Cesenatico. Archaeological investigations carried out from 2006 to 2014 documented a first to sixth centuries AD road settlement organised alongside a large glareata road most likely to be identified with the Via Popilia-Annia of imperial time. The military origin of the artefacts here discussed is defined not only by their functional aspect, but also by the context of provenience and disposal.

The Fate of Classical Statues in Late Antique and Byzantine Sicily. The Cases of Catania and Agrigento. In Kristensen, T.M. and Stirling, L. (eds), The Afterlife of Roman Sculpture II: Late Antique Response and Reception, Ann Arbor, Michigan University Press, pp. 223-241.

Ad Novas-Cesenatico. From Roman Road to Late Antique Wooden Structures. An Interim Report on the Evaluation Test Pits and Excavation at Cà Bufalini, 2006

by Denis Sami, Elena Baldi, Luana Toniolo, and Tania Chinni

Sami, D. 'Sicilian cities between the fourth and fifth centuries AD'

While a young generation of researchers and archaeologists is working hard to update Sicilian stu... more While a young generation of researchers and archaeologists is working hard to update Sicilian studies with modern methodological approaches and to fill the gap of information due to traditional lack of interest in the Late Roman and Byzantine periods, old theories and patterns still deeply influence current research. Ideas such as economical decline caused by Vandal raids, the tyrannical and oppressive fiscal government of Constantinople, the decadence of urban centres and the tendency towards independence from Byzantium control, are only some of the common theories still accepted without critical debate.

Sami, D. 2014, 'And build a new church there faithful to God and the bishop's palace that you want' The Seventh-Century Life of Bishop Gregory and the Bishop-Residence of Agrigento

Convegno Internazionale, La Villa restaurata e i nuovi studi sull'edilizia residenziale tardoantica. Piazza Armerina 7-10 novembre 2012.

Centres for the diffusion of Christianity and core of the Church administration, late antique Sic... more Centres for the diffusion of Christianity and core of the Church administration, late antique Sicilian Episcopia, still remain a topic archaeologists are exploring and debating. Emphasis has been focused on articulated and richly decorated Episcopal residences, however, were the Episcopia always large and wealthy complexes? The subject of this paper is the Episcopium of Agrigento seen through the Life of Bishop Gregory written in the seventh century by Abbot Leontius. The influence that the culture, personality and Christian ideology of Bishop Gregory had on shaping the Episcopal residence will be analysed. Finally, the reason for the construction of the new Episcopium will be investigated in the light of the political contemporary context between Rome and Constantinople.

Sami, D. 'Archeologia a Cesenatico: Lo stato delle ricerche e prospettive per il futuro'. Studi Romagnoli, LXI (2010): 11-33.

Sami, D. 'Changing Beliefs: the Transition from Pagan to Christian Towns in Late Antique Sicily'.

The Christianization of Sicily was a long term and heterogeneous process, fully spanning the firs... more The Christianization of Sicily was a long term and heterogeneous process, fully spanning the first to sixth centuries. The role of towns was crucial to the diffusion of the new religion in the island, as, arguably, was Sicily’s key trade position in the Mediterranean. Late Roman Sicilian towns were the theatre of a cultural and social dispute and negotiation between the old and new society, respectively supported by the senatorial class and a new aristocracy linked to the Christian hierarchy.
The aim of this contribution will be to define the social and physical emergence of Christianity in the urban spaces in Sicily between A.D. 350 and 600. Considering the current archaeological data, the transition from Paganism to Christianity will be analysed with a focus on two main questions: 1—What was the dynamic of urban colonisation in terms of space and in the use of old buildings by Christians? 2—For how long did the resistance of old cults endure and how can this resistance be archaeologically recognised? In discussing these points, this paper will also observe debates on the continuity and discontinuity of classical Sicilian urbanism, both in the perception of the inhabitants, and in the concrete formulation of a new town form.

Sami, D. 2006, 'L’isola di Pantelleria tra tarda antichità e periodo bizantino. Lo stato della ricerca e alcuni spunti di riflessione'

Sami, D. 2005, 'La ceramica di Pantelleria. Inquadramento tipologico e primi dati quantitativi dallo scavo subacqueo al porto di Scauri'

Sami, D. 2004, 'Note preliminari sulle suppellettili in sigillata africana provenienti dal relitto tardoantico di Scauri a Pantelleria'

Posters by Denis Sami

Digging Along the Road. The Excavation at Cà Bufalini, Cesenatico (FC)

Sami, D. and Christie, N. 2019, The Roman road and the mansio of Ad Novas at Cà Bufalini (Cesenatico, FC

Enrico Cirelli, Enrico Giorgi and Giuseppe Lepore (eds), 2019, Economia e Territorio, BAR S2926, Oxford , 2019

Due to misunderstanding in the editing proces, the captions and figures published do not match th... more Due to misunderstanding in the editing proces, the captions and figures published do not match the final version of the paper submitted.
In questo contributo sono presentati alcuni risultati preliminari degli scavi condotti nel sito di Ad Novas a Cesenatico. Si tratta di un importante insediamento posto lungo una strada di collegamento tra Rimini e Ravenna. Sono qui analizzati i reperti ceramici e in metallo che mostrano la vitalità economica del sito e la forte spinta alla crescita che tutta la regione e il territorio nei dintorni della nuova sede imperiale ricevettero agli inizi del V secolo.

Denis Sami, The Network of Interregional Roads and Harbours, pp.257-78

(Cosentino, S. ed.) A Companion to Byzantine Italy, Brill, Leiden, 2021

At the time of Emperor Justinian the Byzantine Empire extended its political and economic control... more At the time of Emperor Justinian the Byzantine Empire extended its political and economic control from the Southern coast of Spain and the Balearic Islands to Italy, the Balkans, North Africa, Egypt and the Middle East and reached the regions of the Black Sea. The ideological and the economic unity of such vast territory was guaranteed by the remaining network of interregional land communications, the cursus publicus and the system of major harbours developed during the Roman period and inherited by Constantinople. Investigating the fate of such an articulated organization of roads and ports means tackling the geographical uctuation of Byzantine provincial control, the people's perception of space and time, as well as the Empire's source of wealth and the politic performed by Constantinople in order to master its space. Recent years have seen important contributions in the study of the Roman system of interregional communications in Italy. Roads have been the focus of research aimed at exploring the origin and the economic, as well as the social, in uence of such a network. A cartographic approach has predominated among Italian scholars who have attempted to correlate roads and lodging stations mentioned in itineraria with modern place-names. Other theoretical approaches to the economic or the social impacts have also been explored. A major argument of these last studies has been that land transport was privileged over sea and river transport, and that the organisation of the cursus publicus was the cartographic expression of the Romanisation of Italy and the connection between the Imperial authority and the control of territory.

Sami, D. and Speed, G. (eds), 2010, Debating Urbanism: Within and Beyond the Walls, AD 300 – 700. Leicester, Leicester Archaeology Monograph 17

This monograph contains papers presented at the conference Dedating Urbanism: Within and Beyond t... more This monograph contains papers presented at the conference Dedating Urbanism: Within and Beyond the Walls A.D. 300-700, held at the University of Leicester in 2008. The papers presented by both archaeologists and historians offer new insights, theories, and methods into study of changing urban forms in the late antique world.

Prima di Cervia Ad Novas? Le possibili cause della fine della stazione di sosta di Ad Novas-Cesenatico avvenuta nel V secolo

Studi Romagnoli, 2023

After reaching its economic apex around the mid of the 5th century, the post station of Ad Novas ... more After reaching its economic apex around the mid of the 5th century, the post station of Ad Novas suddenly declined and was abandoned. This paper argues that the reason for such event was a political decision and was the effect of the redefinition of the relationship between the imperial court, the Church of Ravenna, and the needs of the contemporary urban society. In addition, the reorganisation of the collection of the revenues, and the needs to secure economic invest in the development of Ravenna also played an important role in the disappearing of Ad Novas

Sami, D. 2019, Road, canal and post-station. The relational capacity of a mansio in Roman and late antique ad Novas-Cesenatico (Italy)

Emilio Gamo Pazos, Javier Fernández Ortea, David Álvarez Jiménez (eds), En ningún lugar… Caraca y la romanización de la Hispania interior, Diputación Provincial de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, pp: 551-62, 2019

If the organization, construction and maintenance of the Roman cursus publicus in Italy is a topi... more If the organization, construction and maintenance of the Roman cursus publicus in Italy is a topic extensively investigated (Sami forthcoming) the stopping posts along the network of land communications remains a field largely unexplored. However, the recent publication of the volume Statio amoena edited by Basso and Zanini (2017) marked the beginning of a new interest in the topic. The volume examined the different aspects of the Italian stopping posts focusing on the form, character and developmentalready subject of previous research by Corsi (2000). In both studies, mansiones, stationes and mutationes were investigated through textual and iconographic sources (Corsi 2000 and 2016; Crogiez-Pétrequin 2016; Di Paola 2016) and through old and more recently excavated case studies.

Sami, D. 2016, A Roman Hipposandal from Cesenatico (Italy)

Studi Romagnoli, LXVII, 2016

A Passage of Troops? Late Roman Small Finds from Ad Novas-Cesenatico (North-East Italy). Aquileia Nostra, 86, (2015)

This paper describes a collection of small finds generally identify as part of the Roman military... more This paper describes a collection of small finds generally identify as part of the Roman military equipment collected during the excavation organised by the university of Leicester at Cà Bufalini in the north-east Italian town of Ad Novas-Cesenatico. Archaeological investigations carried out from 2006 to 2014 documented a first to sixth centuries AD road settlement organised alongside a large glareata road most likely to be identified with the Via Popilia-Annia of imperial time. The military origin of the artefacts here discussed is defined not only by their functional aspect, but also by the context of provenience and disposal.

The Fate of Classical Statues in Late Antique and Byzantine Sicily. The Cases of Catania and Agrigento. In Kristensen, T.M. and Stirling, L. (eds), The Afterlife of Roman Sculpture II: Late Antique Response and Reception, Ann Arbor, Michigan University Press, pp. 223-241.

Ad Novas-Cesenatico. From Roman Road to Late Antique Wooden Structures. An Interim Report on the Evaluation Test Pits and Excavation at Cà Bufalini, 2006

by Denis Sami, Elena Baldi, Luana Toniolo, and Tania Chinni

Sami, D. 'Sicilian cities between the fourth and fifth centuries AD'

While a young generation of researchers and archaeologists is working hard to update Sicilian stu... more While a young generation of researchers and archaeologists is working hard to update Sicilian studies with modern methodological approaches and to fill the gap of information due to traditional lack of interest in the Late Roman and Byzantine periods, old theories and patterns still deeply influence current research. Ideas such as economical decline caused by Vandal raids, the tyrannical and oppressive fiscal government of Constantinople, the decadence of urban centres and the tendency towards independence from Byzantium control, are only some of the common theories still accepted without critical debate.

Sami, D. 2014, 'And build a new church there faithful to God and the bishop's palace that you want' The Seventh-Century Life of Bishop Gregory and the Bishop-Residence of Agrigento

Convegno Internazionale, La Villa restaurata e i nuovi studi sull'edilizia residenziale tardoantica. Piazza Armerina 7-10 novembre 2012.

Centres for the diffusion of Christianity and core of the Church administration, late antique Sic... more Centres for the diffusion of Christianity and core of the Church administration, late antique Sicilian Episcopia, still remain a topic archaeologists are exploring and debating. Emphasis has been focused on articulated and richly decorated Episcopal residences, however, were the Episcopia always large and wealthy complexes? The subject of this paper is the Episcopium of Agrigento seen through the Life of Bishop Gregory written in the seventh century by Abbot Leontius. The influence that the culture, personality and Christian ideology of Bishop Gregory had on shaping the Episcopal residence will be analysed. Finally, the reason for the construction of the new Episcopium will be investigated in the light of the political contemporary context between Rome and Constantinople.

Sami, D. 'Archeologia a Cesenatico: Lo stato delle ricerche e prospettive per il futuro'. Studi Romagnoli, LXI (2010): 11-33.

Sami, D. 'Changing Beliefs: the Transition from Pagan to Christian Towns in Late Antique Sicily'.

The Christianization of Sicily was a long term and heterogeneous process, fully spanning the firs... more The Christianization of Sicily was a long term and heterogeneous process, fully spanning the first to sixth centuries. The role of towns was crucial to the diffusion of the new religion in the island, as, arguably, was Sicily’s key trade position in the Mediterranean. Late Roman Sicilian towns were the theatre of a cultural and social dispute and negotiation between the old and new society, respectively supported by the senatorial class and a new aristocracy linked to the Christian hierarchy.
The aim of this contribution will be to define the social and physical emergence of Christianity in the urban spaces in Sicily between A.D. 350 and 600. Considering the current archaeological data, the transition from Paganism to Christianity will be analysed with a focus on two main questions: 1—What was the dynamic of urban colonisation in terms of space and in the use of old buildings by Christians? 2—For how long did the resistance of old cults endure and how can this resistance be archaeologically recognised? In discussing these points, this paper will also observe debates on the continuity and discontinuity of classical Sicilian urbanism, both in the perception of the inhabitants, and in the concrete formulation of a new town form.

Sami, D. 2006, 'L’isola di Pantelleria tra tarda antichità e periodo bizantino. Lo stato della ricerca e alcuni spunti di riflessione'

Sami, D. 2005, 'La ceramica di Pantelleria. Inquadramento tipologico e primi dati quantitativi dallo scavo subacqueo al porto di Scauri'

Sami, D. 2004, 'Note preliminari sulle suppellettili in sigillata africana provenienti dal relitto tardoantico di Scauri a Pantelleria'

Digging Along the Road. The Excavation at Cà Bufalini, Cesenatico (FC)