Villa Destructions in Gallia Belgica and Germania Inferior

Reviewing the Evidence for Rural Conflagrations in the 3rd Century

Abstract

Villa Destructions in Gallia Belgica and Germania Inferior. Reviewing the Evidence for Rural Conflagrations in the 3^rd Century
The destruction of settlements is an important but problematic element of rural occupation in 3^rd century Northwestern Gaul and is rooted in the narrative of a »3^rd century crisis«. Destruction horizons proliferate at a wide range of site types and are tied to well-attested depopulation pulses in Gallia Belgica and Roman Germany. Despite this, destruction is a poorly understood element to the 3^rd century changes. This paper examines the historiography behind these horizons and addresses their archaeological representation using villas as a coherent dataset. It provides an initial overview of the evidence and presents a new methodology for assessing and characterising these horizons. In this, the paper intends to provide a status quaestionis of our current understanding of the phenomenon and a jumping-off point for future work.