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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Urban Infrastructure and Euergetism Outside the City of Rome

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This chapter explores the connection between the monumentalization of cities, the use of local resources, and the involvement of benefactors in civic building operations. At its peak the Roman Empire comprised a mosaic of some two thousand flourishing cities. For the establishment and maintenance of their infrastructure, they benefited in large part from the contributions of wealthy citizens and, in some situations, of outside sponsors. This chapter uses epigraphic evidence to explain what financial resources cities had at their disposal and who was responsible for benefactions that benefited the communities and their inhabitants. It also discusses the nature of the benefactions and what such munificence meant for the cities.