The city of Ilici constitutes a paradigmatic example of a Roman colony, of which we wish to study the territory as an expression and projection area of the cultural landscape. Colonial territories, such as that of Elche, show the implementation of ex novo, geometrically planned systems of agrarian organisation, with a great capacity for transformation and the creation of new assigned spaces that can be documented archaeologically. Understanding the impact of these models of territorial structuring is achieved by means of morphological and geoarchaeological studies – the latter implemented in an innovative way in the territory of Ilici – the latter aimed at identifying the agricultural patterns of exploitation of the hinterland of the colonies, which will make it possible to relate the structures of the centuriatio to the use of the soil.
The studies carried out should help us to reconsider the surveyors’ data on the basis of the archaeological documentation, serving to re-evaluate the value of categories such as ager limitatus o el arcifinius on the basis of specific examples such as that of Elche. The equation of colonial territory with the ager limitatus is showing greater complexity, as it incorporates the colonials pertica and other types of territorial categories within it: clarifying the actual application and implementation of such categories is a matter of advancing the archaeological excavations and surveys already underway in the area.
Likewise, the sites linked to the landscape of Elche should help us to study in depth the complementarity of the lands dominated by the colonies themselves, both the territorial areas legally linked (praefecturae) and those of the subsidiary and dependent civitates. This analysis, applied specifically to the reality of Ilici, will make it possible to compare the Roman colonial model with that of its complementary areas. These are lands organised around minor centres, secondary municipalities, in which productive and social development can be observed in line with Roman parameters, which allowed for the efficient exploitation of agricultural, livestock, forestry and mining areas articulated in categories already contemplated by the Roman surveyors.
Concrete actions
In order to deepen our understanding of the cultural landscape of Elche, our team is preparing the publication of a doctoral thesis on the settlement of the Ilici centuriation. This, together with the regular excavations and surveys carried out by the project, should provide continuity and a solution to the objectives and problems mentioned above.
In order to advance, at the same time as the landscape research, the patrimonial valorisation of the archaeological finds, the possibility of musealising the ager limitatus of the territory of Ilici is being considered. The model to be applied in this case would be the one developed in the Cerdanya region, where spaces such as the Museu Cerdà or Espai Ceterània have been built, both dedicated to the promotion of cultural tourism in the region.