About

Interdisciplinary Community

CASAM brings together scholars working across diverse fields: ancient history, archaeology, papyrology, epigraphy, legal history, environmental history, paleosciences, climate studies, genetics, and computational modeling. This diverse intellectual community collaborates on joint projects, summer schools, conferences, and fellowships. Particular emphasis is placed on training the next generation of researchers to operate confidently across disciplinary boundaries and to develop the hybrid competencies necessary to work with both historical sources and scientific datasets.

A New Model for the Study of Antiquity

Central to our mission is the revitalization of ancient history as an economic and social science. We place renewed emphasis on the analysis of fiscal regimes, property relations, inequality, urbanization, market integration, demographic structures, and the institutions of state power that mediated the material conditions of life in the ancient Mediterranean. In our approach, textual, epigraphic, papyrological, and archaeological sources are systematically combined with scientific archives to generate robust, interdisciplinary models of long-term socio-economic transformation.

Our research agenda aims to illuminate both enduring structural patterns and moments of critical transition, such as the demographic growth of early Rome, the onset and exploitation of the Roman Climate Optimum, or the complex interplay of climatic, epidemiological, and political pressures that shaped the late antique world. CASAM seeks to serve as a laboratory for integrative historical scholarship—one that captures the full complexity of ancient Mediterranean societies in their environmental, economic, and social dimensions.

CASAM was also founded in response to one of the most significant intellectual transformations of our time: the convergence of traditional historical inquiry with the expanding corpus of empirical data generated by the natural and environmental sciences. Fields such as paleoclimatology, paleogenetics, bioarchaeology, isotope geochemistry, archaeobotany, palynology, and geoarchaeology have yielded unprecedented evidence directly relevant to questions that lie at the heart of ancient history. Topics such as human mobility, disease dynamics, environmental fluctuations, agricultural regimes, population history, labor organization, and social resilience can now be investigated with a degree of empirical precision that was until recently unimaginable.

At CASAM, these emerging scientific archives are not treated as supplementary but as fully constitutive of historical analysis. We seek to integrate textual, material, and scientific data into coherent, methodologically robust frameworks capable of addressing the complex entanglement of environment, economy, and society across the ancient Mediterranean world. Our research agenda emphasizes both long-term trajectories and specific moments of historical rupture, such as the demographic expansion of the early Republic, the onset of the Roman Climate Optimum, or the climatic, epidemiological, and socio-political transformations of Late Antiquity.

The Role of Artificial Intelligence

CASAM also actively engages with the opportunities and challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence for the study of ancient history. AI offers powerful tools for the automated reading of texts and inscriptions, for pattern recognition in large-scale archaeological and environmental datasets, and for reconstructing incomplete or fragmentary historical sources. But it also forces the historical disciplines to confront difficult epistemological and ethical questions about transparency, reproducibility, and the interpretive nature of historical inference. CASAM therefore fosters both technical innovation and critical reflection on how AI can—and cannot—be responsibly applied in historical research.

Institutional Mission

CASAM responds to a critical need for an integrated, international center dedicated to the economic, social, and environmental history of the ancient Mediterranean and its interconnected regions. CASAM brings together scholars from diverse backgrounds and periods, creating an intellectual environment where new questions can be posed, and innovative perspectives developed.

CASAM’s mission is to:

• Promote integrative, interdisciplinary research on the ancient and medieval Mediterranean.

• Foster international scholarly collaboration across disciplines and institutions.

• Support emerging scholars through training, fellowships, and financial support.

• Disseminate research to both academic and broader publics through publications, conferences, and digital platforms.

• Provide an intellectual home for new generations of scholars capable of bridging the humanities and the sciences.

CASAM is not only a research institute but a scholarly engine: it launches new research programs, fosters dialogue across disciplines, and supports both established and emerging scholars. Our activities include:

• Scholarly Events: CASAM organizes conferences, seminars, workshops, and lectures, offering scholars opportunities to present research, engage in debate, and develop new collaborations.

• Educational Programs: Intensive summer schools, short courses, and workshops provide high-level training for students and early-career researchers.

• Research Dissemination: CASAM shares its research through publications, newsletters, an active website, and digital media, making scholarship accessible to both academic and broader audiences.

• Editorial Activities: CASAM supports academic publishing through partnerships with leading publishers and the publication of its own newsletter and proceedings.

• Research Teams: CASAM facilitates the formation of collaborative research teams who initiate new projects and apply for competitive funding.

• Annual Prizes: CASAM awards annual prizes for outstanding scholarly work in the economic and social history of the ancient Mediterranean.

Through these activities, CASAM aspires to become the leading global center for advanced study in ancient and medieval Mediterranean history.

Our Location

The legal seat of CASAM is located at Via Parioli 87, 00197 Rome. The institutional seat and postal address are situated at Villa Monastero Santa Maria in Legarano, Via di Santa Maria 81, Casperia (RI), Italy. This historic complex, originally founded upon the remains of a Roman villa and subsequently transformed into a Benedictine monastery, offers a singular setting that embodies the historical depth and cultural continuity of the Mediterranean world. The combination of Roman archaeological remains, medieval ecclesiastical architecture, and Renaissance artistic heritage mirrors the longue durée perspectives at the core of CASAM’s mission.

Event Venue

CASAM’s conferences, workshops, and summer schools are hosted at the American Academy in Rome and also at Villa Falconieri in Frascati, near Rome. This partnership allows CASAM to provide a world-class setting for international academic exchange, with the support of Italy’s Ministry of University and Research and Ministry of Cultural Heritage.

Governance and Partners

CASAM is governed by an international Advisory Board and Steering Committee composed of senior scholars from leading academic institutions. Among CASAM’s founding partners are:

• The American Academy in Rome

• Sapienza University of Rome

• University of Basel

Supporting institutions include Swiss Institute of Rome, Finnish Institute in Rome, Norwegian Institute in Rome, and École Française de Rome. CASAM operates through both public and private funding and welcomes donations to support its long-term mission.