Throughout the Western provinces of the Roman Empire, greater economic and political connectivity had a major impact on agricultural production, which grew in scale and specialisation after integration with the Roman state. However, uniquely in Western Europe, farming strategies in Italy began to evolve centuries before the Roman conquest, and many ‘Roman’ patterns associated with livestock size and the relative proportions of different taxa first emerged during the early and middle centuries of the first millennium BC. These changes imply a significant reorganisation of production strategies well before Roman hegemony, even in relatively marginal areas of Italy. Zooarchaeological studies have documented further significant changes to livestock production in Roman times, but the relationship between these developments and earlier trends remains unclear. Through analysis of zooarchaeological data for species representation and livestock biometry from lowland northern Italy (Po–Friulian Plain), this study investigates animal exploitation between the Bronze Age and Late Antiquity in order to characterise the influence of Roman political and economic organisation on animal husbandry. Results demonstrated subregional variation in species representation, and different trajectories in the biometric evolution of cattle, sheep and goats, compared to pigs. Initial steps established in the Iron Age towards a more complex and dynamic livestock economy were accelerated and further reconfigured in Roman times, facilitated by Roman economic organisation and the specialised and large-scale production systems within it. Zooarchaeological trends continued to progress over the Roman period, until further changes at the very end of the chronology considered here—around the sixth century AD—suggest another wave of change.

在整个罗马帝国的西部省份，更大的经济和政治联系对农业生产产生了重大影响，农业生产在与罗马国家融合后在规模和专业化方面有所增长。然而，在西欧是独一无二的，意大利的农业战略在罗马征服之前几个世纪就开始发展，许多与牲畜大小和不同分类群的相对比例相关的“罗马”模式在公元前一千年的早期和中期首次出现. 这些变化意味着早在罗马霸权之前就对生产战略进行了重大重组，即使在意大利相对边缘的地区也是如此。动物考古研究记录了罗马时代畜牧生产的进一步重大变化，但这些事态发展与早期趋势之间的关系仍不清楚。通过分析来自意大利北部低地（Po-Friulian 平原）的物种表征和牲畜生物测定的动物考古数据，本研究调查了青铜时代和古代晚期之间的动物剥削，以表征罗马政治和经济组织对畜牧业的影响。结果表明，与猪相比，物种代表性的次区域差异以及牛、绵羊和山羊生物特征进化的不同轨迹。在罗马经济组织和其中的专业化和大规模生产系统的推动下，铁器时代朝着更复杂和更有活力的畜牧经济建立的初步步骤在罗马时代得到加速和进一步重组。