This special issue of theEuropean Journal of Archaeologydiscusses aspects of animal husbandry in a number of provinces of the Western Roman Empire. In this introduction, we describe the general characteristics of animal husbandry in pre-Roman and Roman times to assess any changes that may have occurred after the Roman conquest. The results suggest that the territoriality typifying the first millenniumbchad a significant impact on production, resulting in a decrease in cattle size and frequencies across Europe. Nevertheless, not all the regions reacted in the same way, and regional communities that focused their animal production on pigs implemented more sustainable husbandry practices over time. By bringing together studies carried out across Europe, this journal issue highlights the existence of cases of both change and continuity across the Empire, and the (uneven) impact of the market economy on animal husbandry and dietary practices in climatically different regions.

中文翻译：

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西罗马帝国的畜牧业：变迁与延续

本期特刊欧洲考古学杂志讨论了西罗马帝国许多省份的畜牧业方面。在本介绍中，我们描述了前罗马和罗马时代畜牧业的一般特征，以评估罗马征服后可能发生的任何变化。结果表明，代表第一个千年的属地性公元前对生产产生了重大影响，导致整个欧洲的牛规模和频率减少。然而，并非所有地区都以同样的方式做出反应，随着时间的推移，将畜牧生产重点放在猪身上的地区社区实施了更可持续的畜牧业实践。通过汇集在欧洲进行的研究，本期期刊强调了整个帝国的变化和连续性案例的存在，以及市场经济对不同气候地区的畜牧业和饮食习惯的（不均衡）影响。