Regional Identities and Technologies of the Self: Nail-Cleaners in Roman Britain

The material culture of the Roman empire is characterized by a contrast between uniformity in certain artefacts and diversity in others, often expressed in the style of the artefacts or the context of their use. In the past, with ‘Romanization’ acting as the main theoretical framework, attention has focused on the observed similarities in Roman material culture. Much less work has been done on the ways in which material culture and social practice varied across the empire and on the possible reasons for this process. This paper sets out to explore regionality in Roman Britain, using nail-cleaners, small objects associated with grooming and self-representation as a case-study.