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12
Introduction
rnemann.23ItisdefinitelytoAusbüttel)screditthatheverifiedthetradi-
tionalnotionsofwhocollegememberswere.Eliminatingthecategoryof
Cfunerarycolleges)andproposinganewinterpretationoflegescollegiorum
fundamentallychangedthethinkingaboutthefunctionsandsocialback-
groundofassociationsoftenuiores.Itwasthemultifunctionalityandhet-
erogeneoussocialcompositionthatbecamethefocusofhistorians)inter-
est,whichstartedanewdirectionofstudiesonthefenomenoassociativo.
Teworkspublishedoverthelastthreedecadeshavebeendominated
byaresearchphilosophywhichcouldbedescribedasaglobalapproach.
Historiansfocustheirattentionontheaspectsofcorporatelifewhichen-
ablethemtoshowcollegesinabroadersocialcontext,asanintegralele-
mentoftheurbantissue.ItisworthrecallingthatR.MacMullenalready
includedcollegesinhisstudyonthesocialrelationsinRome.24Henoted
thatcollegesrecreatedthesocialcontextinwhichtheyfunctioned.Te
samescholarobservedthatcollegeswereaspacewheretheplebscould
satisfythoseneedswhichwereoutofthereachofthissocialclassinthe
urbancommunityasawhole.Tisthoughtbecamethestartingpointfor
manyanalyseswhoseauthorsidentifiedmechanismsofsocialcompensa-
tionandintegationintheactivityofcolleges.25Initially,historiansfoundit
dimculttoabandonthevisionofcollegesasthespaceinwhichmainlythe
urbanpoorwereactive.LikeMacMullan,theysawmembershipinacol-
legeasameanstocompensateforCtherelativelackofpoliticalandsocial
powerofthepoor)
.26Itwasnotuntilthe1990sthattheresultsofstudies
conductedbyhistorianssuchasS.R.Joshel,O.vanNijfandB.Bollmann
madeanewimageofRomancollegesandtheirmembersincreasingly
clear.27Itturnedoutthatthelatterlookedtocollegesforatoolwhich
wouldenablethemtoemphasisetheirconnectionstothecity(thecivitas),
itselites,andthesystemofvaluesheldbythoseelites.Inotherwords,
whatwearedealingwithisratheramechanismofsocialintegration,re-
23Ausbüttel1982.
24MacMullen1974,inparticular76-77.
25Perry(2011,499-505)verystronglyemphasisesthesignificanceofMacMullen)s
publicationforthedevelopmentofstudiesonRomancolleges.
26Kloppenborg,Ascough2011,7.
27Joshel1992,VanNijf1997,Bollmann1998.
