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The seventeenth annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference in conjunction with the seventh Roman Archaeology conference will be hosted by UCL and Birkbeck College, University of London from the 29th March to the 1st April 2007. As part of this conference there will be a session that might be of interest to Archaeobotany List members entitled: "Feeding the Roman army: the archaeology of supply chains and provisioning networks". This session seeks to bring together a growing body of new archaeological evidence in an attempt to reconsider the way in which the Roman army was provisioned. Clearly, the adequate supply of food was essential to the success of the Roman military. But was the nature of those supply networks? Did the army rely on imperial supply lines from the continent, as certainly appears to be the case for some commodities, or were provisions requisitioned from local agricultural communities. If the latter was the case, was unsustainable pressure placed on such resources and how did local communities respond? Alternatively, did the early stages of conquest include not only the development of a military infrastructure, but also an effective supply-chain network based on contracts? Beyond the initial stages of conquest, how were provisioning arrangements maintained in the longer term, did supply chains remain static or did they change over time and, if so, what precipitated those changes? Addressing such questions is critical if we are to understand the nature of Roman conquest and the extent of interaction between indigenous communities and the Roman army. If you are interested in participating in this session please get in touch with Richard Thomas Dr. Richard Thomas, Lecturer in Zooarchaeology, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH. [log in to unmask] 0116 252 3343 http://www.le.ac.uk/ar/rmt12