This graduate seminar explores the Mediterranean world beyond the city from prehistory to the Roman period, with special emphasis on the first millennium BCE. Topics covered include: the rural/urban divide in ancient and modern thought; rural economies, labor regimes, and markets; property, land tenure, and borders; sanctuaries and festivals; and gender and class distinctions in the countryside. We will interrogate how new archaeological fieldwork, paleoenvironmental studies, epigraphy, ethnographic analogy, and comparative approaches drawn from other world regions can contribute to our understanding of the ancient Mediterranean countryside, with an eye to both interpretive challenges and opportunities.