Author: Tonnes Bekker-Nielsen Publisher: Aarhus Universitetsforlag ISBN: 8771247521 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 327
Book Description
Most studies of Roman local administration focus on the formal structures of power: imperial laws, urban institutions and magistracies. This book explores the interplay of formal power with informal factors such as social prejudice, parochialism and personal rivalries in the cities of northwestern Asia Minor from the first to the fifth centuries AD. Through a detailed analysis of the municipal speeches and career of the philosopher-politician Dion Chrysostomos, we gain new in-depth insight into the petty conflicts and lofty ambitions of an ancient provincial small-town politician and those around him. The author concludes that Roman local politics were rarely concerned with political issues but more often with social status and the desire for recognition within an agonistic society.
Author: ERIN MIKAEL PITT Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages : 201
Book Description
This dissertation, entitled “Cities on the Periphery: Urbanization in Bithynia, Pontus, and Paphlagonia under the Roman Empire,” seeks to provide the first comprehensive urban history of the region during the period of Roman rule. Modern scholarship on this region has focused on cultural and political topics, including Greek reactions to Roman rule; provincial elites and euergetism; and urban life. This scholarship has ignored dramatic increases in the number of new settlements in north central Anatolia, urban and rural, as well as consistent vitality and even growth during the turbulent 3rd century CE. I address these lacunae and investigate the factors behind this growth and stability. I analyze the complexities of this development across four frameworks: the construction and finance of civic monuments, shifting settlement patterns, the extent of bulk and prestige goods networks, and integration into networks of administration, military affairs, and imperial ideology. The introductory first chapter documents the dramatic increases in the number of urban and rural settlements in the region and poses a set of key questions regarding urbanization, imperial intervention, and local stability. I then set out the methodology of my dissertation. I briefly review and critique previous scholarship on this region, which has focused mainly on cultural and political topics of urban and imperial life. I then indicate the advantages of shifting the focus to consider the diachronic nature of urbanization over the long term, the archaeological record, integration and connectivity, and interpretive questions that address the uniqueness of the region. My approach is highly interdisciplinary, making heavy use of evidence from archaeological surveys, epigraphic finds, and network theory, as well as ancient literary and historical accounts. The second chapter examines how local preferences and financial resources influenced the construction and use of civic monuments. The emphasis on Graeco-Roman cities as lived environments, not synchronic monumental landscapes, plays a critical role in this analysis. My discussion qualifies recent assertions that cities in the eastern empire expressed their Greek identity by building democratic monuments with public money. Monuments such as theaters and temples are clearly prioritized, yet cities also enthusiastically adopted monuments marked as Roman, such as baths, or used democratic structures for Roman entertainment. Though civic funds remained a consistent resource, the patronage of local elites and the emperor were essential in the 1st and later 3rd and 4th centuries, respectively. The third chapter synthesizes five decades of archaeological survey. I identify broad trends in expansion, size, and continuity from the Iron Age to the Late Roman period and assess the extent of Roman influence behind these fluctuations. Administrative, economic, and military priorities guided the efficient management of this region. This was achieved by the creation of a few new cites and by an extensive road network. Both constituted unique developments and indirectly encouraged the proliferation of small towns and villages, which benefitted from the demands of regional capitals and access to roads. This produced a balanced urban system that fashioned a robust administrative hierarchy, but that was relatively moderate in overall urban density. The fourth and fifth chapters discuss connectivity across a range of landscapes: city and hinterland, the Black Sea area, and the Mediterranean basin as a whole. The third chapter focuses on the circulation of staple goods and luxury items. This area was remarkably well integrated and even self-sufficient at the local and regional levels. Its position on the periphery of the Roman empire limited intensive contact with the broader Mediterranean, but encouraged intensive commercial relationships with the Black Sea, Armenia, and Syria. The fourth chapter also examines connectivity, but in the context of imperial administration, communication, and military activity. This project ultimately seeks to provide the first comprehensive synthesis of the urban history of north central Anatolia in the Roman period. Roman intervention and traditional urban ideals were early stimuli; as I argue, however, regional preferences, a geographical position on the Mediterranean periphery, and heightened imperial interests in the 3rd century were the most prominent influences on urban development and stability in north central Anatolia. The region occupied a unique geographical, political, and economic position within the Roman empire and it represents a compelling contrast to the urban character of other Roman provinces. I conclude by stressing the complexity of the urban development of this region as well as the strong role that local traditions and geographical position played in negotiating imperial interaction.
Author: Sviatoslav Dmitriev Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0195346904 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 445
Book Description
City Government in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor examines the social and administrative transformation of Greek society within the early Roman empire, assessing the extent to which the numerous changes in Greek cities during the imperial period ought to be attributed to Roman influence. The topic is crucial to our understanding of the foundations of Roman imperial power because Greek speakers comprised the empire's second largest population group and played a vital role in its administration, culture, and social life. This book elucidates the transformation of Greek society in this period from a local point of view, mostly through the study of local sources such as inscriptions and coins. By providing information on public activities, education, family connections, and individual careers, it shows the extent of and geographical variation in Greek provincial reaction to the changes accompanying the establishment of Roman rule. In general, new local administrative and social developments during the period were most heavily influenced by traditional pre-Roman practices, while innovations were few and of limited importance. Concentrating on the province of Asia, one of the most urbanized Greek-speaking provinces of Rome, this work demonstrates that Greek local administration remained diverse under the Romans, while at the same time local Greek nobility gradually merged with the Roman ruling class into one imperial elite. This conclusion interprets the interference of Roman authorities in local administration as a form of interaction between different segments of the imperial elite, rejecting the old explanation of such interference as a display of Roman control over subjects.
Author: Jesper Majbom Madsen Publisher: A&C Black ISBN: 1472519744 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 177
Book Description
Eager to be Roman is an important investigation into the ways in which the population of Pontus et Bithynia, a Greek province in the northwestern part of Asia Minor (on the southern shore of the Black Sea), engaged culturally with the Roman Empire. Scholars have long presented Greek provincials as highly attached to their Hellenic background and less affected by Rome's influence than Spaniards, Gauls or Britons. More recent studies have acknowledged that some elements of Roman culture and civic life found their way into Greek communities and that members of the Greek elite obtained Roman citizen rights and posts in the imperial administration, though for purely pragmatic reasons. Drawing on a detailed investigation of literary works and epigraphic evidence, Jesper Madsen demonstrates that Greek intellectuals and members of the local elite in this province were in fact keen to identify themselves as Roman, and that imperial connections and Roman culture were prestigious in the eyes of their Greek readers and fellow-citizens.
Author: James J. Novotny Publisher: ISBN: 9785737698416 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
Embark on a captivating cultural journey through Bithynia, a Roman province nestled in northwestern Turkey during the 1st-3rd centuries CE. Unlike traditional histories, this book unveils the rich tapestry of rural life dominating the Bithynian landscape, portraying cities as "islands" amid the expansive countryside. Examining over 1,400 monuments adorned with text and imagery primarily for religious and funerary purposes, this work delves into the diverse cultures of the region. Discover the permeable boundaries between rural and urban, the fluidity of geographical distinctions with neighboring Phrygia, and the intricate cultural nuances within Bithynia itself. This dissertation redefines the historical narrative by illustrating the interconnectedness and distinctiveness of Bithynian culture
Author: A. H. M. Jones Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers ISBN: 1592447481 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 605
Book Description
This book traces the diffusion of the Greek city as a political institution throughout the lands of the Roman Empire bordering the Eastern Mediterranean over a period extending from Alexander's conquest of the East to the sixth century. Arranged in order of annexation, the regions are dealt with individually. The study examines to what extent native institutions were capable of being adapted to the Greek conception of the city, the activities of Hellenistic kings in founding cities, and the spontaneous diffusion of Greek political institutions in the Hellenization of the East. Professor Jones describes the restrictive effect of centralized administrative policy on some dynasties and the growth of cities in their dominions, and various aspects of the relations between cities and central government, including the cities' role in the economic life of the Empire. Other topics discussed include the local responsibilities of cities, administrative duties such as collecting taxes and levying recruits, the internal and political life of the cities, and their economic effect on the surrounding countryside.
Author: Tonnes Bekker-Nielsen
Author: ERIN MIKAEL PITT
Author: Sviatoslav Dmitriev
Author: Bruce Fairgray Harris
Author: Jesper Majbom Madsen
Author: Arjan Zuiderhoek
Author: James J. Novotny
Author: A. H. M. Jones
Author: J. Richardson
Author: John R. Patterson