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The Roman Near East: 31 BC-AD 337

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The Roman Near East: 31 BC-AD 337

Paperback(Revised ed.)

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Overview

From Augustus to Constantine, the Roman Empire in the Near East expanded step by step, southward to the Red Sea and eastward across the Euphrates to the Tigris. In a remarkable work of interpretive history, Fergus Millar shows us this world as it was forged into the Roman provinces of Syria, Judaea, Arabia, and Mesopotamia. His book conveys the magnificent sweep of history as well as the rich diversity of peoples, religions, and languages that intermingle in the Roman Near East. Against this complex backdrop, Millar explores questions of cultural and religious identity and ethnicity—as aspects of daily life in the classical world and as part of the larger issues they raise.

As Millar traces the advance of Roman control, he gives a lucid picture of Rome’s policies and governance over its far-flung empire. He introduces us to major regions of the area and their contrasting communities, bringing out the different strands of culture, communal identity, language, and religious belief in each. The Roman Near East makes it possible to see rabbinic Judaism, early Christianity, and eventually the origins of Islam against the matrix of societies in which they were formed. Millar’s evidence permits us to assess whether the Near East is best seen as a regional variant of Graeco-Roman culture or as in some true sense oriental.

A masterful treatment of a complex period and world, distilling a vast amount of literary, documentary, artistic, and archaeological evidence—always reflecting new findings—this book is sure to become the standard source for anyone interested in the Roman Empire or the history of the Near East.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674778863
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	03/15/1995
Series:	Carl Newell Jackson Lectures , #6
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	624
Product dimensions:	6.38(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.30(d)
Lexile:	1620L (what's this?)

About the Author

Fergus G. B. Millar is Camden Professor of Ancient History at Oxford University.

Preface

Abbreviations

1. Prologue: In Search of the Orient

I. Empire

2. The Bridgehead and the Dependent Kingdoms, 31 BC-AD 74

2.1. From the Battle of Actium to the Death of Herod the Great

2.2. From the Death of Herod the Great to the End of Tiberius' Reign

2.3. From the Reign of Gaius to the Outbreak of the Jewish War

2.4. The Jewish War and Its Aftermath

3. Imperialism and Expansion, AD 74-195

3.1. Vespasian: A New Near Eastern Empire

3.2. Trajan : Expansion and Rearrangement in the Southern Near East

3.3. The Roman Presence, AD 114-161

3.4. Emperors and Pretenders in the Near East from Lucius Verus to Septimius Severus: The Conquest of Mesopotamia

4. Rome And Mesopotamia: From Parthia To Persia

4.1. The Severan Near East as a Military Structure

4.2. Emperors on Campaign, from Caracalla to Philip the Arab Shapur's Invasions and the Empire of Palmyra, AD 252-273

5. The Tetrarchy and Constantine

5.1. The Tetrarchy: Persian Wars and Fortified Lines

5.2. The Near East in the Tetrarchic Empire, AD 284-312

5.3. Licinius and Constantine, AD 313-337: Retrospect from a Christianised Empire

II. Regions and Communities

6. Communal and Cultural Identities

7. The Tetrapolis and Northern Syria

7.1. The Geographical Context

7.2. Local Cult-Centres: Hierapolis and Doliche

7.3. Villages and Rural Temples

7.4. The Major Cities: Apamea

8. The Phoenician Coast and ItsHinterland

8.1. History and Geography

8.2. Phoenicia: The Southern Region

8.3. The Northern Coastline and Its Hinterland

8.4. The Major Cities: Byblos and Berytus

8.5. Sidon and Tyre

9. Eastern Syria Phoenice: Mountain, Oasis and Steppe

9.1. Geographical Connections

9.2. Emesa and Elagabal

9.3. Damascus and Its Region Palmyra

10. From Judaea to Syria Palaestina

10.1. History, Religion and Geography

10.2. Judaea before the First Revolt

10.3. From the First Jewish Revolt to the Second

10.4. Syria Palaestina

11. Arabia

11.1. Regions and Cultures

11.2. The Kingdom of Nabataea

11.3. The Decapolis in the First Century

11.4. The New Province of Arabia

11.5. The Nomadic Presence

12. The Euphrates and Mesopotamia

12.1. Geography, Culture and Language

12.2. Dura-Europos in the Parthian Period

12.3. The Middle Euphrates and the Coming of Rome

12.4. Roman Dura-Europos

12.5. Edessa as a Kingdom and Roman Colony until the Middle of the Third Century

12.6. Social and Religious Currents in the Fourth Century

13. Epilogue: East and West

13.1. East?

13.2. West?

Appendix A. The Inscriptions of the Tetrarchic Land-Surveyors

Appendix B. Documents from the Bar Kochba War

Appendix C. Materials for the History of Roman Edessa and Osrhoene, AD 163-337

Maps

I. The Near East: Areas Covered by Maps II-XII

II. The Roman Near East: Main Sites and Geographical Features

III. Northwestern Syria and Mount Amanus

IV. The Phoenician Coast and Western Syria Phoenice

V. The Central Syrian Steppe, Pabnyra and the Euphrates

VI. Judaea/Syria Palaestina, Western Arabia

VII. Southeastern Syria Phoenice, Northern Arabia

VIII. Petra and South-Central Arabia

IX. Arabia, with Sinai, the Red Sea and the Hedjaz

X. Eastern Syria, the Euphrates and Western Mesopotamia

XI. Central Mesopotamia and Mons Masius

XII. The Eastern Syrian Steppe and the Middle Euphrates

General Index

Index of Literary Sources

Index of Documents

What People are Saying About This

This work has been long awaited and will fill a very great need. It is an authoritative synoptic view of the entire Roman Near East, with reference to the most important recent discussions and discoveries.

G. W. Bowersock

From the B&N Reads Blog

Page 1 of

Editorial Reviews

This pioneering volume follows a steady stream of other important contributions by the noted Camden Professor of Ancient History at Oxford, but its unique character and subject may make it his most durable and popular work. It transcends a mere political history of the region by exploring in depth the cultural and linguistic diversity of the population that inhabited the Near East…This is indisputably now the standard and essential guide for the Roman era in English for both scholars and students of the Near East.

David E. Graf

Destined to become a classic.

Seminary Studies - Howard P. Krug

A grand book on a grand topic… To do justice to such a topic, one needs not only a complete understanding of how the Roman Empire functioned, but also mastery of the extensive, complex, scattered, and difficult evidence for the local cultures… Very few ancient historians possess such mastery… This is a book that only Fergus Millar could have written. The breadth of expertise displayed, and the willingness to view the history of a major region of the Roman Empire from the perspective of the provinces rather than the imperial center, are hallmarks of Millar’s work, and are impossible to overpraise. There can be no question that The Roman Near East will be for a long time to come the standard work on the subject.

Times Literary Supplement - Seth Schwartz

[An] extraordinary book… Millar’s book provides above all the essential political, religious, and cultural framework for understanding how the three most enduring religious legacies of the ancient world for the modern world…developed in a context that was neither Eastern nor Western.

Guy MacLean Rogersn Historical Review

This learned, honest, and carefully constructed work studies the various regions of the [eastern] empire and their inhabitants. It asks who they actually were…and how far they had a local culture distinct from the Greco-Roman. The results are surprising… The book is full of original interpretations… [Readers] will be richly rewarded.

The Guardian - Clive Foss

This work has been long awaited and will fill a very great need. It is an authoritative synoptic view of the entire Roman Near East, with reference to the most important recent discussions and discoveries.

G. W. Bowersock

[An] extraordinary book... Millar's book provides above all the essential political, religious, and cultural framework for understanding how the three most enduring religious legacies of the ancient world for the modern world...developed in a context that was neither Eastern nor Western.--Guy MacLean Rogers "American Historical Review"

A grand book on a grand topic... To do justice to such a topic, one needs not only a complete understanding of how the Roman Empire functioned, but also mastery of the extensive, complex, scattered, and difficult evidence for the local cultures... Very few ancient historians possess such mastery... This is a book that only Fergus Millar could have written. The breadth of expertise displayed, and the willingness to view the history of a major region of the Roman Empire from the perspective of the provinces rather than the imperial center, are hallmarks of Millar's work, and are impossible to overpraise. There can be no question that The Roman Near East will be for a long time to come the standard work on the subject.--Seth Schwartz "Times Literary Supplement"

Destined to become a classic.--Howard P. Krug "Seminary Studies"

This learned, honest, and carefully constructed work studies the various regions of the [eastern] empire and their inhabitants. It asks who they actually were...and how far they had a local culture distinct from the Greco-Roman. The results are surprising... The book is full of original interpretations... [Readers] will be richly rewarded.--Clive Foss "The Guardian"

This pioneering volume follows a steady stream of other important contributions by the noted Camden Professor of Ancient History at Oxford, but its unique character and subject may make it his most durable and popular work. It transcends a mere political history of the region by exploring in depth the cultural and linguistic diversity of the population that inhabited the Near East...This is indisputably now the standard and essential guide for the Roman era in English for both scholars and students of the Near East.--David E. Graf "Religious Studies Review"

This work has been long awaited and will fill a very great need. It is an authoritative synoptic view of the entire Roman Near East, with reference to the most important recent discussions and discoveries.--G. W. Bowersock, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

From the Publisher

[An] extraordinary book… Millar’s book provides above all the essential political, religious, and cultural framework for understanding how the three most enduring religious legacies of the ancient world for the modern world…developed in a context that was neither Eastern nor Western.

American Historical Review - Guy MacLean Rogers

[An] extraordinary book...Millar's book provides above all the essential political, religious, and cultural framework for understanding how the three most enduring religious legacies of the ancient world for the modern world...developed in a context that was neither Eastern nor Western.

American Historical Review - Guy Maclean Rogers

[An] extraordinary book...Millar's book provides above all the essential political, religious, and cultural framework for understanding how the three most enduring religious legacies of the ancient world for the modern world...developed in a context that was neither Eastern nor Western.
— Guy MacLean Rogers

American Historical Review

Destined to become a classic.
— Howard P. Krug

Seminary Studies

This learned, honest, and carefully constructed work studies the various regions of the [eastern] empire and their inhabitants. It asks who they actually were...and how far they had a local culture distinct from the Greco-Roman. The results are surprising...The book is full of original interpretations... [Readers] will be richly rewarded.
— Clive Foss

Manchester Guardian

A grand book on a grand topic...To do justice to such a topic, one needs not only a complete understanding of how the Roman Empire functioned, but also mastery of the extensive, complex, scattered, and difficult evidence for the local cultures...Very few ancient historians possess such mastery...This is a book that only Fergus Millar could have written. The breadth of expertise displayed, and the willingness to view the history of a major region of the Roman Empire from the perspective of the provinces rather than the imperial center, are hallmarks of Millar's work, and are impossible to overpraise. There can be no question that The Roman Near East will be for a long time to come the standard work on the subject.
— Seth Schwartz

Times Literary Supplement

This pioneering volume follows a steady stream of other important contributions by the noted Camden Professor of Ancient History at Oxford, but its unique character and subject may make it his most durable and popular work. It transcends a mere political history of the region by exploring in depth the cultural and linguistic diversity of the population that inhabited the Near East...This is indisputably now the standard and essential guide for the Roman era in English for both scholars and students of the Near East.
— David E. Graf

Religious Studies Review

The Roman Near East: 31 BC-AD 337

The Roman Near East: 31 BC-AD 337

Paperback(Revised ed.)

Paperback(Revised ed.)

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

What People are Saying About This

Customer Reviews

Related collections and offers

Overview

Product Details

About the Author

Table of Contents

What People are Saying About This

Related Subjects

Customer Reviews