Details
Starting from the issues of globalisation and recent studies about the mechanisms of absorption of cultures into the Roman Empire, this book focuses on the Near East, an area that has received much less attention than the Western part of the Roman empire in the context of the Romanisation debate. Cimadomo seeks to develop new understandings of imperialism and colonialism, highlighting the numerous and multiple cultural elements that existed in the eastern provinces and raising many questions, such as the bilingualism of ancient societies, the relationship between different cultures and the difficulty of using modern terminologies to explain ancient phenomena.
The first focus lies on the area of Galilee and collecting all the evidence for reconstructing the history of the region. The theme of the ethnicity of the Galileans is very complex, as even the literary evidence of the first centuries BC and AD regarding Galilee doesn’t specify anything about their ethnic identities. The question of the Arabs, their origins and ethnicity is also raised, with a particular focus on the Itureans and the Nabateans. Alongside a complete analysis of the territories they occupied, Cimadomo explores the different artefacts: from the sculptures to the pottery, from the temples to the coins, a picture emerges of an area influenced by different cultures where the inhabitants were able to create their own culture, different from all other parts of the Roman empire.
A chapter is devoted to the Decapolis, paying attention to the literary and architectural evidences of each city and their urban development in a little-studied period. An important feature that clearly emerges is the religious nature of the earlier settlements: most of them were probably sanctuaries during the Hellenistic time, and developed only after the coming of the Romans. It was during this development that theatres took a principal role, seemingly the first structures built in every city under Roman rule.
It becomes clear that the problems of homogenization and differentiation were present even in the past. Local inhabitants challenged their identity, adapting and modifying foreign impulses, creating new societies and new ways of being Roman.
The first focus lies on the area of Galilee and collecting all the evidence for reconstructing the history of the region. The theme of the ethnicity of the Galileans is very complex, as even the literary evidence of the first centuries BC and AD regarding Galilee doesn’t specify anything about their ethnic identities. The question of the Arabs, their origins and ethnicity is also raised, with a particular focus on the Itureans and the Nabateans. Alongside a complete analysis of the territories they occupied, Cimadomo explores the different artefacts: from the sculptures to the pottery, from the temples to the coins, a picture emerges of an area influenced by different cultures where the inhabitants were able to create their own culture, different from all other parts of the Roman empire.
A chapter is devoted to the Decapolis, paying attention to the literary and architectural evidences of each city and their urban development in a little-studied period. An important feature that clearly emerges is the religious nature of the earlier settlements: most of them were probably sanctuaries during the Hellenistic time, and developed only after the coming of the Romans. It was during this development that theatres took a principal role, seemingly the first structures built in every city under Roman rule.
It becomes clear that the problems of homogenization and differentiation were present even in the past. Local inhabitants challenged their identity, adapting and modifying foreign impulses, creating new societies and new ways of being Roman.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
1. Romanisation(s) in global times
1.1 The Romanisation debate
1.2 Globalisation and the Roman world
1.3 Identity and ethnicity
1.4 Archaeological approaches toward ethnicity
1.5 Roman ethnicities
1.6 Integration and prejudices
1.7 Common ancestors
1.8 Globalising attitudes
2. A melting pot of different peoples
2.1 The Galilee
2.2 The history of the region since the Assyrian rule (8th century BCE)
2.3 Who were the Galileans?
2.3.1 Epigraphic sources
2.4 A clear identity?
2.5 Between autonomy and integration
3. The Arabs in Southern Levant
3.1 The Ituraeans
3.2 The Nabataeans
3.3 The multiple Arab identities
4. The Decapolis: a Greek island?
4.1 Decapolis and Coele Syria
4.2 The cities
4.3 Canatha/Qanawat
4.4 Adraha/Deraa
4.5 The ‘phantom cities’: Raphana and Dion
4.6 Hippos/Sussita
4.7 Gadara/Umm Qais
4.8 Capitolias/Beit Ras
4.9 Abila/Quwailibah
4.10 Scythopolis/Beth-Shean
4.11 Pella/Tabaqat Fahl
4.12 Gerasa/Jerash
4.13 Philadelphia/Amman
4.14 Urban development
4.15 The nature of the Decapolis Cities
4.16 The spread of spectacles buildings
5. Conclusions
Bibliography
Reviews & Quotes
"[T]he book starts from an excellent theoretical framework for a study of its kind… throughout the book, but especially in its conclusions, C. neatly weaves together recent scholarship on culture change in the Roman Middle East. The volume as a whole provides an interesting synthesis of the region to be further explored."
Rick Bonnie
Ancient West & East
(23/01/2023)
