Rome and the Friendly King, first published in 1984, offers a functional definition of what is usually called client kingship - to show what a client king (or 'friendly king', to use the Roman term) was in practice. Each aspect of this complex role is examined over a period of six centuries: the making of a king; exposure to Roman institutions and individuals; formal recognition as a friendly ruler. Professor Braund shows how the king's power related to Roman authority, and to his subjects. The role of Romans in royal wills, principally as recipients of bequests, is also examined, and it is also shown how some kings were assimilated completely into Roman society to become senators in their own right. In conclusion, Professor Braund considers the ways in which both sides benefited from client kingship and, in doing so, helps to explain the persistent use of such relationships throughout history.

In this book, David Braund offers a significantly different perspective upon the history of Roman Britain. Rather than relying on archaeology, the author concentrates on the literary evidence, drawing a colorful picture of the social and political context of Roman imperialism. The study discusses Roman theories of imperialism as well as the intellectual and political atmosphere within which Caesar mounted his invasions of Britain in 55 and 54 B.C. Braund shows how the ideologies and power structures at work in Rome fundamentally shaped politics and society in Roman Britain. Thus he develops an understanding of the literary sources which goes beyond mere translation and allows the reader insights into this remote corner of the Roman world.

In this book, David Braund offers a significantly different perspective upon the history of Roman Britain. He concentrates upon the literary evidence, which has been studied to a lesser extent than archaeology in recent years. Close attention to the Greek and Roman sources enables the construction of a new approach to Roman Britain, its history and its archaeology. For the first time, monarchy is identified as a key issue in the history of Roman Britain.

The years from the battle of Actium to the death of Nero stand at the very heart of Roman history. Yet the sources of this key period, particularly the inscriptions, papyri and coins, are not readily accessible. Crucial new discoveries remain buried in learned periodicals, and now that the study of the ancient world is widespread among those without Latin and Greek, the lack of translations is proving a serious handicap. Augustus to Nero, first published in 1985, contains numerous texts not only for students of traditional political history, but also of those interested in social and economic history. An introductory essay establishes a broad methodological framework within which each text may be understood. The focus throughout is on less well-known literary evidence: for example, the significant poetry of Crinagoras and Calpurnius Siculus. Inaccessible sources are here collected and translated: brief notes are supplied to help the reader.

Rome and the Friendly King, first published in 1984, offers a functional definition of what is usually called client kingship - to show what a client king (or 'friendly king', to use the Roman term) was in practice. Each aspect of this complex role is examined over a period of six centuries: the making of a king; exposure to Roman institutions and individuals; formal recognition as a friendly ruler. Professor Braund shows how the king's power related to Roman authority, and to his subjects. The role of Romans in royal wills, principally as recipients of bequests, is also examined, and it is also shown how some kings were assimilated completely into Roman society to become senators in their own right. In conclusion, Professor Braund considers the ways in which both sides benefited from client kingship and, in doing so, helps to explain the persistent use of such relationships throughout history.

Environment and human habitation have become principal topics of research with the growing interest in the Black Sea region in antiquity. This book highlights their interaction around all the coasts of the region, from different perspectives and disciplines. Here, archaeological excavation and survey combine with studies of classical texts, cults, medicine, and more, to explore ancient experiences of the region. Accordingly, the region is examined from external viewpoints, centred in the Mediterranean (Herodotus, the Hippocratics, ancient geographers, and poets), and through local lenses, particularly supplied by archaeology. While familiar disconnects emerge, there is also a striking coherence in the results of these different pathways into the study of local environments, which embrace not only Graeco-Roman settlement, but also a broader range of agricultural and pastoralist activities across a huge landscape which stretches as far afield as ancient Hungary. Throughout, there are methodological implications for research elsewhere in the ancient world. This book shows people in landscapes across a huge expanse, in local reality and in external conceptions, complete with their own agency, ideas, and lifestyles.

Scythians and Greeks focuses on the ancient history of the northern Black Sea region: a major 'new frontier' of Classical studies. The book presents a series of engagements with key themes bearing on cultural interactions within the region, from archaic Greek colonial settlement (approx. sixth century BC) down to the region's inclusion within the Roman imperial system (first century AD). By bringing together contributors from Russia, Ukraine and Georgia, the book makes available material and ideas which are either wholly new or known only to a very limited circle of specialists. The particular focus is on the relationships which developed, in peace and war, between the local peoples of the region (conventionally termed 'Scythians') and the cultures of the classical Graeco-Roman world.

An international team of literary specialists explore Athenaeus' work as a whole, and in its own right. Almost all classicists and ancient historians make use of Athenaeus; 'Athenaeus and his World' is the first sustained attempt to understand and explore his work as a whole, and in its own right. The work emerges as no mere compendium of earlier texts, but as a vibrant work of complex structure and substantial creativity. The book makes sense of the massive and polyphonous Deipnosophistae, the quarry upon which classicists and ancient historians depend for their knowledge of much ancient literature, particularly Comedy, and also the source of much of the data used by modern historians for the social history of the classical and Hellenistic worlds. The 41 chapters; written by an international team of literary specialists and historians, each tackle a significant feature, and the book is divided into seven sections, each prefaced by introductory remarks from the editors.

The years from the battle of Actium to the death of Nero stand at the very heart of Roman history. Yet the sources of this key period, particularly the inscriptions, papyri and coins, are not readily accessible. Crucial new discoveries remain buried in learned periodicals, and now that the study of the ancient world is widespread among those without Latin and Greek, the lack of translations is proving a serious handicap. Augustus to Nero, first published in 1985, contains numerous texts not only for students of traditional political history, but also of those interested in social and economic history. An introductory essay establishes a broad methodological framework within which each text may be understood. The focus throughout is on less well-known literary evidence: for example, the significant poetry of Crinagoras and Calpurnius Siculus. Inaccessible sources are here collected and translated: brief notes are supplied to help the reader.

The Roman eastern frontier stretched from the north-east shore of the Black Sea to the Red Sea. It faced Rome's formidable foe, the kingdom of Parthia, and its successor, Sasanian Persia. Rome's bulwark in antiquity was the area known as Syria or the Levant, roughly modern Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and Palestine. To the south lay the Nabataean kingdom, annexed by Rome in 106 and formed into the province of Arabia. To the north, the Cappadocian frontier was laid out in one of the most inaccessible and remote parts of Eurasia facing extremes of climate and topography, amid a patchwork of client kingdoms. This hidden and fascinating frontier in Turkey, whose bases mostly lie under reservoirs, is the major omission from this volume and it is hoped that a more in-depth account might appear in due course. The Caucasian forts along the edge of the Black Sea are, however, part of this volume; this is perhaps Rome's least known frontier archaeologically but the subject of a unique account by Arrian when governor of Cappadocia.

This is the first integrated study of Greek religion and cults of the Black Sea region, centred upon the Bosporan Kingdom of its northern shores, but with connections and consequences for Greece and much of the Mediterranean world. David Braund explains the cohesive function of key goddesses (Aphrodite Ourania, Artemis Ephesia, Taurian Parthenos, Isis) as it develops from archaic colonization through Athenian imperialism, the Hellenistic world and the Roman Empire in the East down to the Byzantine era. There is a wealth of new and unfamiliar data on all these deities, with multiple consequences for other areas and cults, such as Diana at Aricia, Orthia in Sparta, Argos' irrigation from Egypt, Athens' Aphrodite Ourania and Artemis Tauropolos and more. Greek religion is shown as key to the internal workings of the Bosporan Kingdom, its sense of its landscape and origins and its shifting relationships with the rest of its world.

This book treats such topics as the structure of archaic Roman society; social changes from the beginning of Roman expansion to the Second Punic War; slave uprisings and other conflicts in the society of the Late Republic; the social system of the early Empire; the crisis of the Roman Empire; and late Roman society to the fall of the Empire.

This is the first integrated study of Greek religion and cults of the Black Sea region, centred upon the Bosporan Kingdom of its northern shores, but with connections and consequences for Greece and much of the Mediterranean world. David Braund explains the cohesive function of key goddesses (Aphrodite Ourania, Artemis Ephesia, Taurian Parthenos, Isis) as it develops from archaic colonization through Athenian imperialism, the Hellenistic world and the Roman Empire in the East down to the Byzantine era. There is a wealth of new and unfamiliar data on all these deities, with multiple consequences for other areas and cults, such as Diana at Aricia, Orthia in Sparta, Argos' irrigation from Egypt, Athens' Aphrodite Ourania and Artemis Tauropolos and more. Greek religion is shown as key to the internal workings of the Bosporan Kingdom, its sense of its landscape and origins and its shifting relationships with the rest of its world.

This is the first study of ancient theatre and performance around the coasts of the Black Sea. It brings together key specialists around the region with well-established international scholars on theatre and the Black Sea, from a wide range of disciplines, especially archaeology, drama and history. In that way the wealth of material found around these great coasts is brought together with the best methodology in all fields of study. This landmark book broadens the whole concept and range of theatre outside Athens. It shows ways in which the colonial world of the Black Sea may be compared importantly with Southern Italy and Sicily in terms of theatre and performance. At the same time, it shows too how the Black Sea world itself can be better understood through a focus on the development of theatre and performance there, both among Greeks and among their local neighbours.

Forty-seven papers concerning the northern and eastern Black Sea in ancient times. Papers cover a wide range of topics, including Ancient Greek poleis, numismatics, amphorae, pottery and Greek-'Barbarian' relations.