Three milestones, inscribed in Latin, were found in the excavations in the Bet Neṭofa Valley. Two milestones are attributed the reign of Hadrian, one is dated to the beginning of his reign, in 120 CE, and the other, to his visit to the region in 130 CE. The third milestone dates to the days of Constantine the Great and his sons, between 333 and 337 CE. These milestones are important evidence of the earliest and latest recorded stages of systematic road-planning in Judea-Palestina.

This chapter focuses on a specific phenomenon that is instructive in a somewhat different manner. Several major urban centres had a substantial Jewish population in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine periods. There was a good deal of tension between Jews and other groups in cities, tension that at times led to minor or major outbursts of violence as reported by various authors. These also describe measures taken by the local and imperial authorities on those occasions. The chapter offers a brief survey of such events in an attempt to show that one may gain an extra perspective on the position of the Jews in the ancient world. According to Philo the Jews constituted about two-fifths of the population of Alexandria in Egypt. They formed an autonomous organization in the framework of the city and enjoyed specific rights. Caesarea was a substantial city with a mixed population, not as big, of course, as Alexandria and Antioch, but definitely significant.

Der GNOMON pflegt als kritische Zeitschrift für die gesamte Altertumswissenschaft die Verbindung zwischen den verschiedenen Disziplinen der Altertumswissenschaft. Er nimmt dadurch eine Sonderstellung unter den Rezensionsorganen ein und bietet die Möglichkeit, sich über wichtige Forschungen und Publikationen auch in den Nachbarbereichen des eigenen Faches zu orientieren. Die Rezensionen im GNOMON wenden sich an ein internationales Publikum, das aus allen Teilgebieten der Altertumswissenschaft kommt. Die Publikationssprachen im GNOMON sind: Deutsch, Englisch, Französisch, Italienisch und Lateinisch.

The status of Rome vis-à-vis the Roman empire is analyzed. Fears that it might be replaced and the imperial capital would be transferred are reported from the first century BC onward. Foundation myths suggested that Rome originated in the East, in Troy, and it was suspected that the capital might move back to the East. These suspicions did not materialize for centuries but became reality under Constantine with the refoundation of Byzantium as Constantinople. The choice of Constantinople as (eastern) capital may not have been a matter of course from the start. Other cities seem to have been considered first, and it is not certain why it was chosen. Furthermore, there is no contemporary evidence that Constantine always conceived his new foundation as the eastern capital of the empire, or that he intended that it should replace Rome. Claims, made first by Christian authors, that Constantine’s city was conceived from the start as the new or second Rome and also as a purely Christian city cannot be confirmed. The city actually took time to develop into an imperial capital. The city became the undisputed centre of the late Roman empire only in the reign of Theodosius I.

Chapter 30 Roads and Harbors Benjamin Isaac, Benjamin IsaacSearch for more papers by this author Benjamin Isaac, Benjamin IsaacSearch for more papers by this author Book Editor(s):Ted Kaizer, Ted Kaizer Durham University Durham, UKSearch for more papers by this author First published: 21 December 2021 https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119037354.ch30 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Abstract This chapter provides a survey of the system of public roads in the region of Syria, Arabia, and Judaea/Palaestina and of the harbors on the Mediterranean coast. The systematic exploration of the Roman road network in Palestine started with the mapping activities of the Palestine Exploration Fund, a project which culminated in a series of maps published by the Fund. The road system east of the Jordan was studied by scholars such as Schumacher, Germer-Durand, and Butler. The road system in the province of Judaea/Syria Palaestina was an integrated system of four north-south arteries and a series of east-west routes. A study of the coastal road in Syria has shown that there was a change of organization of the road system in 198. In the plain and valleys, roads followed an alignment as straight as possible, familiar from aerial photographs all over the empire. The eastern Mediterranean coast has few good natural harbors. A Companion to the Hellenistic and Roman Near East RelatedInformation

It is the argument of the present paper that it is worth reconsidering carefully wat the word ‘barbarian’ says about Greek and Roman attitudes towards other peoples over time. This will be based on literary sources of all kinds, including poetry and tragedy from the eighth century BC until the fourth century AD. The essence of what is seen as barabrism shifts over time as a consequence of changes in self-perception. In Greek literature the word almost always refers to foreigners, hardly ever to Greeks. Determining factors could be language, geographic origin, descent, religion and citizenship. Some of these could be changed. Towards the end of the fifth century there is a clear and strong shift towards negative judgement and moral disapproval. In Latin literature it is easier to distinguish clear-cut patterns. Since there was no argument about what it was to be a Roman it was obvious who was not a Roman, i.e. a barbarian. There was never any doubt that it was possible for a barbarian to become a Roman.

This paper considers the model of ‘core and periphery,’ widely used in recent decades. It briefly describes the constituent elements of the original model as developed by Immanuel Wallerstein and the manner in which students of the Roman Empire have attempted to apply it. lt begins with a brief discussion of Greek and Roman images of the geography of the world and Roman views of the geography of their empire, to see to what extent this may have influenced modern interpretations, notably those dealing with ‘core and periphery’. My argument is that those who claim to follow Wallerstein in their discussion of ancient empires are using a model that is not suitable for their study of this subject. They therefore rather freely adapt the theory to their needs, without analysing its proper application. The model, it is argued, is mostly inappropriate for the study of ancient empires. When applied, it leads to confusion rather than deeper understanding. Next follows a brief consideration of another model, developed more recently by Peregrine Horden and Nicholas Purcell in their major work The Corrupting Sea. Some possible modifications and additional considerations are suggested. The point of this discussion is to show that there are many instances where Roman administrative arrangements may give a sense of ancient geographical perspective that runs counter to that obtained by looking at modern maps. We are faced with some of the numerous instances of anachronism encountered in modern research.

From 1965 to 1966 a pioneering survey was carried out by Zeev Meshel and Yoram Tsafrir along the incense route between Oboda (Avdat) and the Nabataean caravansary at Sha'ar Ramon. They noted two segments of a wide, built road, along which were 11 milestone stations: 5 on the Nafha Plateau (south of Oboda) and 6 in Makhtesh Ramon. Meshel and Tsafrir dated the road and the milestones to the Nabataean period. These two scholars noted in their survey that the two segments of the road and their milestones were about 7 km apart in the area of Mount Grafon. They surmised that these segments were linked and proposed a route for that link, although they found no ancient remains along the presumed route. During the winter of 2018 the lost section was found and six milestone stations were detected. At four of those stations we found milestones with inscriptions. These are the first dated inscriptions from the incense route in the Negev. This article presents these inscriptions and evaluates their historical implications.

In 1994 I published a now widely cited and highly regarded volume entitled Immigration, Ethnicity and Racism in Britain, 1815–1914 (1), which, at the time, faced critical comment. One of the phrases which received particular attention consisted of the opening to chapter five (entitled ‘Racism’), which began: ‘All minorities in all societies in all historical periods have endured hostility from the government and the majority populations in the countries in which they live’. This may represent an unsubstantiated statement, but I would still have difficulty in rejecting it, both because of my own experiences and observations and as a result of decades of researching on aspects of the history of minorities.

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