Description
Book SynopsisPresents a history of the Roman Republic within the wider Mediterranean world, focusing on 330 to 30 BCE Broad in scope, this book uniquely considers the history of the Roman Republic in tandem with the rich histories of the Hellenistic kingdoms and city-states that endured after the death of Alexander the Great. It provides students with a full picture of life in the ancient Mediterranean world and its multitude of interconnectionsnot only between Rome and the Greek East, but also among other major players, such as Carthage, Judaea, and the Celts. Taking a mostly chronological approach, it incorporates cultural change alongside political developments so that readers get a well-balanced introduction to the era. The Roman Republic and the Hellenistic Mediterranean: From Alexander to Caesar offers great insight into a momentous era with chapters on Alexanders in Asia and Italy; Mediterranean Cosmopolitanism; The Path of Pyrrhus; The Three Corners of Sicily; The Expanding Roman Horizon
Table of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments xiii
List of Credits xv
1 To 336: Four Peninsulas and a Delta 1
Timeline 1
Principal Themes 1
1.1 Introduction 2
1.2 Bronze Age Connections and Dark Age Divisions 4
1.3 Resurgences of the Early Archaic Age 7
1.4 Political Innovations of the Archaic Age 8
1.5 Greeks vs. “Barbarians” 11
1.6 Athenian Prosperity and its Discontents 12
1.7 The Rise of Macedonia 15
1.8 Conclusions 16
Further Reading 17
2 To 336: Roman Origins and Institutions 19
Timeline 19
Principal Themes 19
2.1 Introduction 20
2.2 Italy in the Bronze and Dark Ages 20
2.3 The Roman Monarchy 21
2.4 The so‐called Struggle of the Orders 25
2.5 Roman Diplomacy and Empire in the Early Republic 28
2.6 Early Roman Society 31
2.7 Conclusion 33
Further Reading 33
3 To 321: Alexanders in Asia and Italy 35
Timeline 35
Principal Themes 35
3.1 Introduction 36
3.2 The Ascent of Olympias and her Family 36
3.3 One Alexander, in Asia 37
3.4 Another Alexander, in Italy 41
3.5 In Egypt and Mesopotamia 43
3.6 Absolute Power 45
3.7 The Second Samnite War 48
3.8 Imperial Styles: Persia, Rome, and Macedonia 49
3.9 Conclusions 50
Further Reading 50
4 To 295: An Elusive Equilibrium 51
Timeline 51
Principal Themes 51
4.1 Introduction 52
4.2 The Limits of Alexander’s Mystique 52
4.3 The Infrastructure of Conquest in Roman Italy 56
4.4 Athens under Demetrius of Phaleron 57
4.5 Other Western Powers: Syracuse and Carthage 59
4.6 Political Epiphanies 60
4.7 New Philosophies of Politics and Participation 63
4.8 The Battle of Ipsus and its Aftermath 64
4.9 Rome vs. Italy at the Battle of Sentinum 65
4.10 Conclusions 67
Further Reading 67
5 To 264: The Path of Pyrrhus 69
Timeline 69
Principal Themes 69
5.1 Introduction 70
5.2 The Education of Pyrrhus 70
5.3 The Collapse of Demetrius Poliorketes 71
5.4 Pyrrhus and Rome 74
5.5 Pyrrhus and Sicily 79
5.6 Celtic Migrations to Asia Minor 79
5.7 Alexandrian Erudition 80
5.8 The Mediterranean Without Pyrrhus 81
5.9 Conclusions 83
Further Reading 84
6 To 238: The Three Corners of Sicily 85
Timeline 85
Principal Themes 85
6.1 Introduction 86
6.2 The Origins of the First Punic War 87
6.3 The New Roman Navy 89
6.4 The Emergence of Minor Kingdoms in the Hellenistic East 90
6.5 Romans in North Africa 93
6.6 Boxing Matches, Part 1: The Ptolemies and the Antigonids 94
6.7 Boxing Matches, Part 2: Rome and Carthage 94
6.8 Boxing Matches, Part 3: The Ptolemies and the Seleucids 96
6.9 No Peace 97
6.10 Rome’s Cultural Melange 98
6.11 Conclusions 100
Further Reading 100
7 To 201: The Expanding Roman Horizon 101
Timeline 101
Principal Themes 101
7.1 Introduction 102
7.2 Historicism in Literature: Naevius and Apollonius of Rhodes 102
7.3 Rome’s New Neighbors 104
7.4 Successors to the Successors 105
7.5 The Origins of the Second Punic War 107
7.6 Rome’s Initial Failures 109
7.7 Adolescent Kings in Syria and Egypt 110
7.8 The Five Fronts of the Second Punic War 111
7.9 Rome, Triumphant and Transformed 113
7.10 An Imperial Culture 116
7.11 The End of the Second Punic War 117
7.12 Antiochus III Becomes “Great” 117
7.13 Conclusions 118
Further Reading 118
8 To 186: Hercules and the Muses 119
Timeline 119
Principal Themes 119
8.1 Introduction 120
8.2 Philip V Faces East, Then West 120
8.3 “Freedom of the Greeks” 122
8.4 Romans in Spain 124
8.5 The Roman Wars with Antiochus III and Aetolia 124
8.6 Rome and the Other: Embrace and Rejection 129
8.7 Conclusions 131
Further Reading 131
9 To 164: Hostages of Diplomacy 133
Timeline 133
Principal Themes 133
9.1 Introduction 134
9.2 Rome as Referee 134
9.3 The Power of Pergamon 135
9.4 A New Balance of Power in the East 137
9.5 Spain as the Laboratory of Empire 138
9.6 The Plight of Perseus 138
9.7 The Sixth Syrian War and the “Day of Eleusis” 140
9.8 The Year 167 141
9.9 Three Celebrations 143
9.10 Outsiders Regarding Rome 146
9.11 Conclusions 148
Further Reading 148
10 To 133: The Price of Empire 149
Timeline 149
Principal Themes 149
10.1 Introduction 150
10.2 Internationalized Family Networks in Rome 150
10.3 Royal Pretenders 154
10.4 The Morality of Empire 156
10.5 The Carthage‐Corinth Coincidence 157
10.6 The Roman Reorganization of Egypt, 145–139 159
10.7 Economic Crisis and the Rise of the Tribunate 161
10.8 The Reforms of Tiberius Gracchus 163
10.9 Conclusions 164
Further Reading 165
11 To 101: The “New Men” of Rome and the Mediterranean 167
Timeline 167
Principal Themes 167
11.1 Introduction 168
11.2 Aristonicus and the People of Pergamon 168
11.3 Paos, Harsiese, and the People of Egypt 169
11.4 Gaius Gracchus and the People of Italy 171
11.5 Adherbal vs. Jurgurtha, in Numidia and in the Roman Senate 173
11.6 Marius and the People of Rome 175
11.7 A Celtic Resurgence 176
11.8 Shifts Among the Ptolemo‐Seleucids 176
11.9 Mithridates VI 177
11.10 So‐called Pirates and Bandits 179
11.11 Conclusions 179
Further Reading 180
12 To 79: Boundless Violence 181
Timeline 181
Principal Themes 181
12.1 Introduction 182
12.2 Marius and Saturninus, Cornered by/in the Senate 182
12.3 The Cappadocian Throne: Mithridates VI vs. Rome 183
12.4 The Origins of the Social War 184
12.5 Attempts to Recover Asia Minor 186
12.6 The Conclusion of the Social War 186
12.7 The Resurgence of Mithridates 187
12.8 Sulla Seizes Command 188
12.9 Genocide, of a Form, in Asia Minor 189
12.10 The Sack of Athens 190
12.11 Sulla’s Dictatorship 192
12.12 Conclusions 196
Further Reading 196
13 To 63: Extraordinary Commands 199
Timeline 199
Principal Themes 199
13.1 Introduction 200
13.2 Sertorius, Mithridates, and the “Pirates” 200
13.3 Spartacus 202
13.4 Rome Steadily Consolidates 204
13.5 The Consulship of Crassus and Pompey 205
13.6 Lucullus and the Origins of the Third Mithridatic War 206
13.7 Tribunes and Imperial Commands 207
13.8 Pompey Becomes “Great” 209
13.9 Rome in the Absence of Pompey 211
13.10 The Conspiracies of Catiline and Cicero 213
13.11 Conclusions 214
Further Reading 215
14 To 52: The World According to Pompey 217
Timeline 217
Principal Themes 217
14.1 Introduction 218
14.2 Pompey’s Pompa 218
14.3 The so‐called “First” Triumvirate 220
14.4 Clodius’s Imperial Tribunate 222
14.5 Poets and Politicians 224
14.6 The Scandal of the Alexandrian Embassy 226
14.7 Caesar in Gaul 226
14.8 The Return of Cicero 227
14.9 Displaying the “Exotic” 229
14.10 Challenges to the Triumvirate 231
14.11 Conclusions 232
Further Reading 233
15 To 44: Roman Alexanders 235
Timeline 235
Principal Themes 235
15.1 Introduction 236
15.2 Pompey’s Sole Consulship 236
15.3 A Planned Eastern Mission, Divisive and Unrealized 238
15.4 The Start of a New Civil War 239
15.5 Siege and Sojourn in Alexandria 241
15.6 Caesar in Asia, Then Africa 242
15.7 A Month‐Long Triumph 244
15.8 Caesar’s Hellenistic Capital 246
15.9 Conclusion: Caesar Exits a World 248
Further Reading 248
Epilogue: Not the End 249
Ep.1. New “Funeral Games” 249
Ep.2. The Second Triumvirate 251
Ep.3. The Return of Cleopatra and the Ptolemies 252
Ep.4. The End of the Roman Republic, but Not of the Hellenistic Mediterranean 254
Index 257
