Rome in the East: the transformation of an empire

Photographic acknowledgements xii
List of plates xiii
List of figures xx
List of family trees xxv
Preface xxvii
East or West? xxvii
Constraints and considerations xxix
Sources, perspectives and evidence xxix
The limitations of epigraphy xxx
Terminology xxxiii
Geographical limits xxxv
Objectives xxxv
Genesis xxxvi
List of abbreviations xlii
1 Historical background 1
To the Euphrates 1
Rome and Iran 1
Hannibal and Antiochus the Great 2
Pompey the Great 3
Crassus, Carrhae and the Parthians 5
Beyond the Euphrates 8
Trajan and the ghost of Alexander 8
Septimius Severus and Mesopotamia 10
The end of the beginning 14
The long retreat 15
Iran restored: Alexander and Artaxerxes 16
Shapur I, Valerian and the disaster of Edessa 17
Shapur II, Constantius and the disaster of Amida 17
Julian and the loss of the Tigris provinces 18
Justinian the peasant’s son and Khusrau of the Immortal Soul 20
Endgame: Heraclius, Khusrau Parviz and Muhammad 21
viii Contents
2 The Princely States: Near Eastern states
under Roman protection 28
Rome and the Arabs 29
Emesa and the Sun Kings 30
The kings of Emesa 32
The cult of Emesene Baal and its great temple 35
Was Baalbek Emesene? 38
Judaea, Herod the Great and the Jewish Revolt 49
The rise of Herod 51
The successors of Herod 58
The Jewish Revolt 59
Arabia and the Nabataeans 64
The rise of the Nabataeans 65
The Nabataean achievement 69
The cult of the dead 74
Palmyra and Queen Zenobia 79
Origins of Palmyra 79
Palmyrene trade 81
The rise of ‘Udaynath 84
Zenobia 84
The revolt 86
Aftermath of the revolt 88
Palmyrene civilisation 90
Edessa and the coming of Christendom 93
Origins 95
The kings 97
Religion at Edessa 99
Edessa and Christianity 101
The Tanukh and Queen Mawiyya 103
‘King of the Arabs’ 104
Queen Mawiyya’s revolt 105
Aftermath 107
The Ghassan and the coming of Islam 108
3 Rome east of the frontiers 125
Military campaigns 125
Mark Antony and Iran 125
Aelius Gallus and Yemen 128
Roman prisoners of war 132
Crassus’ lost legions? 132
Survivors of Edessa 133
Roman trade 141
Rome in India 141
Rome in Central Asia and China 150
‘Romano-Buddhist’ art 15
4 The towns and cities 173
Antioch, the imperial city 174
Origins 174
Eastern city or foreign implant? 176
Antioch as an imperial city 177
The Macedonian heartland of the north 179
Seleucia and Laodicaea 180
Apamaea 183
Aleppo 187
Cyrrhus and Chalcis 187
The Euphrates and Mesopotamia 189
Halabiya 190
Rasafa 191
Dura Europos 191
Mesopotamia 197
The Phoenician coast 198
Aradus, Antaradus and Marathus 199
Byblos 199
Beirut 201
Sidon and Tyre 202
Caesarea 204
The Decapolis 207
Damascus 209
Qanawat and Si‘ 213
Jerash 216
Amman 220
Other Decapolis cities 222
Roman Arabia: Bosra and Shahba 226
Bosra 226
Shahba 234
Conclusions 239
5 The countryside 244
The Dead Cities 244
The settlements and their setting 247
The houses 256
Public buildings 260
Christian buildings 262
Economy 274
Date 275
Explanations 275
Other areas 278
Elsewhere in north Syria 278
The desert fringes 279
Cilicia 281
x Contents
The Negev 281
Jordan 282
The Hauran 283
Villages and their settings 285
Public buildings 288
Conclusions 289
6 Secular architecture: imperial stamp or imperial veneer? 294
The urban layout 295
Planned towns 295
Sacred and processional ways 304
Colonnaded streets 310
The four-way arch 326
Other ornamental arches 334
Dedicatory columns 336
Nymphaea 342
The kalybe 343
Forums 346
Oval and circular plazas 348
Buildings for leisure 354
Baths 355
Entertainment 356
Military architecture 357
Occupation 358
Defence 359
7 Religious architecture: the resurgence of the East 372
Temples 372
The temenos temple 373
Temple propylaea 380
Eastern temple origins 383
Exterior altars 389
Temple sanctuaries 390
Circumambulatories 394
High places 399
Early Christian architecture 408
The basilica 408
The martyrium 410
Funerary architecture 412
Pyramids, temples and columns 413
Tower tombs 417
Underground tombs 420
Tomb façades 421
Fabric and styles 427
Building material 427
The trabeate style 429
The ‘baroque’ style 433
The ‘Syrian niche’ 441
Conclusion 445
8 The transformation of an empire 451
The Arabs and the West 451
India and the West 452
Rome’s Arab half-century: Julia Domna and the Arabs who ruled Rome 456
Septimius Severus and Julia Domna 457
Caracalla and Geta 460
Elagabalus and Baal 462
Severus Alexander and the end of a dynasty 466
Aftermath 468
Philip the Arab 468
Lepcis Magna: Roman city in Africa and the orientalisation of Europe 470
From Paganism to Christianity 483
Religion in pagan Rome 483
From slave to master 484
From Iran to Rome 485
From Anatolia to Rome 489
From the Semitic East to Rome 490
From East to West 491
The oriental revolution 495
East and West 496
Character and prejudice 496
The view from the East 498
Triumph of the East 500
Bibliography 510
Index 540