ABSTRACT

On the Edge of Empires explores the mixed culture of North Mesopotamia in the Roman period. This volatile region at the eastern edge of the Roman world became during the imperial period the theater of confrontation for multiple political entities: Rome, Parthia, Sasanian Persia. Roman presence is only recognizable through military installations – forts, barracks, military camps – yet these fascinating lands tell a story of frontier people and soldiers, of trade despite war, and daily life between the Empires. This volume combines archaeological and historical, literary and environmental evidence in order to explore this important borderland between east and west.

On the Edge of Empires is a valuable addition to researchers engaged in the historical and archaeological reconstruction of the frontier areas of the Roman Empire, and a fascinating study for students and scholars of the Romans and their neighbours, borderlands in antiquity, and the history and archaeology of empires.

chapter 1|8 pages

Rome shifts eastwards

Empires, hegemony, and frontiers

chapter 2|15 pages

From the Anatolian plateau to the steppe

Geography and climate of North Mesopotamia

chapter 3|39 pages

From Trajan to Jovian

Conquest, organization, and loss of a borderland

chapter 4|53 pages

Empires and the cities

Urban areas in North Mesopotamia

chapter 5|48 pages

Minor settlements, forts, and camps

Exploring the Roman frontier in the Syrian–Iraqi steppe

chapter 6|26 pages

Imperial impact on a small scale

The site of Tell Barri between the 2nd and 4th c. ce

chapter 7|20 pages

Landscape(s) and the empires

Survey data for Roman-period Mesopotamia

chapter 8|21 pages

Mobility, strategy, and the empires

The Peutinger Map and the route system in North Mesopotamia

chapter 9|16 pages

Across the edges

Arabs and nomads in Roman-period Mesopotamia

chapter 10|8 pages

Rome and the steppe

Conclusions