ABSTRACT
In this chapter, it is noticeable, when one rises out of the litter of inscriptions and isolated buildings, army units, and religions, that what is largely absent is any clear view of the non-military, non-religious activity of Syrians in the rest of the empire. The chapter begins by recognising what is too often ignored: that Syria was one of the major regions of the Roman Empire. The emperors who emerged from Syria were no more than four in number, and were outnumbered by Syrian usurpers. The number of senators from Syria was always few in comparison with other regions such as Africa and Spain. The recruitment of large numbers of Syrians also might be said to reflect the general Syrian indifference to the empire as implied by the reluctance of the upper classes to participate in its government. The participation of Syrians in the Roman Empire was overwhelmingly in the form of the recruitment of Syrian soldiers, and in religion.
