ABSTRACT
As the Romans assumed control from the Adriatic to the Euphrates, from the Black Sea to the First Cataract on the Nile, they found themselves dealing with areas organized, below the governmental level, on a tribal, clan, village, township, or city basis. City life had spread with the Greek language unevenly over the entire region. This section is intended to sketch what the Romans inherited by way of urbanization in the eastern provinces: its extent and depth, institutions, political life, and culture, and how far it was preserved and even extended and developed under their aegis as old forms responded to the demands made of them, both by the Romans and by peoples for whom city life was something new.
