The Oxford Handbook of Greek Cities in the Roman Empire

Book excerpt: This handbook provides the first comprehensive treatment of the Greek cities in the Roman Empire. The poleis are studied here both as urban forms, with a specific organization of space and specific public buildings, and as socio-political entities, with specific institutions and social hierarchies. The contributions cover all the important aspects of civic life and present the on-going debates on the degree of integration and autonomy, uniformization, and diversity of the Greek civic model in the Roman Empire. One of the main guidelines of the handbook is the issue of the impact of Roman rule on the long-lasting Greek model of political, social, and spatial organization. Geographically, the volume covers the whole Roman Empire, with a focus on regions where the Greek polis was the dominant form of organization, such as mainland Greece, the Aegean Islands, Asia Minor, Syria, and the Black Sea region. In addition to that, the Greek cities of Sicily and Egypt as well as more isolated Greek settlements such as Cyrene in North Africa are also considered. The chronological scope of the handbook runs from a community's integration into the Roman Empire (varying depending on the region) until the 3rd c. AD, when the epigraphic documentation strongly decreases and some important changes make way for the transition to Late Antiquity.