On the Edge of Empires North Mesopotamia During the Roman Period (2nd – 4th c. CE) Studies in the History of the Ancient Near East Series

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.

List of figures; Preface; Acknowledgements; Ancient Sources; Major Abbreviations; Chapter 1Rome shifts Eastwards: Empires, Hegemony, and Frontiers; Chapter 2 From the Anatolian Plateau to the Steppe: Geography and Climate of North Mesopotamia; Chapter 3 From Trajan to Jovian: Conquest, Organisation and Loss of a Borderland; Chapter 4 Empires and the Cities: Urban Areas and Rural Landscapes; Chapter 5 Minor Settlements, Forts, and Camps: Exploring the Roman Frontier in the Syrian-Iraqi Steppe; Chapter 6 Imperial Impact on a Small Scale: The Site of Tell Barri between the 2nd and 4th c. CE; Chapter 7 Landscape(s) and the Empires: Survey Data for Roman Period Mesopotamia; Chapter 8 Mobility, Strategy, and the Empires: The Peutinger Map and the Route System in North Mesopotamia; Chapter 9 Across the Edges: Arabs and Nomads in Roman Period Mesopotamia; Chapter 10 Rome and the Steppe: Conclusions; Bibliography; Index

Rocco Palermo is a Researcher at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. He has carried out fieldwork in Italy, Syria, and Jordan, and he is currently involved in two different projects in Northern Iraq with the University of Udine, Italy, and Harvard University, USA. He is currently working on a book on the landscape and settlements of Hellenistic period Mesopotamia.