Rome and the Black Sea Region: Domination, Romanisation, Resistance (Black Sea Studies) - Hardcover

Bekker-Nielsen, Tonnes

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 8779341748 ISBN 13: 9788779341746

Publisher: Aarhus University Press, 2006

Synopsis

In 89 BC, Roman legionaries intervened in the Black Sea region to curb the ambitions of Mithridates VI of Pontos. Over the next two centuries, the Roman presence on the Black Sea coast was slowly, but steadily increased. This volume deals with the Roman impact on the indigenous population in the Black Sea region and touches on the theme of romanisation of that area. Nine different contributors discuss several aspects of Roman identity and the cultural interaction - one article even compares the situation to the American presence in Iraq - though at the same time, it also looks at the resistance to the Roman Empire and the Roman problems of creating peace in the region after the colonisation. Romanisation and becoming Roman in a Greek world is a very popular field of discussion about which a lot has already been written. This book, however, encircles three important themes - the domination, the romanisation and the resistance. It covers two different sides of the Roman presence in the area and shows both the perspective of a Roman just arrived, Pliny the Younger, and a native seeing the Romans coming, the historian Memnon of Herakleia. Furthermore it describes how multi-identity cultures manage to live together because becoming Roman not necessarily means becoming less Greek (or less Gaulish, less Scythian, less Bosporan, etc.). The diversity of the different chapters in this book creates reflection on the cultural change in the traditionalist, yet cosmopolitan environment that was the Roman Black Sea Region.

About this title

About the Author:

Tonnes Bekker-Nielsen teaches ancient history at the University of Southern Denmark, Esbjerg.

Review:

"...an essential contribution to contemporary understanding of the Roman influence in the Black Sea region." -- Tim Murphy, in Nordicum-Mediterraneum, Voume 2, Number 1, March 2007.

About this edition

• Publisher: Aarhus University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 8779341748
• ISBN 13: 9788779341746
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 183
• Editor: Tonnes Bekker-Nielsen