The Roman Empire in Context

Through a series of original essays by leading international scholars, The Roman Empire in Context: Historical and Comparative Perspectives offers a comparative historical analysis of the Roman empire s role and achievement and, more broadly, establishes Rome s significance within comparative studies. Fills a gap in comparative historical analysis of the Roman empire s role and achievement Features contributions from more than a dozen distinguished scholars from around the world Explores the relevance of important comparativist themes of state, empire, and civilization to ancient Rome

Through a series of original essays by leading internationalscholars, The Roman Empire in Context: Historical andComparative Perspectives offers a comparative historicalanalysis of the Roman empire's role and achievement and, morebroadly, establishes Rome's significance within comparativestudies.* Fills a gap in comparative historical analysis of the Romanempire's role and achievement* Features contributions from more than a dozen distinguishedscholars from around the world* Explores the relevance of important comparativist themes ofstate, empire, and civilization to ancient Rome

Notes on Contributors.Series Editor's Preface.1 Introduction (Johann P. Arnason).Part I Expansion and Transformation.2 From City-State to Empire: Rome in Comparative Perspective(Kurt A. Raaflaub).3 The Transition from Republic to Principate: Loss ofLegitimacy, Revolution, and Acceptance (Egon Flaig).4 Strong and Weak Regimes: Comparing the Roman Principate andthe Medieval Crown of Aragon (D. A. Cohen and J. E.Lendon).Part II Late Antiquity: Division, Transformation, andContinuity.5 The Background to the Third-Century Crisis of the Roman Empire(Adam Ziolkowski).6 The End of Sacrifice: Religious Mutations of Late Antiquity(Guy G. Stroumsa).7 Contextualizing Late Antiquity: The First Millennium (GarthFowden).Part III Destinies of the Roman Legacy.8 The Franks: Rome's Heirs in the West (MatthiasBecher).9 The End of Rome? The Transformation of the Eastern Empire inthe Seventh and Eighth Centuries CE (John Haldon).10 The First Islamic Empire (Chase F. Robinson).Part IV Comparative Perspectives.11 From City-State to Empire: The Case of Assyria (MarioLiverani).12 China's Early Empires: The Authority and Means ofGovernment (Michael Loewe).13 The Legs of the Throne: Kings, Elites, and Subjects inSasanian Iran (Scott McDonough).14 The King of Kings: Universal Hegemony, Imperial Power, and aNew Comparative History of Rome (Peter Fibiger Bang).Part V Conceptual and Theoretical Reflections.15 The Roman Phenomenon: State, Empire, and Civilization(Johann P. Arnason).16 Roman-European Continuities: Conceptual and HistoricalQuestions (Peter Wagner).General Index.Index of Sources (selective).