Narratives of Roman Syria: A Historiography of Syria as a Province of Rome
Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics Paper No. 070705
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Lidewijde de Jong
In this paper I examine the scholarship of Roman Syria and the history of research on this province. The scholarly narrative of Roman Syria revolves around strong Greek influence and little impact of Roman rule, which has resulted in studying Syria as a unique and distinct entity, separated from Rome. In light of new archaeological finds and a re-evaluation of older evidence, I argue that these assumptions of deep hellenization and shallow Roman impact need to be abandoned. Using models coming out of research in other provinces of the Roman empire and anthropological studies of colonialism and material culture, I propose a set of different narratives about Roman Syria.This paper is the first chapter of my dissertation: Becoming a Roman province: An analysis of funerary practices in Roman Syria in the context of empire.
de Jong, Lidewijde, Narratives of Roman Syria: A Historiography of Syria as a Province of Rome (July 2007). Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics Paper No. 070705, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1426969 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1426969
Lidewijde De Jong (Contact Author)