The Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces, 2nd Edition
The Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces, 2nd Edition

Author: A. H. M. Jones

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2004-06-30

Total Pages: 605

ISBN-13: 1592447481

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This book traces the diffusion of the Greek city as a political institution throughout the lands of the Roman Empire bordering the Eastern Mediterranean over a period extending from Alexander's conquest of the East to the sixth century. Arranged in order of annexation, the regions are dealt with individually. The study examines to what extent native institutions were capable of being adapted to the Greek conception of the city, the activities of Hellenistic kings in founding cities, and the spontaneous diffusion of Greek political institutions in the Hellenization of the East. Professor Jones describes the restrictive effect of centralized administrative policy on some dynasties and the growth of cities in their dominions, and various aspects of the relations between cities and central government, including the cities' role in the economic life of the Empire. Other topics discussed include the local responsibilities of cities, administrative duties such as collecting taxes and levying recruits, the internal and political life of the cities, and their economic effect on the surrounding countryside.

The Sibylline Oracles
The Sibylline Oracles

Author: J. L. Lightfoot

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2007-12-13

Total Pages: 638

ISBN-13: 0199215464

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The Sibyl was a legendary figure in Greco-Roman antiquity. J. L. Lightfoot describes how the verse prophecies attributed to her were taken over by Hellenistic Jews, and later by Christians, as a vehicle for their own understandings of prophecy, and provides an edition, translation, and commentary on the first and second books of extant oracles.

Early Christianity in the Lycus Valley
Early Christianity in the Lycus Valley

Author: Ulrich Huttner

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2013-11-29

Total Pages: 514

ISBN-13: 9004264280

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In Early Christianity in the Lycus Valley, Ulrich Huttner explores the way Christians established communities and defined their position within their surroundings from the first to the fifth centuries. He shows that since the time of Paul the apostle, the cities Colossae, Hierapolis and Laodicea allowed Christians to expand and develop in their own way. Huttner uses a wide variety of sources, not only Christian texts - from Pauline letters to Byzantine hagiographies - but also inscriptions and archeological remains, to reconstruct the religious conflicts as well as cooperation between Christians, Jews and Pagans. The book reveals the importance of local conditions in the development of Early Christianity.

Religious Rivalries and the Struggle for Success in Sardis and Smyrna
Religious Rivalries and the Struggle for Success in Sardis and Smyrna

Author: Richard S. Ascough

Publisher: Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press

Published: 2006-01-01

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 0889209243

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This volume, one in a series of books examining religious rivalries, focuses in detail on the religious dimension of life in two particular Roman cities: Sardis and Smyrna. The essays explore the relationships and rivalries among Jews, Christians, and various Greco-Roman religious groups from the second century bce to the fourth century ce. The thirteen contributors, including seasoned scholars and promising newcomers, bring fresh perspectives on religious life in antiquity. They draw upon a wide range of archaeological, epigraphic, and literary data to investigate the complex web of relationships that existed among the religious groups of these two cities—from coexistence and cooperation to competition and conflict. To the extent that the essays investigate how religious groups are shaped by their urban settings, the book also offers insights into the material urban realities of the Roman Empire. Investigating two cities together in one volume highlights similarities and differences in the interaction of religious groups in each location. The specific focus on Sardis and Smyrna is broadened through an investigation of methodological issues involved in the study of the interaction of urban-based religious groups in antiquity. The volume will be of particular interest to scholars and advanced students in Biblical Studies, Classical Studies, and Archaeology.

The Village in Antiquity and the Rise of Early Christianity
The Village in Antiquity and the Rise of Early Christianity

Author: Alan Cadwallader

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-12-28

Total Pages: 473

ISBN-13: 0567695964

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A complete geographical and thematic overview of the village in an antiquity and its role in the rise of Christianity. The volume begins with a “state-of-question” introduction by Thomas Robinson, assessing the interrelation of the village and city with the rise of early Christianity. Alan Cadwallader then articulates a methodology for future New Testament studies on this topic, employing a series of case studies to illustrate the methodological issues raised. From there contributors explore three areas of village life in different geographical areas, by means of a series of studies, written by experts in each discipline. They discuss the ancient near east (Egypt and Israel), mainland and Isthmian Greece, Asia Minor, and the Italian Peninsula. This geographic focus sheds light upon the villages associated with the biblical cities (Israel; Corinth; Galatia; Ephesus; Philippi; Thessalonica; Rome), including potential insights into the rural nature of the churches located there. A final section of thematic studies explores central issues of local village life (indigenous and imperial cults, funerary culture, and agricultural and economic life).

Negotiating Diaspora
Negotiating Diaspora

Author: John M.G. Barclay

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2004-06-22

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 9780567082947

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The study of the ancient Jewish Diaspora is developing in exciting new directions as a result of fresh archaeological material and new frameworks of interpretation. The six studies collected in this volume have been composed by an international group of scholars at the forefront of Diaspora studies and explore key features of the cultural dynamics of the Jewish Diaspora. Studies on Jews in Rome (Margaret Williams) and Alexandria (Sarah Pearce) examine the dialectic of local and translocal identities, including a new theory on Jewish sabbath-fasting in Rome. Through careful analysis of inscriptions in the Balkans (Alexander Panayotov, in the first study of the material in English) and Asia Minor (Paul Trebilco), the often ambiguous expression of Diaspora Jews is examined. Two essays on the historian Josephus (by James McLaren and John Barclay) examine his crafted reconstructions of Judaean history, and indicate his subaltern tactics, deploying the tools of colonial culture for the advantage of his own. A thorough Introduction relates these studies to the broader field of 'Diaspora studies' in current cultural anthropology. This is volume 45 in the Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha Supplement series.

A Postcolonial African American Re-reading of Colossians
A Postcolonial African American Re-reading of Colossians

Author: A. Tinsley

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2013-08-20

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 1137326158

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Written from an African American perspective, this work depicts the presentation of the gospel message to the first-century community of Colossae, their reception of it comparative to the presentation and reception of the same to the enslaved Africans of North America particularly in the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries.