Hekster O., Zair N. Rome and Its Empire, AD 193-284

Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd, 2008. – 209 p. – (Debates and Documents in Ancient History).
ISBN: 978-0-7486-2303-7 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-0-7486-2304-4 (paperback)This was a time of civil war, anarchy, intrigue, and assassination. Between 193 and 284 the Roman Empire knew more than twenty-five emperors, and an equal number of usurpers. All of them had some measure of success, several of them often ruling different parts of the Empire at the same time. Rome's traditional political institutions slid into vacuity and armies became the Empire's most powerful institutions, proclaiming their own imperial champions and deposing those they held to be incompetent. Yet despite widespread contemporary dismay at such weak government this period was also one in which the boundaries of the Empire remained fairly stable; the rights and privileges of Roman citizenship were extended equally to all free citizens of the Empire; in several regions the economy remained robust in the face of rampant inflation; and literary culture, philosophy, and legal theory flourished. Historians have been discussing how and why this could have been for centuries. Olivier Hekster takes you to the heart of these debates and illustrates the arguments with key contemporary documents. His compelling account will engage students at all levels of study.Series
Editors’ PrefaceMapsDebates
Introduction: History and Narrative
A Capital and its Provinces
Economy, Armies and Administration
Law and Citizenship
Development and Perception of Emperorship
Christianity and Religious ChangeDocuments
Cassius Dio: Roman History
Herodian: History of the Empire after Marcus
Historia Augusta
Sextus Aurelius Victor: Book of the Caesars
Eutropius: Breviarium
Festus: Breviarium
Zosimus: New History
Publius Aelius Aristides: To Rome
The Thirteenth Sibylline Oracle
Res Gestae Divi Saporis
Lactantius: On the Deaths of the Persecutors
P. Herennius Dexippus: Scythica
Dexippus Inscription
Odaenathus Inscriptions from CIS
Augsburg Inscription
Inscriptions from CIL
Ağa Bey Köyü Petition
Papyrus of Isis to her Family
Command of the Egyptian Prefect
The Constitutio Antoniniana
Digest
Damnatio Memoriae in a Papyrus
Oxyrhynchus Papyri
Inscriptions from Aphrodisias
Acclamation at Perge
The Feriale Duranum
Trajan to Pliny: Letter 10.97
Libellus of the Decian Persecution
Cyprian: To Demetrianus
Cyprian: Letter 80
Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas
Marcus Minucius Felix: Octavius
Epistle against the Manichees
Ban on Magical Consultation
Wall of Aurelian
Rock Relief at Bishapur
Arch of Galerius, Thessalonica
Arch of Septimius Severus, Rome
Arco degli Argentarii, Rome
Palmyrene Sarcophagus
Syrian Togate Portrait
Distribution of Third-Century Imperial Coin Types
Coins of Elagabalus
Trilingual Coin from Tyre
Coins of Philip the Arab
Decius’ Consecration Coins (250–1)
Coins of Gallienus
Coins of Aurelian and His Opponents
Imperial BustsEmperors and Usurpers
Further Reading
Essay Questions and Exercise Topics
Internet Resources