The Politics of Munificence in the Roman Empire

Citizens, Elites and Benefactors in Asia Minor

Nonfiction, History, Ancient History
Cover of the book The Politics of Munificence in the Roman Empire by Arjan Zuiderhoek, Cambridge University Press
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Author: Arjan Zuiderhoek ISBN: 9780511738395
Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publication: April 27, 2009
Imprint: Cambridge University Press Language: English
Author: Arjan Zuiderhoek
ISBN: 9780511738395
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication: April 27, 2009
Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Language: English

In the first two centuries AD, the eastern Roman provinces experienced a proliferation of elite public generosity unmatched in their previous or later history. In this study, Arjan Zuiderhoek attempts to answer the question why this should have been so. Focusing on Roman Asia Minor, he argues that the surge in elite public giving was not caused by the weak economic and financial position of the provincial cities, as has often been maintained, but by social and political developments and tensions within the Greek cities created by their integration into the Roman imperial system. As disparities of wealth and power within imperial polis society continued to widen, the exchange of gifts for honours between elite and non-elite citizens proved an excellent political mechanism for deflecting social tensions away from open conflicts towards communal celebrations of shared citizenship and the legitimation of power in the cities.

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In the first two centuries AD, the eastern Roman provinces experienced a proliferation of elite public generosity unmatched in their previous or later history. In this study, Arjan Zuiderhoek attempts to answer the question why this should have been so. Focusing on Roman Asia Minor, he argues that the surge in elite public giving was not caused by the weak economic and financial position of the provincial cities, as has often been maintained, but by social and political developments and tensions within the Greek cities created by their integration into the Roman imperial system. As disparities of wealth and power within imperial polis society continued to widen, the exchange of gifts for honours between elite and non-elite citizens proved an excellent political mechanism for deflecting social tensions away from open conflicts towards communal celebrations of shared citizenship and the legitimation of power in the cities.

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