Book contents
- Palmyra, the Mediterranean and Beyond
- Mediterranean Studies in Antiquity
- Palmyra, the Mediterranean and Beyond
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps and Tables
- Contributors
- 1 Palmyra in the Mediterranean World
- 2 The Western Networks of Palmyra
- 3 You Can’t Get There from Here
- 4 Palmyrene Iconographic Traditions and Their Mediterranean Connections
- 5 Palmyra and Emesa or ‘Palmyre sans Émèse’
- 6 Organizing Networks to Supply Mediterranean Markets
- 7 Language, Law and Religion
- 8 Channels of Communication and Connections of Style
- 9 Identity and Mobility of Palmyrene Jews
- 10 Palmyrene Military Expatriation and Its Religious Transfer at Roman Dura-Europos, Dacia and Numidia
- Index
- References
2 - The Western Networks of Palmyra
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 October 2025
Edited by
Book contents
- Palmyra, the Mediterranean and Beyond
- Mediterranean Studies in Antiquity
- Palmyra, the Mediterranean and Beyond
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps and Tables
- Contributors
- 1 Palmyra in the Mediterranean World
- 2 The Western Networks of Palmyra
- 3 You Can’t Get There from Here
- 4 Palmyrene Iconographic Traditions and Their Mediterranean Connections
- 5 Palmyra and Emesa or ‘Palmyre sans Émèse’
- 6 Organizing Networks to Supply Mediterranean Markets
- 7 Language, Law and Religion
- 8 Channels of Communication and Connections of Style
- 9 Identity and Mobility of Palmyrene Jews
- 10 Palmyrene Military Expatriation and Its Religious Transfer at Roman Dura-Europos, Dacia and Numidia
- Index
- References
Summary
Palmyra is usually studied for one of three reasons, either its role in the long-distance trade between Indian Ocean and Mediterranean, its distinctive cultural identity as visible in the epigraphic and material record from the city or its rise as an independent regional power in the Near East in the third quarter of the third century AD. While Palmyra was indeed a special place, with a private sorte, or destiny of its own, as Pliny famously expressed it (HN 5.88), the city’s ability to maintain its distinctiveness arguably rested on deep entanglements with her local and regional surroundings. This chapter addresses how the city engaged with its neighbours and its Roman imperial overlords. Actions, events and policies attested in the epigraphic record from the city and from the Palmyrene diaspora in the Roman Empire are discussed in light of theoretical insights from archaeology, sociology and economics. It is argued that Palmyra’s remarkable success built on the city’s ability to connect with the range of social networks that constituted the Roman Empire.
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- Palmyra, the Mediterranean and Beyond , pp. 21 - 32Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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