Re-Thinking Globalisation in the Ancient world (original) (raw)
ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝH - longue durée perspectives on ancient Mediterranean ‘globality’ (800 BC-AD 200)
In the 2nd century AD, the Greek orator Ailios Aristeides, one of the intellectual stars of his time, gave, in Rome, in speech On Rome (eis Rhomen), in which he praised the city on the Tiber for having united and unified the ancient Mediterranean world: “Now it is possible for both Greek and barbarian, with his possessions or without them, to travel easily wherever he wishes, quite as if he were going from one country of his to another.” Through the Romans, the old Homeric saying had finally come true that “the earth was common to all”. By creating an infrastructure facilitating safe mobility and, at the same time, a uniform legal framework for all human beings populating the Empire, the Romans had, according to Aristeides, organised ‘the whole inhabited world like a single household.’ Aristeides’ speech is a remarkable statement of ‘globality’ from the heyday of Roman civilization. It reflects a widespread feeling, at least among the elites, that the civilized oikoumene and the Roman Empire were essentially congruent: that the Empire was, politically, socially, economically and culturally, an integrated, unified body. A pivotal precondition for globality and integration is connectivity: Aristeides’ ‘household’ vitally depended on conditions, where people, goods and ideas could, theoretically at least, freely shift through space. Such conditions did, of course, not exist a priori: they were created by means of exploration, trade, imperial conquest, colonisation and (cultural, economic, social, political, legal) penetration. When the Homeric Odysseus had wandered the Mediterranean, travelling was a pioneering, dangerous and potentially life-threatening adventure. From an archaic Greek perspective, the Mediterranean’s distant coasts and islands were an exotic, often eerie country, hostile and strange. The Roman world is rather different: people travel as pilgrims, soldiers, officials, traders and tourists. Roman literature gives abundant proof that moving has become a day-to-day activity, despite the occasional perils of sea passages. The purpose of this paper will be twofold: firstly, it will, from a longue-durée perspective, trace the gradual increase in connectivity in the Mediterranean basin from the archaic to the Roman period: how did long distance trade, colonisation and imperial expansion shape trans-Mediterranean networks? And what repercussions did such developments have on the cultural development of Mediterranean peripheries? Secondly, the paper will attempt at modelling the impact Rome had on this process: how realistic was Aristeides’ vision of a ‘global’, integrated cultural koine sustained by the Roman Empire? Selected bibliography Sommer, Michael, 2007, 'Networks of commerce and knowledge in the Iron Age. The case of the Phoenicians', Mediterranean Historical Review 22, 97-112. Sommer, Michael, 2009, 'Imperiale Macht und lokale Identität. Universalhistorische Variationen zu einem regionalhistorischen Thema', in: Michael Blömer et al. (Hg.), Lokale Identität im Römischen Nahen Osten, Oriens et Occidens, Stuttgart, 235-248. Sommer, Michael, 2010, 'Homo Mercator. Handelsvölker und interkulturelle Netzwerke zwischen Orient und Okzident', in: Robert Rollinger et al. (Hg.), Interkulturalität in der Alten Welt. Vorderasien, Hellas, Ägypten und die vielfältigen Ebenen des Kontakts, Wiesbaden, 1-12. Sommer, Michael, 2010, ''Kontaktzone' und 'Rezeptivität' unter imperialem Vorzeichen - das Beispiel Rom. Eine Fußnote zur 'komplexen Welt der Kulturkontakte'', in: Robert Rollinger/Kordula Schnegg (Hg.), Die komplexe Welt der Kulturkontakte. Kontaktzone und Rezeptivität im Altertum, Stuttgart Ulf, Christoph, 2009, 'Rethinking cultural contacts', Ancient West & East 8, 81-132.
Globalisation and the Roman World
2014
World history, connectivity and material culture This book explores a new perspective for understanding the Roman world, using connectivity as a major point of departure. Globalisation is apparent in increased flows of objects, people and ideas, and in the creation of translocal consciousness in everyday life. Based on these criteria, there is a case for globalisation in the ancient Roman world. Essential for anyone interested in Romanisation, this volume provides the first sustained critical exploration of globalisation theories in Roman archaeology and history. It is written by an international group of scholars who address a broad range of subjects, including Roman imperialism, economics, consumption, urbanism, migration, visual culture and heritage. The contributors explore the implications of understanding material culture in an interconnected Roman world, highlighting several novel directions for future research.
The case for a Globalised Ancient World
With the modern world becoming ever more interconnect, it is becoming increasingly clear that this is not the first time that this has happened. Therefore a new look at the Ancient world through the lense of Globalisation should allow us to better understand both the Ancient worlds nad our modern world.
Globalization and the Roman empire: the genealogy of ‘Empire’
Semata Ciencias Sociais E Humanidades, 2012
La presencia de conceptos e ideas contemporáneas en los estudios sobre la Roma antigua es inevitable. No son excepción los análisis que, desde 1990, ponen en tela de juicio el mismo concepto de romanización. Por ese motivo, el término "globalización" aplicado a la Roma antigua puede ser útil porque hace el anacronismo más evidente y nos obliga a tenerlo en cuenta.
Globalization and the Roman empire
La presencia de conceptos e ideas contemporáneas en los estudios sobre la Roma antigua es inevitable. No son excepción los análisis que, desde 1990, ponen en tela de juicio el mismo concepto de romanización. Por ese motivo, el término "globalización" aplicado a la Roma antigua puede ser útil porque hace el anacronismo más evidente y nos obliga a tenerlo en cuenta. Palabras clave: Imperialismo, genealogía, Hardt-Negri, romanización.
M. Blömer - S. Riedel - M. J. Versluys - E. Winter (eds.), Common Dwelling Place of all the Gods. Commagene in its Local, Regional and Global Hellenistic Context (Oriens et Occidens 34; Stuttgart), 577-585, 2021
The monument of the Commagenian king Antiochos I (70-36 BCE) on Nemrud Dağ has attracted researchers' interest since its discovery in the late 19 th century, and every generation has looked at it with fascination and through the interpretative lens of its own time 1 The interpretations have encompassed approaches drawn from orientalism and syncretism, as well as labels such as degeneration, eclecticism or megalomania Given that the era of globalization is well underway, it seems both timely and apposite to apply the concept of globalization to the monument and the region in which it is embedded, which is precisely the aim of this volume Globalization Globalization in the sense of a well-connected world that is far larger than the local horizon has been a topic of classical studies for some time 2 Mediterranean Studies in particular, since the monumental work The Corrupting Sea by Peregrine Horden and Nicholas Purcell (2000), have placed the concept of connectivity at the core of understanding multi-scalar exchange processes in the ancient world 3 Clearly, such a new interpretative model of the Mediterranean has to be seen against the background of the ongoing globalization debate and accelerated connectivity and exchange following the end of the Cold War 4 Connectivity as it relates to the Mediterranean means that a global ancient world enabled choice from a variety of objects, ideas and traditions and their integration into local lifestyles and worlds The intermingling of the