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A Companion to the Hellenistic and Roman Near East

Ted Kaizer (Edited by), Kaizer (Author)

9781119528531, Wiley

Paperback / softback, published 4 January 2026

576 pages
27 x 18 x 3.5 cm, 1.143 kg

Discover a comprehensive and cross-disciplinary handbook exploring several sub-regions and key themes perfect for a new generation of students  

A Companion to the Hellenistic and Roman Near East delivers the first complete handbook in the area of Hellenistic and Roman Near Eastern history. The book is divided into sections dealing with interdisciplinary source material, each with a great deal of regional variety and engaging with several key themes. It integrates discussions of the classical Near East with the typical undergraduate teaching syllabus in the Anglo-Saxon world. 

All contributors in this edited volume are leading scholars in their field, with a combination of established researchers and academics, and emerging voices. Contributors  hail from countries across several continents, and work in various disciplines, including Ancient History, Archaeology, Art History, Epigraphy, Numismatics, and Oriental Studies.  

In addition to furthering the integration of the Levantine lands in the classical periods into the teaching canon, the book offers readers:  

  • The first comprehensively structured Companion and edited handbook on the Hellenistic and Roman Near East 
  • Extensive regional and sub-regional variety in the cross-disciplinary source material 
  • A way to compensate for the recent destruction of monuments in the region and the new generation of researchers’ inability to examine these historical stages in person 
  • An integration of the study of the Hellenistic and Roman Near East with traditional undergraduate teaching syllabi in the Anglo-Saxon world 

Perfect for undergraduate history and classics students studying the Near East, A Companion to the Hellenistic and Roman Near East will also earn a place in the libraries of graduate students and scholars working within Near Eastern studies, as well as interested members of the public with a passion for history. 

Preface xii

List of Figures xiii

List of Maps xxi

Contributor Biographies xxii

Abbreviations xxviii

Maps xxx

1 Introduction 1
Ted Kaizer

2 Historical Narrative 9
Maurice Sartre

Part I Sources 19

3 Geographical Sources and Documents 21
Gillian Ramsey

4 Berossos between Greek and Babylonian Culture 34
Johannes H. Haubold

5 Lucian, Philo of Byblos, and Ps.-Meliton 44
J.L. Lightfoot

6 Jewish Sources 54
C.T. Robert Hayward Copyrighted Material

7 Josephus 66
Jan Willem van Henten

8 Syriac Sources 76
Alberto Rigolio

9 Greek and Latin Inscriptions 86
Pierre-Louis Gatier

10 Ancient North Arabian 99
Ahmad al-Jallad

11 Parchments and Papyri 105
Kimberley Czajkowski

12 Statues, Reliefs, and Paintings: Hellenism versus Local Culture 114
Lucinda Dirven

13 Archaeology and Architecture 126
Rubina Raja

14 Numismatics 135
Kevin Butcher

15 Air-Photography 154
David L. Kennedy

16 Mosaics 177
Janine Balty

Part II Regions, Places, and Peoples 189

17 The Tetrapolis and Other City Foundations 191
Apostolos Bousdroukis

18 The Decapolis 213
Achim Lichtenberger

19 Commagene 223
Margherita Facella

20 Hellenistic and Roman Phoenicia 240
Michael Sommer

21 Lebanon 249
Julien Aliquot

22 Judaea, the Palestinian Coast, the Galilee, Idumaea, and Samaria 259
Yaron Z. Eliav

23 The Nabataeans 272
David F. Graf

24 Palmyra 284
Jean-Baptiste Yon

25 Dura-Europos 295
J.A. Baird

26 The Middle Euphrates 305
P.M. Edwell

27 The Parthian and Sasanian Near East (including Hatra, Edessa, and the Characene) 316
Tommaso Gnoli

28 The Desert and its Peoples 327
M.C.A. Macdonald

Part III Themes 335

29 The Roman Armies in the Near East 337
Oliver Stoll

30 Roads and Harbors 350
Benjamin Isaac

31 Kingdoms and Principalities 365
Andreas J.M. Kropp

32 Trade 378
Michał Gawlikowski

33 Local and Regional Economies 389
Kai Ruffing

34 The Arabs 397
M.C.A. Macdonald

35 Indigenous Law 402
John F. Healey

36 Funerary Traditions 412
Lidewijde de Jong

37 Religious Life 423
Alison C. Ewins and Eris B. Williams Reed

38 Early Christianity in the Near East 435
L. Van Rompay

Bibliography 445

Index 518

Subject Areas: History [HB]
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