Hostages and Hostage-Taking in the Roman Empire

This book examines hostage-taking in ancient Rome, which was a standard practice of international diplomacy.

Joel Allen (Author)

9780521861830, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 May 2006

316 pages
23.6 x 15.9 x 2.6 cm, 0.64 kg

'Allen earns credit for focusing on hostages, an issue often neglected in the study of Roman history. Allen's approach by relational category is an illuminating one. He succeeds in throwing interesting light on the mindset of the Roman elite culture and its ways of negotiating and producing its power. The proofreading and copy-editing of the book is of consistently high quality.' De novis libris iudicia

This book examines hostage-taking in ancient Rome, which was a standard practice of international diplomacy. Hundreds of foreign hostages, typically adolescents, were detained as the empire grew in the Republic and early Principate. As prominent figures at the center of diplomacy and as 'exotic' representatives of the outside world, they drew considerable attention in Roman literature and other artistic media. Our sources discuss hostages in terms of the geopolitics that motivated their detention, as well as in accordance with other comparable structures of power. Hostages, thus, could be located in a social hierarchy, a family network, in a cultural continuum, or in a sexual role. In these schemes, an individual Roman, or Rome in general, becomes not just a conqueror, but also a patron, father, teacher, or generically male. By focusing on the characterizations of hostages in Roman culture, we glean Roman attitudes toward ethnicity and imperial power.

1. Introduction
2. Creditor-collateral
3. Host-guest
4. Conqueror-trophy
5. Father-son
6. Teacher-student
7. Masculine-feminine
8. Polybious as a hostage
9. Tacitus on hostage-taking and heroism.

Subject Areas: History [HB]