The Mediterranean and the Roman Revolution ofthechoicesmadebytheselocalcommunities;ontheother,wehaveto
rememberthatRomewasnottheonlyimperialistpower,andthatRoman
controlwasfluctuatingandincompletethroughoutmostofthecentury.
Forabriefmomentin–..,indeed,attheheightof Mithridates’
westward expansion, Rome controlled nothing east of the Adriatic except
parts of Greece and Macedonia.To understand the impact of states on the
Mediterranean economy in this period we do therefore have to take into
accountthefactthatmorethanonestatewasinvolved.Mithridateswas,of
course,byfarthegreatestchallenge—Ciceromaynothavebeenwhollymis-
leadingwhenhesaidin..thatwiththethreatofanotherinvasionofthe
provinceof‘‘Asia’’grazinghadbeenabandoned,thefieldshadremainedun-
sown,andthevolumeofshippinghaddeclined,andthatcredithadcollapsed
inRomeduringtheinvasionsof..^40
ThecommunitiesoftheMediterranean,especiallythecitiesoftheGreek
East,haddiplomaticrelationswithavarietyofkingsaswellaswithRome.
Aphrodisias,forinstance,maintainedcontactswithNicomedesofBithynia,^41
asAthensdidwithAriobarzanesofCappadocia,whorebuilttheOdeum,^42
orRhodeswithHiempsalofNumidia.^43 Inthenorth,BosporusintheCri-
meahadlookedtoMithridatesinhisearlyyearsforprotectionagainstthe
Scythians;^44 andafamousinscriptionfromDionysopolisonthewestcoast
oftheBlackSeashowshowoneofitscitizens,namedAkornion,wentonan
embassytoBurebista,‘‘thefirstandgreatestofthekingsinThrace’’(i.e.,the
kingoftheDacians,whowerebasedinpresent-dayRumania)andsecured
hisfriendshipforthecity.Whenthekingtookhimasaconfidantandsent
himasanambassadortoPompey,encampedatHeracleaLyncestisinnorthern
Greecein–..,Akorniontooktheopportunitytosecuretheinterests
notonlyofthekingbutalsoofhisowncity.^45 Theywerenottoknowthat
PompeywouldsoonbemurderedonthesandsofEgypt.
Or,again,therewastheempirebrieflycreatedbyKingTigranesofArme-
nia in Cilicia, Syria, and Phoenicia, in probably –..; the expansion
Athens, note also E. Badian, ‘‘Rome, Athens and Mithridates,’’AJAH (): –;
C.Habicht,‘‘ZurGeschichteAthensinderZeitMithridatesVI,’’Chiron():–.
. Cicero,Leg.Man.–,and.
. Reynolds(n.),doc.,aletterof(probably)NicomedesIVofBithyniatothecity.
. Vitruvius,,;OGIS.
. V.N.Kontorini,‘‘LeroiHiempsalIIdeNumidieetRhodes,’’AC():–.
. See Z.W. Rubinsohn, ‘‘Saumakos: Ancient History, Modern Politics,’’Historia
():–.
.Syll.^3 ;IGBulg..