Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1 - The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution

 The Roman Republic

ofPharnaces’kingdominAsiaMinorfromhisterritoryonthecoastofthe
BlackSeain–..;ortheParthianinvasionofSyriaandAsiaMinorin
..ThecityofMylasainCariaresistedthisinvasionandfounditspeople
slaughteredorenslaved,itscityburntalongwithitstemples,landsravaged
andfarmsteadsburntdown.^46 AyearortwoafterthewarthecityofAphro-
disiaswasseekingtherestorationofslaveswhohadfledthecityatthattime,
aswellasfreemenagainstwhominformationhadbeenlaidandwhowere
dueforpunishment.Norcouldanyonehavetoldhowlong-lastingmightbe
theeffectsoftherestorationbyAntoniusinthes..ofmuchoftheem-
pirewhichthePtolemieshadruledfromAlexandriainthethirdcentury—
Phoenicia,CoeleSyria,Cilicia,Cyprus,partofCrete,Cyrene.^47
ThisbriefselectionofthepossiblepoliticalalternativeswhichfacedMedi-
terraneancommunitiesmayservetoemphasisethreepoints;firstly,thatthey
were very likely to face violent domination and exaction of tribute from
some direction, and often from more than one in successive periods; sec-
ondly,thatfreedomitself,ifgained—orifitarrivedastheresultofapower-
vacuum—mightbeexpensiveanddangerous;and,thirdly,thatexploitation
andexactionbyRome,howevergiganticitsscale(whichnobodywilldeny),
wasnotnecessarilyaworsesituationfromthepointofviewofanindividual
community.Distancemightlendadegreeofenchantment,anditisclearly
attestedthatthepeopleofCaunusinCaria,whenputunderthejurisdiction
ofRhodesbySulla,perhapsin..,sentanembassytotheSenatetoargue
that they should pay taxation to Rome instead. Even clearer is the case of
theGreekcitiesintheareaaroundJudaea,forwhichthecomingofRoman
ruleinthes..meant liberation and restoration after theiroppression
bytheHasmoneankingdom.^48 Or,attheotherendoftheMediterranean,
there is the case of Zama,whose people refused entry to their king Juba I
onhisretreatfromthedefeatatThapsusin..;theywererewardedby
Caesar,butwereorderedtogoonpayingtoRomethetributesandindirect
taxeswhichtheyhadpaidtotheking,andbecamepartoftheprovinceof
Africa.^49 Theyat least seem to have been noworse off.The people of the
smalltownofParadainAfrica,however,madeexactlythesamededuction
fromthenewsofCaesar’svictory,withfatalresults:Scipio’scavalry,inflight

. Strabo,Geography,,();R.K.Sherk,Roman Documents from the Greek East
(),no..
. ForthecontroversialandobscuredetailsofAntonius’‘‘donations,’’seeE.Schürer,
The History of the Jewish People,ed.G.VermesandF.Millar,I(),n..
. For Caunus, see Cicero,QF, , ; Strabo,Geography,,();forJudaea,
Schürer(n.).
. [Caesar],B. Afr.–and.