Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 2 - Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire

Introduction

Thosewhostudyandteachthehistoryoftheancientworldsufferfrom

agreatdisadvantage,whichwefinddifficulttoadmiteventoourselves:

inaperfectlyliteralsensewedonotknowwhatwearetalkingabout.

Ofcourse,wecandisposeofavastrangeofaccumulatedknowledge

aboutwhatwearetalkingabout.Wecancompilelistsofoffice-holders

in the Roman Empire,without ourevidence revealing how govern-

mentworkedorevenwhetheritmadeanyimpactatallontheordinary

person; we can discuss the statuses of cities and look at the archaeo-

logicalremainsofsomeofthem(orrathersomepartsofsomeofthem)

withouthavinganynotionoftheirsocialandeconomicfunctions,or

of whether it made any real differencewhetheran inhabitant of the

Romanprovinceslivedinasmallcityoralargevillage.Wecanstudy

the remains of temples, the iconography of gods and goddesses, the

natureofmyth,ritualandsacrifice;buthowandinwhatwaydidallthis

provideanimportantorintelligiblecontextforapeasantinthefields?

Inthecaseofreligioninparticularourattentionturnspersistentlyto

theexceptionalratherthantheordinary,tothoseaspectswhichwere

novel,imported,mystical,orthesubjectofphilosophicalspeculation.

—FergusMillar,‘‘TheWorldoftheGolden Ass’’

Sobeginsoneofthearticlesinthisvolume,settingoutthepreoccupationof
alifetime—Howdiditreallywork?Whatdiditfeelliketobeaninhabitant
ofaRomanprovince?—andatthesametimerevealingFergusMillar’skeen
awarenessofthelimitsofourknowledgeandperception.Thisdeclaration
ofignoranceandaporiashouldnotdeceiveus,norgiveusanycomfort;itis
basedonenormousfamiliaritywiththeancientsourcesandthevastmodern
commentaryonthem.Eachandeveryarticleinthepresentcollectionisa
variationonthethemeof‘‘howdiditworkandwhatdiditfeellike?’’—the
stubbornandrelentlessstruggletofindoutthetruth,nottofallintofamiliar

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