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

Introduction xv

chapter11:‘‘Emperors,Kings,andSubjects:ThePoliticsofTwo-LevelSov-
ereignty’’(1996).
Thesecondpartofthisvolumeopenswithanessayonthesurvivaloflocal
cultures under Roman aegis in a single province (chapter 12). At the time
ofitsfirstpublication‘‘LocalCulturesintheRomanEmpire:Libyan,Punic,
andLatininRomanAfrica’’(1968)wasapioneerstudyinthetruesenseof
theword.Millar’swarningattheopeningthattheresultsandconclusions
reachedinsuchstudies‘‘maybefalsifiedbynewevidence’’shouldnotblind
ustotheenduringvalueofthemethodsemployedandthequestionsasked
hereforthefirsttimeindealingwiththeintricateandcomplexissueof‘‘sur-
vival.’’ This is the first expression in print of what became one of Millar’s
mainpreoccupations,exploredinmanyofthearticlestobeincludedinvol-
ume3ofRome, the Greek World, and the East:The Greek World, the Jews, and
the EastandinThe Roman Near East, 31b.c.–a.d. 337.^8
Survival is also the subject of chapter 13, ‘‘P. Herennius Dexippus: The
GreekWorldandtheThird-CenturyInvasions’’(1969),whichtakesitscue
fromtheresistanceputupbytheAtheniansheadedbythehistorianDexip-
pusinthefaceoftheHerulianinvasionandsackofAthensin267/8a.d.This
is Fergus Millarat his best,with complete masteryof the ancient sources,
thedocumentaryevidence,andtheprosopographicaldata—alessonindeed
inhowtouseprosopographyprofitably.Thereisenoughmaterialherefor
thewritingofanew‘‘WarandPeace’’aimingtoexplain,inthewordsofthe
lastparagraph,why‘‘theByzantineworldsurvivedagainstrepeatedattackin
awaythattheLatinworlddidnot;andthataprofoundattachmenttothe
classical Greek past remained fundamental to Byzantine culture....what
wefindinthethirdcenturyisnotmerelythatfullerliteraryevidencehap-
penstorevealmoreaboutpopularresistanceintheGreekEast;butrather
thattheGreeksocietyoftheEmpiregainedself-confidenceandcoherence
preciselyfromitsvigorousliteraryandintellectualtradition,anditsintimate
connectionwithaheroicpast.’’
The role of the imperial cult in the various phases of the persecution
of the Christians is an occasion to explore and nuance the nature of the
cult itself in chapter 14 (‘‘The Imperial Cult and the Persecutions,’’ 1973).
Theracystyleofchapter15,‘‘TheWorldoftheGolden Ass’’(1981),turning
Apuleius’ fiction into a treasure trove for the depiction of real life in the
Roman provincial countryside, gives way to the slowly mounting tension
between imperial government and the self-governing cities of the empire

8. CarlNewellJacksonLectures,Harvard,1987.HarvardUniversityPress,1993;paper-
   back1995.