Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T01:33:43.203Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

M. Jehne and F. Pina Polo, Foreign Clientelae in the Roman Empire. A Reconsideration (Historia Einzelschriften 238), Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2015, 374 pp., ISBN 978-3-515-11061-7 (Maciej Piegdoń)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2017

Edward Dąbrowa
Affiliation:
Jagiellonian University in Kraków
Get access

Summary

In 2015, Franz Steiner Verlag published a collection of papers presented during the international conference entitled “Provincial Clientelae in the Roman Empire: A Reconsideration,” which took place at the University of Zaragoza on 14–15 March 2013. The title of the book refers to Ernst Badian's classic work, Foreign Clientelae (264‒70 B.C.), published by Clarendon Press Oxford in 1958.

Published almost six decades ago, Badian's book became an important voice in the discussion on the relationships between the Republic and the states which came into its sphere of infl uence, but most importantly between Rome with its elites and the inhabitants of provinces. Badian's (1925–2011) doctoral dissertation was an attempt to look at the Roman hegemony in the context not only of the Republic's activities as a state and its institutions, but also of the policy of making subordinate areas dependent through personal relations between members of the Roman aristocracy and local elites. In his dissertation, written under the supervision of Sir Ronald Syme, Badian chose the institution of the Roman clientelae as the foundation for his studies. He considered it the basis of all relationships between Rome and its representatives and the organisms subject to the Republic, which became an instrument of control over the conquered. Such an approach was informed not only by the experiences of Syme; Badian also used the works of historians such as Theodor Mommsen, Fustel de Coulanges, Matthias Gelzer, and Anton von Premerstein.2 The author was aware that the term clientelae was not the only one to describe close relationships between individuals and political bodies in the Roman legal terminology (there was also amicitia, hospitium, etc.),3 but in his interpretations he as- sumed its superior role. This approach drew criticism, voiced by many historians almost immediately after the publication of Foreign Clientelae.4 The criticism has continued until the present day, which is refl ected in the texts included in the reviewed volume. It should be added that Badian's book was not the only work of this kind. Almost at the same time, the French historian Louis Harmand published Le patronat sur les collectivités publiques des origines au Bas-Empire. Un aspect social et politique du monde romain (Paris 1957).

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Jagiellonian University Press
Print publication year: 2017

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×