Local Knowledge and Microidentities in the Imperial Greek World

This exciting 2010 collection of essays offers a reappraisal of current ideas about Greek identity under the Roman empire. Drawing on extensive discussions of sources and modern theories of the tension between global and local identities, the authors argue that regional identities were both produced and challenged by Roman imperialism.

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This 2010 volume explores the proposition that the absorption of the Greek world into the Roman empire created a new emphasis upon local identities, much as globalisation in the modern world has done. Localism became the focal point for complex debates: in some cases, it was complementary with imperial objectives, but in others tension can be discerned. The volume as a whole seeks to add texture and nuance to the existing literature on Greek identity, which has tended in recent years to emphasise the umbrella category of the Greek, to the detriment of specific polis and regional identities. It also contributes to the growing literature on the Romanisation of provinces, by emphasising the dialogue between a region's self-identification as a distinct space and its self-awareness as a component of the centrally-governed empire.