Sicily and the Hellenistic Mediterranean World
Sicily and the Hellenistic Mediterranean World
$130.00
USDIn Sicily and the Hellenistic Mediterranean World, D. Alex Walthall investigates the royal administration of Hieron II (r. 269-215 BCE), the Syracusan monarch who leveraged Sicily's agricultural resources to build a flourishing kingdom that, at one time, played an outsized role in the political and cultural affairs of the Western Mediterranean. Walthall's study combines an historical overview with the rich archaeological evidence that traditionally has not been considered in studies of Hellenistic kingdoms. Exploring the Hieronian system of agricultural taxation, he recasts the traditional narrative of the island's role as a Roman imperial 'grain basket' via analysis of monumental granaries, patterns of rural land-use, standardized grain measures, and the circulation of bronze coinage— the material elements of an agricultural administration that have emerged from recent excavations and intensive landscape survey on the island. Combining material and documentary evidence, Walthall's multi-disciplinary approach offers a new model for the writing of economic and social history of ancient societies.
- Takes a multi-disciplinary approach, combining material and documentary evidence to write economic and social history
- Provides readers both a broad historical overview of the reign of Hieron II as well as detailed discussion of material evidence not traditionally considered in treatments of Hellenistic kingdoms
- Introduces innovative approaches to the study of Hellenistic monarchy, offering readers novel approaches to studying Hellenistic kingdoms outside of Sicily
Product details
May 2024Hardback
9781316511053
414 pages
260 × 186 × 24 mm
1.05kg
Available
Table of Contents
- I. Fashioning a Kingdom
- 1. From general to king
- 2. Fashioning kingship
- 3. Cities in the kingdom
- II. Measuring a Kingdom
- 4. Seeing the Hieronian state
- 5. Standards and the state
- 6. Monumental granaries
- 7. The Hieronian mint
- 8. Institutions and markets in Hieronian Sicily
- Conclusion.
