On the Edge of Empires

Rocco Palermo is a Researcher at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands. He has carried out fieldwork in Italy, Syria, and Jordan, and he is currently involved in two different projects in Northern Iraq with the University of Udine, Italy, and Harvard University, USA. He is currently working on a book on the landscape and settlements of Hellenistic period Mesopotamia.

• List of figures; Preface; Acknowledgements; Ancient Sources; Major Abbreviations; Chapter 1Rome shifts Eastwards: Empires, Hegemony, and Frontiers; Chapter 2 From the Anatolian Plateau to the Steppe: Geography and Climate of North Mesopotamia; Chapter 3 From Trajan to Jovian: Conquest, Organisation and Loss of a Borderland; Chapter 4 Empires and the Cities: Urban Areas and Rural Landscapes; Chapter 5 Minor Settlements, Forts, and Camps: Exploring the Roman Frontier in the Syrian-Iraqi Steppe; Chapter 6 Imperial Impact on a Small Scale: The Site of Tell Barri between the 2nd and 4th c. CE; Chapter 7 Landscape(s) and the Empires: Survey Data for Roman Period Mesopotamia; Chapter 8 Mobility, Strategy, and the Empires: The Peutinger Map and the Route System in North Mesopotamia; Chapter 9 Across the Edges: Arabs and Nomads in Roman Period Mesopotamia; Chapter 10 Rome and the Steppe: Conclusions; Bibliography; Index

"Palermo offers a clear and useful narrative of the material history of the region, as well as a guide to productive venues for future work... [T]he material he has gathered provides, for the first time, clarity about what remains to be done in order to develop our understanding of North Mesopotamia. His interpretation of the archaeological material is measured and careful, and he does not shy away from ambiguity. Rather, he presents the Roman presence in the region, especially, as an influence that waxed and waned depending on historical circumstances—one among many in a region that was buffeted between imperial powers, preserving and adapting its identity over time." - Studies in Late Antiquity