Graecia Capta: The Landscapes of Roman Greece

"Greece, the captive, took her savage victor captive..." wrote the Roman poet Horace, and the assumption that Greece ultimately conquered Rome through its superior culture has tended to dictate past studies of Roman Greece. This book adopts a different approach, examining the impact of the Roman conquest from the point of view of the majority of Greek provincials. The author traces social and economic developments from approximately 200 BC to AD 200, drawing on a combination of archaeological and historical sources. Archaeological evidence, in particular the new data provided by archaeological surface survey, is especially emphasized. One result of this emphasis is the division of the work into four separate "landscapes" - rural, civic, provincial, and sacred - each of which complements the others. This framework allows an exploration of conditions in the countryside, of the organization of the Early Roman city, of the provincial structure of Greece (the province of Achaia) as a whole, and of the repercussions of conquest upon Greek sacred geography. The book does not present a detailed political history, but attempts instead to question our usual preconceptions about the relationship of Greece and Rome by offering some insight into the many changes that accompanied Greece's passage into the Roman imperial sphere. Both ancient historians and classical archaeologists will find this book of value to them.