Review of Isaac, Empire and Ideology in the Graeco-Roman World

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Benjamin Henri Isaac, Empire and Ideology in the Graeco-Roman World: Selected Papers. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2017. Pp. ix, 372. ISBN 9781107135895. £90.00​. Reviewed by Conor Whately, University of Winnipeg (c.whately@uwinnipeg.ca).

Over the past few decades, one of the most perceptive scholars of Rome and its empire has been Benjamin Isaac, who has waded into contentious debates like Roman racism and the multi-cultural character of the Roman world, and the degree to which the Romans engaged in strategic thinking. The seventeen chapters of this book, like Isaac’s previous publications, focus on Roman military affairs, ancient prejudice and racism, and the Roman Near East.1 The dominant, underlying theme of the essays is the problem of anachronism both in terms of evidence and scholarship, and most readers should find something of value in this rich collection.

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Many of the essays involve ancient Judaism.

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