Roman Arabia

by Glen W. Bowersock

The Roman province of Arabia occupied a crucial corner of the Mediterranean world, encompassing most of what is now Jordan, southern Syria, northwest Saudi Arabia, and the Negev. Mr. Bowersock's book is the first authoritative history of the region from the fourth century B.C. to the age of Constantine. The book opens with the arrival of the Nahataean Arabs in their magnificent capital at Petra and describes the growth of their hellenized culture based on trade in perfume and spices. It traces the transformation of the region from an Arab kingdom under Roman influence into an imperial province, one that played an increasingly important role in the Roman strategy for control of the Near East. While the primary emphasis is on the relations of the Arabs of the region with the Romans, their interactions with neighboring states, Jewish, Egyptian, and Syrian, are also stressed. The narrative concludes with the breakup of the Roman province at the start of the Byzantine age.

Genres: History, Middle East, Ancient History

242 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 1983

About the author

Glen Warren Bowersock is a contemporary American scholar of the ancient world. He is the author of over a dozen books and has published over 300 articles on Greek, Roman, and Near Eastern history and culture as well as the classical tradition.

Reviews

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been reading some obscure Roman History books but this is truly the most obscurest of the obscure. Arabia was a provincial region of Rome that really is only mentioned in anecdotes by Ancient Roman sources. And yet, there is certainly enough material on the topic for a short book like this and some of it is really interesting. The hard work of Pompey, Trajan, Hadrian, and Septimius Severus indicate how important a seemingly backwater (if you can use that term to describe a desert region!) part of the Roman Empire was surprisingly advanced and important to Rome's overall fortunes.

It is also inspiring to know that many of the places discussed in the book can be visited still too. I collect Roman coins when I have the money and often read Roman History books to be inspired to collect new coins or admire rulers in a new light. This book absolutely accomplished that goal for me and I definitely recommend it to any numismatists out there because there can't be many books about Arabia.

My only criticism of Roman Arabia is that it does lose the flow and focus on interesting ideas quite often. The author is very much interested in engaging in scholarly debates and it feels like the narrative (and interesting parts of the book) get sidetracked by that desire too often for my liking. The last chapter or two of the book is especially bad in this regard. While this book is old and not easy to find, it is worth hunting down and I consider myself lucky for finding it at Half-Price Books for a fair price.

[Michael Bennett · Rating 2 out of 5]

A friend of mine saw me reading this. I said, "you know, it's actually really boring." And he said, "well, obviously."

Look, I love Roman history. And this is a deep dive on a topic that doesn't get much attention. But it's really more of a reference book than a narrative. Worse, one doesn't even get a sense of what it was like to live in Roman Arabia. The book focuses endlessly on inscriptions and other non-literary evidence. And it seems that's all we have. Still, does not make for an informative read.

[Katharine Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short clear summary of what little we know about the history of Roman Arabia, this book provides a good beginning read on the subject. Bowersock went on to become one of the Western experts in the field of late antiquity in the Middle East.

[Ian Janssen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty dated by now (2019), but still worth reading, just not on it’s own. For personal reasons, it always will have a special place in my heart, which probably seems strange for an academic text, but such is life ...