Overview

Volume I offers a broad perspective on urban culture in the ancient European world. It begins with chronological overviews which paint in broad brushstrokes a picture that serves as a frame for the thematic chapters in the rest of the volume. Positioning ancient Europe within its wider context, it touches on Asia and Africa as regions that informed and were later influenced by urban development in Europe, with particular emphasis on the Mediterranean basin. Topics range from formal characteristics (including public space), water provision, waste disposal, urban maintenance, spaces for the dead, and border spaces; to ways of thinking about, visualising, and remembering cities in antiquity; to conflict within and between cities, economics, mobility and globalisation, intersectional urban experiences, slavery, political participation, and religion.

Full Product Details

Author:   Maarten Prak (Universiteit Utrecht, The Netherlands) ,  Penelope J. E. Davies (University of Texas, Austin) ,  Christina G. Williamson (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, The Netherlands)
Publisher:   Cambridge University Press
Imprint:   Cambridge University Press
Weight:   0.500kg
ISBN:  

9781108834513

ISBN 10:   1108834515
Pages:   796
Publication Date:   20 November 2025
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

List of figures; List of maps; List of tables; List of contributors to volume I; Acknowledgements; Editor's introduction to the series; Part I. Approaching the Ancient City: 1. The biography of the ancient city, historiographies and intellectual traditions Penelope J. E. Davies and Christina G. Williamson; 2. The rise of urbanisation and its impact on Europe Ian Morris; Part II. The Rise and Expansion of Cities: 3. The first cities of Europe: Minoan and Mycenean Urbanism Todd Whitelaw; 4. Iron age Europe Francesca Fulminante, Katharine Rebay-Salisbury and Roderick Salisbury; 5. The advent of the Greek-city state, and colonization in the mediterranean Lieve Donnellan; 6. Urban expansion after Alexander the great Martin Zimmermann and Alexander Free; 7. (Proto)urban Italy Francesca Fulminante; 8. The spread of urbanism in Italy in the age of Roman expansion Nicolà Terrenato; 9. An Urban empire under Rome Andrew Dufton; 10. Urban expansion beyond empire Caroline Goodson; Part III. Conceptualising the City: 11. Greco-Roman Urban imaginaries: the civic deal, ideal(ized) cities, and the civic template Arjan Zuiderhoek; 12. Urban images Diane Favro; 13. The past in the present: monuments, myths, and memory in the ancient city Sarah Rous; 14. Lost cities as an integral part of ancient urbanization Martin Zimmermann; Part IV. Designing the City: 15. Zoning the city Christopher P. Dickenson and Penelope Goodman; 16. Building city walls Seth Barnard; 17. Water and the city Rabun Taylor; 18. Waste management and the sustainable city Allison Emmerson; Part V. Governing the City: 19. Politics and participation in the democratic cities of classical Greece Eric Wild Robinson; 20. Politics and participation: cities and empires Arjan Zuiderhoek; 21. War and the ancient city Charlotte van Regenmortel and Jeremy Armstrong; 22. Revolts and uprisings Greg Woolf; Part VI. Urban Economies: 23. The economic foundations of Greco-Roman urbanism Miko Flohr; 24. Institutions and urban maintenance Zosia Archibald; 25. Globalisation networks: the role of Urban nodes and ties Rubina Raja; Part VII. Urban Societies: 26. Mobility and migration in the city Claire Holleran; 27. Slavery and the ancient city Jason Porter; 28. Intersectional perspectives on the city Julietta Steinhauer; 29. The festive city Asuman Lätzer-Lasar and Richard Lin; 30. Religious change and the use of religion in Greek and Roman cities Jörg Rüpke; Part VIII. The City and its Vital Hinterland: 31. Urban and rural landscape Yannis Lolos; 32. Urban green: the gardens and designed urban landscapes of the classical World Annette Giesecke; 33. Borderscapes Saskia Stevens; 34. The cities of the dead Tamara M. Dijkstra and Dorian Borbonus; Index.

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Author Information

Penelope J. E. Davies is Professor of Art History at the University of Texas at Austin, and Hedda Andersson Professor at Lund University, where she holds an honorary doctorate. Her research focuses on state architecture in ancient Rome. She is the author of Death and the Emperor (2000) and Architecture and Politics in Republican Rome (2017). Christina G. Williamson is Associate Professor of Ancient History at the University of Groningen. Her work focuses on sanctuaries and urbanization in the Hellenistic world. She is the author of Urban Rituals in Sacred Landscapes in Hellenistic Asia Minor (2021), editor of Sacred Landscapes, Connecting Routes. Religious Topographies in the Graeco-Roman World (2024) and editor-in-chief of Pharos. Journal of the Netherlands Institute at Athens.

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