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4.0 out of 5 stars
Revolting Overthrow, January 18, 2012
Explicit purpose of the book is to present the Roman Near East from the eastern perspective. Implicit aim is to revoltingly overthrow any Hellenistic-Roman cultural influence in the region, and place on the throne the Partho-Persian element as the decisive cultural (mainly architectural) force which shaped the Near East also within the 7 Hellenistic-Roman centuries.
The author, Mr Warwick Ball (former Director of Excavations at the British School of Archaeology in Iraq), is evidently learned, with extensive knowledge of primary sources and of architectural remains in the Near East. The book is very well-researched and with extraordinary breadth, with many (mainly architectural) B/W photos and drawings.
The author revolts against the self-contented Graeco-Roman cultural dominance in the Roman Near East, and establishes from the 1st introductory Chapter (7 pp) the cutting book's character.
Chapter 2 (21 pp text), composed in equally high octaves, wants to offer a general historical frame, but so much lacks coherency, mainly due to the author's distorting inclination, that seems almost detached from the chapters to follow, and rather confuses than prepares. This Chapter stands out as the first (of the two) main weaknesses of the book. A brief and neutral Intro of ca 10-12 pp would be much more helpful.
Chapter 3 (75 pp, with 55 pp text) is a short but very concise and mature history of the seven Near Eastern protectorate kingdoms (Emesa, Judaea, Nabataea, Palmyra, Edessa, Tanukh, Ghassan), where the competence of the author reveals their key backgrounds. This Chapter is so enlightening, that, with some additions, could stand even as separate book on this scarce subject.
Ch 4 describes the Roman-Persian encounters.
In Chapters 5 and 6 Architecture takes over again, the ground being prepared for the final turnover in Chapter 7.
First (Ch 5) the CITIES of the Roman Near East are described: the Macedonian Tetrapolis in the North (Antiocheia and its harbour Seleuceia, Apameia and its harbour Laodiceia), the Euphrates and Mesopotamia (Rasafa, Dura Europos), the Phoenician Coast (Byblos, Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, Caesareia), the Decapolis (Damascus, Jerash, Amman), and the Roman Arabia (Bosra, Shahba). The competent descriptions all end with the common refrain, repeated throughout the book, that the 7 Hellenistic-Roman centuries left behind nothing but a «surface layer» on the permanent face of the Near East: «What are seven centuries compared with the seven millennia of eastern [mostly Persian] presence in the Near East?».
Then (Ch 6) the COUNTRYSIDE is described: the Dead Cities in the North, then Negev, Jordan, and Hauran. All well presented, and commented in the author's raw revolting style. The only confusing element here is the head-to-tail presentation of the Dead Cities, where the concise in-depth comments at the end should have been put to the beginning, leaving the first frustrating ones for the end, or even omitting them. This is the second deficit in the book (Ch 2 being the other).
We arrive next at the much expected core-Chapter 7 (150 pp, of which ca 70 pp text), where the author's carefully prepared architectural artillery is now sequentially initiated, under which feature after feature, and building after building, is being detached from its Graeco-Roman milieu, and transferred into the Persian (the author prefers throughout the book the name Iranian) sphere, and where we in array learn among others:
- That the Hippodamian city-plan of 479 BC was copied from the Persians, and so deserves only the name «Hippodamian».
- That the breath-taking long colonnaded main streets (Cardo and Decumanus) of cities like Antioch, Apameia and Jerash (the latter 2 being the most well preserved) were in reality eastern-inspired bazaar-streets, having absorbed the functions of the forum (agora).
- That the Graeco-Roman tetrapyla at the cross-sections of main streets were copies of Achaemenidal and Sasanian same-named buildings.
- That, whilst recognising the western nature of this most distinctive Roman feature, «ultimately all triumphal Roman arches are descendants of Persepolis» (ment is the Gate of All Nations), exported even eastwards into the 2nd century BC India.
- That all circular plazas of the Roman Near East (the most famous being in Jerash) are entirely within the eastern tradition.
In one word, ALL architectural reality within these 7 centuries is revealed as copy, or at best as simple transformation of pre-existing eastern, mostly Persian, prototypes. The author generously leaves the Nymphaeum (embellished fountain), along with the baths and some decorative elements, untouched within the Graeco-Roman domain.
The final Ch 8 (52 pp, of which ca 42 pp text) describes the influences of Phoenician, Persian, Anatolian, Jewish, Arab and East Indian religions and philosophies on the Hellenistic-Roman world, which culminated in Christianity and in philosophical streams like Stoicism and Neo-Platonism. Full of insightful remarks, it summarizes the author's conclusions, which, as expected, are that the Graeco-Roman influences in the Near East were almost null: «Scratch a Temple of Zeus and we find a Baal or Hadad».
Since the direct or subtle eastern influences assimilated by the Western world (not only in these centuries) are beyond doubt, and important to reveal for self-knowledge, and since the book is written by a broadly learned author, it would be more valuable than 5 stars, if only the one-sidedness was milder.
But sailing along the anti-Graeco-Roman shores, it falls victim of its own choice: Instead of capturing the horizon of the cultural interaction (which would render a fundamental work), it selects to overthrow one culture in favour of another. It thus belongs more to the anti-Eurocentrism building being gradually constructed since the mid-1970's (Lachs), by beating the European (Graeco-Roman) prevalence in its early architectural aspect.
The reader will easily separate the precious matter, and leave behind the author's inclination, profiting from the book's many widening aspects, regardless of consensus.
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