ISBN: 9781399530385

This volume is a survey of one of the most interesting practices of ancient diplomacy: the gift or exchange of symbolic objects understood as diplomatic presents. This custom may be as old as mankind, but it can certainly be traced back to the emergence of the first written societies. After assessing this background, the contributions of the volume focus on a transcendental historical epoch: the Hellenistic period (from the end of the 4th century BC to the end of the 1st century BC), which partially overlaps with the expansion of the Roman Republic in the Mediterranean. The book brings together international specialists who approach the subject from different chronological, geographical and thematic perspectives. A stimulating proposal that opens up new insights into the study of Antiquity and the History of Diplomacy. It provides an innovative approach to the study of ancient diplomacy, based on cultural conditioning factors and subjective perception of the gift and illuminates current issues, such as the role of diplomacy and dialogue between cultures as a means of conflict resolution.

TABLE OF CONTENTS (ÍNDICE)

List of Illustrations

Note on the Contributors

Introduction: Unboxing the Gift. Diplomatic Presents in their Cultural Contexts, Eduardo Sánchez Moreno and Enrique García Riaza

I. A Background for Gifts in Action: Gracing Gods, Kings and Cities

2. Diplomatic Gifts in the Biblical Context of the Sixth to Fourth Ceturies B.C. A Systematic Study of Deuteronomistic History (Joshua – 2 Kings), Francesc Ramis Darder

3. Greek Cities and Diplomatic Gifts in the Classical Period, Dominique Lenfant

4. Gifts for the Gods and Keimelia. Some Reflections on Arms as Diplomatic Gifts in the Greek World, María del Mar Gabaldón Martínez

II. From Asia Minor to Lusitania: The Multiple Use of Gifts in an Interconnected World

5. Crowns to Rome: Honours, Gifts and Hellenistic Diplomacy, Andrew Erskine

6. The Romans and Gifts from the Greeks: The Story of an Ostentatious Rejection, Nathalie Barrandon, Anthony-Marc Sanz and Enrique García Riaza

7. Gift, Debt, Anxiety in Late Hellenistic Times. On the Cautiousness and Attitudes of Achaeans, Macedonians and Bastarnae Towards Diplomatic Presents, Miguel Esteban Payno and Gerard Ventós Rodríguez

8. Buying Goodwill, Granting Rewards: The Roman Headquarters as a Space of Diplomatic Interaction, Borja Vertedor Ballesteros

9. From Presents to Bribes: Symbolic and Political Evolution of the Diplomatic Gift in Relations between Romans and Numidians, Esther Sánchez Medina and Gabriel Rosselló Calafell

10. Torques, Horses, and Gold: Approaching Diplomatic Gifts in Gaul, Alberto Pérez Rubio

11. Do ut des. Liberating Hostages and Offering Gifts on the Hispanian Front in the Second Punic War, Eduardo Sánchez Moreno and Jorge García Cardiel

12. Gold for the Romans. Booty, Gifts, and Bribes during the Roman Conquest of the Western Iberian Peninsula, Manuel Salinas de Frías

13. Bonding Gifts. Material Exchange and Political Alliance during the Sertorian War, David García Domínguez and Diego Suárez Martínez

Epilogue: Gifts at the Edges of the World: Diplomatic Exchanges in the Roman West and Early Colonial Chile, Tomás Aguilera Durán

Más Información:

https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-the-materiality-of-diplomacy-in-the-hellenistic-roman-mediterranean.html