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The Materiality of Diplomacy in the Hellenistic-Roman Mediterranean: Gifts, Bribes, Offerings

(Paperback)


Publishing Details

Full Title:

The Materiality of Diplomacy in the Hellenistic-Roman Mediterranean: Gifts, Bribes, Offerings

Contributors:

By (Author) Eduardo Sanchez Moreno
Edited by Enrique Garcia Riaza

ISBN:

9781399530392

Publisher:

Edinburgh University Press

Imprint:

Edinburgh University Press

Publication Date:

9th June 2026

Country:

United Kingdom

Classifications

Readership:

Professional and Scholarly

Fiction/Non-fiction:

Non Fiction

Main Subject:

Physical Properties

Physical Format:

Paperback

Number of Pages:

336

Dimensions:

Width 156mm, Height 234mm

Description

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.

Reviews

Eduardo Snchez Moreno and Enrique Garca Riaza provide a focused examination of the relevance and importance of materiality within the field of diplomacy. This focus brings an additional and distinctive contribution to the field, particularly through the collective nature of this volume.--Hannah Cornwell, University of Birmingham
The diplomatic background of Roman expansion from the 3rd century BC onwards has long been underestimated, especially for the West, but in recent years it has become a subject of study in its own right. This book has the merit of making a most valuable contribution by shedding new and original light on such an important topic, and is therefore part of a very current trend in academic research on the ancient world.--Franois Cadiou, University Bordeaux Montaigne

Author Bio

Eduardo Sanchez Moreno is Senior Lecturer in Ancient History at the Department of Ancient History, Medieval History and Diplomatics at the Autonomous University of Madrid (Spain), of which he has been director (2019-2023). He completed a Degree in History with two specialities, Prehistory and Archaeology (1992) and Ancient and Medieval History (1993), and obtained a PhD in Ancient History (1997) at the Autonomous University of Madrid. He made his Postdoc at the University of Oxford (1999-2001) and, in addition, he has been visiting scholar at the universities of Minnesota, Oxford, Waterloo, Edinburgh and Cape Town. His main research interest are the peoples and cultures of Ancient Iberia and the study of Roman imperialism and diplomacy in the Western Mediterranean. Principal Investigator of the Research Group Occidens: Power, Conflict and Diplomacy in the Ancient West (Autonomous University of Madrid). He has taken part in several scientific programs, being a Principal Researcher in different R+D+i projects (Spanish State Research Agency, Government of Spain). He is author of two individual books and nearly eighty academic articles and contributions in collective books; he has edited or co-edited several volumes, such as: Unidos en armas. Coaliciones militares en el Occidente antiguo (Edicions UIB-Ediciones UAM, Palma-Madrid, 2019, with E. Garcia Riaza), Veinticinco estampas de la Espana antigua cincuenta anos despues (1967-2017), En torno a la obra de Antonio Garcia y Bellido y su actualizacion cientifica (Editorial de la Universidad de Sevilla, 2019), Ideologia, identidades e interaccion en el Mundo Antiguo (Madrid, 2012, with C. del Cerro, G. Mora and J. Pascual), Poder, Cultura e Imagen en el Mundo Antiguo (Ediciones UAM, Madrid, 2011, with G. Mora), and Protohistoria y Antiguedad de la Peninsula Iberica, volumes I-II (Silex, Madrid, 2007-2008).

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