A Companion to Cities in the Greco‐Roman World (2025)

A Companion to Cities in the Greco-Roman World offers in-depth coverage of the most important topics in the study of Greek and Roman urbanism. Bringing together contributions by an international panel of experts, this comprehensive resource addresses traditional topics in the study of ancient cities, including civic society, politics, and the ancient urban landscape, as well as less-frequently explored themes such as ecology, war, and representations of cities in literature, art, and political philosophy.

Detailed chapters present critical discussions of research on Greco-Roman urban societies, city economies, key political events, significant cultural developments, and more. Throughout the Companion, the authors provide insights into major developments, debates, and approaches in the field. An unrivalled reference work on the subject, the volume focusses on both the archaeological (spatial, architectural) as well as the historical (institutions, social structures) aspects of ancient cities, and makes Greco-Roman urbanism accessible to scholars and students of urbanism in other historical periods, up to the present day.

Part of the authoritative Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World series, A Companion to Cities in the Greco-Roman World is an excellent resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and lecturers in Classics, Ancient History, and Classical/Mediterranean Archaeology, as well as historians and archaeologists looking to update their knowledge of Greek or Roman urbanism.

Table of contents

Studying ancient (Greek and Roman) urbanism: research context, commonalities, and specificities (Arjan Zuiderhoek)

Part I : Urbanism and urbanization

Early Greek urbanism (John Bintliff)
Early Roman urbanism in its Italian context (Marleen K. Termeer)
City foundations and urbanism in the Hellenistic world (Gary Reger)
Urban patterns in the Early Roman Empire, 27 BCE–250 CE (Luuk de Ligt)

Part II : The urban landscape

Urban planning and development (Miko Flohr)
Agoras and forums (Christopher P. Dickenson)
Spectacle buildings and baths (Sadi Maréchal)
Urban housing in the ancient Mediterranean (Miko Flohr)
Traffic, movement, and the urban streetscape (Eric Poehler)
Greco-Roman urban water infrastructure (Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow)
Urban margins in Greco-Roman cities (Saskia Stevens)

Part III : The city as a political community

Politics and political institutions in Archaic and Classical Greek cities (Matthew Simonton)
Political institutions in Hellenistic and Roman-era Greek cities (Arjan Zuiderhoek)
Politics and political institutions in Roman cities in Italy and the West (Christopher J. Dart)
Kings, governors, and emperors: Greek cities’ interactions with powerful outsiders during the Hellenistic and Roman periods (Sviatoslav Dmitriev)

Part IV : Economy and society

Cities and socioecological systems in the ancient world (Stef Boogers, Bas Beaujean, Jeroen Poblome)
City and country in the Greek world (Edward M. Harris, David M. Lewis)
City and country in the Roman world (Tymon de Haas)
Greek urban social structures (Kostas Vlassopoulos)
Urban social structures in the Roman world (Emily Hemelrijk, Miko Flohr)

Part V : Civic ritual and civic identity

Civic cults in Classical Athens (J.Z. van Rookhuijzen)
Urban religion in Roman cities (Jörg Rüpke)

Part VI : Cities and war

Fighting poleis: Greek cities at war (Roel Konijnendijk)
War and the city in the Roman world (Paul Erdkamp)

Part VII : Imagined cities

The (utopian) city in Greek political thought (Robert Ballingall)
Cicero’s ideal city (Dean Hammer)
Representations of the city in Greek and Roman literature (Christiaan Caspers)
The visual imagination and representation of the ancient city (Annette Haug)

Part VIII : Late Antiquity and beyond

Late Roman cities in the West (Douglas Underwood)
Greco-Roman cities in the Late Antique East (Ine Jacobs)
The afterlife of the ancient city (Andrew Wallace-Hadrill)

Bibliographical details

Type

Handbook with 32 chapters, co-edited with Arjan Zuiderhoek (Ghent), with contributions by an international crowd of specialists.

Reference

Flohr, M. and A. Zuiderhoek (2025). A Companion to Cities in the Greco-Roman World. Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World. Malden: Wiley-Blackwell. [publisher’s website]

Open Access

The volume has not been published in open access, but it is available online through the publishers website DOI: 10.1002/9781119399940.

Miko Flohr, 20/08/2024