Mediterranean Anarchy, Interstate War, and the Rise of Rome / Arthur M. Eckstein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Eckstein, Arthur M., Author.

Series:

Joan Palevsky imprint in classical literature.

Hellenistic culture and society ; 48.

Hellenistic Culture and Society ; 48

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

International relations.

War.

Anarchism.

Rome--Foreign relations--510-30 B.C.

Rome.

Rome--History--Republic, 510-30 B.C.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (395 p.)

Place of Publication:

Berkeley, CA : University of California Press, [2007]

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Summary:

This ground-breaking study is the first to employ modern international relations theory to place Roman militarism and expansion of power within the broader Mediterranean context of interstate anarchy. Arthur M. Eckstein challenges claims that Rome was an exceptionally warlike and aggressive state-not merely in modern but in ancient terms-by arguing that intense militarism and aggressiveness were common among all Mediterranean polities from ca 750 B.C. onwards. In his wide-ranging and masterful narrative, Eckstein explains that international politics in the ancient Mediterranean world was, in political science terms, a multipolar anarchy: international law was minimal, and states struggled desperately for power and survival by means of warfare. Eventually, one state, the Republic of Rome, managed to create predominance and a sort of peace. Rome was certainly a militarized and aggressive state, but it was successful not because it was exceptional in its ruthlessness, Eckstein convincingly argues; rather, it was successful because of its exceptional ability to manage a large network of foreign allies, and to assimilate numerous foreigners within the polity itself. This book shows how these characteristics, in turn, gave Rome incomparably large resources for the grim struggle of states fostered by the Mediterranean anarchy-and hence they were key to Rome's unprecedented success.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Maps

Chapter 1. Political Science and Roman History

Chapter 2. Realist Paradigms of Interstate Behavior

Chapter 3. The Anarchic Structure of Interstate Relations in Classical Greece

Chapter 4. The Anarchic Structure of Interstate Relations in the Hellenistic Age

Chapter 5. Terrores Multi

Chapter 6. Rome and Roman Militarism within the Anarchic Interstate System

Chapter 7. Roman Exceptionalism and Nonexceptionalism

Appendix to chapter 6 Roman Commanding Generals Killed in Battle with Foreign Enemies, 340s-140s B.C.

Bibliography

Index

HELLENISTIC CULTURE AND SOCIETY

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 319-342) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 24. Apr 2020)

ISBN:

9786612358883

9781282358881

128235888X

9780520932302

0520932307

9781433701351

1433701359

OCLC:

476034369