The Pasts of Roman Anatolia : Interpreters, Traces, Horizons

The book is aimed at readers interested in the eastern Mediterranean during the Roman period. It examines what the Romans and their contemporaries thought about ruins and other physical traces of even older pasts, including, for example, the city of Troy, the fossilized bones of prehistoric creatures, and cuneiform and hieroglyphs.

In this volume, Felipe Rojas examines how the inhabitants of Roman Anatolia interacted with the physical traces of earlier civilizations in their midst. Combining material and textual evidence, he shows that interest in and knowledge about pre-classical remains was deep and widespread. Indeed, ancient interaction with the remnants of even more ancient pasts was a vital part of life for many and diverse people in Roman Anatolia. Such interaction ranged from the purported translation of Bronze and Iron Age inscriptions to the physical manipulation of monuments and objects, including prehistoric earthen mounds and archaic statues. Occasionally, it even involved the production of fake antiquities. Offering new insights into both the archaeology and history of the Roman Mediterranean, Rojas''s book is also an innovative contribution to the archaeology and anthropology of memory.