Village Institutions in Egypt in the Roman to Early Arab Periods

Micaela Langellotti and D. W. Rathbone

Proceedings of the British Academy

First general study of the topic opens up new field to readers and researchers
Broad chronological coverage appeals to a wide spectrum of audiences
Papers by leading scholars in the field; source-based and authoritative
All terms explained and sources translated making it accessible to a general audience

Village Institutions in Egypt in the Roman to Early Arab Periods

Micaela Langellotti and D. W. Rathbone

Proceedings of the British Academy

Description

This volume is the first to survey village institutions in Egypt during the first eight centuries AD, from the beginning of Roman rule to the early Arab period. Villages in the ancient Mediterranean world, in contrast to cities, have been little studied and the communal life of the majority rural population is ill understood. The rich evidence of the documentary papyri from Egypt, half of which come from village sites, permits both study of topics in detail and comparisons across time. This volume covers rural institutions including associations, local officials, banks, record-offices, legal procedures, festivals and monasteries. It identifies and discusses recurrent issues and structural changes in the power relationships between the central and regional city-based authorities and the rural population and their representatives in Egypt, and aims to stimulate comparative study of villages in other areas of the ancient world.

Village Institutions in Egypt in the Roman to Early Arab Periods

Micaela Langellotti and D. W. Rathbone

Proceedings of the British Academy

Notes on Contributors
Preface
Maps
1. Introduction, MICAELA LANGELLOTTI and D. W. RATHBONE
2. Police procedures and petitions in Roman Egypt: the role of village officials, ROBERTO MASCELLARI
3. Private associations and village life in early Roman Egypt, MARIO PAGANINI
4. Elders (presbuteroi) of the farmers and of the village in Roman Egypt: the cases of Bacchias and Karanis, SILVIA STRASSI
5. The association of state farmers and its role in village administration in Roman Egypt, THOMAS KRUSE
6. Record-offices in villages in Roman Egypt, MICAELA LANGELLOTTI
7. Village or town: Did it matter for making wills in Roman Egypt?, MARIA NOWAK
8. Private banks in villages of Roman Egypt, FRANÇOIS LEROUXEL
9. Festivals and celebrations in the countryside, ANDREA JÖRDENS
10. Fiscal institution or local community? The village koinon in Late Antiquity (4th-8th centuries), LAJOS BERKES
11. The monastery of Apa Apollo as landowner and employer, GESA SCHENKE
12. 'Great Men', churchmen, and the others: forms of authority in the villages of the Umayyad period, ARIETTA PAPACOSTANTINOU

Village Institutions in Egypt in the Roman to Early Arab Periods

Micaela Langellotti and D. W. Rathbone

Proceedings of the British Academy

Author Information

Micaela Langellotti, Lecturer in Ancient History, Newcastle University,D. W. Rathbone, Professor of Ancient History, King's College London

Micaela Langellotti is Lecturer in Ancient History at Newcastle University. She works on the social and economic history of the Roman imperial period (AD I-IV), with a particular focus on Egypt and on Greek papyrology. She is the author of Village Life in Roman Egypt: Tebtunis in the First Century AD (Oxford University Press, 2020).

Dominic Rathbone is Professor of Ancient History at King's College London. He researches the history and economy of Rome and its empire, particularly Roman Egypt. His publications include Economic Rationalism and Rural Society in Third-Century A.D. Egypt, The Heroninos Archive and the Appianus Estate (1991) and, with R.S. Bagnall, Egypt from Alexander to the Copts: an Archaeological and Historical Guide (2004; 2nd edn 2017)

Contributors:

Lajos Berkes / Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Andrea Jördens / Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg.

Thomas Kruse / Institute for the Study of Ancient Culture (Division Documenta Antiqua) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Micaela Langellotti / Newcastle University.

François Lerouxel / University of Paris-Sorbonne.

Roberto Mascellari / University of Florence.

Maria Nowak / University of Warsaw.

Mario Paganini / Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Arietta Papaconstantinou / University of Reading.

Dominic Rathbone / King’s College London.

Gesa Schenke / University of Münster.

Silvia Strassi / University of Padua.