Download or read book Urban Life and Local Politics in Roman Bithynia written by Tonnes Bekker-Nielsen and published by Aarhus Universitetsforlag. This book was released on 2008-09-01 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Most studies of Roman local administration focus on the formal structures of power: imperial laws, urban institutions and magistracies. This book explores the interplay of formal power with informal factors such as social prejudice, parochialism and personal rivalries in the cities of northwestern Asia Minor from the first to the fifth centuries AD. Through a detailed analysis of the municipal speeches and career of the philosopher-politician Dion Chrysostomos, we gain new in-depth insight into the petty conflicts and lofty ambitions of an ancient provincial small-town politician and those around him. The author concludes that Roman local politics were rarely concerned with political issues but more often with social status and the desire for recognition within an agonistic society.