Palmyra: An Irreplaceable Treasure by Paul Veyne (review)
Rent from DeepDyve- Palmyra: An Irreplaceable Treasure by Paul Veyne
This book is an elegant, short tribute to a major site in the Syrian desert, severely damaged by ISIS rebels, though, at the moment, “liberated.” Its buildings, largely of the second century AD, attest an eastern declaration of Roman imperial rule, and those of the third century declare the presence of a true Roman “metropolis,” with all the necessary architectural trappings. Roman styles in architecture and sculpture became current from Britain to the Euphrates, and were here adjusted to a desert setting, a monumental “caravan city” for routes east, but also a center for Roman power in the Middle East. Veyne’s essay dwells on the city’s role as a vassal of Rome under a local dynasty that regarded its realm as virtually its own, notably under their queen, Zenobia, who, in barely two years, extended her rule to Egypt and Arabia and even eyed Europe until stopped by the Emperor Aurelian. She was both “an oriental queen—and a true Roman citizen” in a city that still reveled in its oriental banquets. The ruins of Palmyra have enticed travelers no less than its history has fascinated scholars. It remains to be seen how easy it can be to restore and rebuild what can be so easily destroyed, but Palmyra’s fame relies on more than its monuments, and the site will never lose its appeal.
Sir John Boardman is Lincoln Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology emeritus at Oxford University and a fellow of the British Academy, which awarded him its Kenyon Medal in 1995. Editor of the Oxford History of Classical Art, his other books include The Greeks in Asia; The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity; The Greeks Overseas; The Triumph of Dionysos; The History of Greek Vases; and The Relief Plaques of Eastern Eurasia and China: The “Ordos Bronzes,” Peter the Great’s Treasure, and Their Kin. He received the inaugural Onassis International Prize for Humanities in 2009.
