At Empire's Edge: Exploring Rome's Egyptian Frontier

By Robert B. Jackson and Robert B. Jackson

When Egypt became a province of the Roman Empire in 30 B.C. after the deaths of Antony and Cleopatra, its vast and mysterious frontier lands had an important impact on the commerce, politics, and culture of the empire. This engrossing book--part history and part gazetteer--focuses on Rome's Egyptian frontier, describing the ancient fortresses, temples, settlements, quarries, and aqueducts scattered throughout the region and conveying a vivid sense of what life was like for its inhabitants.

Robert B. Jackson has journeyed, by jeep and on foot, to virtually every known Roman site in the area, from Siwa Oasis, forty-five kilometers from the modern Libyan border, to the Sudan. Drawing on both archaeological and historical information, he discusses these sites, explaining how Rome extracted exotic stone and precious metals from the mountains of the Eastern Desert, channeled the wealth of India and East Africa through the desert via ports on the Red Sea, constructed and manned fortresses in the distant oases of the Western Desert, and facilitated the expansion of agricultural communities in the desert that eventually experienced the earliest large-scale conversions to Christianity in Egypt. Elegantly written and illustrated with many handsome photographs, the book will be a treasured resource for archaeologists, classicists, and travelers to the region.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300088566
• ISBN13: 9780300088564
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 2.00 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Great book.

I'm basing my next vacation in the Western desert to include a few oasis. He keeps the gritty details to a comfortable level, which makes the reading pleasant.

On the edge

Here is a splendid recounting of histories (the old and the older) and anecdotes of explorations in the deserts and oases of what was once Roman Egypt. In addition, credible summations of existing research and excavations provide the reader with a distanced understanding of some curious spaces. The images in this book, all black and white, seem both numinous and stunning. The maps present the only bit of chaos with their insect-like sprawlings and unorganized keys. One must scan all names of the key to find the number and location for the places described. Clearer maps would have been lovely, but since it is unlikely I'll need such maps, the existing suffice. The reading is compelling, the topics heterogenous. On the whole, this book provides significant information and pleasure.

Amazing insight into history

This book was amazing! when i read it, not only did it keep me interested, but i couldn't put it down!! the photographs were amazing, and so were the detailed maps! Jackson has done an excellent job with this book, and i can't wait for his next one. his hard work on this book has really paid off as it provides an exquisite insight into the history of Rome and the other places. being the head of the history department is a high post, and i am sure he deserves it.

Correction?

From the Back Cover "No one with even a passing interest in New York will be able to live without it."- William Grimes, New York Times Book Review Please correct me if I am wrong, but, I do not understand how an interest in "New York" has ANYTHING to do with this book.Am I missing something?