Drawing upon new evidence and exploiting new modes of analysis, we set out what can be known at present about the great imperial libraries of Rome. We trace their origins through the various conceptions of Caesar, Varro, and Pollio, and show that the imperial libraries were a continuation of late Republican practice : emperors acquired substantial book collections, stored them in several different structures, embellished the buildings with works of art, and allowed friends, scholars, and others to use the volumes. We pay close attention to the sources of the books, the uses and users of the libraries, and the fires that ravaged them. We argue that there were no libraries in the imperial thermae and that there were at most five or six libraries in existence at any one time. Even so, the books and works of art within them constituted an exceptional resource and a powerful cultural statement.
Evidence from the Athenian Tribute Lists and the “Eteokarpathian decree” ( IG i 3 1454) reveals a complex and reciprocal relationship between Athens and a small subject ally, the koinon of the Eteokarpathioi (on the island of Karpathos in the Dodecanese). On the one hand, Athens intervened militarily to guarantee the koinon ’s continued existence; on the other, the Eteokarpathioi “took the initiative in getting themselves assessed,” becoming tribute-paying members of the empire ( IG i 3 278.VI.14, 434/3 B.C.E.), and became euergetai of the Athenian people with their gift of special building material (cypress from their sanctuary of Apollo) for the temple of Athena Athenon medeousa . The decree reveals how Athens might intervene in small communities to protect them against more powerful neighbors and thus illustrates the circumstances under which small states or communities might find it advantageous to be part of the Athenian empire.
Karpathos lies midway between Rhodes and Crete, at the southern limit of the Dodecanese. The island is 48 km long, with a steep mountain range (1,200 m at its highest point) running north to south, and one major harbor on the southeastern coast at Pigahdia. The name Karpathos is pre‐Greek, and Diodorus Siculus (5.54.4) reports that soldiers of Minos first settled the island; tombs containing Minoan and Mycenaean pottery have been found at Pigahdia. Karpathos appears in the Catalogue of Ships (Hom.
Il
. 2.676–80) and in the
Homeric Hymn
to Apollo (42–3), and gave its name to the southeastern part of the Aegean Sea (Strabo 2.5.21).
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