Loyalty and Dissidence in Roman Egypt: The Case of the Acta Alexandrinorum

The Acta Alexandrinorum are a fascinating collection of texts, dealing with relations between the Alexandrians and the Roman emperors in the first century AD. This was a turbulent time in the life of the capital city of the new province of Egypt, not least because of tensions between the Greek and Jewish sections of the population. Dr Harker has written the first in-depth study of these texts since their first edition half a century ago, and examines them in the context of other similar contemporary literary forms, both from Roman Egypt and the wider Roman Empire. This study of the Acta Alexandrinorum, which was genuinely popular in Roman Egypt, offers a more complex perspective on provincial mentalities towards imperial Rome than that offered in the mainstream elite literature. It will be of interest to classicists and ancient historians, but also to those interested in Jewish and New Testament studies.

• Explores how the Acta Alexandrinorum offers a more complex perspective on provincial mentalities towards imperial Rome than that offered in the mainstream elite literature of the Principate • Takes account of the large body of discussion since the last critical edition, half a century ago • Links the intriguing and entertaining tales of the Acta Alexandrinorum to the larger scene of Graeco-Roman literature