Palmyra is one of the most famous sites of the ancient world and played a major role in the overland trade between the Mediterranean and the East. This volume explores fascinating aspects of Palmyrene archaeology and history that underline the site's dynamic relations with the Roman world, whilst simultaneously acknowledging its extremely local nature. The chapters explore Palmyra as a site, but also Palmyrene society both at home and abroad – as travellers in the then known world and contractors and businesspeople as well as innovative political and military leaders of their time. They illuminate Palmyra's and Palmyrene society's negotiations, struggles, benefits and disadvantages from being part of the Roman Empire, situated on the fringes between the East and the West, and their use of this location to recreate themselves as a central power player – at least for a time – within a rapidly changing world.

Table of Contents

1. Palmyra in the Mediterranean World
   Rubina Raja
2. The Western Networks of Palmyra
   Eivind Heldaas Seland
3. You Can't Get There from Here: Itineraries of the Palmyrenes in the Mediterranean
   Jean-Baptiste Yon
4. Palmyrene Iconographic Traditions and the Mediterranean Connections: A Note on Some Signet Seal Impressions on the Palmyrene Tesserae
   Rubina Raja
5. Palmyra and Emesa or 'Palmyre sans Émèse': Some Considerations on Palmyrene Trade Networks and the Mediterranean
   Leonardo Gregoratti
6. Organizing Networks to Supply Mediterranean Markets
   Katia Schörle
7. Language, Law and Religion: The Palmyrene Tariff in Its Roman Context
   John F. Healey
8. Channels of Communication and Connections of Style: Palmyrene Portraiture in Its Wider Context
   Maura K. Heyn
9. Identity and Mobility of Palmyrene Jews
   Eleonora Cussini
10. Palmyrene Military Expatriation and Its Religious Transfer at Roman Dura-Europos, Dacia and Numidia
    Nathanael Andrade

Raja, R. (ed.) (2025). Palmyra, the Mediterranean and Beyond (Mediterranean Studies in Antiquity 2), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.