Nandini B. Pandey

Many studies have examined Greek and Roman interactions with foreign peoples, but none has yet asked how the Romans conceptualized ethnic diversity within their own body politic. “Diversity and Difference in Imperial Rome” offers fresh evidence for race relations in antiquity by analyzing the literary, social, and material contexts in which Romans imagined and practiced ethnic pluralism. By tracing a longstanding complicity between Roman imperialism, consumerism, and modes of experiencing demographic variety, as well as the pragmatic value that Roman communities ascribed to inclusivity, this study writes a new chapter in the history of diversity and promotes critical reexamination of modern discourse on race.