The present monograph is a revised version of my PhD thesis submitted to the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Durham in 2013. Nearly seven years have since elapsed—by comparison a rather long period of time for the transformation of a doctoral thesis into a book. The submission in the autumn of 2013 was swiftly followed by a transfer to China. The change of locality coincided with an inner desire to broaden my scope and move away from the topic that had absorbed me for more than four years. With renewed vigour the daunting task of converting the thesis into a publication was taken up about a year and a half ago.
Most of the research was conducted in Durham under the supervision of Ted Kaizer. It was his postgraduate module that stimulated my interest in the Near East. His thoughtful advice, constructive criticism, encouragement and support throughout the years have been invaluable in completing the PhD. I am greatly indebted to him for taking me under his wings. Spells of despondency and melancholy quickly subsided each time I was able to discuss the thesis with him. I would also like to express my gratitude to Michael Sommer and Amy Russell, the two examiners of the doctoral thesis, for their meticulous comments. Thanks are also due to Peter Alpass, Altay Coşkun, Margherita Facella and Leonardo Gregoratti for reading and commenting on chapter drafts at various stages of the writing process. I am eternally grateful to Georgios Gazis, not only for his help in interpreting some passages of ancient Greek, but also for his readiness to accept an indigent student in his house for six months. Prior to this, Hassan El-Maghrabi had welcomed me in his house for the same duration; for this act of generosity he ought to be acknowledged.
I owe a debt of gratitude to a number of institutions and funding bodies for their financial support provided during the PhD and, later, when I was revising the manuscript for publication: the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Durham, the Department of History and the Centre for Classical and Medieval Studies at Peking University, the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, the Stichting Dr Hendrik Muller’s Vaderlandsch Fonds, the Stichting Fundatie van de Vrijvrouwe van Renswoude te ‘s-Gravenhage, the Genootschap Noorthey and the Vreedefonds.
The transformation of the thesis into a book mainly took place in Beijing. I have nevertheless been in a position to benefit from visits to institutions elsewhere. I would like to extend my thanks to Peter Funke for facilitating a fortnightly stay at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster; and to Kathryn Welch for her assistance in arranging two visits to the University of Sydney and for inviting me to a workshop on Mark Antony. Throughout the years I have also profited from fruitful discussions with a number of people: I would like to express my gratitude to John Nicols and Simon Day for their guidance and valuable remarks. Heba Abd-el-Gawad should be thanked for her moral support and dear friendship. Equally beneficial were the conversations I had with the late Donald Murray, who sadly passed away in 2011.
Several other people should also be acknowledged: Wang Banban and Li Hui for providing me with access to a number of publications, Carsten Mischka for the production of the maps, and Lan Cao for her help in designing the stemmata. Fritz-Heiner Mutschler served as εὐεργέτης and ought to be duly honoured. Peng Xiaoyu as a true patronus provided crucial assistance whenever I was in desperate straits. Kai Ruffing and Zhang Qiang are acknowledged for their backing in the final stages of the writing process.
Special thanks are due to two other persons who have played a major role in my academic life: Olivier Hekster, my former teacher, for sparking my enthusiasm for the history of ancient Rome in the first place and for continuously supporting me throughout the past fifteen years; and Sven Günther, my familiarissimus, for his aid in practically everything ever since we both moved to China, including granting me permission to reproduce the image of a coin from the collection of the Institute for the History of Ancient Civilizations at the Northeast Normal University in Changchun on the cover of this book. I would also like to thank my colleagues and students at Peking University who have served as an unremitting source of inspiration. Thanks also to Giulia Moriconi at Brill and to the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. None of them can of course be held responsible for any remaining errors.
Lastly, I am eternally grateful to my family for their constant support and patience, above all to my father John, my wife Sun Xin, my two children and to Maud and Paul.