The Problems of Horace Ars Poetica 119–120

A famous passage in the 1st-century Greek merchant's handbook, Periplus Maris Erythraei, reports a Roman attack on the city of Eudaimôn Arabia – Aden in present-day Yemen. No such campaign is known from other sources, and the passage has been ascribed to a scribal error, to an otherwise unknown Roman campaign and to a mix-up with the well-known Arabian campaign of Aelius Gallus. The author argues that none of the above is correct, and that the report of the Periplus is in fact the result of a misinterpreted passage in Augustus’ political will – the Res Gestae.     

Environmental adjustment and private economic strategies in reindeer pastoralism: Combining game theory with participatory action research

The aim of this article is to suggest a research approach to be used in studies of common‐pool resource problems and the deterioration of reindeer pasture. A frequent strategy in such studies is game theory based on rational choice assumptions. This approach has been criticised, for instance, for the neglect of local knowledge concerning cultural preconditions and for the political implications damaging Saami reindeer‐ecology. Our contention is that such problems can be handled by combining game theory with participatory action research when studying the subject above.     

From the editors

From a background in documenting traditional Sami knowledge of major predators, the author discusses the conflict of interests between Sami reindeer herding and Swedish environmental policy on the matter of governmental administration of predators. The author argues that a recognition of the fact that different cultures see and relate to nature and the countryside from different standpoints and within different frames of reference is missing in today's debate in Sweden. According to the author this could lead to a situation of eco‐colonialism if Sami experiences and apprehensions are not taken into account in Swedish environmental policy.     

Urban-Riverine Hinterland Synergies in Semi-Arid Environments: Millennial-Scale Change,Adaptations, and Environmental Responses at Gerasa/Jerash

This interdisciplinary study addresses issues of urban-riverine hinterland relationships in semi-arid environments over millennia at Gerasa/Jerash in Jordan, presenting research that stimulates new lines of enquiry with much broader implications than those relating to this single site. Through the presentation of new data on wadi-sediment responses to social and environmental change, we assess ways in which urban settlements, their hinterlands, and rivers interact over long time periods and how such changes may be read together with historical sources and shed new light on urban-hinterland dynamics. We explore the hypothesis that synergistic relationships between an urban core and its hinterland are essential to the long-term sustainability of both. Our integrated approach gives new insight into settlement dynamics and resource use and carries implications for our understanding of the present through the past.     

Archaeology of Trade in the Western Indian Ocean, 300 BC–AD 700

In the millennium after 300 BC, the western Indian Ocean emerged as a main hub of Old World exchange. Study of this commerce long depended on separate regional archaeologies and a handful of literary sources with Western/Roman bias. A recent surge in scholarly interest has led to a vast increase in data that has fostered a more balanced understanding of the commercial, human, and material aspects of ancient Indian Ocean trade. This review summarizes recent research on the topic and assesses its significance to wider scholarly debates on scale, organization, connectivity, agency, and social cohesion in ancient trade and exchange.