Governance (Topoi B-II-1)

Research group B-II-1 explored various factors relating to the implementation and organization of political spaces. The research focused on places in the Near East (Upper Mesopotamia) and, by way of comparison and contrast, on locations in the Roman province of Judaea. The category of space was examined here from two points of view: first, research was conducted into the ways in which political power and control manifest themselves spatially (contiguous, disparate and isolated, or reticulate) and second, how the physical constitution of the land being ruled influenced the structure and mechanisms of political power.