Palmyra - in the Roman imperial period the marvel of the Syrian Desert was situated at the
crossroads of the intercontinental long-distance trade in a political and cultural twilight
between the East and the West: inter duo imperia between the two empires according to Pliny
the Elder. How accurate is Pliny's description of the oasis of Tadmur? How strongly was Roman
influence felt in the city of Bel - and how did it develop over the centuries? What was the
significance of trade? And how did the close interaction between sedentary and nomadic
populations shape society in the oasis? The authors revisit the textual and material evidence
on and from Palmyra in the light of recent research spanning five centuries of Near Eastern
history.
