Most studies of Roman local administration focus on the formal structures of power: imperial laws, urban institutions and magistracies. This book explores the interplay of formal power with informal factors such as social prejudice, parochialism and personal rivalries in the cities of northwestern Asia Minor from the first to the fifth centuries AD. Through a detailed analysis of the municipal speeches and career of the philosopher-politician Dion Chrysostomos, we gain new in-depth insight into the petty conflicts and lofty ambitions of an ancient provincial small-town politician and those...