This collection of papers illustrates how our picture of the Greco-Roman East has changed over the last two decades as a result of new finds, new methods, and new interests on the part of classical scholars. The chapters, by a distinguished international cast of contributors, present a view of life in the Eastern Empire from the bottom up, and show how a thoughtful use of both new and existing material evidence can shed light on aspects of social and political life that could barely be guessed at from the literary record alone. The evidence of coins, inscriptions and archaeological data is used in the investigation of wider socio-historical issues, including processes of Hellenization and acculturation, the permeability and flexibility of political boundaries at all levels, the interaction of civil and religious authority, and the operation of networks of patronage and power from the highest to the lowest social level.