Irrigation technology, society and environment in the Roman Near East

This paper uses a multi-faceted approach to understand the use and distribution of different irrigation technologies in the Roman Near East (63 BC - AD 636), looking at the ways in which social and environmental factors affected the implementation of those irrigation technologies. It is argued that no single factor can fully explain how irrigation technologies were used across time and space in this region. Instead, choices in irrigation technology seem to have been governed by a complex nexus of both social and environmental factors.

► Multi-faceted approach to irrigation and agriculture in Roman Near East. ► Impact of environmental factors on the choice of irrigation technology. ► Impact of social factors, e.g. pressure of late Roman army, on irrigation. ► Close relationship between urbanism and development of irrigation systems.