Acknowledgments

It is a pleasure to thank the many people who made this volume possible. First and foremost my gratitude to the diverse contributors is enormous. I have learned a very great deal from them, and owe them all many thanks, especially those who turned in their chapters as long ago as 2001, for the extreme patience that they have shown in the long process of completion. I can only hope that they will think that the final product has been worth the wait.

For help in the final preparation of this book, I would first like to thank my chairman, Richard Janko, and my colleagues in the Department of Classical Studies for releasing the substantial research funds that enabled me to collect many of the illustrations that appear here, and to pay for the enormous help provided by my two assistants. Professor Kendra Eshleman brought order to the manuscript after completing her dissertation in the summer of2004, and prepared the list of Classical authors. In the winter of2005, Robert Chenault assisted mightily with the final preparation of the manuscript in every area, taking on responsibilities that went well beyond what I could have reasonably expected to enormously improve the accuracy of the volume. I also want to thank Professor Yaron Eliav for his assistance with the non-Classical texts that are quoted in this volume. I am responsible for any and all errors that remain.

I am also very grateful to Al Bertrand at Blackwell, firstly for thinking of me as the editor of this volume, and secondly for the gentle, patient encouragement that he has provided in the long process of getting it ready to go to press. In addition, I am grateful to Louise Spencely, who saw the book through its final stages before publication.

The greatest debt that I owe is, as always, to my family, to my wife Ellen, and to our daughters, Claire and Natalie, who brighten every hour of our lives. The pleasure that Claire and Natalie take in seeing the typescript leave the house (and their hope that they will hear less about the $%#$«$ Romans in the future) makes it only right to dedicate this book to them.

David S. Potter, 2006