Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 August 2013
This paper draws attention to the unprecedented prominence of metaphors ofenslavement to Rome in the historical narratives of Florus and Cassius Dio.Following an analysis of the thematic importance of the trope in theirrespective works, I point to further parallels in Herodian and Justin whichsuggest that the trope proved particularly productive in both Latin and Greekhistoriography in the late second and early third centuries CE. The end of thepaper considers broader cultural developments that might underlie thisphenomenon, notably the proliferation of dominus as an epithetfor the emperor and the ongoing enfranchisement of provincials.