This volume commemorates the 65th birthday of William Vernon Harris (on September 13, 2003), when a group of his former students agreed to honor him with a collection of essays that would represent the wide variety of interests and influences of our advisor and friend. The fifteen papers in fact range chronologically from the first Olympics to late antiquity and discuss various questions of imperialism, law, economy, and religion in the ancient Mediterranean world. The essays share a social historical perspective from which they challenge as many commonly accepted notions in ancient history. The contributors acknowledge their intellectual debt to the formative scholarly acumen of William V. Harris, which adds up to the "tall order" of engaging with his work.

Contributions by: Jean-Jacques Aubert, Paul Christesen, James F. D. Frakes, David B. Hollander, Liu Jinyu, Jennifer Knust, Rachel Kousser, Annalisa Marzano, Myles McDonnell, Sara Elise Phang, P. Jonathan Roth, Saundra Schwartz, Seth Schwartz, L. Glenn Thompson, Zsuzsanna Várhelyi