Ethnography is indispensable for every empire, as important as armies, tax-collectors, or ambassadors. It helps rulers articulate cultural differences, and it lets the inhabitants of the empire, especially those who guide its course, understand themselves in the midst of enemies, allies, and friends.

In “The Conqueror’s Gift,” Michael Maas examines the ethnographic infrastructure of the Roman Empire and the transformation of Rome’s ethnographic vision during Late Antiquity. 

Drawing on a wide range of texts, Maas shows how the Romans’ ethnographic thought evolved as they attended to the business of ruling an empire on three continents.