In The Ancient World, Letter-writing Not Only Forged Connections Between Individuals, But Also Helped To Construct And Cultivate Group-identities And Communities. This Volume Explores The Interrelation Of Epistolary Communication And Socio-political Practice Across Four Key Cultural Configurations: Greece, Rome, Judaism, And Christianity. Introduction / Paola Ceccarelli, Lutz Doering, Thorsten Fögen, And Ingo Gildenhard -- Part A: Theory And Practice Of Epistolary Communication. 1. Ancient Approaches To Letter-writing And The Configuration Of Communities Through Epistles / Thorsten Fögen -- 2. Couriers And Conventions In Cicero's Epostolary Network / Bianca-jeanette Schröder -- Part B: Configurations Of Power And Epistolary Communication : From Greece To Rome. 3. Tyrants, Letters, And Legitimacy / Sian Lewis -- 4. Powers In Dialogue: The Letters And Diagrammata Of Macedonian Kings To Local Communities / Manuela Mari -- 5. Letters And Decrees: Diplomatic Protocols In The Hellenistic Period / Paola Ceccarelli -- 6. Letters, Diplomacy, And The Roman Conquest Of Greece / Robin Osborne -- 7. A Republic In Letters: Epistolary Communities In Cicero's Correspondence, 49-44 Bce / Ingo Gildenhard -- Part C: Letters And Communities In Ancient Judaism And Early Christianity. 8. The Literacy And Ideological Character Of The Letters In Ezra 4-7 / Sebastian Grätz -- 9. 'from Me, Jerusalem, The Holy City, To You Alexandria In Egypt, My Sister...' (bavli Sanhedrin 107b): The Role Of Letters In Power Relations Between 'centre' And 'periphery' In Judaism In The Hellenistic, Roman, And Early Islamic Periods / Philip Alexander -- 10. Configuring Addressee Communities In Ancient Jewish Letters: The Case Of The Epistle Of Baruch (2 Baruch 78-86) / Lutz Doering -- 11. The Letters Of Paul And The Construction Of Early Christian Networks / John M. G. Barclay -- 12. The Communities Configured In The Letter Of James / Karl-wilhelm Niebuhr -- Part D: Envoi. 13. Conversing With The Absent, Corresponding With The Dead: Friendship And Philosophical Community In Seneca's Letters / Catharine Edwards. Edited By Paola Ceccarelli, Lutz Doering, Thorsten Fögen, And Ingo Gildenhard. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.