Palmyra

Published in 2017 by Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, Palmyra by Michael Sommer serves as an accessible scholarly overview of the ancient Syrian city. The book emerged as part of the broader Routledge Ancient Civilizations series, which aims to provide concise, authoritative guides on significant historical sites and societies for students and interested general readers. Its creation was contextualized by a growing modern academic interest in the Levant and the political history of the Roman East.

Michael Sommer, a historian specializing in the ancient Near East, wrote the work to synthesize archaeological evidence and literary sources into a cohesive narrative. The design and structure focus on the transition of Palmyra from a desert caravan hub to a wealthy, culturally syncretic metropolis under the Roman Empire, eventually detailing its dramatic rise and fall during the third century. The work is widely regarded as a grounded, balanced entry-level resource that avoids excessive technical jargon while maintaining academic rigor.