This study brings together a wide range of sources and perspectives in order to understand the basis of Roman rule in the Near East between 64 BC and AD 285. It provides a model for understanding how Roman frontiers and provinces worked and challenges preconceptions about how provinces were governed. It argues that the military orientation of the provinces meant that the army, and its personnel, were the main agents in developing the provinces and carrying out provincial-level administration throughout the Principate. The book tackles the main questions in Roman historiography concerning frontiers, and the nature of provinces, and grounds its arguments in the best available source material from the Near East and the latest archaeological research. In particular, it utilises the testimony of soldiers and provincials themselves (such as that found in the papyri from Dura-Europos) and offers a fresh perspective on the evidence.