Pensar a circulação na antiguidade: os processos circulatórios entre Roma e o "Oriente Antigo" a partir da história global

Global history has contributed to the study of Antiquity by emphasizing connections, mobility, and interactions among different societies. Within this field, the notion of “circulation” makes it possible to examine not only the movement of people, objects, and knowledge, but also the processes of mediation, negotiation, and reconfiguration involved in such flows. This article examines the analytical potential and limitations of “circulation” as a theoretical and methodological tool for the study of Antiquity, combining historiographical discussion with documentary analysis. It aims to understand how different forms of material and symbolic circulation contributed to the construction of relations between Rome and societies located in regions traditionally described as the “East”. To this end, the article analyzes Pliny the Elder’s “Natural History” alongside literary and material evidence related to the reign of Elagabalus (218–222 CE). The article argues that “circulation” should not be reduced to transmission or contact between societies, but understood as a historically situated process shaped by negotiations, asymmetries, conflict, and transformation.