Recent years have seen renewed scholarly interest in private associations of the Greek and Roman world. As scholars have come to realize the number and diffusion of private associations in the ancient world questions arise as to their wider social, political, religious and economic significance.

Private Associations and the Public Sphere collects eleven chapters each pursuing this question in a particular geographic and historical context. In doing so, the authors have aimed not only to document and analyze various forms of interaction between private associations and the public sphere, but also to register the outcomes and interpret their wider historical significance.