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The Roman Community at Table during the Principate, New and Expanded Edition
by John DonahueOn its initial publication, The Roman Community at Table during the Principate broke new ground with its approach to the integral place of feasting in ancient Roman culture and the unique power of food to unite and to separate its recipients along class lines throughout the Empire. John F. Donahue’s comprehensive examination of areas such as festal terminology, the social roles of benefactors and beneficiaries, the kinds of foods offered at feasts, and the role of public venues in community banquets draws on over three hundred Latin honorary inscriptions to recreate the ancient Roman feast. Illustrations depicting these inscriptions, as well as the food supply trades and various festal venues, bring important evidence to the study of this vital and enduring social practice. A touchstone for scholars, the work remains fresh and relevant. This expanded edition of Donahue’s work includes significant new material on current trends in food studies, including the archaeology and bioarchaeology of ancient food and drink; an additional collection of inscriptions on public banquets from the Roman West; and an extensive bibliography of scholarship produced in the last ten years. It will be of interest not only to classicists and historians of the ancient world, but also to anthropologists and sociologists interested in food and social group dynamics.
Roman Dress and the Fabrics of Roman Culture
by Jonathan Edmondson Alison KeithRoman Dress and the Fabrics of Roman Culture investigates the social symbolism and cultural poetics of dress in the ancient Roman world in the period from 200 BCE-400 CE. Editors Jonathan Edmondson and Alison Keith and the contributors to this volume explore the diffusion of Roman dress protocols at Rome and in the Roman imperial context by looking at Rome's North African provinces in particular, a focus that previous studies have overlooked or dealt with only in passing. Another unique aspect of this collection is that it goes beyond the male elite to address a wider spectrum of Roman society. Chapters deal with such topics as masculine attire, strategies for self-expression for Roman women within a dress code prescribed by a patriarchal culture, and the complex dynamics of dress in imperial Roman culture, both literary and artistic. This volume further investigates the literary, legal, and iconographic evidence to provide anthropologically-informed readings of Roman clothing.This collection of original essays employs a range of methodological approaches - historical, literary critical, philological, art historical, sociological and anthropological - to offer a thorough discussion of one of the most central issues in Roman culture.
Roman Elections in the Age of Cicero: Society, Government, and Voting (Routledge Studies in Ancient History)
by Rachel Feig VishniaGreat debate exists amongst classical historians on the nature of Roman republican government. Some contend that the Roman Republic was governed by a small group of aristocratic families that entrenched their rule by means of long-standing alliances and an intricate network of loyal clients from the lower echelons of society. Others contest the definition of the republican government as oligarchic, maintaining that the Roman elite did not operate in a political vacuum and that Polybius’ judgment, which concedes a democratic element in the Roman constitution as embodied in the powers of the popular assemblies, cannot be simply swept aside. This debate has found its way into various scholarly works, but, until now, no single volume has been dedicated specifically to elections and electioneering, a sphere where the people—according to these interpretations—played a central if not a crucial role. Roman Elections in the Age of Cicero provides new and intriguing insights into the nature of Roman republican government and the people’s actual powers, but also addresses questions relevant to elections in our own societies today.
The Roman Forum
by Gilbert J. Gorski James E. PackerThe Roman Forum was in many ways the heart of the Roman Empire. Today, the Forum exists in a fragmentary state, having been destroyed and plundered by barbarians, aristocrats, citizens and priests over the past two millennia. Enough remains, however, for archaeologists to reconstruct its spectacular buildings and monuments. This richly illustrated volume provides an architectural history of the central section of the Roman Forum during the Empire (31 BCE–476 CE), from the Temple of Julius Caesar to the monuments on the slope of the Capitoline hill. Bringing together state-of-the-art technology in architectural illustration and the expertise of a prominent Roman archaeologist, this book offers a unique reconstruction of the Forum, providing architectural history, a summary of each building's excavation and research, scaled digital plans, elevations, and reconstructed aerial images that not only shed light on the Forum's history but vividly bring it to life. With this book, scholars, students, architects and artists will be able to visualize for the first time since antiquity the character, design and appearance of the famous heart of ancient Rome.
The Roman Goddess Ceres
by Barbette Stanley SpaethInterest in goddess worship is growing in contemporary society, as women seek models for feminine spirituality and wholeness. New cults are developing around ancient goddesses from many cultures, although their modern adherents often envision and interpret the goddesses very differently than their original worshippers did. In this thematic study of the Roman goddess Ceres, Barbette Spaeth explores the rich complexity of meanings and functions that grew up around the goddess from the prehistoric period to the Late Roman Empire. In particular, she examines two major concepts, fertility and liminality, and two social categories, the plebs and women, which were inextricably linked with Ceres in the Roman mind. Spaeth then analyzes an image of the goddess in a relief of the Ara Pacis, an important state monument of the Augustan period, showing how it incorporates all these varied roles and associations of Ceres. This interpretation represents a new contribution to art history. With its use of literary, epigraphical, numismatic, artistic, and archaeological evidence, The Roman Goddess Ceres presents a more encompassing view of the goddess than was previously available. It will be important reading for all students of Classics, as well as for a general audience interested in New Age, feminist, or pagan spirituality.
The Roman Goddess Ceres
by Barbette Stanley SpaethA thematic study of the Roman goddess of agriculture as represented in ancient culture from the prehistoric period to the Late Roman Empire.Interest in goddess worship is growing in contemporary society, as women seek models for feminine spirituality and wholeness. New cults are developing around ancient goddesses from many cultures, although their modern adherents often envision and interpret the goddesses very differently than their original worshippers did.In this thematic study of the Roman goddess Ceres, Barbette Spaeth explores the rich complexity of meanings and functions that grew up around the goddess from the prehistoric period to the Late Roman Empire. In particular, she examines two major concepts, fertility and liminality, and two social categories, the plebs and women, which were inextricably linked with Ceres in the Roman mind. Spaeth then analyzes an image of the goddess in a relief of the Ara Pacis, an important state monument of the Augustan period, showing how it incorporates all these varied roles and associations of Ceres. This interpretation represents a new contribution to art history. With its use of literary, epigraphical, numismatic, artistic, and archaeological evidence, The Roman Goddess Ceres presents a more encompassing view of the goddess than was previously available. It will be important reading for all students of Classics, as well as for a general audience interested in New Age, feminist, or pagan spirituality.
Roman Identity from the Arab Conquests to the Triumph of Orthodoxy (New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture)
by Douglas WhalinThis book asks how the inhabitants and neighbours of the Eastern Roman Empire understand their identity as Romans in the centuries following the emergence of Islam as a world-religion. Its answers lie in exploring the nature of change and continuity of social structures, self-representation, and boundaries as markers of belonging to the Roman group in the period from circa AD 650 to 850. Early medieval Romanness was integral to the Roman imperial project; its local utility as an identifier was shaped by a given community’s relationship with Constantinople, the capital of the Roman state. This volume argues that there was fundamental continuity of Roman identity from Late Antiquity through these centuries into later periods. Many transformations which are ascribed to the Romans of this era have been subjectively assigned by outsiders, separated by time or space, and are not born out by the sources. This finding dovetails with other recent historical works re-evaluating the early medieval Eastern Roman polity and its ideology.
The Roman Invasion of Britain: Archaeology Versus History
by Birgitta HoffmannThe purpose of this book is to take what we think we know about the Roman Conquest of Britain from historical sources, and compare it with the archaeological evidence, which is often contradictory. Archaeologists and historians all too often work in complete isolation from each other and this book hopes to show the dangers of neglecting either form of evidence. In the process it challenges much received wisdom about the history of Roman Britain. Birgitta Hoffmann tackles the subject by taking a number of major events or episodes (such as Caesar's incursions, Claudius' invasion, Boudicca's revolt), presenting the accepted narrative as derived from historical sources, and then presenting the archaeological evidence for the same. The result of this innovative approach is a book full of surprising and controversial conclusions that will appeal to the general reader as well as those studying or teaching courses on ancient history or archaeology.
The Roman King Arthur?: Lucius Artorius Castus
by Tony SullivanThe 2004 film, King Arthur, starring Clive Owen and Keira Knightley, introduced the audience to Lucius Artorius Castus as the basis to the much later legend of King Arthur. The book analyses the theories behind the film which link this second to third century Roman officer with the medieval Arthurian legends and a possible historical figure in post-Roman Britain. This first full academic study of Artorius Castus offers a number of potential timeframes and details his career through a turbulent and bloody period of Roman history, serving as primus pilus of V Macedonia and praefectus of the Sixth Legion in northern Britain. Turning to the historical narrative of the film it covers the archaeological and literary evidence for the break down of Roman Britain, arrival of Germanic peoples and emergence of petty kingdoms and new cultural identities. The penultimate chapter lays out the evidence for and against a historical Arthur, offering suggestions as to his identity, location of his battles and the possible political, military, social and cultural situation he lived and fought in. This is an entertaining and informative picture of two fascinating figures, one firmly historical, the other shrouded in myth and legend. The book leaves the reader with a clear picture of the lives of a Roman career officer and later dark-age warrior and the different worlds in which they lived. Anyone interested in the Roman period, post-Roman Britain and the possibilities for a historical Arthur should enjoy this book. “A fascinating investigation into the historical figure of Lucius Artorius Castus, camp prefect of VI Victrix based at Eboracum, York”. Dave Grainger, Legio VI Victrix, re-enactment group, York. “A welcome addition to modern discussions the roman army officer Lucius Artorius Castus which seeks to place him within an appropriate timescale and very properly disputes the links that have been suggested between this ‘real’ Roman army officer and the later and very much more fictional king Arthur”. Professor Nick Higham, historian and author
Roman Legends Brought to Life
by Robert GarlandThe legends of early Rome are among the most memorable of any in the world. They are also highly instructive. They taught generations of Romans about duty and obedience. Duty and obedience might not seem to amount to much these days, but it was precisely these virtues that made Rome great. The legends are not, however, merely self-congratulatory and they are rarely simple exercises in nationalist propaganda. On the contrary, many reveal their ancestors’ dark side, which they expose unflinchingly. As in the case of Greek mythology, there is no authorised version of any Roman legend. The legends survived because they reminded the Romans who they were, what modest beginnings they came from, how on many occasions their city nearly imploded, and what type of men and women shaped their story. Defeat, loss, failure. That’s where this story – the story of the boldest, most enduring, and most successful political experiment in human history – begins. It’s the story of how a band of refugees escaped from the ruins of a burning city and came to establish themselves hundreds of miles to the west in the land of Hesperia, the Western Land, the land where the sun declines, aka Italia. It’s the story of a people who by intermingling, compromise and sheer doggedness came to dominate first their region, then the whole of peninsula Italy, and finally the entire Mediterranean and beyond.
Roman Literature under Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian: Literary Interactions, AD 96–138
by Christopher Whitton Alice KönigThis volume is the first holistic investigation of Roman literature and literary culture under Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian (AD 96–138). With case studies from Frontinus, Juvenal, Martial, Pliny the Younger, Plutarch, Quintilian, Suetonius and Tacitus among others, the eighteen chapters offer not just innovative readings of literary (and some 'less literary') texts, but a collaborative enquiry into the networks and culture in which they are embedded. <P><P>The book brings together established and novel methodologies to explore the connections, conversations and silences between these texts and their authors, both on and off the page. The scholarly dialogues that result not only shed fresh light on the dynamics of literary production and consumption in the 'High Roman Empire', but offer new provocations to students of intertextuality and interdiscursivity across classical literature. How can and should we read textual interactions in their social, literary and cultural contexts?
Roman Military Diplomas 1954 to 1977 (UCL Institute of Archaeology Publications)
by Margaret M RoxanThis volume publishes records 82 diplomas or fragments which provide vital evidence for the Roman military and legal world. It is the first volume of a set of four created by Roxan, the world’s expert on this subject.
Roman Military Diplomas 1985 to 1993 (UCL Institute of Archaeology Publications)
by Margaret M RoxanThis volume publishes records 66 diplomas or fragments which provide vital evidence for the Roman military and legal world. It is the third volume of a set of four created by Roxan.
The Roman Mother (Routledge Revivals)
by Suzanne DixonThe Roman Mother, first published in 1988, traces the traditional Roman attitude towards mothers to its republican origins, examining the diverse roles and the relative power and influence associated with motherhood. The importance of the paterfamilias with his wide-ranging legal rights and obligations is familiar, but much less attention has been devoted to the equally interesting position and duties of mothers and the particular limitations on their actions. The author considers the legal position of the mother, the status of the widow and her testamentary position; the official promotion of parenthood by Augustan legislation; and the duties of mother to sons and daughters and vice versa, as they altered throughout the children’s lives. Literary stereotypes of ideal senatorial mothers and of wicked step-mothers also have their part to play in interpreting the Roman view of motherhood, and the influence of such values on the course of Roman history.
Roman-Period and Byzantine Nazareth and its Hinterland (The Palestine Exploration Fund Annual)
by Ken DarkRoman-Period and Byzantine Nazareth and its Hinterland presents a new social and economic interpretation of Roman-period and Byzantine Nazareth and its hinterland as a whole, showing the transformation of a Roman-period Jewish village into a major Byzantine Christian pilgrimage centre. Although Nazareth is one of the most famous places in the world, this is the first book on Roman-period and Byzantine Nazareth by a professional archaeologist, the only book to consider the archaeology of Nazareth in the context of its adjacent landscape, and the first to use contemporary archaeological methods and theory to explore Nazareth’s archaeology. Taking as his starting point a systematic survey of the valley between Nazareth and the Roman town of Sepphoris, Dark offers an interpretation of communities elsewhere in the Roman world as networks of interlocking cells, with interactions along routeways being more important in cultural and economic terms than the relationship between urban centres and their surrounding countryside. His conclusions have implications for the wider archaeology of the Roman and Byzantine worlds, as well as for archaeological theory, and demonstrate the importance of Nazareth to world archaeology. This unique book will be invaluable to those interested in Nazareth and its surrounding landscape, as well as to archaeologists and scholars of the Roman and Byzantine worlds.
Roman Phrygia
by Peter ThonemannThe bleak steppe and rolling highlands of inner Anatolia were one of the most remote and underdeveloped parts of the Roman empire. Still today, for most historians of the Roman world, ancient Phrygia largely remains terra incognita. Yet thanks to a startling abundance of Greek and Latin inscriptions on stone, the cultural history of the villages and small towns of Roman Phrygia is known to us in vivid and unexpected detail. Few parts of the Mediterranean world offer so rich a body of evidence for rural society in the Roman Imperial and late antique periods, and for the flourishing of ancient Christianity within this landscape. The eleven essays in this book offer new perspectives on the remarkable culture, lifestyles, art and institutions of the Anatolian uplands in antiquity.
Roman Pompeii: Space and Society
by Ray LaurenceIn this fully revised and updated edition of Roman Pompeii, Dr. Laurence looks at the latest archaeological and literary evidence relating to the city of Pompeii from the viewpoint of architect, geographer and social scientist. Enhancing our general understanding of the Roman world, this new edition includes new chapters that reveal how the young learnt the culture of the city and to investigate the role of property development and real estate in Pompeii’s growth. Showing how Pompeii has undergone considerable urban development, Dr. Laurence emphasizes the relationship between the fabric of the city and the society that produced it. Local activities are located in both time and space and Pompeii’s cultural identity is defined. This book is invaluable for students and scholars in the fields of archaeology and ancient history, as well as being rewarding reading for the many people who visit Pompeii.
The Roman Provence Guide
by Edwin MullinsProvence owes its name to Julius Caesar who described the region as “the Province of Rome.” Edwin Mullins seeks out hidden traces of that ancient world along with the many spectacular monuments that today adorn the cities of Nîmes, Arles, Vienne, and Orange. He tells the story of how the Romans came to invade Provence, how they stayed to colonize it, and how they transformed Provençal cities into imitations of Rome. His narrative also tells how the Emperor Constantine brought about the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity from his favorite city of Arles—and how the Romans were eventually driven out by the Visigoths. Roman Provence is also a guide to the principal sites in the region as well as those rarely visited, with separate chapters on various Roman achievements: triumphal arches, aqueducts, farming, city life, bridges and road-building, temples and shrines, theaters and amphitheaters.
The Roman Remains of Southern France: A Guide Book
by James BromwichThe Roman Remains of Southern France is the only specialist guidebook to this region available. It is the result of the most up-to-date research. Comprehensive in coverage, it provides depth and context while evoking the distinctive atmosphere of the place.The book is easy to use, with a large number of maps, site plans and photographs and it will enable the traveller to explore the major cultural contribution made by the Romans to this part of France.
Roman Slavery and Roman Material Culture
by Michele GeorgeReplete now with its own scholarly traditions and controversies, Roman slavery as a field of study is no longer limited to the economic sphere, but is recognized as a fundamental social institution with multiple implications for Roman society and culture. The essays in this collection explore how material culture - namely, art, architecture, and inscriptions - can illustrate Roman attitudes towards the institution of slavery and towards slaves themselves in ways that significantly augment conventional textual accounts.Providing the first interdisciplinary approach to the study of Roman slavery, the volume brings together diverse specialists in history, art history, and archaeology. The contributors engage with questions concerning the slave trade, manumission, slave education, containment and movement, and the use of slaves in the Roman army.
The Roman Triumph
by Mary BeardListen to a short interview with Mary BeardHost: Chris Gondek | Producer: Heron & CraneIt followed every major military victory in ancient Rome: the successful general drove through the streets to the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill; behind him streamed his raucous soldiers; in front were his most glamorous prisoners, as well as the booty he'd captured, from enemy ships and precious statues to plants and animals from the conquered territory. Occasionally there was so much on display that the show lasted two or three days. A radical reexamination of this most extraordinary of ancient ceremonies, this book explores the magnificence of the Roman triumph--but also its darker side. What did it mean when the axle broke under Julius Caesar's chariot? Or when Pompey's elephants got stuck trying to squeeze through an arch? Or when exotic or pathetic prisoners stole the general's show? And what are the implications of the Roman triumph, as a celebration of imperialism and military might, for questions about military power and "victory" in our own day? The triumph, Mary Beard contends, prompted the Romans to question as well as celebrate military glory. Her richly illustrated work is a testament to the profound importance of the triumph in Roman culture--and for monarchs, dynasts and generals ever since. But how can we re-create the ceremony as it was celebrated in Rome? How can we piece together its elusive traces in art and literature? Beard addresses these questions, opening a window on the intriguing process of sifting through and making sense of what constitutes "history. "
The Roman West, AD 200-500
by Simon Esmonde ClearyThis book describes and analyses the development of the Roman West from Gibraltar to the Rhine, using primarily the extensive body of published archaeological evidence rather than the textual evidence underlying most other studies. It situates this development within a longer-term process of change, proposing the later second century rather than the 'third-century crisis' as the major turning-point, although the latter had longer-term consequences owing to the rise in importance of military identities. Elsewhere, more 'traditional' forms of settlement and display were sustained, to which was added the vocabulary of Christianity. The longer-term rhythms are also central to assessing the evidence for such aspects as rural settlement and patterns of economic interaction. The collapse of Roman imperial authority emphasised trends such as militarisation and regionalisation along with economic and cultural disintegration. Indicators of 'barbarian/Germanic' presence are reassessed within such contexts and the traditional interpretations questioned and alternatives proposed.
Roman Women
by Eve D'AmbraThis richly illustrated book examines the daily lives of Roman women by focusing on the mundane and less-celebrated aspects of daily life -- family and household, work and leisure, worship and social obligations -- of women of different social ranks. <p><p>Using a variety of sources, including literary texts, letters, inscriptions, coins, tableware, furniture, and the fine arts, from the late republic to the high imperial period, Eve D'Ambra shows how these sources serve as objects of social analysis, rather than simply as documents that re-create how life was lived. <p><p>She also demonstrates how texts and material objects take part in shaping realities and what they can tell us about the texture of lives and social attitudes, if not the emotions of women in Roman antiquity.
Romance and Power in the Hollywood Eastern
by Nalini NatarajanThis book develops the existence of the "Eastern" as an analytically significant genre of film. Positioned in counterpoint to the Western, the famed cowboy genre of the American frontier, the “Eastern” encompasses films that depict the eastern and southern frontiers of Euro-American expansion. Examining six films in particular—Gunga Din (1939), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Heat and Dust (1983), A Passage to India (1984), Indochine (1992), and The English Patient (1996)—the author explores the duality of the "Eastern" as both aggressive and seductive, depicting conquest and romance at the same time. In juxtaposing these two elements, the book seeks to reveal the double process by which the “Eastern” both diminishes the "East" and Global South and reinforces ignorance about these regions’ histories and complexity, thereby setting the stage for ever-escalating political aggression.
Romance in Post-Socialist Chinese Television (East Asian Popular Culture)
by Huike WenThis book is about how the representations of romantic love in television reflect the change and the dilemma of the dominant values in post-socialist Chinese mainstream culture. These values mainly center on the impact of individualism, consumerism, capitalism, and neoliberalism, often referred to as western culture, on the perception of romantic love and self-realization in China.The book focuses on how romantic love, which plays a vital role in China’s ideologically highly restricted social environment by empowering people with individual choice, change, and social mobility, must struggle and compromise with the reality, specifically the values and problems emerging in a transitional China. The book also examines how the representation of romantic love celebrates ideals—individual freedom, passion, and gender equality—and promises changes based on individual diligence and talent while simultaneously obstructing the fulfillment of these ideals.