The Social Dynamics of Roman Imperial Imagery

The Social Dynamics of Roman Imperial Imagery
Author: Amy Russell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 309
Release: 2020-11-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 1108871585

Images relating to imperial power were produced all over the Roman Empire at every social level, and even images created at the centre were constantly remade as they were reproduced, reappropriated, and reinterpreted across the empire. This book employs the language of social dynamics, drawn from economics, sociology, and psychology, to investigate how imperial imagery was embedded in local contexts. Patrons and artists often made use of the universal visual language of empire to navigate their own local hierarchies and relationships, rather than as part of direct communication with the central authorities, and these local interactions were vital in reinforcing this language. The chapters range from large-scale monuments adorned with sculpture and epigraphy to quotidian oil lamps and lead tokens and cover the entire empire from Hispania to Egypt, and from Augustus to the third century CE.

Tokens and Social Life in Roman Imperial Italy

Tokens and Social Life in Roman Imperial Italy
Author: Clare Rowan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 269
Release: 2023-11-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1316516539

A unique and accessible introduction to an underutilised source, Roman tokens, and their value for ancient social history.

Imagining the Roman Emperor

Imagining the Roman Emperor
Author: Panayiotis Christoforou
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 291
Release: 2023-07-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 1009362496

Explores how Roman emperors were perceived by their subjects in the first two centuries after Augustus.

Representing Rome's Emperors

Representing Rome's Emperors
Author: Caillan Davenport
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 351
Release: 2024-01-09
Genre: History
ISBN: 0192695975

Roman emperors have long functioned—and continue to function—in the western imagination as paradigms of imperial leadership to be emulated or avoided. This innovative volume brings together an international team of experts to examine the literary and artistic representations of Roman emperors across more than two thousand years of history. In doing so, it breaks down traditional disciplinary boundaries that have separated the study of emperors in antiquity from their representation in later periods. The individual chapters offer close readings of different texts, media, and contexts, ranging from the Annals of Tacitus, Roman lamps, and triumphal statues to medieval legends, early modern philosophical tracts, twentieth-century novels, and museum exhibitions. Collectively they explore the creative impulses and political agendas that have shaped how we understand Roman emperors today.

The Oxford Handbook of Roman Imagery and Iconography

The Oxford Handbook of Roman Imagery and Iconography
Author: Lea K. Cline
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 593
Release: 2021-12-29
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 0190850329

"Roman imagery and iconography are typically studied under the more general umbrella of Roman art and in broader, medium-specific studies. This handbook focuses primarily on visual imagery in the Roman world, examined by context and period, and the evolving scholarly traditions of iconographic analysis and visual semiotics that have framed the modern study of these images. As such topics-or, more directly, the isolation of these topics from medium-specific or strictly temporal evaluations of Roman art-are uncommon in monograph-length studies, our goal is that this handbook will be an important reference for both the communicative value of images in the Roman world and the tradition of iconographical analysis. The chapters herein represent contributions from a number of leading and emerging authorities on Roman imagery and iconography from across the world, representing a variety of academic traditions and methods of image analysis"--

The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus

The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus
Author: Karl Galinsky
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 448
Release: 2005-09-12
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107494567

The age of Augustus, commonly dated to 30 BC – AD 14, was a pivotal period in world history. A time of tremendous change in Rome, Italy, and throughout the Mediterranean world, many developments were underway when Augustus took charge and a recurring theme is the role that he played in shaping their direction. The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus captures the dynamics and richness of this era by examining important aspects of political and social history, religion, literature, and art and architecture. The sixteen essays, written by distinguished specialists from the United States and Europe, explore the multi-faceted character of the period and the interconnections between social, religious, political, literary, and artistic developments. Introducing the reader to many of the central issues of the Age of Augustus, the essays also break new ground and will stimulate further research and discussion.

Caesar Rules

Caesar Rules
Author: Olivier Hekster
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 425
Release: 2022-12-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 1009226754

For centuries, Roman emperors ruled a vast empire. Yet, at least officially, the emperor did not exist. No one knew exactly what titles he possessed, how he could be portrayed, what exactly he had to do, or how the succession was organised. Everyone knew, however, that the emperor held ultimate power over the empire. There were also expectations about what he should do and be, although these varied throughout the empire and also evolved over time. How did these expectations develop and change? To what degree could an emperor deviate from prevailing norms? And what role did major developments in Roman society – such as the rise of Christianity or the choice of Constantinople as the new capital – play in the ways in which emperors could exercise their rule? This ambitious and engaging book describes the surprising stability of the Roman Empire over more than six centuries of history.

The Roman Emperor and His Court c. 30 BC–c. AD 300: Volume 2, A Sourcebook

The Roman Emperor and His Court c. 30 BC–c. AD 300: Volume 2, A Sourcebook
Author: Benjamin Kelly
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 334
Release: 2022-09-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 100908173X

At the centre of the Roman empire stood the emperor and the court surrounding him. The systematic investigation of this court in its own right, however, has been a relatively late development in the field of Roman history, and previous studies have focused on narrowly defined aspects or on particular periods of Roman history. This book makes a major contribution to understanding the history of the Roman imperial court. The first volume presents nineteen original essays covering all the major dimensions of the court from the age of Augustus to the threshold of Late Antiquity. The second volume is a collection of the ancient sources that are central to studying that court. The collection includes: translations of literary sources, inscriptions, and papyri; plans and computer visualizations of archaeological remains; and photographs of archaeologic sites and artworks depicting the emperor and his court.

Fertility, Ideology, and the Cultural Politics of Reproduction at Rome

Fertility, Ideology, and the Cultural Politics of Reproduction at Rome
Author: Angela Hug
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2023-05-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 9004540784

Roman women bore children not just for their husbands, but for the Roman state. This book is the first comprehensive study of the importance of fecunditas (human fertility) in Roman society, c. 100 BC - AD 300. Its focus is the cultural impact of fecunditas, from gendered assumptions about infertility, to the social capital children brought to a marriage, to the emperors’ exploitation of fecunditas to build and preserve dynasties. Using a rich range of source material - literary, juristic, epigraphic, numismatic - never before collected, it explores how the Romans shaped fecunditas into an essential female virtue.

Lived Spaces in Late Antiquity

Lived Spaces in Late Antiquity
Author: Carlos Machado
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 464
Release: 2024-04-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 0429763123

This volume considers “lived space” as a scholarly approach to the past, showing how spatial approaches can present innovative views of the world of Late Antiquity, integrating social, economic and cultural developments and putting centre stage this fundamental dimension of social life. Bringing together an international group of scholars working on areas as diverse as Britain, the Iberian Peninsula, Jordan and the Horn of Africa, this book includes burgeoning fields of study such as lived spaces in the context of ships and seafaring during this period. Chapters investigate the history, function and use of different spaces in their own right and identify the social and historical logic presiding over continuity and/or change. They also explore the fluidity of lived space in both its physical and conceptual dimensions, analysing issues like agency and intentionality as well as meaning and social relations. Space is the fundamental dimension of social life, the arena where it unfolds and the stage where social values and hierarchies are represented; analysis of space allows us to understand history through different means of shaping, occupying and controlling space. Considering Late Antiquity through a spatial perspective offers a complex and stimulating picture of this pivotal period, and this volume provides avenues for the development of further research and discussion in this area. Lived Spaces in Late Antiquity is a fascinating resource for students and scholars interested in space and spatiality in the late antique world, as well as archaeology, classical studies and late antique studies more generally.