Claudius Caesar: Image and Power in the Early Roman Empire - Softcover

Osgood, Josiah

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521708257 ISBN 13: 9780521708258

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2010

Synopsis

The story of Claudius has been often told before. Ancient writers saw the emperor as the dupe of his wives and palace insiders; Robert Graves tried to rehabilitate him as a far shrewder, if still frustrated, politician. Josiah Osgood shifts the focus off the personality of Claudius and on to what his tumultuous years in power reveal about the developing political culture of the early Roman Empire. What precedents set by Augustus were followed? What had to be abandoned? How could a new emperor win the support of key elements of Roman society? This richly illustrated discussion draws on a range of newly discovered documents, exploring events that move far beyond the city of Rome and Italy to Egypt and Judea, Morocco and Britain. Claudius Caesar opens up a new perspective not just on Claudius himself, but all Roman emperors, the Roman Empire, and the nature of empires more generally.

About this title

About the Author

Josiah Osgood is Associate Professor of Classics at Georgetown University. His teaching and research touch many areas of Roman history and Latin literature, but focus especially on the late Roman Republic and early Empire. His first book, Caesar's Legacy: Civil War and the Emergence of the Roman Empire (Cambridge University Press, 2006), examined the period after the assassination of Julius Caesar. Osgood has more recently published several articles on Caesar, as well as aspects of Roman family life and education. He is currently finishing a Latin textbook for intermediate and advanced students, A Suetonius Reader, and is also co-editing with Susanna Braund A Companion to Persius and Juvenal.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0521708257
• ISBN 13: 9780521708258
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 374