Rome's Cultural Revolution - Softcover

Wallace-Hadrill, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521721601 ISBN 13: 9780521721608

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2008

Synopsis

The period of Rome's imperial expansion, the late Republic and early Empire, saw transformations of its society, culture and identity. Drawing equally on archaeological and literary evidence, this book offers an original and provocative interpretation of these changes. Moving from recent debates about colonialism and cultural identity, both in the Roman world and more broadly, and challenging the traditional picture of 'Romanization' and 'Hellenization', it offers instead a model of overlapping cultural identities in dialogue with one another. It attributes a central role to cultural change in the process of redefinition of Roman identity, represented politically by the crisis of the Republican system and the establishment of the new Augustan order. Whether or not it is right to see these changes as 'revolutionary', they involve a profound transformation of Roman life and identity, one that lies at the heart of understanding the nature of the Roman Empire.

About this title

Book Description

Drawing equally on archaeological and literary evidence, this book offers an original interpretation of the fundamental transformations of Rome's society, culture and identity during the period of its imperial expansion. It represents the culmination of a lifetime's work by one of the most important Roman historians alive today.

About the Author

Andrew Wallace-Hadrill is Professor of Classics at the University of Reading and has been Director of the British School at Rome since 1995. His previous books are Suetonius: The Scholar and his Caesars (1983), Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum (1994) and Domestic Space in the Roman World (co-edited with Ray Laurence, 1997). He is currently directing a major project on a Pompeian neighbourhood with Michael Fulford and, since 2001, has directed the Herculaneum Conservation Project. He frequently contributes to radio and television programmes on various aspects of Roman life and in 2004 was awarded an OBE for services to Anglo-Italian cultural relations.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0521721601
• ISBN 13: 9780521721608
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 546