Legendary Rivals: Collegiality and Ambition in the Tales of Early Rome

Jaclyn Neel

ISBN 10: 9004272690 / ISBN 13: 9789004272699

Published by Brill, NL, 2014

About this Item

In Legendary Rivals Jaclyn Neel argues for a new interpretation of the foundation myths of Rome. Instead of a negative portrayal of the city's early history, these tales offer a didactic paradigm of the correct way to engage in competition. Accounts from the triumviral period stress the dysfunctional nature of the city's foundation to capture the memory of Rome's civil wars. Republican evidence suggests a different emphasis. Through diachronic analyses of the tales of Romulus and Remus, Amulius and Numitor, Brutus and Collatinus, and Camillus and Manlius Capitolinus, Neel shows that Romans of the Republic and early Principate would have seen these stories as examples of competition that pushed the bounds of propriety.

Seller Inventory # LU-9789004272699

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Legendary Rivals: Collegiality and Ambition in the Tales of Early Rome
• Publisher: Brill, NL
• Publication Date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9004272690
• ISBN 13: 9789004272699
• Binding: Hardback
• Edition: Illustrated.
• Condition: New
• Dimensions: 15.88W x 2.54H x 23.5D centimeters 15.88 centimeters width by 2.54 centimeters height by 23.5 centimeters depth
• Weight: 568 grams

About this title

Synopsis

In Legendary Rivals Jaclyn Neel argues for a new interpretation of the foundation myths of Rome. Instead of a negative portrayal of the city’s early history, these tales offer a didactic paradigm of the correct way to engage in competition.
Accounts from the triumviral period stress the dysfunctional nature of the city’s foundation to capture the memory of Rome’s civil wars. Republican evidence suggests a different emphasis. Through diachronic analyses of the tales of Romulus and Remus, Amulius and Numitor, Brutus and Collatinus, and Camillus and Manlius Capitolinus, Neel shows that Romans of the Republic and early Principate would have seen these stories as examples of competition that pushed the bounds of propriety.

About the Author

Jaclyn Neel, PhD (2012) University of Toronto, is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at York University. She has published in Classical Quarterly (forthcoming 2015) and Vetus Testamentum (2012).