Writing Politics in Imperial Rome.

DOMINIK, W.J., J. GARTHWAITE and P.A. ROCHE, (ed.),

ISBN 10: 9004156712 / ISBN 13: 9789004156715

Published by Brill, 2009

About this Item

Brill, Leiden / Boston, 2009. XIII,539p. Cloth. 'Writing Politics in Imperial Rome is an important contribution to an expanding (and already large) field of research: the relationship between literary culture and politics in early imperial Rome. The contributors address different topics within this field, dealing with a variety of authors and following different approaches. The chapters collected here examine various issues that became central to Roman literature with the advent of the Principate, such as double speech, dissimulation and censorship, as well as the different strategies employed for praising or criticising political leaders (especially emperors). Topics such as aristocratic behaviour, the circulation of literary texts, and the role of reading in the creation of meaning, are discussed in a number of chapters. The book is dedicated to the analysis of 23 ancient authors, in 21 chapters. After two introductory chapters, the content is organized in a roughly chronological order. (.) Writing Politics in Imperial Rome will appeal to graduate students and researchers in general, especially as a stimulating introduction to a variety of approaches and an extensive bibliography. Anyone interested in the possibilities and limits for studying the different layers of writing in imperial texts, and the many possibilities offered by reading them will find the chapters collected here of great interest.' (FABIO FAVERSANI in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2010.12.26).

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Writing Politics in Imperial Rome.
• Publisher: Brill
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9004156712
• ISBN 13: 9789004156715
• Binding: Hardcover

About this title

Synopsis

Roman literature is inherently political in the varied contexts of its production and the abiding concerns of its subject matter. This collection examines the strategies and techniques of political writing at Rome in a broad range of literature spanning almost two centuries, differing political systems, climates, and contexts. It applies a definition of politics that is more in keeping with modern critical approaches than has often been the case in studies of the political literature of classical antiquity. By applying a wide variety of critically informed viewpoints, this volume offers the reader not only a long view of the abiding techniques, strategies, and concerns of political expression at Rome but also many new perspectives on individual authors of the early empire and their republican precursors.

About the Author

W. J. Dominik, Ph.D. (1989) in Classics, Monash University, Australia, is Professor of Classics at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He has published extensively on Roman literature and rhetoric, especially of the Flavian era, the classical tradition, and lexicography.

J. Garthwaite, Ph.D. (1978) in Classics, Cornell University, USA, is Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Otago, New Zealand. He has published on Flavian literature, principally Martial and Statius.

P. A. Roche, Ph.D. (2006) in Classics, University of Otago, New Zealand, is Lecturer in Latin at the University of Sydney, Australia. He has published on Roman epic, imperial history, and propaganda.