Author: Simon Swain
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521859824
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 50
Book Description
This book surveys the Severan period's many developments in literature, philosophy, religion, art, archaeology and culture.
Severan Culture
Author: Simon Swain
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521859824
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 50
Book Description
This book surveys the Severan period's many developments in literature, philosophy, religion, art, archaeology and culture.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521859824
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 50
Book Description
This book surveys the Severan period's many developments in literature, philosophy, religion, art, archaeology and culture.
The Ludi Saeculares of Septimius Severus
Author: Jussi Rantala
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1351970399
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 221
Book Description
Septimius Severus emerged victorious from the civil war of AD 193; he was not part of the traditional political elite, but instead a military commander from Africa, with a Syrian princess as his wife. To garner popular support and to legitimise his power Severus conducted an intensive propaganda campaign. This is the first monograph to examine the Secular Games (ludi saeculares), the magnificent festival which celebrated Septimius Severus as a bringer of peace and prosperity, and which also symbolised a new imperial ideology based on autocracy rather than the Antonine ideal of co-operation between ruler and Senate.
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1351970399
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 221
Book Description
Septimius Severus emerged victorious from the civil war of AD 193; he was not part of the traditional political elite, but instead a military commander from Africa, with a Syrian princess as his wife. To garner popular support and to legitimise his power Severus conducted an intensive propaganda campaign. This is the first monograph to examine the Secular Games (ludi saeculares), the magnificent festival which celebrated Septimius Severus as a bringer of peace and prosperity, and which also symbolised a new imperial ideology based on autocracy rather than the Antonine ideal of co-operation between ruler and Senate.
Man and Animal in Severan Rome
Author: Steven D. Smith
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139992465
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
The Roman sophist Claudius Aelianus, born in Praeneste in the late second century CE, spent his career cultivating a Greek literary persona. Aelian was a highly regarded writer during his own lifetime, and his literary compilations would be influential for a thousand years and more in the Roman world. This book argues that the De natura animalium, a miscellaneous treasury of animal lore and Aelian's greatest work, is a sophisticated literary critique of Severan Rome. Aelian's fascination with animals reflects the cultural issues of his day: philosophy, religion, the exoticism of Egypt and India, sex, gender, and imperial politics. This study also considers how Aelian's interests in the De natura animalium are echoed in his other works, the Rustic Letters and the Varia Historia. Himself a prominent figure of mainstream Roman Hellenism, Aelian refined his literary aesthetic to produce a reading of nature that is both moral and provocative.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139992465
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
The Roman sophist Claudius Aelianus, born in Praeneste in the late second century CE, spent his career cultivating a Greek literary persona. Aelian was a highly regarded writer during his own lifetime, and his literary compilations would be influential for a thousand years and more in the Roman world. This book argues that the De natura animalium, a miscellaneous treasury of animal lore and Aelian's greatest work, is a sophisticated literary critique of Severan Rome. Aelian's fascination with animals reflects the cultural issues of his day: philosophy, religion, the exoticism of Egypt and India, sex, gender, and imperial politics. This study also considers how Aelian's interests in the De natura animalium are echoed in his other works, the Rustic Letters and the Varia Historia. Himself a prominent figure of mainstream Roman Hellenism, Aelian refined his literary aesthetic to produce a reading of nature that is both moral and provocative.
Emperor Alexander Severus
Author: John S. McHugh
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473845823
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 503
Book Description
Alexander Severus' is full of controversy and contradictions. He came to the throne through the brutal murder of his cousin, Elagabalus, and was ultimately assassinated himself. The years between were filled with regular uprisings and rebellions, court intrigue (the Praetorian Guard slew their commander at the Emperor's feet) and foreign invasion. Yet the ancient sources generally present his reign as a golden age of just government, prosperity and religious tolerance Not yet fourteen when he became emperor, Alexander was dominated by his mother, Julia Mammaea and advisors like the historian, Cassius Dio. In the military field, he successfully checked the aggressive Sassanid Persians but some sources see his Persian campaign as a costly failure marked by mutiny and reverses that weakened the army. When Germanic and Sarmatian tribes crossed the Rhine and Danube frontiers in 234, Alexander took the field against them but when he attempted to negotiate to buy time, his soldiers perceived him as weak, assassinated him and replaced him with the soldier Maximinus Thrax. John McHugh reassesses this fascinating emperor in detail.
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1473845823
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 503
Book Description
Alexander Severus' is full of controversy and contradictions. He came to the throne through the brutal murder of his cousin, Elagabalus, and was ultimately assassinated himself. The years between were filled with regular uprisings and rebellions, court intrigue (the Praetorian Guard slew their commander at the Emperor's feet) and foreign invasion. Yet the ancient sources generally present his reign as a golden age of just government, prosperity and religious tolerance Not yet fourteen when he became emperor, Alexander was dominated by his mother, Julia Mammaea and advisors like the historian, Cassius Dio. In the military field, he successfully checked the aggressive Sassanid Persians but some sources see his Persian campaign as a costly failure marked by mutiny and reverses that weakened the army. When Germanic and Sarmatian tribes crossed the Rhine and Danube frontiers in 234, Alexander took the field against them but when he attempted to negotiate to buy time, his soldiers perceived him as weak, assassinated him and replaced him with the soldier Maximinus Thrax. John McHugh reassesses this fascinating emperor in detail.
Saints
Author: Françoise Meltzer
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226519929
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 423
Book Description
While the modern world has largely dismissed the figure of the saint as a throwback, we remain fascinated by excess, marginality, transgression, and porous subjectivity—categories that define the saint. In this collection, Françoise Meltzer and Jas Elsner bring together top scholars from across the humanities to reconsider our denial of saintliness and examine how modernity returns to the lure of saintly grace, energy, and charisma. Addressing such problems as how saints are made, the use of saints by political and secular orders, and how holiness is personified, Saints takes us on a photo tour of Graceland and the cult of Elvis and explores the changing political takes on Joan of Arc in France. It shows us the self-fashioning of culture through the reevaluation of saints in late-antique Judaism and Counter-Reformation Rome, and it questions the political intent of underlying claims to spiritual attainment of a Muslim sheikh in Morocco and of Sephardism in Israel. Populated with the likes of Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, and Padre Pio, this book is a fascinating inquiry into the status of saints in the modern world.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226519929
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 423
Book Description
While the modern world has largely dismissed the figure of the saint as a throwback, we remain fascinated by excess, marginality, transgression, and porous subjectivity—categories that define the saint. In this collection, Françoise Meltzer and Jas Elsner bring together top scholars from across the humanities to reconsider our denial of saintliness and examine how modernity returns to the lure of saintly grace, energy, and charisma. Addressing such problems as how saints are made, the use of saints by political and secular orders, and how holiness is personified, Saints takes us on a photo tour of Graceland and the cult of Elvis and explores the changing political takes on Joan of Arc in France. It shows us the self-fashioning of culture through the reevaluation of saints in late-antique Judaism and Counter-Reformation Rome, and it questions the political intent of underlying claims to spiritual attainment of a Muslim sheikh in Morocco and of Sephardism in Israel. Populated with the likes of Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, and Padre Pio, this book is a fascinating inquiry into the status of saints in the modern world.
Under Divine Auspices
Author: Clare Rowan
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107020123
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
Exploration of the role played by deities in the negotiation of imperial power under the Severan dynasty (AD 193-235).
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107020123
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 321
Book Description
Exploration of the role played by deities in the negotiation of imperial power under the Severan dynasty (AD 193-235).
Exploring Gender Diversity in the Ancient World
Author: Allison Surtees
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474447066
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280
Book Description
Explores how binary gender and behaviours of gender were actively challenged in classical antiquityProvides a focus on gender on its own terms and outside the context of sex and sexuality Offers an interdisciplinary approach, appealing to Classicists, Ancient Historians, and Archaeologists, as well as audiences working outside the ancient world, in Gender Studies, Transgender Studies, LGBTQ+ Studies, Anthropology, and Women's StudiesCovers a broad time period (6th c. BCE - 3rd c. CE) and addresses both textual evidence and material culture (vases, sculpture, wall painting)Provides history of gender identities and behaviours previously ignored or suppressed by disciplinary practicesGender identity and expression in ancient cultures are questioned in these 15 essays in light of our new understandings of sex and gender. Using contemporary theory and methodologies this book opens up a new history of gender diversity from the ancient world to our own, encouraging us to reconsider those very understandings of sex and gender identity. New analyses of ancient Greek and Roman culture that reveal a history of gender diverse individuals that has not been recognised until recently.Taking an interdisciplinary approach these essays will appeal to classicists, ancient historians, archaeologists as well as those working in gender studies, transgender studies, LGBTQ+ studies, anthropology and women's studies.
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474447066
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 280
Book Description
Explores how binary gender and behaviours of gender were actively challenged in classical antiquityProvides a focus on gender on its own terms and outside the context of sex and sexuality Offers an interdisciplinary approach, appealing to Classicists, Ancient Historians, and Archaeologists, as well as audiences working outside the ancient world, in Gender Studies, Transgender Studies, LGBTQ+ Studies, Anthropology, and Women's StudiesCovers a broad time period (6th c. BCE - 3rd c. CE) and addresses both textual evidence and material culture (vases, sculpture, wall painting)Provides history of gender identities and behaviours previously ignored or suppressed by disciplinary practicesGender identity and expression in ancient cultures are questioned in these 15 essays in light of our new understandings of sex and gender. Using contemporary theory and methodologies this book opens up a new history of gender diversity from the ancient world to our own, encouraging us to reconsider those very understandings of sex and gender identity. New analyses of ancient Greek and Roman culture that reveal a history of gender diverse individuals that has not been recognised until recently.Taking an interdisciplinary approach these essays will appeal to classicists, ancient historians, archaeologists as well as those working in gender studies, transgender studies, LGBTQ+ studies, anthropology and women's studies.
Ancient Libraries
Author: Jason König
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107244587
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 501
Book Description
The circulation of books was the motor of classical civilization. However, books were both expensive and rare, and so libraries - private and public, royal and civic - played key roles in articulating intellectual life. This collection, written by an international team of scholars, presents a fundamental reassessment of how ancient libraries came into being, how they were organized and how they were used. Drawing on papyrology and archaeology, and on accounts written by those who read and wrote in them, it presents new research on reading cultures, on book collecting and on the origins of monumental library buildings. Many of the traditional stories told about ancient libraries are challenged. Few were really enormous, none were designed as research centres, and occasional conflagrations do not explain the loss of most ancient texts. But the central place of libraries in Greco-Roman culture emerges more clearly than ever.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107244587
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 501
Book Description
The circulation of books was the motor of classical civilization. However, books were both expensive and rare, and so libraries - private and public, royal and civic - played key roles in articulating intellectual life. This collection, written by an international team of scholars, presents a fundamental reassessment of how ancient libraries came into being, how they were organized and how they were used. Drawing on papyrology and archaeology, and on accounts written by those who read and wrote in them, it presents new research on reading cultures, on book collecting and on the origins of monumental library buildings. Many of the traditional stories told about ancient libraries are challenged. Few were really enormous, none were designed as research centres, and occasional conflagrations do not explain the loss of most ancient texts. But the central place of libraries in Greco-Roman culture emerges more clearly than ever.
Figurines
Author: Jaś Elsner
Publisher:
ISBN: 0198861095
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Book Description
As touchable objects, figurines have potential for a potent agency in relation to those who use them. This volume considers the figurine as a key conceptual and material problematic in the art history of antiquity through comparative juxtaposition and deep art-historical engagement with Chinese, pre-Columbian Mesoamerican, and Greco-Roman cultures.
Publisher:
ISBN: 0198861095
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Book Description
As touchable objects, figurines have potential for a potent agency in relation to those who use them. This volume considers the figurine as a key conceptual and material problematic in the art history of antiquity through comparative juxtaposition and deep art-historical engagement with Chinese, pre-Columbian Mesoamerican, and Greco-Roman cultures.
Empire of Letters
Author: Stephanie Ann Frampton
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190915412
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 225
Book Description
Shedding new light on the history of the book in antiquity, Empire of Letters tells the story of writing at Rome at the pivotal moment of transition from Republic to Empire (c. 55 BCE-15 CE). By uniting close readings of the period's major authors with detailed analysis of material texts, it argues that the physical embodiments of writing were essential to the worldviews and self-fashioning of authors whose works took shape in them. Whether in wooden tablets, papyrus bookrolls, monumental writing in stone and bronze, or through the alphabet itself, Roman authors both idealized and competed with writing's textual forms. The academic study of the history of the book has arisen largely out of the textual abundance of the age of print, focusing on the Renaissance and after. But fewer than fifty fragments of classical Roman bookrolls survive, and even fewer lines of poetry. Understanding the history of the ancient Roman book requires us to think differently about this evidence, placing it into the context of other kinds of textual forms that survive in greater numbers, from the fragments of Greek papyri preserved in the garbage heaps of Egypt to the Latin graffiti still visible on the walls of the cities destroyed by Vesuvius. By attending carefully to this kind of material in conjunction with the rich literary testimony of the period, Empire of Letters exposes the importance of textuality itself to Roman authors, and puts the written word back at the center of Roman literature.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190915412
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 225
Book Description
Shedding new light on the history of the book in antiquity, Empire of Letters tells the story of writing at Rome at the pivotal moment of transition from Republic to Empire (c. 55 BCE-15 CE). By uniting close readings of the period's major authors with detailed analysis of material texts, it argues that the physical embodiments of writing were essential to the worldviews and self-fashioning of authors whose works took shape in them. Whether in wooden tablets, papyrus bookrolls, monumental writing in stone and bronze, or through the alphabet itself, Roman authors both idealized and competed with writing's textual forms. The academic study of the history of the book has arisen largely out of the textual abundance of the age of print, focusing on the Renaissance and after. But fewer than fifty fragments of classical Roman bookrolls survive, and even fewer lines of poetry. Understanding the history of the ancient Roman book requires us to think differently about this evidence, placing it into the context of other kinds of textual forms that survive in greater numbers, from the fragments of Greek papyri preserved in the garbage heaps of Egypt to the Latin graffiti still visible on the walls of the cities destroyed by Vesuvius. By attending carefully to this kind of material in conjunction with the rich literary testimony of the period, Empire of Letters exposes the importance of textuality itself to Roman authors, and puts the written word back at the center of Roman literature.