Public Opinion and Politics in the Late Roman Republic

by Cristina Rosillo-López

Overview

This book investigates the working mechanisms of public opinion in Late Republican Rome as a part of informal politics. It explores the political interaction (and sometimes opposition) between the elite and the people through various means, such as rumours, gossip, political literature, popular verses and graffiti. It also proposes the existence of a public sphere in Late Republican Rome and analyses public opinion in that time as a system of control. By applying the spatial turn to politics, it becomes possible to study sociability and informal meetings where public opinion circulated. What emerges is a wider concept of the political participation of the people, not just restricted to voting or participating in the assemblies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781108506571
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	06/01/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Cristina Rosillo-López is Senior Lecturer in Ancient History at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Seville. Her first book, La corruption à la fin de la République romaine: aspects politiques et financiers (2010), studied corruption during the Late Roman Republic, and received the Maestranza Order Research Award 2013. She has also written several articles and book chapters about politics, popular political culture, financial matters and rhetoric in the Late Roman Republic.

Table of Contents

1. Public opinion in Rome: definition, models and constraints; 2. Sociability and politics; 3. Rumours, gossips and conversations in Roman political life; 4. Political literature and public opinion (I): defining political literature; 5. Political literature and public opinion (II): genres of political literature; 6. Groups and agents of public opinion; 7. Rhetoric and public opinion: theory and practice; 8. Conclusions.