Reflections of Romanity: Discourses of Subjectivity in Imperial Rome
Reflections of Romanity: Discourses of Subjectivity in Imperial Rome, by Richard Alston and Efrossini Spentzou, challenges and provokes debate about how we understand the Roman world, and ourselves, by engagement with the early imperial literature of the mid-first to early second-century CE. Alston and Spentzou explore Roman subjectivity to illuminate a society whose fragmentation presented considerable challenges to contemporary thinkers. These members of the elite and intellectual classes faced complex ideological choices in relation to how they could define themselves in relation to imperial society.
 
Reflections of Romanity draws on present-day reflections on selfhood while at the same time uncovering processes of self-analysis, notably by tracing individuals’ reactions to moments of crisis or uncertainty. Thus it sets up a dialogue between the ancient texts it discusses, including the epics of Lucan and Statius, the letters of the Younger Pliny, Silius Italicus’ Punica, and Tacitus’ historical writings, and works of the modern period. Given the importance of classical thinking about the self in modern thought, this book addresses both a classical and a philosophical/literary critical audience.
 
 
"1111582355"
Reflections of Romanity: Discourses of Subjectivity in Imperial Rome
Reflections of Romanity: Discourses of Subjectivity in Imperial Rome, by Richard Alston and Efrossini Spentzou, challenges and provokes debate about how we understand the Roman world, and ourselves, by engagement with the early imperial literature of the mid-first to early second-century CE. Alston and Spentzou explore Roman subjectivity to illuminate a society whose fragmentation presented considerable challenges to contemporary thinkers. These members of the elite and intellectual classes faced complex ideological choices in relation to how they could define themselves in relation to imperial society.
 
Reflections of Romanity draws on present-day reflections on selfhood while at the same time uncovering processes of self-analysis, notably by tracing individuals’ reactions to moments of crisis or uncertainty. Thus it sets up a dialogue between the ancient texts it discusses, including the epics of Lucan and Statius, the letters of the Younger Pliny, Silius Italicus’ Punica, and Tacitus’ historical writings, and works of the modern period. Given the importance of classical thinking about the self in modern thought, this book addresses both a classical and a philosophical/literary critical audience.
 
 
75.95 In Stock
Reflections of Romanity: Discourses of Subjectivity in Imperial Rome

Reflections of Romanity: Discourses of Subjectivity in Imperial Rome

Reflections of Romanity: Discourses of Subjectivity in Imperial Rome

Reflections of Romanity: Discourses of Subjectivity in Imperial Rome

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$75.95 
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Overview

Reflections of Romanity: Discourses of Subjectivity in Imperial Rome, by Richard Alston and Efrossini Spentzou, challenges and provokes debate about how we understand the Roman world, and ourselves, by engagement with the early imperial literature of the mid-first to early second-century CE. Alston and Spentzou explore Roman subjectivity to illuminate a society whose fragmentation presented considerable challenges to contemporary thinkers. These members of the elite and intellectual classes faced complex ideological choices in relation to how they could define themselves in relation to imperial society.
 
Reflections of Romanity draws on present-day reflections on selfhood while at the same time uncovering processes of self-analysis, notably by tracing individuals’ reactions to moments of crisis or uncertainty. Thus it sets up a dialogue between the ancient texts it discusses, including the epics of Lucan and Statius, the letters of the Younger Pliny, Silius Italicus’ Punica, and Tacitus’ historical writings, and works of the modern period. Given the importance of classical thinking about the self in modern thought, this book addresses both a classical and a philosophical/literary critical audience.
 
 

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780814211496
Publisher: Ohio State University Press
Publication date: 02/01/2011
Series: Classical Memories/Modern Identitie
Pages: 312
Product dimensions: 6.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Richard Alston is professor of Roman history and Efrossini Spentzou is senior lecturer in Latin, both at Royal Holloway, University of London.

Date of Birth:

May 21, 1923

Table of Contents

Series Editors' Foreword ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Chapter 1 Introduction. Talking to Strangers: Classical Readings and the Modern Self 1

Chapter 2 Home Alone: Terror and Power 27

Chapter 3 Death and Love: Rationality and Passion 65

Chapter 4 Private Partners and Family Dramas 107

Chapter 5 Living with the Past: Tradition, Invention, and History 141

Chapter 6 Imperial Dreams: Being Roman in a World Empire 193

Chapter 7 Epilogue 225

Bibliography 231

Index 241

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