Aaron P. Johnson
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199296132
- eISBN:
- 9780191712302
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199296132.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter seeks a reappraisal of Eusebius’ political theology from the standpoint of ethnic argumentation. Often characterized as laying the basis for later Christian conceptions of kingship and ...
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This chapter seeks a reappraisal of Eusebius’ political theology from the standpoint of ethnic argumentation. Often characterized as laying the basis for later Christian conceptions of kingship and Byzantine ‘caesaro-papism’, his political thought must be analyzed in the context of his portrayal of Hellenic political or civic theology (that centered upon ancestral cult sites) and his synchronism of Augustus and Christ. Eusebius criticizes Greek polis religion as fundamentally controlled by wicked daemons, who have misled the Greeks and others (including the Romans) into the abominable practices of animal, and even human, sacrifices. Even though the lifetimes of Christ and Augustus are synchronized, Eusebius does so in a way that slights Rome’s power in emphasizing the victory of Christ over daemonic activity. Through close readings of important passages, this chapter shows that Eusebius’ conceptions of Rome and its empire were more ambivalent than previously thought. Furthermore, passages from his later works, which seem to offer theological support to the imperial office, are suggested to carry similar implications to those of his earlier apologetic writings.Less
This chapter seeks a reappraisal of Eusebius’ political theology from the standpoint of ethnic argumentation. Often characterized as laying the basis for later Christian conceptions of kingship and Byzantine ‘caesaro-papism’, his political thought must be analyzed in the context of his portrayal of Hellenic political or civic theology (that centered upon ancestral cult sites) and his synchronism of Augustus and Christ. Eusebius criticizes Greek polis religion as fundamentally controlled by wicked daemons, who have misled the Greeks and others (including the Romans) into the abominable practices of animal, and even human, sacrifices. Even though the lifetimes of Christ and Augustus are synchronized, Eusebius does so in a way that slights Rome’s power in emphasizing the victory of Christ over daemonic activity. Through close readings of important passages, this chapter shows that Eusebius’ conceptions of Rome and its empire were more ambivalent than previously thought. Furthermore, passages from his later works, which seem to offer theological support to the imperial office, are suggested to carry similar implications to those of his earlier apologetic writings.
Andrew Pettinger
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199601745
- eISBN:
- 9780191741524
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199601745.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
The introduction points out that the Principate established by Augustus is usually treated as a benign and popular political structure, but that the case of M. Scribonius Drusus Libo throws doubt on ...
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The introduction points out that the Principate established by Augustus is usually treated as a benign and popular political structure, but that the case of M. Scribonius Drusus Libo throws doubt on this view. The case is connected with the conspiracy of the pseudo Agrippa Postumus, (i.e. Clemens). Drusus Libo was chosen as heir to a political movement bent on denying Tiberius his right. Finally, the reader learns that the result of the book is a re-conception of the Principate: it was brutal, destructive and met with serious opposition.Less
The introduction points out that the Principate established by Augustus is usually treated as a benign and popular political structure, but that the case of M. Scribonius Drusus Libo throws doubt on this view. The case is connected with the conspiracy of the pseudo Agrippa Postumus, (i.e. Clemens). Drusus Libo was chosen as heir to a political movement bent on denying Tiberius his right. Finally, the reader learns that the result of the book is a re-conception of the Principate: it was brutal, destructive and met with serious opposition.
Steven J. Green and Katharina Volk (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199586462
- eISBN:
- 9780191724961
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199586462.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The Astronomica of Manilius is a poem in five books, at least partly written under Augustus, which purports to teach the reader the art of astrology and the means by which an accurate horoscope may ...
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The Astronomica of Manilius is a poem in five books, at least partly written under Augustus, which purports to teach the reader the art of astrology and the means by which an accurate horoscope may be cast. It is, therefore, a text from the classical age of Latin literature which deals with a topic to whose enduring popular interest any daily western newspaper will testify. And yet, despite some notable modern exceptions, the infamously harsh verdict of Manilius’ most famous twentieth-century editor, A. E. Housman, continues to cast an imposing shadow on the poem, especially for Anglophone readers. The current volume—seeks to lift this shadow once and for all, as it brings together an international contingent of scholars for an interdisciplinary exploration of Manilius at an auspiciously significant time, close to the bimillennial celebration of the poem’s composition. The range of perspectives from which Manilius is approached in the present volume is testament to both the complexity of Manilius and the differing fruitful avenues for modern interdisciplinary enquiry. Matters of literary interest, especially generic affiliation and intertextuality, are complemented by approaches which assess the socio-political, philosophical, scientific, and astrological resonance of the poem. Moreover, as a salutary counterbalance to the relative neglect of our author in recent times, the popular reception of the poem, especially in Renaissance times, is also explored.Less
The Astronomica of Manilius is a poem in five books, at least partly written under Augustus, which purports to teach the reader the art of astrology and the means by which an accurate horoscope may be cast. It is, therefore, a text from the classical age of Latin literature which deals with a topic to whose enduring popular interest any daily western newspaper will testify. And yet, despite some notable modern exceptions, the infamously harsh verdict of Manilius’ most famous twentieth-century editor, A. E. Housman, continues to cast an imposing shadow on the poem, especially for Anglophone readers. The current volume—seeks to lift this shadow once and for all, as it brings together an international contingent of scholars for an interdisciplinary exploration of Manilius at an auspiciously significant time, close to the bimillennial celebration of the poem’s composition. The range of perspectives from which Manilius is approached in the present volume is testament to both the complexity of Manilius and the differing fruitful avenues for modern interdisciplinary enquiry. Matters of literary interest, especially generic affiliation and intertextuality, are complemented by approaches which assess the socio-political, philosophical, scientific, and astrological resonance of the poem. Moreover, as a salutary counterbalance to the relative neglect of our author in recent times, the popular reception of the poem, especially in Renaissance times, is also explored.
Steven Green (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199277773
- eISBN:
- 9780191708138
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199277773.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Poetry and Poets: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This collection of essays on Ovid's corpus of erotodidactic poetry from an international contingent of Ovidian scholars finds its origins in a major conference held at the University of Manchester in ...
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This collection of essays on Ovid's corpus of erotodidactic poetry from an international contingent of Ovidian scholars finds its origins in a major conference held at the University of Manchester in 2002. The contributors between them offer a series of perspectives on the issues that have dominated scholarship on the poems in recent decades: questions of genre, intertextuality, narratology, and reception; the socio-historical Augustan context for the poems; and the nature of ‘love’ as it is constructed in the poems. Moreover, the introduction provides a comprehensive history of scholarship on the poems in the last fifty years, in which the current papers are situated. As the first collection of critical essays on Ovid's erotodidactic poetry to appear in English, one final aim of the present volume (and its original conference) is to bring together the important cultural or national traditions – German, Italian, Anglophone (British, Irish, and American) – of scholarship on the Ars and Remedia that have so far existed largely in isolation.Less
This collection of essays on Ovid's corpus of erotodidactic poetry from an international contingent of Ovidian scholars finds its origins in a major conference held at the University of Manchester in 2002. The contributors between them offer a series of perspectives on the issues that have dominated scholarship on the poems in recent decades: questions of genre, intertextuality, narratology, and reception; the socio-historical Augustan context for the poems; and the nature of ‘love’ as it is constructed in the poems. Moreover, the introduction provides a comprehensive history of scholarship on the poems in the last fifty years, in which the current papers are situated. As the first collection of critical essays on Ovid's erotodidactic poetry to appear in English, one final aim of the present volume (and its original conference) is to bring together the important cultural or national traditions – German, Italian, Anglophone (British, Irish, and American) – of scholarship on the Ars and Remedia that have so far existed largely in isolation.
Alden A. Mosshammer
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199543120
- eISBN:
- 9780191720062
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199543120.003.0015
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity, Early Christian Studies
The date of Dionysius Exiguus for the first year of Christ in AD 1 disagrees with almost all other ancient authorities. Many scholars state that Dionysius synchronized his year 1 with the year 754 ...
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The date of Dionysius Exiguus for the first year of Christ in AD 1 disagrees with almost all other ancient authorities. Many scholars state that Dionysius synchronized his year 1 with the year 754 from the foundation of Rome. That synchronism is a modem inference that nowhere appears in the writings of Dionysius. Some have argued that Dionysius incorrectly dated the years of Augustus. Another hypothesis holds that Dionysius generated his date by adding the 532‐year Paschal period to the presumed age of Jesus at his death of 3l years, then designating as 563 the year in the tables that produced a date for Easter on 25, March. Several scholars have claimed that Dionysius derived his date from Eusebius of Caesarea. One has argued that Dionysius designated as 2000 the year in which he thought the present age would come to and end. None of these hypotheses is persuasive.Less
The date of Dionysius Exiguus for the first year of Christ in AD 1 disagrees with almost all other ancient authorities. Many scholars state that Dionysius synchronized his year 1 with the year 754 from the foundation of Rome. That synchronism is a modem inference that nowhere appears in the writings of Dionysius. Some have argued that Dionysius incorrectly dated the years of Augustus. Another hypothesis holds that Dionysius generated his date by adding the 532‐year Paschal period to the presumed age of Jesus at his death of 3l years, then designating as 563 the year in the tables that produced a date for Easter on 25, March. Several scholars have claimed that Dionysius derived his date from Eusebius of Caesarea. One has argued that Dionysius designated as 2000 the year in which he thought the present age would come to and end. None of these hypotheses is persuasive.
David Levene
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199558681
- eISBN:
- 9780191720888
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199558681.003.0018
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
There is a long-standing controversy over how far Tacitus's Annals drew on the work of the Augustan historian Pompeius Trogus. Various parallels in language have been observed, but this may be the ...
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There is a long-standing controversy over how far Tacitus's Annals drew on the work of the Augustan historian Pompeius Trogus. Various parallels in language have been observed, but this may be the result of Trogus's epitomator Justin imitating Tacitus rather than of Tacitus imitating Trogus. This chapter argues that where there is a congruence of theme, especially when allied to linguistic parallels, there are strong reasons for seeing allusions to Trogus by Tacitus. It argues further that Tacitus, while drawing on Trogus, also reworks his ideas in an ironic and critical way, seeing (for example) Augustus as a perverted recreation of Trogus' idealized primitive monarchs, or Tiberius as the embodiment of Trogus' suggestion that the true threat to the Roman empire is from within itself.Less
There is a long-standing controversy over how far Tacitus's Annals drew on the work of the Augustan historian Pompeius Trogus. Various parallels in language have been observed, but this may be the result of Trogus's epitomator Justin imitating Tacitus rather than of Tacitus imitating Trogus. This chapter argues that where there is a congruence of theme, especially when allied to linguistic parallels, there are strong reasons for seeing allusions to Trogus by Tacitus. It argues further that Tacitus, while drawing on Trogus, also reworks his ideas in an ironic and critical way, seeing (for example) Augustus as a perverted recreation of Trogus' idealized primitive monarchs, or Tiberius as the embodiment of Trogus' suggestion that the true threat to the Roman empire is from within itself.
John Jory
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The poets Statius and Lucan are both said to have written pantomimes, and this chapter considers the relationship of pantomime art to poetic texts. The chapter underlines the importance of the ...
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The poets Statius and Lucan are both said to have written pantomimes, and this chapter considers the relationship of pantomime art to poetic texts. The chapter underlines the importance of the enunciated narrative to the performance. The chapter considers a wide range of evidence about the libretti of pantomime, from disparaging comments on the quality of the words composed specifically for the pantomime dancer, to the alleged small fragments embedded in authors including Petronius. The chapter considers the possible reasons for the apparent wholesale loss of the words which accompanied pantomime, and discusses what sort of poetry and verse forms would have been most suitable; in adapting the text for a tragedy, for example, monologue would have proved much more practicable than stichomythia. The performance evidence relating to Bathyllus and Pylades, the pantomime dancers credited with introducing the art form in the reign of Augustus, is given detailed attention.Less
The poets Statius and Lucan are both said to have written pantomimes, and this chapter considers the relationship of pantomime art to poetic texts. The chapter underlines the importance of the enunciated narrative to the performance. The chapter considers a wide range of evidence about the libretti of pantomime, from disparaging comments on the quality of the words composed specifically for the pantomime dancer, to the alleged small fragments embedded in authors including Petronius. The chapter considers the possible reasons for the apparent wholesale loss of the words which accompanied pantomime, and discusses what sort of poetry and verse forms would have been most suitable; in adapting the text for a tragedy, for example, monologue would have proved much more practicable than stichomythia. The performance evidence relating to Bathyllus and Pylades, the pantomime dancers credited with introducing the art form in the reign of Augustus, is given detailed attention.
Yvette Hunt
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199232536
- eISBN:
- 9780191716003
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199232536.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter concentrates on the themes chosen for the earlier pantomimes performed in Rome at the time of Augustus' public endorsement of the medium. It suggests that the literary sources can be ...
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This chapter concentrates on the themes chosen for the earlier pantomimes performed in Rome at the time of Augustus' public endorsement of the medium. It suggests that the literary sources can be usefully supplemented by thinking about two aspects of Augustus' relationship with pantomime that have hitherto received little attention. The first is the particular myths and symbols that Augustan propaganda utilised in Public Relations activities, such as the Roman Games, and architectural decoration (Apollo, Mars and Venus, the Danaids and the Niobids); the second is the incorporation of pantomime in festivals held in his honour, such as the Augustalia and the Sebasta Games held in Naples.Less
This chapter concentrates on the themes chosen for the earlier pantomimes performed in Rome at the time of Augustus' public endorsement of the medium. It suggests that the literary sources can be usefully supplemented by thinking about two aspects of Augustus' relationship with pantomime that have hitherto received little attention. The first is the particular myths and symbols that Augustan propaganda utilised in Public Relations activities, such as the Roman Games, and architectural decoration (Apollo, Mars and Venus, the Danaids and the Niobids); the second is the incorporation of pantomime in festivals held in his honour, such as the Augustalia and the Sebasta Games held in Naples.
PAUL ZANKER
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780197262764
- eISBN:
- 9780191753947
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197262764.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
A Roman emperor was defined not simply by his own actions, but also by the manner in which he presented himself, the way he appeared in public, and the personal style he adopted in his interaction ...
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A Roman emperor was defined not simply by his own actions, but also by the manner in which he presented himself, the way he appeared in public, and the personal style he adopted in his interaction with the Senate and the people. A major element of that style lay in the manner of his domestic life and, closely related to this, how he handled the rituals associated with the imperial residence, such as the salutation and, above all, the invitations to an imperial convivium. Should the power of the emperor be put on display or concealed? In what kinds of settings should he carry out his duties? How could he simultaneously show off his status and power while playing the princeps in the manner of Augustus? It was evident from the very start that here was a fundamental flaw in the artful construction of Augustus. This is most evident in the honorific statues and other monuments associated with the worship of the emperor, in which Augustus and his Julio-Claudian successors, during their lifetimes, were represented both as civic officials in the toga and as nude figures with bodies modelled on gods and heroes. This chapter tries to understand better the new residence that Domitian built on the Palatine, at vast expense, to the plans of the architect Rabirius (according to Martial 7. 56), as a monument of imperial projection.Less
A Roman emperor was defined not simply by his own actions, but also by the manner in which he presented himself, the way he appeared in public, and the personal style he adopted in his interaction with the Senate and the people. A major element of that style lay in the manner of his domestic life and, closely related to this, how he handled the rituals associated with the imperial residence, such as the salutation and, above all, the invitations to an imperial convivium. Should the power of the emperor be put on display or concealed? In what kinds of settings should he carry out his duties? How could he simultaneously show off his status and power while playing the princeps in the manner of Augustus? It was evident from the very start that here was a fundamental flaw in the artful construction of Augustus. This is most evident in the honorific statues and other monuments associated with the worship of the emperor, in which Augustus and his Julio-Claudian successors, during their lifetimes, were represented both as civic officials in the toga and as nude figures with bodies modelled on gods and heroes. This chapter tries to understand better the new residence that Domitian built on the Palatine, at vast expense, to the plans of the architect Rabirius (according to Martial 7. 56), as a monument of imperial projection.
Jasper Griffin
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263235
- eISBN:
- 9780191734328
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263235.003.0013
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Quintus Horatius Flaccus brought his first three books of Odes before the public in 23 bc. They came with impressive sponsors, addressed to Maecenas, the second to the Princeps himself, the fourth to ...
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Quintus Horatius Flaccus brought his first three books of Odes before the public in 23 bc. They came with impressive sponsors, addressed to Maecenas, the second to the Princeps himself, the fourth to L. Sestius and M. Agrippa. Horace did not repeat, in books 1 to 3, the bold stroke of directly addressing the Princeps; that was reserved for book 4, odes 5 and 15. This chapter describes his relation to Augustus, and the relation of his poetry to the imperial propaganda. What is called ‘Augustan poetry’ is so intimately connected with the estimate of the crucial event in Roman history, the change from Republic to Empire, that both historians and literary scholars find the question fascinating.Less
Quintus Horatius Flaccus brought his first three books of Odes before the public in 23 bc. They came with impressive sponsors, addressed to Maecenas, the second to the Princeps himself, the fourth to L. Sestius and M. Agrippa. Horace did not repeat, in books 1 to 3, the bold stroke of directly addressing the Princeps; that was reserved for book 4, odes 5 and 15. This chapter describes his relation to Augustus, and the relation of his poetry to the imperial propaganda. What is called ‘Augustan poetry’ is so intimately connected with the estimate of the crucial event in Roman history, the change from Republic to Empire, that both historians and literary scholars find the question fascinating.
Max Saunders
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199579761
- eISBN:
- 9780191722882
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199579761.003.0006
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism, 20th-century Literature and Modernism
This chapter examines the converse displacement to that considered in Chapters 3 and Chapter 4, looking instead at cases where fiction‐writers colonize the forms of life‐writing, producing a variety ...
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This chapter examines the converse displacement to that considered in Chapters 3 and Chapter 4, looking instead at cases where fiction‐writers colonize the forms of life‐writing, producing a variety of fake diaries, journals, biographies, and autobiographies. It takes a different approach to most of the other chapters, consisting of brief accounts of many works rather than sustained readings of a few. A taxonomy of modern engagements with life‐writing is proposed. The chapter moves on to discuss Galton's notion of ‘composite portraiture’ as a way of thinking about the surprisingly pervasive form of the portrait‐collection. The main examples are from Ford, Stefan Zweig, George Eliot, Hesketh Pearson, Gertrude Stein, Max Beerbohm and Arthur Symons; Isherwood and Joyce's Dubliners also figure. Where Chapters 3 and Chapter 4 focused on books with a single central subjectivity, this chapter looks at texts of multiple subjectivities. It concludes with a discussion of the argument that multiple works — an entire oeuvre — should be read as autobiography.Less
This chapter examines the converse displacement to that considered in Chapters 3 and Chapter 4, looking instead at cases where fiction‐writers colonize the forms of life‐writing, producing a variety of fake diaries, journals, biographies, and autobiographies. It takes a different approach to most of the other chapters, consisting of brief accounts of many works rather than sustained readings of a few. A taxonomy of modern engagements with life‐writing is proposed. The chapter moves on to discuss Galton's notion of ‘composite portraiture’ as a way of thinking about the surprisingly pervasive form of the portrait‐collection. The main examples are from Ford, Stefan Zweig, George Eliot, Hesketh Pearson, Gertrude Stein, Max Beerbohm and Arthur Symons; Isherwood and Joyce's Dubliners also figure. Where Chapters 3 and Chapter 4 focused on books with a single central subjectivity, this chapter looks at texts of multiple subjectivities. It concludes with a discussion of the argument that multiple works — an entire oeuvre — should be read as autobiography.
Michèle Lowrie
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199545674
- eISBN:
- 9780191719950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545674.003.0010
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Recitation had become a strong venue for poets to reach a public in Augustan Rome. Horace, however, resists this medium on the grounds that it exposed a poet to the exigencies of the rat race. ...
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Recitation had become a strong venue for poets to reach a public in Augustan Rome. Horace, however, resists this medium on the grounds that it exposed a poet to the exigencies of the rat race. Epistles 1. 19 analyzes its own poet's hypocrisy in wanting to avoid social climbing while reserving his poetry for Augustus' ears.Less
Recitation had become a strong venue for poets to reach a public in Augustan Rome. Horace, however, resists this medium on the grounds that it exposed a poet to the exigencies of the rat race. Epistles 1. 19 analyzes its own poet's hypocrisy in wanting to avoid social climbing while reserving his poetry for Augustus' ears.
Michèle Lowrie
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199545674
- eISBN:
- 9780191719950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545674.003.0011
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Exile provides a situation of extreme separation between author and reader, poet, and addressee. Ovid returns to the semiotic issues he explored in the Heroides in his exile poetry. The triumph in ...
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Exile provides a situation of extreme separation between author and reader, poet, and addressee. Ovid returns to the semiotic issues he explored in the Heroides in his exile poetry. The triumph in particular is a locus for him to examine the extent to which presence is necessary to performative felicity. He concludes that his imagination is such that he neither needs to witness such a performance nor that it even needs to take place for him to be able to offer an accurate description. His own situation uncannily resembles that of Augustus, whose runs the empire through delegation: both can be present where they are not through representation. Writing and absence have advantages that compensate for his misfortune.Less
Exile provides a situation of extreme separation between author and reader, poet, and addressee. Ovid returns to the semiotic issues he explored in the Heroides in his exile poetry. The triumph in particular is a locus for him to examine the extent to which presence is necessary to performative felicity. He concludes that his imagination is such that he neither needs to witness such a performance nor that it even needs to take place for him to be able to offer an accurate description. His own situation uncannily resembles that of Augustus, whose runs the empire through delegation: both can be present where they are not through representation. Writing and absence have advantages that compensate for his misfortune.
Michèle Lowrie
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199545674
- eISBN:
- 9780191719950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545674.003.0012
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This is one of two chapters to analyze actual monuments at Rome. Augustus' Res gestae was an inscription erected on pillars outside his Mausoleum on the Campus Martius but also copied and ...
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This is one of two chapters to analyze actual monuments at Rome. Augustus' Res gestae was an inscription erected on pillars outside his Mausoleum on the Campus Martius but also copied and disseminated across the empire. As such, it is a document with a strong affiliation with writing, iteration, and death. Nevertheless, Augustus describes his own power in this document as auctoritas, a word with a strong performative dimension. The performative discourse theory of Pierre Bourdieu, Jacques, Derrida, and Judith Butler helps analyze authority's need for representation and how a productive interrelation between the media helped Augustus articulate his consolidation of power. The exemplum emerges as a figure of thought that brings together ideology, representation, pragmatics, and transmission.Less
This is one of two chapters to analyze actual monuments at Rome. Augustus' Res gestae was an inscription erected on pillars outside his Mausoleum on the Campus Martius but also copied and disseminated across the empire. As such, it is a document with a strong affiliation with writing, iteration, and death. Nevertheless, Augustus describes his own power in this document as auctoritas, a word with a strong performative dimension. The performative discourse theory of Pierre Bourdieu, Jacques, Derrida, and Judith Butler helps analyze authority's need for representation and how a productive interrelation between the media helped Augustus articulate his consolidation of power. The exemplum emerges as a figure of thought that brings together ideology, representation, pragmatics, and transmission.
Michèle Lowrie
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199545674
- eISBN:
- 9780191719950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545674.003.0013
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The Ara Pacis is a monument representing a procession. Along with Augustus' Mausoleum, sundial, and ustrinum, it formed part of a dynamic complex on the Campus Martius that united writing with ...
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The Ara Pacis is a monument representing a procession. Along with Augustus' Mausoleum, sundial, and ustrinum, it formed part of a dynamic complex on the Campus Martius that united writing with performance, static representation with ritual reenactment. As with much of Augustus poetry, it heralds occasionality while the actual occasion depicted on it is hard to pin down.Less
The Ara Pacis is a monument representing a procession. Along with Augustus' Mausoleum, sundial, and ustrinum, it formed part of a dynamic complex on the Campus Martius that united writing with performance, static representation with ritual reenactment. As with much of Augustus poetry, it heralds occasionality while the actual occasion depicted on it is hard to pin down.
Michèle Lowrie
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199545674
- eISBN:
- 9780191719950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545674.003.0014
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
The book's last section examines the literary representation in Augustan Rome of the interrelation of literature and the law as competing discourses. Both have a complex mediality and despite our ...
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The book's last section examines the literary representation in Augustan Rome of the interrelation of literature and the law as competing discourses. Both have a complex mediality and despite our initial assumption that the law wields power by contrast with literature, the latter's control of representation compensates over time for deficiencies in its authors' political power. In Sermones 2. 1, Horace stages a dialogue between himself and a jurist, Trebatius Testa, in which the libel law and the law of the genre both put pressures on satire's generic identity. Horace may lack the freedom of speech satire should have theoretically, but he still manages to raise questions about the extent to which Augustus obeys the rule of law.Less
The book's last section examines the literary representation in Augustan Rome of the interrelation of literature and the law as competing discourses. Both have a complex mediality and despite our initial assumption that the law wields power by contrast with literature, the latter's control of representation compensates over time for deficiencies in its authors' political power. In Sermones 2. 1, Horace stages a dialogue between himself and a jurist, Trebatius Testa, in which the libel law and the law of the genre both put pressures on satire's generic identity. Horace may lack the freedom of speech satire should have theoretically, but he still manages to raise questions about the extent to which Augustus obeys the rule of law.
Michèle Lowrie
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199545674
- eISBN:
- 9780191719950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545674.003.0015
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
In elegy 4. 11, Propertius uses the death of Cornelia, a member of Augustus' family, as an occasion to make a statement about the law and representation under Augustus. He deploys many of the ...
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In elegy 4. 11, Propertius uses the death of Cornelia, a member of Augustus' family, as an occasion to make a statement about the law and representation under Augustus. He deploys many of the strategies outlined throughout this book. He presents an impossible speech situation that spans various performance media and writing; he puns on lex and legere; he presents Cornelia as an exemplum in many ways like Augustus himself. The typical elegiac twist is that she is not the emperor, but rather a woman whose public dimension is entirely subsumed within her familial role.Less
In elegy 4. 11, Propertius uses the death of Cornelia, a member of Augustus' family, as an occasion to make a statement about the law and representation under Augustus. He deploys many of the strategies outlined throughout this book. He presents an impossible speech situation that spans various performance media and writing; he puns on lex and legere; he presents Cornelia as an exemplum in many ways like Augustus himself. The typical elegiac twist is that she is not the emperor, but rather a woman whose public dimension is entirely subsumed within her familial role.
Michèle Lowrie
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199545674
- eISBN:
- 9780191719950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199545674.003.0016
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
In Tristia 2, Ovid makes a case to Augustus for his return from exile. The poem's pragmatic aim ostensibly failed and the poet was never recalled. But Ovid does more than try to change his fate. His ...
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In Tristia 2, Ovid makes a case to Augustus for his return from exile. The poem's pragmatic aim ostensibly failed and the poet was never recalled. But Ovid does more than try to change his fate. His systematic punning on lex and legere invites comparison between the powerlessness of his own written discourse to the power of Augustus' ability to determine the law. But we should not end with a picture of powerful orality versus impotent writing. The end of the Metamorphoses makes it clear that the poet wins out in the end. He is the one to control Augustus' representation in his poetry — even against the emperor's will — and a future readership will retain the freedom of interpretation. Ovid's strong claim about the power of reading and writing to resist the anger of the powerful despite its pragmatic force is a fitting conclusion to this book.Less
In Tristia 2, Ovid makes a case to Augustus for his return from exile. The poem's pragmatic aim ostensibly failed and the poet was never recalled. But Ovid does more than try to change his fate. His systematic punning on lex and legere invites comparison between the powerlessness of his own written discourse to the power of Augustus' ability to determine the law. But we should not end with a picture of powerful orality versus impotent writing. The end of the Metamorphoses makes it clear that the poet wins out in the end. He is the one to control Augustus' representation in his poetry — even against the emperor's will — and a future readership will retain the freedom of interpretation. Ovid's strong claim about the power of reading and writing to resist the anger of the powerful despite its pragmatic force is a fitting conclusion to this book.
G.A. Bremner and Jonathan Conlin (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780197265871
- eISBN:
- 9780191772030
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197265871.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Early Modern History
Edward Augustus Freeman (1823–92) was one of the founding fathers of the discipline of academic history in Britain, known to medievalists in particular on account of his multi-volume History of the ...
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Edward Augustus Freeman (1823–92) was one of the founding fathers of the discipline of academic history in Britain, known to medievalists in particular on account of his multi-volume History of the Norman Conquest (1867–79). He was also known in his own time as an influential thinker on empire and federalism, as well as a fierce and acerbic critic of all things relating to history and politics. As his most famous quote ‘history is past politics, politics present history’ demonstrates, Freeman had a way of collapsing barriers of time and a gift for making his readers feel part of history rather than merely its student. Today he is regularly cited with respect to scholarly debates over British identity and historical method. In the thirty years since John Burrow and Arnaldo Momigliano first addressed it in the 1980s, the tension between Freeman’s attention to constitutional institutions on the one hand and racial character on the other has divided scholars. In the absence of a modern biography, however, gaining the full measure of Freeman’s thought has been difficult: his lifelong interests in architecture and antiquarianism in particular have been sidelined. This volume is the first attempt to bring Freeman the medievalist, political commentator, religious thinker, and student of architecture together. Freeman emerges from this analysis as a leading public intellectual of his age.Less
Edward Augustus Freeman (1823–92) was one of the founding fathers of the discipline of academic history in Britain, known to medievalists in particular on account of his multi-volume History of the Norman Conquest (1867–79). He was also known in his own time as an influential thinker on empire and federalism, as well as a fierce and acerbic critic of all things relating to history and politics. As his most famous quote ‘history is past politics, politics present history’ demonstrates, Freeman had a way of collapsing barriers of time and a gift for making his readers feel part of history rather than merely its student. Today he is regularly cited with respect to scholarly debates over British identity and historical method. In the thirty years since John Burrow and Arnaldo Momigliano first addressed it in the 1980s, the tension between Freeman’s attention to constitutional institutions on the one hand and racial character on the other has divided scholars. In the absence of a modern biography, however, gaining the full measure of Freeman’s thought has been difficult: his lifelong interests in architecture and antiquarianism in particular have been sidelined. This volume is the first attempt to bring Freeman the medievalist, political commentator, religious thinker, and student of architecture together. Freeman emerges from this analysis as a leading public intellectual of his age.
Barbara Kellum
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195389579
- eISBN:
- 9780199866496
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195389579.003.0012
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
This chapter argues that Octavian's victory at Actium and the final demise of the senatorial republic created a new world of opportunities for the municipal elite of Italy and for freedmen, which ...
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This chapter argues that Octavian's victory at Actium and the final demise of the senatorial republic created a new world of opportunities for the municipal elite of Italy and for freedmen, which both groups acknowledged, even decades after Augustus' death, by incorporating allusions to Actium—the founding moment—into the pictorial programs of houses, monuments, and civic buildings. Kellum takes as her central concern the painted representations of the battle of Actium on the fourth‐style wall in a Pompeian dining room, asking what this century‐old event might have meant for the freedmen homeowners, the Vettii. The aftermath story from this perspective sees the victory at Actium as a victory for segments of Roman society—both freedmen and municipal Italians—not well served by senatorial rule.Less
This chapter argues that Octavian's victory at Actium and the final demise of the senatorial republic created a new world of opportunities for the municipal elite of Italy and for freedmen, which both groups acknowledged, even decades after Augustus' death, by incorporating allusions to Actium—the founding moment—into the pictorial programs of houses, monuments, and civic buildings. Kellum takes as her central concern the painted representations of the battle of Actium on the fourth‐style wall in a Pompeian dining room, asking what this century‐old event might have meant for the freedmen homeowners, the Vettii. The aftermath story from this perspective sees the victory at Actium as a victory for segments of Roman society—both freedmen and municipal Italians—not well served by senatorial rule.
