The Politics of Immorality in Ancient Rome

2. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-1-009-46406-2
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 274 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 554 g

Reihe: Cambridge Classical Classics

The question this book addresses is not how immoral the ancient Romans were, but why the literature they produced is so preoccupied with immorality. The modern image of immoral Rome derives from ancient accounts which are largely critical rather than celebratory. Far from being empty commonplaces, these accusations constituted a powerful discourse through which Romans negotiated conflicts and tensions in their social and political order. This study proceeds by a detailed examination of a wide range of translated ancient texts, exploring the dynamics of their rhetoric, as well as the ends to which they were deployed. Roman moralising discourse, Edwards suggests, may be seen as especially concerned with the articulation of anxieties about gender, social status and political power. This revised edition contains a substantial new Introduction which engages with critical and scholarly developments in the study of Roman culture since the original publication.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Edwards, Catharine

Weitere Mitwirkende

Vout, Caroline

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Foreword; Preface; Introduction to the Cambridge Classical Classics edition; Introduction; 1. A moral revolution? The law against adultery; 2. Mollitia: reading the body; 3. Playing Romans: representations of actors and the theatre; 4. Structures of immorality: rhetoric, building and social hierarchy; 5. Prodigal pleasures; Bibliography; Index locorum; Index of subjects and proper names.

Über Autor(innen)

Edwards, Catharine
Catharine Edwards FBA is Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Birkbeck, University of London. She has translated Suetonius' Lives of the Caesars (2008) and recently published an edition of selected letters of the Younger Seneca (Cambridge, 2019). She was presenter of the television series Mothers, Murderers and Mistresses: Empresses of Ancient Rome (BBC Four) and is a regular contributor to the radio show In Our Time.