Whither Quo Vadis?

Ruth Scodel is D. R. Shackleton Bailey Collegiate Professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Michigan. She is the author of Listening to Homer (2002) and Epic Facework: Self-Presentation and Social Interaction in Homer (2008).Anja Bettenworth is Assistant Professor of Latin at the University of Münster. She is the author of Gastmahlszenen in der antiken Epik von Homer bis Claudian. Diachrone Untersuchungen zur Szenentypik (2004).

"Recommended [to] all readers." (CHOICE, March 2010) “There is much to admire in this book. It has a clear focus and a good set of questions. It knows its way round the five films and around the classical sources, and is prepared to look at broader issues in relation to the close reading of the films.” (Bryn Mawr Classical Review, March 2009)

• List of Illustrations ixAcknowledgments x1 Novel and Film 12 Adapting the Narrative 16Sienkiewicz’s Novel: Adapting the Story 16Focalizers, Judgments, and Petronius 22Petronius as Focal Character 28Seeing and Mapping Rome 423 Gender and Ethnicity 55Marcus and Lygia 55Petronius and Eunice 57Pomponia 61Gender Roles in Public and Private Life 63Ethnicity and Gender Roles in the 1985 Version 70Adaptations in the 2001 Version 804 Political Institutions, Political Subtexts 88Political Implications of the Silent Versions 91Fascists and Communists: The 1951 and 2001 Films 94The Complex Allusions of the 1985 Miniseries 97Foreign Policy in the Films 116The Military in the 1951 Version 118The Arrival of Galba 1245 The Roman People 1396 Religion and Religious Authority in Quo Vadis? 173Paganism 173Judaism 178Christianity: Ritual, Theology, and Confl ict in Sienkiewicz’s Novel 185Transmitting a Tradition: Sermons in Novel and Film 188The Representation of the Scriptures 190Radicals: Crispus 194Mainstream Christianity: Peter and Paul 200Conclusion 2117 Conclusions 2198 Exkursus: Chilo’s Mother 223A Peculiarity of the German Translations of Quo Vadis? 223Description of the Films 227Synopsis of the Novel and the Film Versions of Quo Vadis 230References 266Index of Ancient Sources 275Index of Personal Names 279Index of Things and Places 285