Federico Santangelo - Böcker

This volume gathers twelve studies on key aspects of the history of Rome and its empire between the end of the Hannibalic War (200 BCE) and the election of Tiberius Gracchus to the tribunate (134 BCE). Through this periodization, which places the focus on what intervened between two major and well-studied historical turning points in Republican history, the book aims to bring new light to the interplay between imperial expansion, political volatility, and intellectual developments, and on the various levels on which historical change unfolded. The lack of a continuous ancient narrative for this period, even late or derivative, has shaped much of the historiographical discourse about it. This volume seeks to convey a new sense of the depth of the period and establishes new connections among aspects of human agency and action that are usually considered in isolation from one another. It puts in fruitful dialogue contribution on a range of topics as diverse as climate change, oratory, agrarian laws, urban architecture, and the civilian military, among others. The result is a diverse, multifocal, non-hierarchical assessment of a critical but often understudied period in Roman history. With a well-balanced list of established and up-and-coming scholars, A Community in Transition fills a substantial historiographical gap in the study of the Roman Republic.

This volume collects twenty-six previously unpublished studies on Republican history by the late Sir Ronald Syme (1903-1989), drawn from the archive of Syme's papers at the Bodleian Library. This set of papers sheds light on aspects of Republican history that were either overlooked or tangentially discussed in Syme's published work. They range across a wide spectrum of topics, including the political history of the second century BC, the age of Sulla, the conspiracy of Catiline, problems of constitutional law, and the Roman conquest of Umbria. Each of them makes a distinctive contribution to specific historical problems. Taken as a whole, they enable us to reach a more comprehensive assessment of Syme's intellectual and historiographical profile.The papers are preceded by an introduction that places them within the context of Syme's work and of the current historiography on the Roman Republic, and are followed by a full set of bibliographical addenda.

The study of Regal and Republican Rome presents a difficult and yet exciting challenge. The extant evidence, which for the most part is literary, is late, sparse, and difficult, and the value of it has long been a subject of intense and sometimes heated scholarly discussion. This volume provides students with an introduction to a range of important problems in the study of ancient Rome during the Regal and Republican periods in one accessible collection, bringing together a diverse range of influential papers. Of particular importance is the question of the value of the historiographical evidence (i.e. what the Romans themselves wrote about their past). By juxtaposing different and sometimes incompatible reactions to the evidence, the collection aims to challenge its readers and invite them to join the debate, and to assess the ancient evidence and modern interpretations of it for themselves.

The study of Regal and Republican Rome presents a difficult and yet exciting challenge. The extant evidence, which for the most part is literary, is late, sparse, and difficult, and the value of it has long been a subject of intense and sometimes heated scholarly discussion. This volume provides students with an introduction to a range of important problems in the study of ancient Rome during the Regal and Republican periods in one accessible collection, bringing together a diverse range of influential papers. Of particular importance is the question of the value of the historiographical evidence (i.e. what the Romans themselves wrote about their past). By juxtaposing different and sometimes incompatible reactions to the evidence, the collection aims to challenge its readers and invite them to join the debate, and to assess the ancient evidence and modern interpretations of it for themselves.

This book offers a comprehensive assessment of the intersection between Roman politics, culture and divination in the late Republic. It discusses how the practice of divination changed at a time of great political and social change and explores the evidence for a critical reflection and debate on the limits of divination and prediction in the second and first centuries BC. Divination was a central feature in the workings of the Roman government and this book explores the ways in which it changed under the pressure of factors of socio-political complexity and disruption. It discusses the ways in which the problem of the prediction of the future is constructed in the literature of the period. Finally, it explores the impact that the emergence of the Augustan regime had on the place of divination in Rome and the role that divinatory themes had in shaping the ideology of the new regime.

This volume in the LACTOR Sourcebooks in Ancient History series features offers a generous selection of primary texts on Late Republican Rome (88-31 BC), with accompanying maps, a glossary and note on the sources, concordances and appendices. It provides for the needs of students at schools and universities who are studying ancient history in English translation and has been written and reviewed by experienced teachers. The texts selected include extracts from the important literary sources as well as some key inscriptions, some of which were previously difficult for students to access.

This book offers a comprehensive assessment of the intersection between Roman politics, culture and divination in the late Republic. It discusses how the practice of divination changed at a time of great political and social change and explores the evidence for a critical reflection and debate on the limits of divination and prediction in the second and first centuries BC. Divination was a central feature in the workings of the Roman government and this book explores the ways in which it changed under the pressure of factors of socio-political complexity and disruption. It discusses the ways in which the problem of the prediction of the future is constructed in the literature of the period. Finally, it explores the impact that the emergence of the Augustan regime had on the place of divination in Rome and the role that divinatory themes had in shaping the ideology of the new regime.

This book examines authority in discourse from ancient to modern historians, while also presenting instances of current subversions of the classical rhetorical ethos. Ancient rhetoric set out the rules of authority in discourse, and directly affected the claims of Greek and Roman historians to truth. These working principles were consolidated in modern tradition, but not without modifications. The contemporary world, in its turn, subverts in many new ways the weight of the author’s claim to legitimacy and truth, through the active role of the audiences.How have the ancient claims to authority worked and changed from their own times to our post-modern, digital world? Online uses and outreach displays of the classical past, especially through social media, have altered the balance of the authority traditionally bestowed upon the ancients, demonstrating what the linguistic turn has shown: the role of the reader is as important as that of the writer.

This book examines authority in discourse from ancient to modern historians, while also presenting instances of current subversions of the classical rhetorical ethos. Ancient rhetoric set out the rules of authority in discourse, and directly affected the claims of Greek and Roman historians to truth. These working principles were consolidated in modern tradition, but not without modifications. The contemporary world, in its turn, subverts in many new ways the weight of the author’s claim to legitimacy and truth, through the active role of the audiences.How have the ancient claims to authority worked and changed from their own times to our post-modern, digital world? Online uses and outreach displays of the classical past, especially through social media, have altered the balance of the authority traditionally bestowed upon the ancients, demonstrating what the linguistic turn has shown: the role of the reader is as important as that of the writer.

Gaius Marius (158/157-86 BC) has a major transformational impact on the history of the late Roman Republic. Although none of his ancestors had been a member of the Senate, he managed to reach the consulship on seven occasions, and was responsible for a series of major military victories, notably against King Jugurtha in North Africa and the Teutons and the Cimbrians in Southern Gaul and Northern Italy. Much of his internal political agenda, however, was highly controversial. His reform of the army recruitment system was regarded by some (perhaps with undue emphasis) as a crucial factor in the downfall of the Roman Republic. The final years of his life witnessed his exile, his return to Rome at the head of an armed force, and his comeback to power, shortly followed by his sudden death.This volume provides an account of the life and career of Gaius Marius, sets his achievements and failures within the wider context of the decline of the Roman Republic, and discusses his political legacy in the following decades. It also provides an assessment of the main modern interpretations of the man and his policies.

This book provides a collaborative reassessment of Pompey’s campaigns in the Greek East, the ensuing political settlement, and the consequences they had in Rome and in Italy. An international group of scholars offers a fresh reconsideration of a dossier that has received much attention over the centuries, albeit usually through the somewhat limiting (if crucially informative) prism of Greek and Latin textual sources. By adopting a more capacious approach, encompassing traditions that found room in Jewish, Byzantine, and Syriac authors, and providing new discussions of the epigraphical and numismatic evidence, this volume brings into sharper focus the ambition and significance of Pompey’s intervention. The long-term engagement of the Roman commander in the region emerges as a moment that had profound implications to the history of the Roman empire, marked a controversial turning point in internal politics, and set the Roman presence in the Eastern Mediterranean on a new footing. It was the opening act of a new season of Roman geopolitics that would go on to shape the longer-term trajectory of the empire.