Shelley Hales – författare

The city of Pompeii has had an enormous impact on Western imaginations since its rediscovery under the ashes of the volcano that destroyed it in 79 CE. In the 250 years since excavations began, Pompeii has helped to bring the ancient world to life for everyone, from music hall audiences to gentleman scholars, and it continues to have an impact on the way in which we think about the past, and the human condition itself. The contributors to this generously illustratedvolume, who include the novelist Robert Harris, in a recorded interview, investigate how Pompeii has been used in film, fiction, and art on both sides of the Atlantic over three centuries. They explore the many different ways in which Pompeii inhabits our imaginations: as ghostly relic of humansuffering, romantic ruin, model of cultural inspiration, home of a distant, decadent culture, and comforting model for everyday life.

The city of Pompeii has had an enormous impact on Western imaginations since its rediscovery under the ashes of the volcano that destroyed it in 79 CE. In the 250 years since excavations began, Pompeii has helped to bring the ancient world to life for everyone, from music hall audiences to gentleman scholars, and it continues to have an impact on the way in which we think about the past, and the human condition itself. The contributors to this generously illustrated volume, who include the novelist Robert Harris, in a recorded interview, investigate how Pompeii has been used in film, fiction, and art on both sides of the Atlantic over three centuries. They explore the many different ways in which Pompeii inhabits our imaginations: as ghostly relic of human suffering, romantic ruin, model of cultural inspiration, home of a distant, decadent culture, and comforting model for everyday life.

Examines a diverse range of house types in an effort to understand how people imagined and articulated their place in the Roman world, from Britain to Syria. Shelly Hales considers the nature and role of domestic decoration and its role in promoting social identities. From the Egyptian themes of imperial residences in Italy, to the viticultural designs found in the rock-cut homes in Petra, this decoration consistently appeals to fantasies beyond the immediate realities of their inhabitants. Hales contends that fantasy served a key role in allowing individuals and communities to meet expectations and indulge aspirations, to confirm and to compete within the diverse empire. Employing a wide range of approaches to the study of the house and acculturation in the Roman Empire, her book serves as the first synthesis of Roman domestic architecture and offers new insights into the complexities and contradictions of being Roman.

Recent studies have highlighted the diversity, complexity and plurality of identities in the ancient world. At the same time, scholars have acknowledged the dynamic role of material culture, not simply in reflecting those identities but their role in creating and transforming them. This volume explores and compares two influential approaches to the study of social and cultural identities, the model of globalisation and theories of hybrid cultural development. In a series of case studies, an international team of archaeologists and art historians considers how various aspects of material culture can be used to explore complex global and local identity structures across the geographical and chronological span of antiquity. The essays examine the civilisations of the Greeks, Romans, Etruscans, Persians, Phoenicians, and Celts. They also dwell on contemporary thoughts of identity, cultural globalisation and resistance that shape and are shaped by academic discourses on the cultural empires of Greece and Rome.

Recent studies have highlighted the diversity, complexity and plurality of identities in the ancient world. At the same time, scholars have acknowledged the dynamic role of material culture, not simply in reflecting those identities but their role in creating and transforming them. This volume explores and compares two influential approaches to the study of social and cultural identities, the model of globalisation and theories of hybrid cultural development. In a series of case studies, an international team of archaeologists and art historians considers how various aspects of material culture can be used to explore complex global and local identity structures across the geographical and chronological span of antiquity. The essays examine the civilisations of the Greeks, Romans, Etruscans, Persians, Phoenicians, and Celts. They also dwell on contemporary thoughts of identity, cultural globalisation and resistance that shape and are shaped by academic discourses on the cultural empires of Greece and Rome.

This book explores the ways in which masks and mirrors mediated encounters, enabled performances and effected visual and social metamorphoses across the Roman empire. The complex and multifaceted roles played by masks and mirrors in Roman culture has been the subject of several sophisticated analyses, though to date there has been a lack of significant scholarly engagement with geographical context. This volume explores the experiences of classical mirror and mask users across the Roman empire, from Gaul and Africa to Asia Minor and the Levant. It explores how particular themes are instantiated across a range of imperial contexts, as well as offering carefully selected case studies for detailed analysis.At once confrontational and evasive, enabling and terrifying, mirrors and masks hold extraordinary resonance as objects, images and metaphors. As such, they had the capacity to mediate encounters, enable performances and effect visual and social metamorphoses in myriad different ways throughout the Roman Empire. Exploring these contexts can enrich our understanding of the meanings and uses of mirrors and masks in the Roman world, not only in isolation in their immediate locations, but also in the influence they might have exerted on each other. By examining how the populations of empire encountered themselves and each other through these masks and mirrors, we can also observe how classical culture allowed communication and miscommunication between these communities. Crucially, too, we can trace how Roman understandings of these objects not only shaped their own attitude to provincial users, but have also helped form perceptions that continue to mask those provincial populations today.

This book explores the ways in which masks and mirrors mediated encounters, enabled performances and effected visual and social metamorphoses across the Roman empire. The complex and multifaceted roles played by masks and mirrors in Roman culture has been the subject of several sophisticated analyses, though to date there has been a lack of significant scholarly engagement with geographical context. This volume explores the experiences of classical mirror and mask users across the Roman empire, from Gaul and Africa to Asia Minor and the Levant. It explores how particular themes are instantiated across a range of imperial contexts, as well as offering carefully selected case studies for detailed analysis. At once confrontational and evasive, enabling and terrifying, mirrors and masks hold extraordinary resonance as objects, images and metaphors. As such, they had the capacity to mediate encounters, enable performances and effect visual and social metamorphoses in myriad different ways throughout the Roman Empire. Exploring these contexts can enrich our understanding of the meanings and uses of mirrors and masks in the Roman world, not only in isolation in their immediate locations, but also in the influence they might have exerted on each other. By examining how the populations of empire encountered themselves and each other through these masks and mirrors, we can also observe how classical culture allowed communication and miscommunication between these communities. Crucially, too, we can trace how Roman understandings of these objects not only shaped their own attitude to provincial users, but have also helped form perceptions that continue to mask those provincial populations today.

This book explores the ways in which masks and mirrors mediated encounters, enabled performances and effected visual and social metamorphoses across the Roman empire. The complex and multifaceted roles played by masks and mirrors in Roman culture has been the subject of several sophisticated analyses, though to date there has been a lack of significant scholarly engagement with geographical context. This volume explores the experiences of classical mirror and mask users across the Roman empire, from Gaul and Africa to Asia Minor and the Levant. It explores how particular themes are instantiated across a range of imperial contexts, as well as offering carefully selected case studies for detailed analysis. At once confrontational and evasive, enabling and terrifying, mirrors and masks hold extraordinary resonance as objects, images and metaphors. As such, they had the capacity to mediate encounters, enable performances and effect visual and social metamorphoses in myriad different ways throughout the Roman Empire. Exploring these contexts can enrich our understanding of the meanings and uses of mirrors and masks in the Roman world, not only in isolation in their immediate locations, but also in the influence they might have exerted on each other. By examining how the populations of empire encountered themselves and each other through these masks and mirrors, we can also observe how classical culture allowed communication and miscommunication between these communities. Crucially, too, we can trace how Roman understandings of these objects not only shaped their own attitude to provincial users, but have also helped form perceptions that continue to mask those provincial populations today.