Remembering the Roman People
Essays on Late-Republican Politics and Literature
Published on 25. December 2008
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-0-19-923976-4 (ISBN)
Description
In the Roman republic, only the People could pass laws, only the People could elect politicians to office, and the very word republica meant 'the People's business'. So why is it always assumed that the republic was an oligarchy? The main reason is that most of what we know about it we know from Cicero, a great man and a great writer, but also an active right-wing politician who took it for granted that what was good for a small minority of self-styled 'best people' (optimates) was good for the republic as a whole. T. P. Wiseman interprets the last century of the republic on the assumption that the People had a coherent political ideology of its own, and that the optimates, with their belief in justified murder, were responsible for the breakdown of the republic in civil war.
Reviews / Votes
This book is ground-breaking for its simple suggestion that the ideology of Roman popular politics is not entirely lost to us, and for its virtuoso demonstration that, fragmentary, inadequate and intensively studied as our sources for the pe riod are, they may still have more to tell us. * Mary Beard, Times Literary Supplement * a very interesting and important book * M.G.L. Cooley, Journal of Classics Teaching * All students of the Roman Republic will profit from the quality of scholarship in this volume, as well as from the whole concept of imagining a fresh perspective on a well-known historical period. * Harriet Flower, Journal of Roman Studies * A book by Peter Wiseman promises a congenial blend of erudition and provocation - and this one does not disappoint ... this is a terrific book, not least because it exhibits a profound passion for the facts of the past, and the truths they reveal. * W. Jeffrey Tatum, Hermathena *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
3 line drawings, 3 photographs
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 145 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
532 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-923976-4 (9780199239764)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
06/2011
Oxford University Press
€59.41
Shipment within 15-20 days
E-Book
06/2011
OUP eBook
€37.99
Available for download
Person
T. P. Wiseman is Emeritus Professor of Classics, University of Exeter.
Content
1. Roman History and the Ideological Vacuum ; 2. The Fall and Rise of Gaius Geta ; 3. Licinius Macer, Juno Moneta and Veiovis ; 4. Romulus' Rome of Equals ; 5. Macaulay on Cicero ; 6. Cicero and Varro ; 7. Marcopolis ; 8. The Political Stage ; 9. The Ethics of Murder ; 10. After the Ides of March ; Epilogue