A Changing Imperial "Res Publica": Thinking and Practicing Personal Power in Rome, from Sulla to Trajan.
Champ Vallon| N° d'inventaire | 28316 |
| Format | 15.5 x 24 |
| Détails | 384 p., paperback. |
| Publication | Paris, 2023 |
| Etat | Nine |
| ISBN | 9791026711582 |
The history of Rome in the first centuries before and after Jesus Christ is commonly thought of as a time of political rupture, marked by the replacement of a Republic undermined by the territorial expansion of the city of Romulus in favor of an Empire. This long-term transformation is often likened to the actions of a few leading figures, such as Sulla, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Augustus, Nero, and Trajan.
This period, however, was not one of inevitable change toward personal power of a monarchical nature. By studying first the words and then the actions of the main political actors of the time, this book offers an original reinterpretation, both chronological and thematic, of the recomposition of politics in Rome.
The concept of res publica imperiale allows us to propose an archaeology of the power of the emperors by exploring its multiple elements of continuity and dissociation with the "republican" Rome of Cicero. It also offers the possibility of showing that personal power, far from being reduced to a single practice in the Roman context, refers to a wide variety of theorizing efforts, but also of individual and collective enterprises, at the risk of confusion, uncertainty, and even contradiction. From this plurality arises a rewriting of a pivotal moment in the history of ancient Rome, freed from any form of linearity or teleology.
The history of Rome in the first centuries before and after Jesus Christ is commonly thought of as a time of political rupture, marked by the replacement of a Republic undermined by the territorial expansion of the city of Romulus in favor of an Empire. This long-term transformation is often likened to the actions of a few leading figures, such as Sulla, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Augustus, Nero, and Trajan.
This period, however, was not one of inevitable change toward personal power of a monarchical nature. By studying first the words and then the actions of the main political actors of the time, this book offers an original reinterpretation, both chronological and thematic, of the recomposition of politics in Rome.
The concept of res publica imperiale allows us to propose an archaeology of the power of the emperors by exploring its multiple elements of continuity and dissociation with the "republican" Rome of Cicero. It also offers the possibility of showing that personal power, far from being reduced to a single practice in the Roman context, refers to a wide variety of theorizing efforts, but also of individual and collective enterprises, at the risk of confusion, uncertainty, and even contradiction. From this plurality arises a rewriting of a pivotal moment in the history of ancient Rome, freed from any form of linearity or teleology.