A Companion to the Political Culture of the Roman Republic (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World)

**An insightful and original exploration of Roman Republic politics** In __A Companion to the Political Culture of the Roman Republic,__ editors Valentina Arena and Jonathan Prag deliver an incisive and original collection of forty contributions from leading academics representing various intellectual and academic traditions. The collected works represent some of the best scholarship in recent decades and adopt a variety of approaches, each of which confronts major problems in the field and contributes to ongoing research. The book represents a new, updated, and comprehensive view of the political world of Republican Rome and some of the included essays are available in English for the first time. Divided into six parts, the discussions consider the institutionalized loci, political actors, and values, rituals, and discourse that characterized Republican Rome. __The Companion__ also offers several case studies and sections on the history of the interpretation of political life in the Roman Republic. Key features include: * A thorough introduction to the Roman political world as seen through the wider lenses of Roman political culture * Comprehensive explorations of the fundamental components of Roman political culture, including ideas and values, civic and religious rituals, myths, and communicative strategies * Practical discussions of Roman Republic institutions, both with reference to their formal rules and prescriptions, and as patterns of social organization * In depth examinations of the ‘afterlife’ of the Roman Republic, both in ancient authors and in early modern and modern times Perfect for students of all levels of the ancient world, __A Companion to the Political Culture of the Roman Republic__ will also earn a place in the libraries of scholars and students of politics, political history, and the history of ideas. Political culture : a career of a concept / Karl-Joachim Hölkeskamp -- Machiavelli's Roman Republic / Ryan Balot and Nate Gilmore -- The Roman Republic and the English Republic / Rachel Foxley -- Liberty, rights, and virtue : the Roman Republic in eighteenth century France / Christopher Hamel -- A Roman revolution : classical republicanism in the creation of the American republic / Eran Shalev -- Theodor Mommsen's history of Rome and its political and intellectual context / Stefan Rebenich -- The political culture of the Republic since Syme's The Roman revolution : a story of a debate/ Alexander Yakobson -- Polybius and Roman political culture / Chiara Carsana -- Cicero : in and above the Republic's political culture / Walter Nicgorski -- Sallust / Alison Rosenblitt -- Augustan republics : Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and the politics of the past / Andrew Gallia -- Plutarch's evaluation of Roman politics and political figures / Mark Beck -- Appian, Cassius Dio, and the Roman Republic / John Rich -- The census / Guido Clemente -- Senate / Marianne Coudry -- Roman political assemblies / Tim Cornell -- Armies and political culture / Nathan Rosenstein -- Imperator and politician : the consul as the highest magistrate of the Republic / Francisco Pina Polo -- The tribunate of the plebs : between compromise and revolution / Amy Russell -- Priests / Jörg Rüpke -- Other magistrates, officials and apparitores / Eric Kondratieff -- The ciuis / Andrea Raggi -- Romans, Latins and allies / Edward Bispham -- Peregrini/nationes exterae : foreigners and the political culture of the Roman Republic / Lisa Eberle -- Republican elites : patricians, nobiles, senators, and equestrians / Hans Beck -- Matronae and politics in Republican Rome / Rohr -- On freedom and citizenship : freedmen as agents and metaphors of Roman political culture / Pedro López Barja -- Roman republican political culture : values and ideology / Robert Morstein-Marx -- From patronage to violence and bribery : towards a new political culture / Antonio Duplá -- The political culture of the plebs / Jerry Toner -- The law and the courts in Roman political culture / Jean-Michel David -- Rhetoric and Roman political culture / Catherine Steel -- Religion and rituals in Republican Rome / Francisco Marco Simón -- Myth and theatre / Uwe Walter -- Imagery and space / Peter J. Holliday -- The political culture of Rome in 218-212 BCE / Bernhard Linke -- Roman political culture in 169 BC / John A. North -- 133 BC. politics in a time of challenge and crisis / J. Lea Beness and Tom Hillard -- 88 BC / W. Jeffrey Tatum -- The year 52 BC / Egon Flaig A COMPANION TO THE POLITICAL CULTURE OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC 2 Contents 10 Notes on Editors 14 Notes on Contributors 15 Abbreviations 21 Introduction 22 1 Political Culture: Career of a Concept 25 Part I Modern Reading 42 2 Machiavelli’s Roman Republic 46 3 The Roman Republic and the English Republic 61 4 Liberty, Rights and Virtue: The Roman Republic in Eighteenth-Century France 73 5 A Roman Revolution: Classical Republicanism in the Creation of the American Republic 89 6 Theodor Mommsen’s History of Rome and Its Political and Intellectual Context 102 7 The Political Culture of the Republic since Syme’s The Roman Revolution: A Story of a Debate 114 Part II Ancient Interpreters 128 8 Polybius and Roman Political Culture 132 9 Cicero: In and Above the Republic’s Political Culture 146 10 Sallust 157 11 Augustan Republics: Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus and the Politics of the Past 167 12 Plutarch’s Evaluation of Roman Politics and Political Figures 180 13 Appian, Cassius Dio and the Roman Republic 195 Part III Institutionalised Loci 210 14 The Census 214 15 The Senate 227 16 Roman Political Assemblies 241 17 Armies and Political Culture 257 18 Imperator and Politician: The Consul as the Highest Magistrate of the Republic 269 19 The Tribunate of the Plebs: Between Compromise and Revolution 281 20 Priests 295 21 Other Magistrates, Officials and Apparitores 306 Part IV Political Actors 324 22 The Civis 328 23 Romans, Latins and Allies 339 24 Peregrini/Nationes Exterae: Foreigners and the Political Culture of the Roman Republic 353 25 Republican Elites: Patricians, Nobiles, Senators and Equestrians 368 26 Matronae and Politics in Republican Rome 383 27 On Freedom and Citizenship: Freedmen as Agents and Metaphors of Roman Political Culture 395 Part V Values, Rituals and Political Discourse 408 28 Roman Republican Political Culture: Values and Ideology 412 29 From Patronage to Violence and Bribery: Towards a New Political Culture 429 30 The Political Culture of the Plebs 443 31 The Law and the Courts in Roman Political Culture 454 32 Rhetoric and Roman Political Culture 467 33 Religion and Rituals in Republican Rome 476 34 Myth and Theatre 491 35 Imagery and Space 505 Part VI Politics in Action – Case Studies 526 36 The Political Culture of Rome in 218–212 bce 530 37 Roman Political Culture in 169 bce 545 38 133 bce: Politics in a Time of Challenge and Crisis 558 39 88 bce 576 40 The Year 52 bce 589 Index 604 EULA 617 "The decision to dedicate an entire volume to the study of the political culture of the Roman Republic reflects what is currently the most comprehensive approach to the subject traditionally labelled as Roman Republican politics (for a definition of the concept of 'political culture' and its history in the field of Roman studies see Hölkeskamp, ch. 1). This volume analyses the Roman political world through the wider lenses of 'Roman political culture', in full recognition that, alongside the working of the political and religious institutions and their related officers, a system of shared values, traditions, and communicative strategies played a fundamental role in the social and political life of Rome throughout the Republic. The subject has been at the centre of an intensely contested debate for centuries and Part 1 (supplemented by chapter 1) traces the modern history of this. Needless to say, the subject goes right back to contemporary discourse, beginning for us with Polybius, whose account perhaps already foreshadows some of the wider approaches now being advocated - and it is to the ancient accounts that Part 2 is dedicated. More recently, modern historians have broadly approached the study of the Republican political life of Rome following three main strands: first, the study of its legal system, its institutions, and rules and regulations; second, the investigation of the social interactions amongst the members of the elite (which, under the impetus of neo-Marxist approaches of the later 20th century, extended to a growing interest in their interactions with the wider Roman people and the latter's socio-economic demands); and finally, the analysis of the 'political grammar', as Meier (1980) called it, which put an emphasis on shared beliefs, values, myths, traditions, and symbolic communication of the political system. Each of these approaches has yielded important results, which, however, taken separately, provide a somewhat fragmented view of Roman political world"-- Provided by publisher

An insightful and original exploration of Roman Republic politics

In A Companion to the Political Culture of the Roman Republic, editors Valentina Arena and Jonathan Prag deliver an incisive and original collection of forty contributions from leading academics representing various intellectual and academic traditions. The collected works represent some of the best scholarship in recent decades and adopt a variety of approaches, each of which confronts major problems in the field and contributes to ongoing research.

The book represents a new, updated, and comprehensive view of the political world of Republican Rome and some of the included essays are available in English for the first time.

Divided into six parts, the discussions consider the institutionalized loci, political actors, and values, rituals, and discourse that characterized Republican Rome. The Companion also offers several case studies and sections on the history of the interpretation of political life in the Roman Republic. Key features include:

• A thorough introduction to the Roman political world as seen through the wider lenses of Roman political culture
• Comprehensive explorations of the fundamental components of Roman political culture, including ideas and values, civic and religious rituals, myths, and communicative strategies
• Practical discussions of Roman Republic institutions, both with reference to their formal rules and prescriptions, and as patterns of social organization
• In depth examinations of the ‘afterlife’ of the Roman Republic, both in ancient authors and in early modern and modern times

Perfect for students of all levels of the ancient world, A Companion to the Political Culture of the Roman Republic will also earn a place in the libraries of scholars and students of politics, political history, and the history of ideas.