Emotion, Restraint, and Community in Ancient Rome (Classical Culture and Society)

## Abstract This book is an essay in cultural psychology. By examining the ways the ways in which emotion and talk about emotions reinforce cultural norms, it aims to understand the interplay between the emotions and the ethics of the Roman upper classes in late Republic and early Empire. The questions it addresses include the following: How (in the Roman view) is virtuous behavior shaped by the emotions? How do various Roman forms of fear, dismay, indignation, and revulsion support or constrain ethically significant behavior? How do the domains of these emotions — what they are “about” — intersect, overlap, or complement each other? How does their intersection create an economy of displeasure that aims to shape society in constructive ways? And, since the Romans’ language of emotions is not our own, how can we answer any of these questions without imposing upon the Romans our own notions of what a given emotion is? To approach these questions, the book explores the Roman counterparts to “modesty” and “shame” (verecundia, pudor), “disgust” (fastidium), “envy” (invidia), and “regret” (paenitentia) by considering the array of narratives or “scripts” to which each emotion term can refer.

Classical Culture and Society (Series Editors: Joseph A. Farrell, University of Pennsylvania, and Ian Morris, Stanford University) is a new series from Oxford that emphasizes innovative, imaginative scholarship by leading scholars in the field of ancient culture. Among the topics covered will be the historical and cultural background of Greek and Roman literary texts; the production and reception of cultural artifacts; the economic basis of culture; the history of ideas, values, and concepts; and the relationship between politics and/or social practice and ancient forms of symbolic expression (religion, art, language, and ritual, among others). Interdisciplinary approaches and original, broad-ranging research form the backbone of this series, which will serve classicists as well as appealing to scholars and educated readers in related fields.

Emotion, Restraint, and Community examines the ways in which emotions, and talk about emotions, interacted with the ethics of the Roman upper classes in the late Republic and early Empire. By considering how various Roman forms of fear, dismay, indignation, and revulsion created an economy of displeasure that shaped society in constructive ways, the book casts new light both on the Romans and on cross-cultural understanding of emotions.

Classical Culture and Society (Series Editors: Joseph A. Farrell, University of Pennsylvania, and Ian Morris, Stanford University) is a new series from Oxford that emphasizes innovative, imaginative scholarship by leading scholars in the field of ancient culture. Among the topics covered will be the historical and cultural background of Greek and Roman literary texts; the production and reception of cultural artifacts; the economic basis of culture; the history of ideas, values, and concepts; and the relationship between politics and/or social practice and ancient forms of symbolic expression (religion, art, language, and ritual, among others). Interdisciplinary approaches and original, broad-ranging research form the backbone of this series, which will serve classicists as well as appealing to scholars and educated readers in related fields. Emotion, Restraint, and Community examines the ways in w hich emotions, and talk about emotions, interacted with the ethics of the Roman upper classes in the late Republic and early Empire. By considering how various Roman forms of fear, dismay, indignation, and revulsion created an economy of displeasure that shaped society in constructive ways, the book casts new light both on the Romans and on cross-cultural understanding of emotions. Contents......Page 12 Introduction......Page 16 1. Between Respect and Shame: Verecundia and the Art of Social Worry......Page 26 2. Fifty Ways to Feel Your Pudor......Page 41 3. The Structure of Paenitentia and the Egoism of Regret......Page 79 4. Invidia Is One Thing, Invidia Quite Another......Page 97 5. The Dynamics of Fastidium and the Ideology of Disgust......Page 117 6. Epilogue—Being “Wholly” Roman......Page 147 Notes......Page 162 Bibliography......Page 220 A......Page 230 C......Page 231 H......Page 234 L......Page 235 M......Page 236 O......Page 237 P......Page 238 Q......Page 240 S......Page 241 T......Page 244 V......Page 245 X......Page 246 B......Page 248 D......Page 249 F......Page 250 G......Page 251 J......Page 252 O......Page 253 P......Page 254 S......Page 256 T......Page 257 X......Page 258 "Emotion, Restraint, and Community in Ancient Rome is an essay in cultural psychology. By examining the ways in which emotions, and talk about emotions, reinforce cultural norms, it aims to understand the interplay between the emotions and the ethics of the Roman upper classes in the late Republic and early Empire. How (in the Roman view) is virtuous behavior shaped by the emotions? How in particular do various Roman forms of fear, dismay, indignation, and revulsion support or constrain ethically significant behavior? How do the domains of these emotions - what they are "about"--Intersect, overlap, or complement each other? How does their interaction create an economy of displeasure that aims to shape society in constructive ways? Examines the ways in which emotions, and talk about emotions, interacted with the ethics of the Roman upper classes in the late Republic and early Empire. This book considers how various Roman forms of fear, dismay, indignation, and revulsion created an economy of displeasure that shaped society in constructive ways. Examines the ways in which emotions, & talk about emotions, interacted with the ethics of the Roman upper classes in the late Republic & early Empire periods. The book considers how various Roman forms of fear, dismay, indignation & revulsion created an economy of displeasure that shaped society in constructive ways