Experiencing Rome : culture, identity and power in the Roman Empire ; [essays, written for an Open University course on "Culture, identity and power in the Roman Empire"

Unique in their broad-based coverage the twelve essays in this book provide a fresh look at some central aspects of Roman culture and society. Front Cover 1 Experiencing Rome 3 Copyright Page 4 Contents 5 Preface 7 Contributors 8 Key dates 9 Maps 11 Acknowledgements 15 Introduction: Janet Huskinson 16 Essay One: Looking for culture, identity and power: Janet Huskinson 18 Essay Two: Communicating culture, identity and power: Richard Miles 43 Essay Three: The city of Rome: capital and symbol: Valerie Hope 77 Essay Four: Élite culture and the identity of empire: Janet Huskinson 108 Essay Five: Status and identity in the Roman world: Valerie Hope 137 Essay Six: Reading gender in the Roman world: Dominic Montserrat 165 Essay Seven: Power, culture and identity in the roman economy: Phil Perkins 194 Essay Eight: Urbanism and urbanization in the Roman world: Lisa Nevett and Phil Perkins 224 Essay Nine: Religion in the Roman wold: James Rives 256 Essay Ten: The language of dissent: Paula James 287 Essay Eleven: Jews and Jewish communities in the Roman empire: Margaret Williams 314 Essay Twelve: Concepts of peace: Lorna Hardwick 343 Index 377 The twelve essays in this book use material from across the empire in an interdisciplinary discussion. Specially written for an Open University course on 'Culture, Identity and Power in the Roman Empire', they offer an up-to-date analysis from a range of viewpoints. Together they provide a fresh look at some central aspects of Roman culture and society. [publisher] The twelve essays in this book use material from across the Roman empire in an attempt to determine the ways in which Rome was "experienced" by the many different groups living and thriving in its society. The essays offer an up-to-date analysis from a range of viewpoints, and provide a fresh look at some central aspects of Roman culture and society. Sometime during the second or early third century AD mosaic pavements were laid in a wealthy house in the north African town of Thysdrus, the modern El Djem in Tunisia (Blanchard-Lemee et al., 1996, pp.18-34). First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.