On the Wings of Time : Rome, the Incas, Spain, and Peru

Historians have long recognized that the classical heritage of ancient Rome contributed to the development of a vibrant society in Spanish South America, but was the impact a one-way street? Although the Spanish destruction of the Incan empire changed the Andes forever, the civil society that did emerge was not the result of Andeans and Creoles passively absorbing the wisdom of ancient Rome. Rather, Sabine MacCormack proposes that civil society was born of the intellectual endeavors that commenced with the invasion itself, as the invaders sought to understand an array of cultures. Looking at the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century people who wrote about the Andean region that became Peru, MacCormack reveals how the lens of Rome had a profound influence on Spanish understanding of the Incan empire. Tracing the varied events that shaped Peru as a country, MacCormack shows how Roman and classical literature provided a framework for the construal of historical experience. She turns to issues vital to Latin American history, such as the role of language in conquest, the interpretation of civil war, and the founding of cities, to paint a dynamic picture of the genesis of renewed political life in the Andean region. Examining how missionaries, soldiers, native lords, and other writers employed classical concepts to forge new understandings of Peruvian society and history, the book offers a complete reassessment of the ways in which colonial Peru made the classical heritage uniquely its own.

on The Wings Of Time Is A Delight To Read. Maccormack's Meditations Are Those Of A Master Scholar And Storyteller; This Is A Very Significant And Novel Contribution To Our Understanding Of South American History.--sabine Hyland, Saint Norbert College

this Book Is Pathbreaking In Its Approach To The Historiography Of The Spanish Colonial World. Maccormack Has Exquisite Control Of The Relevant Sources, And Weaves Them Together In A Masterful And Original Way.--bruce Mannheim, University Of Michigan

chiara O. Tommasi Moreschini - Bryn Mawr Classical Reviews

this Masterful And Passionate Book Offers An Interesting Picture Of The Latin American Society Of The Sixteenth Century. It Challenges The Paradigm Of The Spanish Ruling In Latin America As Completely Negative And Dark-sided. The Book Reconstructs The Classical Roots Of A Period That Is Perhaps Not Very Familiar To A Classical Audience And, Conversely, Shows How Deeply Indebted To Greco-roman Culture Were The New Realities Of A Modern Empire, And How This Ancient Civilization And Its Canonical Authors Were Read And Perceived. Many Fine Illustrations (some By The Author Herself) Provide A Helpful Corollary To The Written Text.

Historians have long recognized that the classical heritage of ancient Rome contributed to the development of a vibrant society in Spanish South America, but was the impact a one-way street? Although the Spanish destruction of the Incan empire changed the Andes forever, the civil society that did emerge was not the result of Andeans and Creoles passively absorbing the wisdom of ancient Rome. Rather, Sabine MacCormack proposes that civil society was born of the intellectual endeavors that commenced with the invasion itself, as the invaders sought to understand an array of cultures. Looking at the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century people who wrote about the Andean region that became Peru, MacCormack reveals how the lens of Rome had a profound influence on Spanish understanding of the Incan empire.--Publisher description "Historians have long recognized that the classical heritage of ancient Rome contributed to the development of a vibrant society in Spanish South America, but was the impact a one-way street? Although the Spanish destruction of the Incan empire changed the Andes forever, the civil society that did emerge was not the result of Andeans and Creoles passively absorbing the wisdom of ancient Rome. Rather, Sabine MacCormack proposes that civil society was born of the intellectual endeavors that commenced with the invasion itself, as the invaders sought to understand an array of cultures. Looking at the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century people who wrote about the Andean region that became Peru, MacCormack reveals how the lens of Rome had a profound influence on Spanish understanding of the Incan empire."--BOOK JACKET. Table of Contents 7 Illustrations 11 Preface 15 1: Universals and Particulars: Themes and Persons 23 2: Writing and the Pursuit of Origins 51 3: Conquest, Civil War, and Political Life 88 4: The Emergence of Patria: Cities and the Law 123 5: Works of Nature and Works of Free Will 159 6: "The Discourse of My Life": What Language Can Do 192 7: The Incas, Rome, and Peru 224 Epilogue: Ancient Texts: Prophecies and Predictions, Causes and Judgments 267 Biblography 297 Index 333