Staging Memory, Staging Strife: Empire And Civil War In The Octavia University Press Scholarship Online

The turbulent decade of the 60s CE brought Rome to the brink of collapse. It began with Nero's ruthless elimination of Julio-Claudian rivals and ended in his suicide and the civil wars that followed. Suddenly Rome was forced to confront an imperial future as bloody as its Republican past and a ruler from outside the house of Caesar. The anonymous historical drama Octavia is the earliest literary witness to this era of uncertainty and upheaval. In Staging Memory, Staging Strife , Lauren Donovan Ginsberg offers a new reading of how the play intervenes in the contests over memory after Nero's fall. Though Augustus and his heirs had claimed that the Principate solved Rome's curse of civil war, the play reimagines early imperial Rome as a landscape of civil strife with a ruling family waging war both on itself and on its people. In doing so, the Octavia shows how easily empire becomes a breeding ground for the passions of discord. In order to rewrite the history of Rome's first imperial dynasty, the Octavia engages with the literature of Julio-Claudian Rome, using the words of Rome's most celebrated authors to stage a new reading of that era and its ruling family. In doing so, the play opens a dialogue about literary versions of history and about the legitimacy of those historical accounts. Through an innovative combination of intertextual analysis and cultural memory theory, Ginsberg contextualizes the roles that literature and the literary manipulation of memory play in negotiating the transition between the Julio-Claudian and Flavian regimes. Her book claims for the Octavia a central role in current debates over both the ways in which Nero and his family were remembered as well as the politics of literary and cultural memory in the early Roman empire. This Work Offers A New Reading Of The Octavia As A Staging Ground In The Memory Wars Surrounding Nero's Fall. Through An Innovative Combination Of Cultural Memory Theory And Intertextual Analysis, Ginsberg Argues That The Play Reimagines The Imperial Family As Waging War On Itself And Its People, Challenging Their Claim That With Empire Came Peace.--publisher Description. Literary Memory And Literary Memory: History And Intertext In The Octavia -- Staging Octavia? -- Overview Of Chapters -- Outline Of The Octavia -- Models Of Strife In The Domus Augusta -- Pompeian Tragedy In Neronian Rome -- Nero's Caesarean Fears -- Rereading The Aeneid's Narratives Of Loss In Octavia's Rome -- Seneca's Augustan Narrative -- Lessons In Imperial Virtue -- The Origins Of Neronian Peace -- Seneca's Age Of Iron -- Remembering Octavian In Neronian Rome -- Lessons In Family History -- Fighting For Rome? -- The Legacy Of Actium: How You End A Civil War -- Populus, Princeps And The Poetics Of Roman Revolution In The Octavia -- Vergilian Seditio In Neronian Rome -- The Octavia's Messenger And The Poetics Of Civil War -- A City Under Siege -- Citizens Of Discord -- Ode 1: The Danger Of Forgetting -- Ode 2: A Call To Arms -- Ode 3: Rome's Trojan Future -- Ode 4: The Danger Of Popular Favor -- Ode 5: The Tragic History Of Rome -- The End Of The Octavia -- Epilogue: Remembering The Julio-claudians After 69 Ce. Lauren Donovan Ginsberg. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. The turbulent decade of the 60s CE brought Rome to the brink of collapse. It began with Nero's ruthless elimination of Julio-Claudian rivals and ended in his suicide and the civil wars that followed. Suddenly Rome was forced to confront an imperial future as bloody as its Republican past and a ruler from outside the house of Caesar. The anonymous historical drama Octavia is the earliest literary witness to this era of uncertainty and upheaval. In this book, Ginsberg offers a new reading of how the play intervenes in the wars over memory surrounding Nero's fall. In order to rewrite the history of Rome's first imperial dynasty, the 'Octavia' engages with the literature of Julio-Claudian Rome, using the words of Rome's most celebrated authors to stage a new reading of that era and its ruling family. In doing so, the play opens a dialogue about literary versions of history and about the legitimacy of those historical accounts. Through an innovative combination of intertextual analysis and cultural memory theory, Ginsberg elucidates the roles that literature and the literary manipulation of memory play in negotiating the transition between the Julio-Claudian and Flavian regimes. Her book claims for the 'Octavia' a central role in current debates over both the ways in which Nero and his family were remembered as well as the politics of literary and cultural memory in the early Roman empire Cover Half_Title Staging Memory, Staging Strife Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments Texts and Abbreviations Introduction Literary Memory and Literary Memory: History and Intertext in the Octavia Staging Octavia? Overview of Chapters Outline of the Octavia 1. Models of Strife for the Domus Augusta Pompeian Tragedy in Neronian Rome Nero’s Caesarean Fears Rereading the Aeneid’s Narratives of Loss in the Octavia’s Rome Conclusion 2. Seneca’s Augustan Narrative Lessons in Imperial Virtue The Origins of Neronian Peace Seneca’s Age of Iron Conclusion 3. Remembering Octavian in Neronian Rome Lessons in Family History Fighting for Rome? The Legacy of Actium: How You End a Civil War Conclusion 4. Populus, Princeps, and The Poetics of Civil War Vergilian Seditio in Neronian Rome The Octavia’s Messenger and the Poetics of Civil War A City Under Siege Conclusion 5. Citizens of Discord Ode 1: The Danger of Forgetting Ode 2: A Call to Arms Ode 3: Rome’s Trojan Future Ode 4: The Danger of Popular Favor Ode 5: The Tragic History of Rome The End of the Octavia Conclusion Epilogue: Remembering the Julio-​Claudians After 69 c.e. Works Cited Index of Passages General Index This book offers a new reading of the Octavia as a staging ground in the memory wars surrounding Nero's fall. Through an innovative combination of cultural memory theory and intertextual analysis, Ginsberg argues that the play reimagines the imperial family as waging war on itself and its people, challenging their claim that with empire came peace