The Roman Cultural Revolution

This book places culture centre-stage in the investigation of the transformation of Rome from Republic to Empire. It is the first book to attempt to understand the so-called Roman Revolution as a cultural phenomenon. Instead of regarding cultural changes as dependent on political developments, the essays consider literary, artistic, and political changes as manifestations of a basic transformation of Roman culture. In Part I the international group of contributors discusses the changes in the cultural systems under the topics of authority, gender and sexuality, status and space in the city of Rome, and in Part II through specific texts and artifacts as they refract social, political, and economic changes. The essays draw on the latest methods in literary and cultural work to present a holistic approach to the Augustan Cultural Revolution.

• Takes holistic approach to Roman culture - integrates works from literature, art, and political history into broader account • Interdisciplinary - with contributions by international group of historians, literary critics, and art historians • Theoretically sophisticated - draws upon methods developed in anthropology, cultural studies, and literary theory

Introduction; Part I. The Transformation of Cultural Systems: 1. Mutatio morum: the idea of a cultural revolution Andrew Wallace-Hadrill; 2. The invention of sexuality in the world-city of Rome Thomas Habinek; 3. Recitatio and the reorganization of the space of public discourse Florence Dupont; Part II. Texts and Contexts: 4. The boundaries of knowledge in Virgil’s Georgics Alessandro Schiesaro; 5. Ut arte emendaturus fortunam, Horace, Nasidienus and the art of satire Ellen Oliensis; 6. Horace and the material culture of Augustan Rome: a revisionary reading Eleanor Winsor Leach; 7. Images of the city: Propertius’ new-old Rome Elaine Fantham; 8. Livy’s revolution: civic identity and the creation of the Res publica Andrew Feldherr; 9. Concealing/revealing: gender and the play of meaning in the monuments of Augustan Rome Barbara Kellum; 10. Questions of authority: the invention of tradition in Ovid’s Metamorphoses 15 Philip Hardie; 11. A preface to the history of declamation: whose speech? whose history? Martin Bloomer.