The Construction of Authority in Ancient Rome and Byzantium: The Rhetoric of Empire

by Sarolta A. Takács

• ISBN13: 9780521878654
• ISBN10: 0521878659
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-09-22
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

In The Construction of Authority in Ancient Rome and Byzantium, Sarolta Takàcs examines the role of the Roman emperor, who was the single most important law-giving authority in Roman society. Emperors had to embody the qualities or virtues espoused by Rome's ruling classes. Political rhetoric shaped the ancients' reality and played a part in the upkeep of their political structures. Takàcs isolates a reccurring cultural pattern, a conscious appropriation of symbols and signs (verbal and visual) belonging to the Roman Empire. She shows that many contemporary concepts of 'empire' have Roman precedents, which are reactivations or reuses of well-established ancient patterns. Showing the dialectical interactivity between the constructed past and present, Takàcs also focuses on the issue of classical legacy through these virtues, which are not simply repeated or adapted cultural patterns, but are tools for the legitimisation of political power, authority, and even domination of one nation over another.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Abbreviations	p. xi
Maps	p. xv
Introduction	p. xvii
Repulican Rome's Rhetorical Pattern of Political Authority	p. 1
Virtual Reality: To Win Fame and Practice Virtue	p. 1
Creation of a Public Image: Rome's Virtuous Man	p. 4
Virtue and Remembrance: The Tomb of the Scipiones	p. 16
Variations on the Theme: Cicero's Virtuous Rome	p. 24
Pater Patriae: Symbol of Authority and Embodiment of Tradition	p. 32
The Virtuous Father: Gaius Julius Caesar	p. 36
Empire of Words and Men	p. 40
Augustus's Achievements: A Memory Shaped	p. 40
Horace's Poem 3.2: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori	p. 50
Nero: What an Artist Dies with Me!	p. 55
Vespasian: The Upstart from Reate	p. 62
Trajan: Jupiter on Earth	p. 73
Maximus: Hollywood's Ideal Roman	p. 77
Appropriation of a Pattern	p. 81
Mending the Known World Order	p. 81
A New World Order	p. 89
Constantine, Very Wisely, Seldom Said "No"	p. 94
A Pagan's Last Stand	p. 99
Augustine: The Christian Cicero	p. 107
Claudian's On the Fourth Consulate of Honorius	p. 112
The Power of Rhetoric	p. 119
The Last Roman Emperor: Justinian	p. 119
The First Byzantine Emperor: Heraclius	p. 127
A View to the West: Charlemagne	p. 134
Back to the East: A Theocratic State?	p. 139
Conclusion	p. 147
Bibliography	p. 155
Ancient Authors	p. 155
Modern Authors	p. 156
Index	p. 165
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