The Roman Cultural Revolution

Multi-disciplinary exploration of the Roman Revolution as a cultural phenomenon.

This book is a multi-disciplinary attempt to understand the Roman Revolution as a cultural phenomenon. Contributors draw upon the latest approaches in literary and cultural studies to integrate literature, art, and history into a new account of Roman culture during the transition from Republic to Empire.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.