Roman Presences

This collection of essays explores aspects of the reception of ancient Rome in a number of European countries from the late eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War. Rome has been made to stand for literary authority, republican heroism, imperial power and decline, the Catholic Church, the pleasure of ruins. The studies offered here examine some of the sometimes strange and unexpected places where Roman presences have manifested themselves during this period. Scholars from several disciplines, including English literature and history of art, as well as classics, bring to bear a variety of approaches on a wide range of images and texts, from statues of Napoleon to Freud's analysis of dreams. Rome's seemingly boundless capacity for multiple, indeed conflicting, signification has made it an extraordinarily fertile paradigm for making sense of - and also for destabilizing - history, politics, identity, memory and desire.

Identifies and explores Roman modes of poetry as received by twentieth- and twenty-first-century Anglo-American, German, and French poets.

Rhetoric was fundamental to education and to cultural aspiration in the Greek and Roman worlds. It was one of the key aspects of antiquity that slipped under the line between the ancient world and Christianity erected by the early Church in late antiquity. Ancient rhetorical theory is obsessed with examples and discussions drawn from visual material. This book mines this rich seam of theoretical analysis from within Roman culture to present an internalist model for some aspects of how the Romans understood, made and appreciated their art. The understanding of public monuments like the Arch of Titus or Trajan's Column or of imperial statuary, domestic wall painting, funerary altars and sarcophagi, as well as of intimate items like children's dolls, is greatly enriched by being placed in relevant rhetorical contexts created by the Roman world.

This book investigates the ways in which ideas associated with the Celtic and the Classical have been used to construct identities (national/ethnic/regional etc.) in Britain, from the period of the Roman conquest to the present day.

The study of Syria as a Roman province has been neglected by comparison with equivalent geographical regions such as Italy, Egypt, Greece and even Gaul. It was, however, one of the economic powerhouses of the empire from its annexation until after the empire’s dissolution. As such it clearly deserves some particular consideration, but at the same time it was a major contributor to the military strength of the empire, notably in the form of the recruitment of auxiliary regiments, several dozens of which were formed from Syrians. Many pagan gods, such as Jupiter Dolichenus and Jupiter Heliopolitanus Dea Syra, and also Judaism, originated in Syria and reached the far bounds of the empire. This book is a consideration, based on original sources, of the means by which Syrians, whose country was only annexed to the empire in 64 BC, saw their influence penetrate into all levels of society from private soldiers and ordinary citizens to priests and to imperial families.

Presents papers presented at an international workshop dedicated to the study of Roman common ware pottery in the Near East held in Berlin on 18th and 19th February 2010.

In AD 378 the Roman Empire had been the unrivalled superpower of Europe for well over four hundred years. And yet, August that year saw a small group of German-speaking asylum-seekers rout a vast Imperial army at Hadrianople, killing the Emperor and establishing themselves on Roman territory. Within a hundred years the last Emperor of the Western Empire had been deposed. What had gone wrong? In this ground breaking book, Peter Heather proproses a stunning new solution to one of the greatest mysteries of history. Mixing authoratative analysis with thrilling narrative, he brings fresh insight into the panorama of the empire's end, from the bejewelled splendour of the imperial court to the dripping forests of "Barbaricum". He examines the extraordinary success story that was the Roman Empire and uses a new understanding of its continued strength and enduring limitations to show how Europe's barbarians, transformed by centuries of contact with Rome, eventually pulled it apart. 'a colourful and enthralling narrative . . .an account full of keen wit and an infectious relish for the period.’ Independent On Sunday ‘provides the reader with drama and lurid colour as well as analysis . . . succeeds triumphantly.’ Sunday Times ‘a fascinating story, full of ups and downs and memorable characters’ Spectator ‘bursting with action . . .one can recommend to anyone, whether specialist or interested amateur.’ History Today 'a rare combination of scholarship and flair for narrative' Tom Holland

Coins were the most deliberate of all symbols of public communal identities, yet the Roman historian will look in vain for any good introduction to, or systematic treatment of, the subject. Sixteen leading international scholars have sought to address this need by producing this authoritative collection of essays, which ranges over the whole Roman world from Britain to Egypt, from 200 BC to AD 300. The subject is approached through surveys of the broad geographical and chronological structure of the evidence, through chapters which focus on ways of expressing identity, and through regional studies which place the numismatic evidence in local context.