The Myths of Rome
Distributed for Liverpool University Press
Widely reviewed and celebrated on its initial publication three years ago, Peter Wiseman’s The Myths of Rome dismantles those entrenched prejudices and ambitiously explores the neglected evidence for a uniquely Roman mythology. Inspiring writers, artists, and statesmen throughout the ages, the myths of Rome—iconographic and literary—have enjoyed a rich afterlife in Western culture, from the works of Botticelli and Shakespeare to the emblems of higher learning. This lavishly illustrated volume presents the Roman myths in all their glory, each presented in a format both accessible and appealing to the modern reader. Tracing the development of the world of Roman stories over time and imaginatively reconstructing our picture of early Roman civilization, this major reevaluation of Roman history and its influence on Western culture uses the mediums of myth and art to change our vision of the ancient republic.
“By an imaginative effort of reconstruction [Wiseman presents] to the reader the history of Rome… “from the People’s point of view”. This has never been done before by anyone using the full panoply of modern scholarship and the full range of available material… of which Wiseman’s knowledge is unrivalled.” –Professor Tim Cornell, Professor of Ancient History, University of Manchester
“A major contribution to the current re-evaluation of Roman culture…” –John Bodel, Professor of Classics, Brown University, Rhode Island
“Classical myth, meaning really “Greek myth”, is an enormously popular course in American universities… Wiseman’s book will cater for a corresponding “Roman myth” course, not possible currently because of the lack of a text.” –Barry Powell, Halls-Bascom Professor of Classics, University of Wisconsin-Madison
“This is a book… that will send reviewers into rage or rapture; it will tread a path of idiosyncratic theoretical non-theory… and I think I will hate it; but it will be a memorable book all the same.” –Mary Beard, Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge, and Classics Editor of the Times Literary Supplement
List of illustrations
Acknowledgments
User’s guide
Time-chart
Maps
Mythic Rome
Historical Rome
Latium and northern Campania
The central and eastern Mediterranean
1. The Triumph of Flora
2. Latins and Greeks
3. Kings (and after)
4. The God of Liberty and Licence
5. What Novius Knew
6. History and Myth
7. Facing Both Ways
8. Power and the People
9. Caesars
10. The Dream That Was Rome
References
Bibliography
Illustration credits
Index
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