Read more
This volume explores the role that republican political participation played in forging elite Roman masculinity. It situates familiarly "manly" traits like militarism, aggressive sexuality, and the pursuit of power within a political system based on power sharing and cooperation.
List of contents
List of figures; Preface; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Masculinity, individuality, and the persona; Chapter outline;
Chapter One: The Roman Vir; Power, aggression, and dominance; Tyranny and the vir malus; "Republican" masculinity; Conclusion;
Chapter Two: The Old Boys' Club in the Middle Republic; Early values: the convivial brotherhood; Father knows best: imitatio patris; The censor's task; Militiae: the bad man abroad; Militiae: the good man abroad; Domi: the bad man at home; Domi: the good man at home; Competition from within: electoral contexts; Competition from below: the business class; Conclusion;
Chapter Three: Vir and Populus in the Late Republic; A changed political world; Courting the populus; Changes to training and education; Cato and Caesar; Popular apotheosis; Vir divus: Pompey's command in the East; Conclusion;
Chapter Four: Decline and the Imperial Senate; The motif of the decline of manliness; Forging a moral consensus; Imperial electioneering; Competition in performative oratory and literature; Oppositional stances; Agricola's gloria through obsequium;
Chapter Five: Good Emperors and Good Men; Pliny's optimus princeps; Tiberius in the SC de Cn. Pisone Patre; Imperial exemplarity; Youth's alternative: Caligula and Nero;
Epilogue; Bibliography
About the author
Charles Goldberg is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Bethel University, USA. He studies Greek and Roman political culture, and has published on the history of gender, imperialism, and religion.
Summary
This volume explores the role that republican political participation played in forging elite Roman masculinity. It situates familiarly "manly" traits like militarism, aggressive sexuality, and the pursuit of power within a political system based on power sharing and cooperation.
