Politics of Immorality in Ancient Rome

Why was the literature of ancient Rome so preoccupied with immorality? Arguing that this powerful moralising discourse was utilised by Romans to negotiate conflicts and tensions in their social and political order, this study is of vital importance to students, scholars and non-specialists intrigued by Roman culture and society.

List of contents

Foreword; Preface; Introduction to the Cambridge Classical Classics edition; Introduction; 1. A moral revolution? The law against adultery; 2. Mollitia: reading the body; 3. Playing Romans: representations of actors and the theatre; 4. Structures of immorality: rhetoric, building and social hierarchy; 5. Prodigal pleasures; Bibliography; Index locorum; Index of subjects and proper names.

About the author

Catharine Edwards FBA is Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Birkbeck, University of London. She has translated Suetonius' Lives of the Caesars (2008) and recently published an edition of selected letters of the Younger Seneca (Cambridge, 2019). She was presenter of the television series Mothers, Murderers and Mistresses: Empresses of Ancient Rome (BBC Four) and is a regular contributor to the radio show In Our Time.

Product details

• Authors: Catharine Edwards, Catharine (Birkbeck College Edwards
• Assisted by: Vout Caroline (Foreword)
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 28.02.2025
• EAN: 9781009464116
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0946411-6
• No. of pages: 274
• Series: Cambridge Classical Classics
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature; Humanities, art, music > History > Antiquity; HISTORY / Ancient / General, Classical texts, Ancient World, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, Ancient History, Ancient history: to c 500 CE, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval, Ancient, classical and medieval texts, Ancient Greek and Roman literature