Tiberius and his age : myth, sex, luxury, and power
Edward Champlin
Bok · Engelsk · 2024 · Biografier
| Medvirkende | |
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| Omfang | XVI, 269 sider
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| Opplysninger | Tiberius the wise -- Tiberius and the heavenly twins -- The odyssey of Tiberius Caesar -- The death of the phoenix -- Sex on Capri -- Mallonia -- Asellius Sabinus: culture, wit, and power in the golden age of gastronomy -- Marcus Apicius: a sense of place -- Seianus Augustus -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index. - "A radical new portrait of the infamous Roman emperor Rome's second emperor, Tiberius (42 BCE-CE 37), has traditionally been seen as a villainous hypocrite-treacherous, grasping, vindictive, and depraved. But in Tiberius and His Age, Edward Champlin draws on vast and diverse evidence to show that Tiberius was-and was seen by contemporaries to be-recognizably human and far more complex than the monster of the hostile tradition that began with Tacitus and Suetonius. Focusing on the overlapping themes of luxury, sex, power, and, especially, myth, Tiberius and His Age examines Tiberius's standing as a folkloric figure in the Roman popular imagination and his conscious use of mythological themes to consolidate his power. It argues that the striking stories of Tiberius's sexual depravity, which literary sources passed on to later generations, are ultimately incoherent fictions, the work of a brilliant fantasist who hated the emperor. The book's portraits of three important figures in Tiberius's circle-the gourmands Asellius Sabinus and Marcus Apicius and the emperor's lieutenant, Sejanus-provide new perspectives on the emperor and his age. Tiberius's passion for astrology, gastronomy, and mythology, which have often been seen as eccentric scholarly diversions, are revealed instead to be central to contemporary Roman debates and keys to understanding his personality, his power, and the lasting image of Roman emperors.Incisive, witty, and original, Tiberius and His Age presents a startingly new picture of Tiberius and the culture and politics of the early Roman Empire"--. - "As any reader of Tacitus' Annals or Suetonius' biographies knows, Rome's second emperor was a mere hypocrite when he was not a thoroughgoing villain-treacherous, grasping, depraved, and vindictive. But in Tiberius and His Age, Edward Champlin develops the overlapping themes of luxury, sex, power, and, especially, myth to show that the man was-and was seen by contemporaries to be-a far more complex and recognizable human being than the villainous hypocrite of hostile tradition. As worthy successors to the landmark Nero, the nine studies gathered here draw on vast amounts and diverse kinds of evidence, much of which will be unknown even to specialists, to present lucid arguments and startling new perspectives on Tiberius and the culture of his times. The first four chapters survey Tiberius's standing as a figure out of folkore in the popular imagination and his own quite conscious use of themes from myth to consolidate his power. The next two chapters show how striking but ultimately incoherent fictions of sexual depravity shaped the image of the emperor that our literary sources passed along to later generations. And in the book's concluding section, portraits of three men in Tiberius' orbit-the gourmands Asellius Sabinus and Marcus Apicius and the emperor's lieutenant, Sejanus-show how even lesser figures can throw new light on this pivotal period in Rome's history, and our own"--
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| ISBN | 9780691139241
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