This cutting-edge collection of essays offers provocative studies of ancient history, literature, gender identifications and roles, and subsequent interpretations of the republican and imperial Roman past. The prose and poetry of Cicero and Petronius, Lucretius, Virgil, and Ovid receive fresh interpretations; pagan and Christian texts are re-examined from feminist and imaginative perspectives; genres of epic, didactic, and tragedy are re-examined; and subsequent uses and re-uses of the ancient heritage are probed with new attention: Shakespeare, Nineteenth Century American theater, and contemporary productions involving prisoners and veterans. Comprising nineteen essays collectively honoring the feminist Classical scholar Judith Hallett, this book will interest the Classical scholar, the ancient historian, the student of Reception Studies, and feminists interested in all periods. The authors from the United States, Britain, France and Switzerland are authorities in one or more of these fields and chapters range from the late Republic to the late Empire to the present.

This cutting-edge collection of essays offers provocative studies of ancient history, literature, gender identifications and roles, and subsequent interpretations of the republican and imperial Roman past. The prose and poetry of Cicero and Petronius, Lucretius, Virgil, and Ovid receive fresh interpretations; pagan and Christian texts are re-examined from feminist and imaginative perspectives; genres of epic, didactic, and tragedy are re-examined; and subsequent uses and re-uses of the ancient heritage are probed with new attention: Shakespeare, Nineteenth Century American theater, and contemporary productions involving prisoners and veterans. Comprising nineteen essays collectively honoring the feminist Classical scholar Judith Hallett, this book will interest the Classical scholar, the ancient historian, the student of Reception Studies, and feminists interested in all periods. The authors from the United States, Britain, France and Switzerland are authorities in one or more of these fields and chapters range from the late Republic to the late Empire to the present.

Perpetua was an early Christian martyr who died in Roman Carthage in 203 CE, along with several fellow martyrs, including one other woman, Felicitas. She has attracted great interest for two main reasons: she was one of the earliest martyrs, especially female martyrs, about whom we have any knowledge, and she left a narrative written in prison just before she went to her death in the amphitheater. Her narrative is embedded in a tripartite telling of the arrest and deaths of these martyrs, the Passio Sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis. The other two parts of her tale were written by Saturus, a fellow martyr and probably her teacher, and a nameless editor or confessor, who introduces her circumstances and group and then tells of her death after she stops writing. Her story is steeped in mystery, and every aspect of her life and death has generated much controversy. Some do not believe that she herself could have written the narrative: the circumstances of her imprisonment and the limitations of her ability to write such a rhetorically complex tale are inconceivable. Some believe that her editor was none other then Tertullian, the famous 2nd-3rd century church father and Perpetua's fellow north African. Some, including Augustine, wonder why the feast day was named only for Perpetua and Felicitas and not for her fellow male martyrs. Some believe that these martyr tales were largely fabricated or constructed in order to generate publicity for the early Christians. This book will investigate and try to make sense of all aspects of Perpetua's life, death, and circumstances: her family and life in Carthage, Christians and Romans in Carthage and in the Roman empire in this period, the comparisons of martyrs to athletes, the influence of these martyr tales upon the Acts of the Apostles and the Greek novel, the reactions of later church fathers like Augustine to her story and her popularity, and the gendering of this text.

Perpetua was an early Christian martyr who died in Roman Carthage in 203 CE, along with several fellow martyrs, including one other woman, Felicitas. She has attracted great interest for two main reasons: she was one of the earliest martyrs, especially female martyrs, about whom we have any knowledge, and she left a narrative written in prison just before she went to her death in the amphitheater. Her narrative is embedded in a tripartite telling of the arrest and deaths of these martyrs, the Passio Sanctarum Perpetuae et Felicitatis. The other two parts of her tale were written by Saturus, a fellow martyr and probably her teacher, and a nameless editor or confessor, who introduces her circumstances and group and then tells of her death after she stops writing. Her story is steeped in mystery, and every aspect of her life and death has generated much controversy. Some do not believe that she herself could have written the narrative: the circumstances of her imprisonment and the limitations of her ability to write such a rhetorically complex tale are inconceivable. Some believe that her editor was none other then Tertullian, the famous 2nd-3rd century church father and Perpetua's fellow north African. Some, including Augustine, wonder why the feast day was named only for Perpetua and Felicitas and not for her fellow male martyrs. Some believe that these martyr tales were largely fabricated or constructed in order to generate publicity for the early Christians. This book will investigate and try to make sense of all aspects of Perpetua's life, death, and circumstances: her family and life in Carthage, Christians and Romans in Carthage and in the Roman empire in this period, the comparisons of martyrs to athletes, the influence of these martyr tales upon the Acts of the Apostles and the Greek novel, the reactions of later church fathers like Augustine to her story and her popularity, and the gendering of this text.

Focusing on literary evidence, Gold explores patronage in Greece and Rome through the words of the authors, revealing the forces that patronage exerted on genius and talent. The author argues that, although the patron was in important influence in the development of the literature written for and about him, the literary product emerged as a force in itself, independent of the influence of the patron. Gold sees the relationship between patron and literature as an integrator of the public and private realms.
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Virgil, Horace, Catullus, Propertius-these are just a few of the poets whose work we would be without today were it not for the wealthy and powerful patrons upon whose support the Roman cultural establishment so greatly depended. Who were these patrons? What benefits did they give, to whom, and why? What effect did the support of such men as Maecenas and Pompey have on the lives and work of those who looked to them for aid? These questions and others are addressed in this volume, which explores all the important aspects of patronage-a topic crucial to the study of literature and art from Homer to the present day. The subject is approached from various vantage points: literary, artistic, historical. The essayists reach conclusions that dispel the many misconceptions about Roman patronage derived from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century models in England and Europe. An understanding of the workings of patronage is indispensable in helping us see how the Roman cultural establishment functioned in the four centuries of its flourishing and also in helping us read and enjoy specific poems and works of art. A book for all concerned with classical literature, art, and social history, Literary and Artistic Patronage in Ancient Rome not only deepens our understanding of the ancient world but also suggests important avenues for future exploration.