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A complex and captivating portrait of Mark Antony that offers a
fresh perspective on the fall of the Roman Republic In his
lifetime, Mark Antony was a famous man. Ally and avenger of Julius
Caesar, rhetorical target of Cicero, lover of Cleopatra, and mortal
enemy of Octavian (the future emperor Augustus), Antony played a
leading role in the transformation of the Roman world. Ever since
his and Cleopatra's demise at the hands of Octavian, he has
remained famous, or infamous, a figure of recurring fascination.
His life—variegated, passionate, sensual, bold, and
tragic—inspires vigorous reactions. Nearly everyone has a view on
Antony. For Cicero, he was a distasteful though talented man.
Octavian fashioned him a dangerous failure, a Roman noble corrupted
by his appetites and his lust for Cleopatra. Later historians
adopted and adapted these themes, delivering their readers an
Antony who was irresistibly depraved, startlingly brave, sometimes
cunning, but almost always constitutionally incapable of choosing
the right side of history. From these, especially Plutarch's
compelling portrait, Shakespeare gave us the chivalrous and
unstudied Antony of Antony and Cleopatra. A Noble Ruin, the fullest
biography of Antony in English, assimilates the various, often
competing, ancient sources to provide a strong and much-needed dose
of realism to the caricature we have of this major historical
figure. The book gives ample attention to the varied cultural
circumstances in which Antony operated, including the social and
moral expectations of his republican heritage, as well as the
exceptional challenges posed by the convulsion of civil war. In
furnishing a complex and captivating portrait of Anthony, A Noble
Ruin allows readers to freshly assess his conduct, ambitions, and
attainments, as well as the turbulent age in which he lived.
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The Rise of Rome (Paperback)
Plutarch; Introduction by Jeffrey Tatum; Preface by Christopher Pelling; Translated by Christopher Pelling, Ian Scott-Kilvert
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R603
R495
Discovery Miles 4 950
Save R108 (18%)
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Ships in 9 - 15 working days
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The biographies collected in this volume bring together Plutarch's
Lives of those great men who established the city of Rome and
consolidated its supremacy, and his Comparisons with their notable
Greek counterparts. Here he pairs Romulus, mythical founder of
Rome, with Theseus, who brought Athens to power, and compares the
admirable Numa and Lycurgus for bringing order to their
communities, while Titus Flamininus and Philopoemen are portrayed
as champions of freedom. As well as providing an illuminating
picture of the first century AD, Plutarch depicts complex and
nuanced heroes who display the essential virtues of Greek
civilization - courage, patriotism, justice, intelligence and
reason - that contributed to the rise of Rome. These new and
revised translations by W. Jeffrey Tatum and Ian Scott-Kilvert
capture Plutarch's elegant prose and narrative flair. This edition
also includes a general introduction, individual introductions to
each of the Lives and Comparisons, further reading and notes. The
Rise of Rome is the penultimate title in Penguin Classics' complete
revised Plutarch in six volumes. Other titles include Rome In
Crisis, On Sparta, Fall of the Roman Republic, The Age of Alexander
and The Rise and Fall of Athens.
Publius Clodius Pulcher was a prominent political figure during the
last years of the Roman Republic. Born into an illustrious
patrician family, his early career was sullied by military failures
and especially by the scandal that resulted from his allegedly
disguising himself as a woman in order to sneak into a forbidden
religious ceremony in the hope of seducing Caesar's wife. Clodius
survived this disgrace, however, and emerged as a major political
force. He renounced his patrician status and was elected tribune of
the people. As tribune, he pursued an ambitious legislative agenda,
winning the loyalties of the common people of Rome to such a degree
that he was soon able to summon forceful, even violent,
demonstrations on his own behalf. The first modern, comprehensive
biography of Clodius, The Patrician Tribune traces his career from
its earliest stages until its end in 52 B.C., when he was murdered
by a political rival. Jeffrey Tatum explores Clodius's political
successes, as well as the limitations of his popular strategies,
within the broader context of Roman political practices. In the
process, Tatum illuminates the relationship between the political
contests of Rome's elite and the daily struggles of Rome's urban
poor.
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