Articulating Resistance under the Roman Empire

315 Pages·2023·2.377 MB·English

by  Daniel Jolowicz, Jaś Elsner

ARTICULATING RESISTANCE UNDER
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
This book explores the many strategies by which elite Greeks and
Romans resisted the cultural and political hegemony of the Roman
Empireinwaysthatavoideddirectconfrontationorsimplewarfare.By
resistanceismeantarangeofresponsesincluding‘opposition’,‘subver-
sion’, ‘antagonism’, ‘dissent’, and ‘criticism’ within a multiplicity of
cultural forms from identity-assertion to polemic. Although largely
focused on literary culture, its implications can be extended to the
worldofvisualandmaterialculture.Withinthevolumeadistinguished
groupofscholarsexplorestopicssuchastheaffirmationofidentityvia
languagechoiceinepigraphy;theuseofgenre(dialogue,declamation,
biography,thenovel)toexpressresistantpositions;identitynegotiation
inthescintillatingandoftensatiricalGreekessaysofLucian;andthe
placeofreligioninresistinghegemonicpower.
DanielJolowiczis aFellowofDowningCollege, Cambridge.Heis
theauthorofLatinPoetryintheAncientGreekNovels(2021).
Jaś Elsner is a Senior Research Fellow at Corpus Christi College,
Oxford. He is the author of numerous works including Art and the
RomanViewer(Cambridge,1995),PilgrimagePastandPresent(jointly
withSimonColeman)(1995),RomanEyes:VisualityandSubjectivityin
ArtandText(2007),TheArtoftheRoman EmpireA.D.100–450(2nd
edition,2018)andEurocentricandBeyond:ArtHistory,theGlobalTurn
andthePossibilitiesofComparison(2022).
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ARTICULATING
RESISTANCE UNDER
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
edited by
DANIEL JOLOWICZ
DowningCollege,Cambridge
JAŚ ELSNER
CorpusChristiCollege,Oxford
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108484909
doi:10.1017/9781108753425
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Firstpublished2023
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names:Jolowicz,Daniel,1986–editor,author.|Elsner,Jaś,editor,writerofintroduction.
title:ArticulatingresistanceundertheRomanEmpire/editedbyDanielJolowicz,King's
CollegeLondon,JaśElsner,CorpusChristiCollege,Oxford.
description:Cambridge;NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2023.|Thisvolume
derivesfromaseminarseriesheldatCorpusChristiCollege,Oxford,in2014undertheauspices
oftheCentrefortheStudyofGreekandRomanAntiquity,andaonedaycolloquiumhostedby
theFacultyofClassics,Cambridge,in2017.|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
identifiers:lccn2022033118(print)|lccn2022033119(ebook)|isbn9781108484909
(hardback)|isbn9781108718851(paperback)|isbn9781108753425(ebook)
subjects:lcsh:Government,Resistanceto–Rome–History.|Rome–History–Empire,30
b.c.-476a.d.|Rome–Politicsandgovernment–30b.c.-476a.d.|Civilization–Roman
influences.|Politicsandliterature–Rome–History.|Politicsandculture–Rome–History.|
Classicalliterature–Politicalaspects.|Classicalliterature–Historyandcriticism.
classification:lccdg271.a782023(print)|lccdg271(ebook)|ddc936/.03-dc23/eng/
20220915
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Contents
ListofContributors pagevii
Acknowledgements ix
ListofAbbreviations x
Introduction:ArticulatingResistance 1
DanielJolowiczandJaśElsner
part i language and identity 27
1 LinguisticResistancetoRome:AReappraisal
oftheEpigraphicEvidence 29
KatherineMcDonaldandNicholasZair
part ii genres of literary resistance 49
2 CourtroomRhetoricinImperialandLateAntique
PhilosophicalDialogues 51
DawnLaValleNorman
3 GreekDeclamationandtheArtofResistance 71
WilliamGuast
4 Plutarch’sParallelismandResistance 89
EranAlmagor
5 AGlitchintheMatrix:Aphrodisias,RomeandImperial
GreekFiction 112
DanielJolowicz
v
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vi Contents
part iii identity negotiation 137
6 PortrayingPower:Lucian’sImaginesandMarcusAurelius’
Meditations 139
NicolòD’Alconzo
7 SatireandthePolisinLucian’sTimonorTheMisanthrope 158
AneurinEllis-Evans
part iv religion and resistance 183
8 Anti-RomanSibyl(s) 185
HelenVanNoorden
9 TraditionsofResistanceinGreco-EgyptianNarratives 204
IanRutherford
10 JuliantheEmperorandtheReactionagainstChristianity:
ACaseStudyofResistancefromtheTop 219
LeaNiccolai
Epilogue:ResistingResistance 239
SimonGoldhill
References 257
Index 297
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Contributors
eran almagor
IndependentscholarbasedinIsrael
nicolo` d’alconzo
GhentUniversity
aneurin ellis-evans
UniversityCollege,Oxford
jas´ elsner
CorpusChristiCollege,Oxford
simon goldhill
King’sCollege,Cambridge
william guast
WinchesterCollege
daniel jolowicz
DowningCollege,Cambridge
katherine mcdonald
DepartmentofClassicsandAncientHistory
DurhamUniversity
lea niccolai
TrinityCollege,Cambridge
dawn lavalle norman
InstituteforReligionandCriticalInquiry
AustralianCatholicUniversity
vii
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viii ListofContributors
ian rutherford
DepartmentofClassics,SchoolofHumanities
UniversityofReading
helen van noorden
GirtonCollege,Cambridge
nicholas zair
Peterhouse,Cambridge
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Acknowledgements
ThisvolumederivesfromaseminarseriesheldatCorpusChristiCollege,
Oxford, in 2014 under the auspices of the Centre for the Study of Greek
andRomanAntiquity,andaone-daycolloquiumhostedbytheFacultyof
Classics, Cambridge, in 2017. The editors would like to extend their
gratitudetobothoftheseinstitutions,whosegenerousfinancialassistance
made these occasions possible. Our warmest appreciation is also owed to
thecontributorsandaudiencesoftheseeventsforgeneratingsuchvigorous
andrewardingconversationsaboutthisever-urgenttopic.Itisapleasureto
recordourthankstoMichaelSharpe,theeditorforCambridgeUniversity
Press who supported this project from the outset, and to the anonymous
readerwhoprovidedmuchusefulfeedback.
D.A.J.
J.E.
ix
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