Roman Identity: Between Ideal and Performance

Description

Recent years have seen a significant increase in (in)voluntary migratory movements. Due to economic, political, or climatologic reasons large numbers of individuals move from their countries of origin and settle in new environments and societies. As a result, (national) identity has played an increasing role in political discourse; it has shaped and reshaped national agendas, it had an impact on policies and influenced voting behaviours. The discourse on national identities is often motivated by the idea of autochthony. Yet we do not encounter this anxiety in ancient Rome, one of the longest-lasting political orders in history. Unlike the Greeks, the idea of autochthony did not take root among the Romans. On the contrary: Rome's identity was fluid, accommodating the development of highly variegated and multi-ethnic groups and societies. The purpose of this volume is to understand how the Romans represented themselves and how others defined and regarded them. It aims to identify the various narratives that contributed to the construction of Roman self-representation by raising the following questions: What stories did Romans tell about themselves? How did they enact and perform their selfhood in biographic and autobiographical sources? How did Greek and Judean sources understand and define Roman identity? And, taken together, how did these narratives influence Roman self-perception? Rather than arguing for a monolithic or coherent understanding of Romanitas, this volume explores a variety of performances and manifestations of Roman identity. It focuses both on sources where the self or the individual is the primary focus, and on more general texts dealing with specific elements related to Roman identity. FRONT MATTER LAUTARO ROIG LANZILLOTTA. INTRODUCTION. DEFINING SELF AND OTHERIN CHANGING SITUATIONS AND DISCOURSES: THE DYNAMISM AND FLUIDITY OF THE NOTION OF IDENTITY FRANCESCO GINELLI. SIMILARITIES AND DISSIMILARITIES. ROMAN IDENTITY AND MODELS OF BEHAVIOUR IN NEPOS’ PUNIC LIVES HELEN KAUFMANN. IDENTITY IN LATIN VERSE AUTOBIOGRAPHY NUNO SIMÕES RODRIGUES. LUCRETIA, TULLIA AND TANAQ UIL. SHAPING THE IDENTITY OF ROME’S WOMEN IN THE AUGUSTAN PERIOD DAVIDE MORELLI. PYTHAGOREANISM AND ROMAN IDENTITY IN PLUTARCH’S AEMILIUS PAULLUS EELCO GLAS. OVERCOMING OTHERNESS IN FLAVIAN ROME. FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS AND THE RHETORIC OF IDENTITY IN THE BELLUM JUDAICUM JOSÉ LUÍS BRANDÃO. PERFORMING ROMAN IDENTITY IN SUETONIUS’ CAESARS CLÁUDIA TEIXEIRA. WHEN THE EMPEROR IS THE OTHER. PERCEPTIONS OF IDENTITY IN THE HISTORIA AUGUSTA’S LIFE OF MAXIMINUS CARLO PELLOSO. QUIRITES AND POPULUS ROMANUS. NEW IDENTITIES AND OLD FIGURES IN ΑRCHAIC LEGAL FORMULAS FEDERICA LAZZERINI. ROME IN THE MIRROR. VARRO’S QUEST FOR THE PAST, FOR A PRESENT GOAL CLAUDIA BELTRÃO. SACRA PRIVATA PERPETUA MANENTO. A READING OF CICERO’S DE LEGIBUS ÁLIA RODRIGUES. ROMAN MAIESTAS. BECOMING IMPERIAL, STAYING REPUBLICAN KELLY NGUYEN. WHAT’S IN A NATIO. NEGOTIATING ETHNIC IDENTITY IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE INDEX RERUM AC NOMINUM