Rome the Cosmopolis

by Catharine Edwards, Greg Woolf

Overview

Ancient Rome was a vast and varied metropolis. By coercion and seduction it attracted a population from every province of its empire, as well as foodstuffs, building materials and entertainment from all over the world. What impact did the possession of empire have on the city itself? How did its inhabitants, visitors and subjects comprehend its unique role? How did Rome stay Roman when it encompassed the world? This collection of essays seeks to explore key aspects of the relationship between Rome and its empire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521030113
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/02/2006
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	268
Product dimensions:	6.06(w) x 9.17(h) x 0.55(d)

About the Author

Catharine Edwards is Lecturer in Ancient History at Birkbeck College, University of London. Her previous books include Writing Rome: Textual Approaches to the City (1996; HB 0521 550807; PB 0521 559529).

Greg Woolf is Professor of Ancient History at the University of St Andrews. His previous books include Becoming Roman: The Origins of Provincial Civilization in Gaul (1998 HB 0521 414458; 2000 PB 0521 789826).

Table of Contents

List of figures; List of contributors; Preface; List of abbreviations; 1. Cosmopolis: Rome as World City Catharine Edwards and Greg Woolf; 2. The triumph of the absurd: Roman street theatre Mary Beard; 3. Incorporating the alien: the art of conquest Catharine Edwards; 4. Inventing Christian Rome: the role of early Christian art Jas' Elsner; 5. Slavery and the growth of Rome: the transformation of Italy in the second and first centuries BCE Willem Jongman; 6. Rivalling Rome: Carthage Richard Miles; 7. Migration and the metropolis Neville Morley; 8. Germs for Rome Walter Scheidel; 9. Embracing Egypt Caroline Vout; 10. The City of Letters Greg Woolf; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Nine historians offer lively, original, and consistently interesting papers...Rome the Cosmopolis gives us much that is new and memorable." The Times Literary Supplement

"'This book is for Keith Hopkins,' begins the preface, and indeed, no finer tribute to a great scholar can be imagined than this collection of essays by students of the professor of ancient history at Cambridge University... An excellent bibliography and full index conclude a work from which students of Rome at every level can learn a great deal. Highly Recommended." Choice

"It surely belongs in specialized library collections dealing with antiquity and with Roman history, but any person fascinated by the world and lifestyle of ancient Rome will find this an irresistible book." Catholic Library World

"The mark of a good book is that it educates, stimulates, and provokes: the ten essays presented here can be heartily recommended as succeeding in these vital respects." International History Review, Richard J. A. Talbert, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

"To read several or all of the essays in the span of a single protracted sitting is a particularly stimulating intellectual experience. It is to engage with a variety of scholarly talents, analytical methods and discursive techniques, sometimes complementary, sometimes competing, often dealing with the same ancient data from different perspectives and for different purposes." - Rory B. Egan, University of Manitoba

From the Publisher