Historiography and Imagination: Eight Essays on Roman Culture

Front Cover
University of Exeter Press, 1994 - History - 167 pages
0 Reviews
Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified
How did the Romans make sense of their own past? And how can we make sense of it, when the evidence for early Rome and the Republic is so inadequate? In this volume, Professor Wiseman focuses on some of the more unfamiliar aspects of the Roman experience, where the historian needs not just knowledge but imagination too. The first essay in the book, the 1993 Ronald Syme Lecture 'The Origins of Historiography', argues that dramatic performances at the public games were the medium through which the Romans in the 'pre-literary' period made sense of their own past. All Latin and Greek source material is translated.

From inside the book

 

What people are saying - Write a review

We haven't found any reviews in the usual places.

Selected pages

Contents

The Origins of Roman Historiography
1
Roman Legend and Oral Tradition
23
Monuments and the Roman Annalists
37
Lucretius Catiline and the Survival of Prophecy
49
Satyrs in Rome?
68
The Necessary Lesson
86
Conspicui postes tectaque digna deo
98
Abbreviations
117
Index
163
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Historiography and Imagination: Eight Essays on Roman Culture
Timothy Peter Wiseman,T. P. Wiseman
Snippet view - 1994

Common terms and phrases

Aeschylus Ancient Arch argument Augustus authors beginning Caesar called Cambridge century BC certainly Cicero Classical Claudius Coarelli consul contemporary context culture Dion divine doubt drama early Etruscan evidence example Fabius Fasti Festus Forum fourth gods Greek historians historiography imagine important interpreted Italy king known late later Latin literary Livy London ludi Mater monument myth origins Ovid Oxford Palatine passage past performance perhaps period Plautus plays Pliny NH Plut poet political Porta possible probably prophecy prophets reason referred Republic Roma Roman Rome Romulus satyr-play satyrs says seems Senate Servius sources stage statue story Studies Suet suggests T.P. Wiseman temple theatre traditional triumph turn Varro vates VIII writing

References to this book

About the author (1994)

T. P. Wiseman is Emeritus Professor of Roman History at Exeter University and a Fellow of the British Academy. He came to Exeter in 1977, and was Head of Department from 1977 to 1990. Although he retired in 2001, he is still involved in graduate teaching at both MA and PhD levels. 'I've been obsessed with the history and literature of Rome for nearly half a century', he says. Among the results of that obsession have been books on Catullus (Catullan Questions 1969, Catullus and his World 1985), on Roman political history (New Men in the Roman Senate 1971, Flavius Josephus: Death of an Emperor 1991), on Roman historiography (Clio's Cosmetics: Three Studies in Greco-Roman Literature 1979, Historiography and Imagination: Eight Essays on Roman Culture 1994), and on Roman myth and legend (Remus: a Roman Myth 1995, Roman Drama and Roman History 1998). Reviews of T.P. Wiseman books include the following comments: 'quite simply brilliant' (Times Literary Supplement), 'enthralling' (London Review of Books), 'stylistic elegance and wit, dazzling erudition and imaginative flair' (Classical Review), 'exceptional analytical skill and creative imagination' (Bryn Mawr Classical Review).

Bibliographic information

QR code for Historiography and Imagination
TitleHistoriography and Imagination: Eight Essays on Roman Culture
Issue 33 of Exeter studies in history, ISSN 0260-8626
Liverpool University Press Series
AuthorsTimothy Peter Wiseman, T. P. Wiseman
Editionillustrated, reprint
PublisherUniversity of Exeter Press, 1994
ISBN0859894223, 9780859894227
Length167 pages
Subjects ›  › 

History / Ancient / Rome
Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social
  
Export CitationBiBTeX EndNote RefMan