Augustan Culture: An Interpretive Introduction

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Princeton University Press, Feb 15, 1998 - Art - 474 pages

Grand political accomplishment and artistic productivity were the hallmarks of Augustus Caesar's reign (31 B.C. to A.D. 14), which has served as a powerful model of achievement for societies throughout Western history. Although much research has been done on individual facets of Augustan culture, Karl Galinsky's book is the first in decades to present a unified overview, one that brings together political and social history, art, literature, architecture, and religion. Weaving analysis and narrative throughout a richly illustrated text, Galinsky provides not only an enjoyable account of the major ideas of the age, but also an interpretation of the creative tensions and contradictions that made for its vitality and influence.

Galinsky draws on source material ranging from coins and inscriptions to the major works of poetry and art, and challenges the schematic concepts and dichotomies that have commonly been applied to Augustan culture. He demonstrates that this culture was neither monolithic nor the mere result of one man's will. Instead it was a nuanced process of evolution and experimentation. Augustan culture had many contributors, as Galinsky demonstrates, and their dynamic interactions resulted in a high point of creativity and complexity that explains the transcendence of the Augustan age. Far from being static, its sophisticated literary and artistic monuments call for the active response and involvement of the reader and viewer even today.

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Contents

III
10
IV
20
V
24
VI
28
VII
42
VIII
43
IX
49
X
54
XXIX
226
XXX
229
XXXI
234
XXXII
237
XXXIII
244
XXXIV
246
XXXV
253
XXXVI
261

XI
58
XII
77
XIII
80
XIV
83
XV
88
XVI
90
XVII
91
XVIII
93
XIX
100
XX
106
XXI
121
XXII
128
XXIII
141
XXIV
155
XXV
164
XXVI
179
XXVII
197
XXVIII
225
XXXVII
269
XXXVIII
280
XXXIX
288
XL
294
XLI
312
XLII
322
XLIII
326
XLIV
330
XLV
332
XLVI
363
XLVII
370
XLVIII
391
XLIX
393
L
435
LI
461
LII
465
LIII
469
Copyright

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About the author (1998)

Karl Galinsky is the Floyd Cailloux Centennial Professor of Classics at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of many books including Classical and Modern Interactions: Postmodern Architecture, Multiculturalism, Decline, and Other Issues; Ovid's Metamorphoses; and Aeneas, Sicily, and Rome (Princeton).

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