The commerce of war
Subtitle: exchange and social order in Latin epic
By: Neil Coffee.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Chicago
Language: eng
Number of pages: 326
ISBN-13: 9780226111872
Subjects: Virgil; Lucan, -- 39-65; Statius, P. Papinius; War in literature; Reciprocity (Commerce) -- Rome; Negotiation -- Rome
Description: Latin epics such as Virgil's 'Aeneid' and Statius's 'Thebaid' addressed Roman aristocrats whose dealings in gifts, favours and payments defined their conceptions of social order. Here Neil Coffee argues that these exchanges play a central yet overlooked role in epic depictions of Roman society.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Reciprocity in crisis : Vergil's Aeneid; title: The triumph of venality : Lucan's Civil war; title: Conspicuous consumption : Statius's Thebaid.