Greece and the Augustan cultural revolution
By: A.J.S. Spawforth
Series: Greek culture in the Roman world
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Cambridge; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 319
ISBN-13: 9781107012110
Subjects: Political culture; Acculturation; HISTORY / Ancient / General; Influence; Roman influences; Social change; Civilization; Elites (Social sciences); Moral conditions; Ancient Cities and towns; Ethnicity; History
Description: "This book examines the impact of the Roman cultural revolution under Augustus on the Roman province of Greece. It argues that the transformation of Roman Greece into a classicizing 'museum' was a specific response of the provincial Greek elites to the cultural politics of the Roman imperial monarchy. Against a background of Roman debates about Greek culture and Roman decadence, Augustus promoted the ideal of a Roman debt to a 'classical' Greece rooted in Europe and morally opposed to a stereotyped Asia. In Greece the regime signalled its admiration for Athens, Sparta, Olympia and Plataea as symbols of these past Greek glories. Cued by the Augustan monarchy, provincial-Greek notables expressed their Roman orientation by competitive cultural work (revival of ritual; restoration of buildings) aimed at further emphasising Greece's 'classical' legacy. Reprised by Hadrian, the Augustan construction of 'classical' Greece helped to promote the archaism typifying Greek culture under the principate"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: 1. Introduction: Greece and the Augustan age; 2. Athenian eloquence and Spartan arms; 3. The noblest actions of the Greeks; 4. The gifts of the gods; 5. Constructed beauty; 6. Hadrian and the legacy of Augustus; Conclusion.