Description
Book SynopsisWhat does it mean to be a leader? This collection of seventeen studies breaks new ground in our understanding of leadership in ancient Rome by re-evaluating the difference between those who began a political action and those who followed or reacted. In a significant change of approach, this volume shifts the focus from archetypal “leaders” to explore the potential for individuals of different ranks, social statuses, ages, and genders to seize initiative. In so doing, the contributors provide new insight into the ways in which the ability to initiate communication, invent solutions, and prompt others to act resonated in critical moments of Roman history.
Table of ContentsList of Figures List of Abbreviations Notes on Contributors 1 Introduction Roman M. Frolov Part 1 Locating Political Initiative in Republican Rome 2 Governing a City-State: Magistrates, Assemblies, and Public Space in Republican Rome Karl-J. Hölkeskamp 3 Public Opinion and Political Initiative in Republican Rome Alexander Yakobson Part 2 Seniority and Status as Factors of Political Agency 4 Acting Up: The Post of Master of the Mint as an Early-Career Move in the Late Republic Christopher Burden-Strevens 5 Consulars, Political Office, and Leadership in the Middle and Late Republic Catherine Steel Part 3 Women’s Initiative in Roman Politics 6 Female Interventions in Politics in the libera res publica: Structures and Practices Lewis Webb 7 Urgulania, Plancina, and Livia: Women’s Initiative in Early Imperial Politics Josiah Osgood Part 4 Political Initiative in Emergencies 8 “He Took Care of the City and Supported It”: Initiative as a Prerequisite for Fabius’ cunctatio Tassilo Schmitt 9 Political Initiative during interregna in the Late Roman Republic Vera V. Dementyeva Part 5 Leadership at a Time of Change 10 Leadership through Letters: Cicero and Cassius’ Correspondence in 44–43 bce Henriette van der Blom 11 The Dynamics of Elite Agency in a Post-Caesar World (44–31 bce) Hannah Mitchell 12 Seizing Initiative in the Sphere domi: Magistrates, Promagistrates, and the Senate at the Outset of 32 bce Roman M. Frolov Part 6 Fighting for Initiative 13 Potentiality through Conflict: Political Initiatives, Conflict, and the Political Evolution of the Roman Republic Oliver Grote 14 Losing the Lead: The Crisis of the Late Roman Republic as a Crisis of Senatorial Leadership Claudia Tiersch Part 7 Political Initiative outside of Rome 15 Late Republican Local Rebellions and Marches against Rome: Agency and Initiative in the “Catilinarian Insurgency” Katarina Nebelin 16 Petitioning for Change in the Republican Empire Kit Morrell Part 8 Political Initiative and Leadership in Military Contexts 17 Omnia deinde arbitrio militum acta: Political Initiative and Agency of the Army in Late-Republican and Early Imperial Rome Alexander V. Makhlaiuk 18 The Emperor and His Generals: Military Agency in the Early Principate Wolfgang Havener Index
