Description
Book SynopsisTurning, Telling Moments in the Classical Political World examines developments in the classical political world which are both turning and telling moments. All the momentsfrom Theseus''s founding of Athens to Augustus''s establishment of the Principatepossess the double character of being turning points and revealing fundamental aspects of the ancient political world. While most books on ancient history are chiefly concerned with questions of literary sources and historical accuracy, this book deals with the significance of the facts and reports themselves. Blits treats the ancient histories as works of reflection rather than works of research. Instead of focusing on whether, or how, the ancient historians meet the professional standards of present-day historiography, Blits reveals the way they themselves understand-and intend us to understand-the ancient world.
Trade ReviewThis engrossing book succeeds in its plan of presentation as well as in its interpretative vision. Selected events of Greek and Roman antiquity are presented in terms of 'turning moments,' each flushed out with memorable detail and each resonating with crucial human and political significance. The thesis that Athens and Rome are mutually illuminating opposites, related as poetry to prose, adds a unifying tenor. This is a thoughtfulhistory. -- Eva Brann, St. John's College, Annapolis
Table of Contents1 Foreword 2 1. Athens and Rome: Plutarch's Theseus and Romulus 3 2. Redeeming Lost Honor: Shakespeare's Rape of Lucrece 4 3. The End of the Noble 5 4. No Middle Way, No Second Way: Rome and the Caudine Forks 6 5. The Politics of Authority and Rhetoric in Republican Rome 7 6. Political Murder in Rome 8 7. Power without Office, Office without Power: Augustus's Principate 9 Afterword: Greece versus Rome 10 Appendix: Greece and Rome Timeline 11 About the Author
