A Companion to the Roman Republic
Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World
This Companion provides an authoritative and up-to-date
overview of Roman Republican history as it is currently practiced.
* Highlights recent developments, including archaeological
discoveries, fresh approaches to textual sources, and the opening
up of new areas of historical study
* Retains the drama of the Republic's rise and fall
* Emphasizes not just the evidence of texts and physical remains,
but also the models and assumptions that scholars bring to these
artefacts
* Looks at the role played by the physical geography and
environment of Italy
* Offers a compact but detailed narrative of military and
political developments from the birth of the Roman Republic through
to the death of Julius Caesar
* Discusses current controversies in the field
List of Illustrations xi
Notes on Contributors xiv
Maps xix
Abbreviations xxvii
Preface xxviii
Robert Morstein-Marx and Nathan Rosenstein
Part I Introductory 1
1 Methods, Models, and Historiography 3
Martin Jehne
Translated by Robert Morstein-Marx and Benjamin Wolkow
2 Literary Sources 29
Edward Bispham
3 Epigraphy and Numismatics 51
Mark Pobjoy
4 The Topography and Archaeology of Republican Rome 81
Mario Torelli
Translated by Helena Fracchia
5 The Physical Geography and Environment of Republican Italy 102
Simon Stoddart
Part II Narrative 123
6 Between Myth and History: Rome's Rise from Village to Empire (the Eighth Century to 264) 125
Kurt A. Raaflaub
7 Mediterranean Empire (264-134) 147
Daniel J. Gargola
8 From the Gracchi to the First Civil War (133-70) 167
C. F. Konrad
9 The Final Crisis (69-44) 190
W. Jeffrey Tatum
Part III Civic Structures 213
10 Communicating with the Gods 215
Jörg Rüpke
11 Law in the Roman Republic 236
Michael C. Alexander
12 The Constitution of the Roman Republic 256
John A. North
13 Army and Society 278
Paul Erdkamp
Part IV Society 297
14 Social Structure and Demography 299
Neville Morley
15 Finding Roman Women 324
Beryl Rawson
Part V Political Culture 343
16 The City of Rome 345
John R. Patterson
17 Aristocratic Values 365
Nathan Rosenstein
18 Popular Power in the Roman Republic 383
Alexander Yakobson
19 Patronage 401
Elizabeth Deniaux
Translated by Robert Morstein-Marx and Robert Martz
20 Rhetoric and Public Life 421
Jean-Michel David
Translated by Robert Morstein-Marx and Robert Martz
21 The Republican Body 439
Anthony Corbeill
Part VI The Creation of a Roman Identity 457
22 Romans and Others 459
Erich S. Gruen
23 History and Collective Memory in the Middle Republic 478
Karl-J. Hölkeskamp
24 Art and Architecture in the Roman Republic 496
Katherine E. Welch
25 Literature 543
William W. Batstone
Part VII Controversies 565
26 Conceptualizing Roman Imperial Expansion under the Republic: An Introduction 567
Arthur M. Eckstein
27 The Economy: Agrarian Change During the Second Century 590
Luuk de Ligt
28 Rome and Italy 606
John R. Patterson
29 The Transformation of the Republic 625
Robert Morstein-Marx and Nathan Rosenstein
Bibliography 638
Index 695
valuable as a modern source and as a reference work vital in what
is the ever increasing complex world of ancient historical
research." (Scholia Reviews, 2009)
"Students cannot fail to benefit from the eminent collaborators
[in this Companion].... Individual contributions have much for
anyone keen to catch up." (Greece & Rome, 2008)
"It does provide readable, expert surveys of the rise of Roman
power in the Mediterranean in the formative imperial era. In
addition to chapters on political and social topics, this
Companion offers fine surveys of topography, literature and
literary sources, law, art and architecture, and Roman 'cultural
identity.'...Highly recommended." ( Choice)
"[Authors] do an excellent job of re-packaging Roman
Republican history ... and I applaud their efforts to provide
... interesting debates within recent scholarship." (
New England Classical Journal)
"A Companion to the Roman Republic is a really exciting new
resource. The contributors are individually heavy-hitters and
collectively form a first-rate international team. The work covers
not just the topics one would have counted on but other new ones
that deserve to become canonical. I'm happy that this work is
now available both for myself and for my students."
-Andrew M. Riggsby, University of Texas, Austin
"A comprehensive work ... It far outstrips any competitor in
this subject ... I only wish it had been available when I was
teaching the Late Republic."
-John Murrell, Journal of Classics Teaching
"A kaleidoscopic variety of points of views and insightful
commentaries that finally does justice to the complexity of the
subject and of its possible interpretations, while always remaining
readable and clear."
-Nicola Terrenato, University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill
State University. He is the author of Imperatores Victi
(1990) and Rome at War (2004), and coeditor of War and
Society in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds (2001).
Robert Morstein-Marx is Professor of Classics at the
University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of
Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Imperium in the
East (1995) and Mass Oratory and Political Power in the Late
Roman Republic (2004).