Description

From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Slightly rubbed jacket, otherwise very good and clean. / Leicht beriebener Umschlag, sonst sehr gut und sauber. - CONTENTS: 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. - 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 classicising �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. - A. J. S. Spawforth is Professor of Ancient History at the School of Historical Studies, Newcastle University. His distinguished list of publications includes Hellenistic and Roman Sparta: A Tale of Two Cities (1989; 2nd edn 2002 � co-author with Paul Cartledge); The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd edn (1996; revised 2003 � co-editor with Simon Hornblower, and contributor); Greece: An Oxford Archaeological Guide (2001 � co-author with Christopher Mee); The Complete Greek Temples (2006); and The Court and Court Society in Ancient Monarchies (Cambridge, 2007 � editor and contributor). ISBN 9781107012110