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The City in the Classical and Post-Classical World

The City in the Classical and Post-Classical World

The City in the Classical and Post-Classical World

Changing Contexts of Power and Identity
Claudia Rapp, Universität Wien, Austria
H. A. Drake, University of California, Santa Barbara
June 2014
Hardback
9781107032668
£98.00
GBP
Hardback
USD
eBook

    This volume examines the evolving role of the city and citizenship from classical Athens through fifth-century Rome and medieval Byzantium. Beginning in the first century CE, the universal claims of Hellenistic and Roman imperialism began to be challenged by the growing role of Christianity in shaping the primary allegiances and identities of citizens. An international team of scholars considers the extent of urban transformation, and with it, of cultural and civic identity, as practices and institutions associated with the city-state came to be replaced by those of the Christian community. The twelve essays gathered here develop an innovative research agenda by asking new questions: what was the effect on political ideology and civic identity of the transition from the city culture of the ancient world to the ruralized systems of the middle ages? How did perceptions of empire and oikoumene respond to changed political circumstances? How did Christianity redefine the context of citizenship?

    • Full theme-based coverage from classical antiquity to the middle ages allows for in-depth exploration of a theme that is otherwise treated in chronological segments
    • A programmatic preface by the editors and a summative conclusion by Clifford Ando open up new perspectives for future research
    • Includes color insert of key art and notes that suggest further readings

    Reviews & endorsements

    'All students of classical history will find much of value here, but in particular, the chapters offer a fine foundation for study of political thought in Late Antiquity, a new and growing field.' R. I. Frank, Choice

    See more reviews

    Product details

    March 2014
    Adobe eBook Reader
    9781139898751
    0 pages
    0kg
    2 b/w illus. 10 colour illus.
    This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.

    Table of Contents

    • Introduction: polis – empire – oikoumene: a world reconfigured Claudia Rapp and H. A. Drake
    • 1. A covenant between gods and men: hiera kai hosia and the Greek polis Josine Blok
    • 2. Hellenistic imperialism and the ideal of world unity Rolf Strootman
    • 3. Lawyers and citizens from republic to empire: Gaius on the Twelve Tables and Antonine Rome Jill Harries
    • 4. Laws' empire: universalism and legal practice Caroline Humfress
    • 5. A most unusual empire: Rome in the fourth century Bryan Ward-Perkins
    • 6. Mobility and identity between the second and the fourth century CE: the 'cosmopolitization' of the Roman Empire Claudia Moatti
    • 7. City and citizenship as Christian metaphors in the Greek fathers Claudia Rapp
    • 8. Church-festival-temple: reimagining civic topography in late antiquity Susanna Elm
    • 9. Leo the Great: responses to crisis and the shaping of a Christian cosmopolis Michele Renee Salzman
    • 10. The battle of the maps in a Christian empire Emily Albu
    • 11. Topographies of power in late antiquity and beyond H. A. Drake
    • Postscript: cities, citizenship, and the work of empire Clifford Ando.
      Contributors
    • Claudia Rapp, H. A. Drake, Josine Blok, Rolf Strootman, Jill Harries, Caroline Humfress, Bryan Ward-Perkins, Claudia Moatti, Susanna Elm, Michele Renee Salzman, Emily Albu, Clifford Ando

    • Editors
    • Claudia Rapp , Universität Wien, Austria

      Claudia Rapp is Professor at the Institute for Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, University of Vienna, and Director of the Division of Byzantine Research, Institute for Medieval Studies, of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. She has published widely on hagiography and the cult of saints, episcopal authority and the city, monasticism, and writing culture in Late Antiquity and Byzantium. She is the author of Holy Bishops in Late Antiquity: The Nature of Christian Leadership in an Age of Transition (2005) and the forthcoming Brother-Making in Late Antiquity and Byzantium: Monks, Laymen and Christian Ritual.

    • H. A. Drake , University of California, Santa Barbara

      H. A. Drake is Research Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of Constantine and the Bishops (2000). Drake has written extensively on issues related to the transition from a Roman to a Christian empire in Late Antiquity, including political theology and religious violence. He has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and the Annenberg Research Institute.