Greece and the Augustan cultural revolution [electronic resource] /
A.J.S. Spawforth.
- Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2012.
- viii, 319 p. : ill.
- Greek culture in the Roman world .
- Greek culture in the Roman world. .
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Machine generated contents note: 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 classicizing '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"--
Electronic reproduction. Palo Alto, Calif. : ebrary, 2013. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ebrary affiliated libraries.
Augustus, Emperor of Rome, 63 B.C.-14 A.D. --Influence. Hadrian, Emperor of Rome, 76-138 --Influence.
Social change--History--Greece--To 1500. Elite (Social sciences)--History--Greece--To 1500. Ethnicity--History--Greece--To 1500. Acculturation--History--Greece--To 1500. Political culture--History--Greece--To 1500. Cities and towns, Ancient--Greece.