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Why did the aristocracy of the Roman Republic destroy the system of government which was its basis? The answers given by ancient authorities are moral corruption and personal ambition. The modern student finds only too inevitable the causal nexus of political conflict, violence, militaryinsurrection and authoritarian government. Yet before the era of intense violence Rome had an apparently stable constitution with a long history. In this revised edition of his classic book, for which he has written a new introduction, Andrew Lintott examines the roots of violence in Republican lawand society and the growth of violence in city war and the power of armies. It suggests in conclusion that this disaster was more the outcome of folly in the choice of political means than depravity in the choice of ends.
Violence, Justice, and Law in Classical Antiquity collects together forty-three of Andrew Lintott’s most significant papers. Lintott’s corpus of work exposes the fundamental reliance of ancient Romans (and Greeks) on violent measures, including their readiness to resort to violence in the manner of judicial “self-help” or political tyrannicide. The legitimation of violence in Roman culture and Roman political discourse informs the nature of Roman imperialism, and equally it is impossible to understand the illegitimate violence which characterised the political collapse of the Roman Republic without understanding its deep roots in the intellectually legitimised and legally sanctioned violence of Roman society.
Violence, Justice, and Law in Classical Antiquity collects together forty-three of Andrew Lintott's most significant papers, delineating a society in which justice and law encompass a readiness to resort to violence ranging from legally-sanctioned forms of "self-help" to politically-legitimised tyrannicide.
The Roman Empire at its height encompassed the majority of the world known to the Romans. This important synthesis of recent findings and scholarship demonstrates how the Romans acquired, kept and controlled their Empire. Lintott goes beyond the preconceptions formed in the period of British Imperial rule and provides a contemporary post-imperial approach to the Roman exercise of power.
Twelve fragments of bronze were found near Urbino in the late fifteenth century, engraved with Roman laws. Dr Lintott offers a complete re-edition of these complicated and fragmentary texts.
Violent conflict between individuals and groups was as common in the ancient world as it has been in more recent history. Detested in theory, it nevertheless became as frequent as war between sovereign states. The importance of such ‘stasis’ was recognised by political thinkers of the time, especially Thucydides and Aristotle, both of whom tried to analyse its causes. Violence, Civil Strife and Revolution in the Classical City, first published in 1982, gives a conspectus of stasis in the societies of Greek antiquity, and traces the development of civil strife as city-states grew in political, social and economic sophistication. Aristocratic rivalry, tensions between rich and poor, imperialism and constitutional crisis are all discussed, while special consideration is given to the attitudes of the participants and the theoretical explanations offered at the time. In conclusion, civil strife in the ancient world is compared to more recent conflicts, both domestic and international.
Incorporating the most recent scholarship, this book offers afascinating history of Rome and the Roman peoples during the ruleof the first Roman emperor, Augustus. Written in an easily accessible style, making it the idealintroduction to Augustan Rome for those with little previousknowledge Offers compelling insight into the workings of Roman societyduring this pivotal period in its history Incorporates the most recent scholarship on aspects ofAugustus's reign including the armed forces, religion, andintellectual and cultural life Andrew Lintott is a widely respected expert on the RomanRepublic
There is no other published book in English studying the constitution of the Roman Republic as a whole. Yet the Greek historian Polybius believed that the constitution was a fundamental cause of the exponential growth of Rome's empire. He regarded the Republic as unusual in two respects: first, because it functioned so well despite being a mix of monarchy, oligarchy and democracy; secondly, because the constitution was the product of natural evolution rather than the ideals of a lawgiver. Even if historians now seek more widely for the causes of Rome's rise to power, the importance and influence of her political institutions remains. The reasons for Rome's power are both complex, on account of the mix of elements, and flexible, inasmuch as they were not founded on written statutes but on unwritten traditions reinterpreted by successive generations. Knowledge of Rome's political institutions is essential both for ancient historians and for those who study the contribution of Rome to the republican tradition of political thought from the Middle Ages to the revolutions inspired by the Enlightenment.
Plutarch's Lives of Demosthenes and Cicero are an unusual pair in that they are about orators and not military men. With the translations and commentaries, Lintott provides a detailed introduction which discusses the context of the texts, the author, and the philosophy which underlies Plutarch's presentation of the two personalities.
Through its concentration on primary evidence, it is a corrective to the interpretations of Cicero and the late Republic that circulated after his death, which were inevitably affected by bitterness and the exploitation of history for political purposes."--BOOK JACKET.