The Roman Empire incorporated numerous overlapping groups, whose ideas varied according to social status, geography, gender and many other factors. It traces the relationship between popular morality, high philosophy, and the ethical vocabulary of documents and inscriptions. It explores the wide range of authorities (natural and socially constructed, absolute and negotiable) which were invoked in support of moral ideas and actions, and shows how different ethics appealed to different authorities. It analyses the content of sayings and stories to show which ideas and practices were central to Roman morality, which peripheral, which widely accepted or contested. Her study draws on proverbs, fables, exemplary stories and gnomic quotations to explore how morality worked as a system for Roman society as a whole and in individual lives. In the first book-length study of Roman popular morality, Dr Morgan argues that we can recover much of the moral thinking of people up and down the Empire. Morality is one of the fundamental structures of any society, enabling complex groups to form, negotiate their internal differences and persist through time. P O P U L A R M O R A L I T Y I N T H E E A R LY RO M A N E M P I R E Nevertheless it could and did hold together as an ethical community, which was a significant factor in its socio-political success. She examines the range of ideas and practices and their relative importance, as well as questions of authority and the relationship with high philosophy and the ethical vocabulary of documents and inscriptions. Her study draws on proverbs, fables, exemplary stories and gnomic quotations, to explore how morality worked as a system for Roman society as a whole and in individual lives. In the first book-length study of Roman popular morality, Dr Morgan argues that we can recover much of the moral thinking of people across the Empire.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |