Robert Morstein-Marx - Mass Oratory and Political Power in the Late Roman Republic [2004][A]

Book Description
Publication Date: March 15, 2004 | ISBN-10: 9780521823272 | ISBN-13: 978-0521823272
Examining how public political discourse influenced the distribution of power between the Senate and people in the Late Roman Republic (133-42 BC), this work analyzes comprehensively the "ideology" of Republican mass oratory. Robert Morstein-Marx analyzes it within the institutional, historical and physical contexts of the public meetings in which these speeches were heard. Morstein-Marx emphasizes the perpetual negotiation and reproduction of power through communication.

Reviews
Review of the hardback: 'This study makes a serious contribution to the continuing debate on the nature of Roman politics ... This is a book for scholars and teachers ... there is much valuable information and insight in the book ... CUP exhibits its customary impeccable standard of production.' The Journal of Classics Teaching

Review of the hardback: '... the Companion has its real high points: the best chapters are individual master-classes in working with evidence and concepts.' The Times Literary Supplement

Review of the hardback: 'Morstein-Marx has written an excellent book, notable for the depth both of its scholarship and of its thought. It should be read not only by all students of the late Republic or of Roman oratory, but also of ancient politics and political theory more generally.' BMCR

Review of the hardback: '... an excellent study on late Republican politics as well as a work that offers plenty of new and stimulating insights into Roman rhetoric. Not only should specialists of ancient history and classicists in general refer to this book, but it will surely also appeal to anyone interested in the history of rhetoric.' Rhetorical Review

Review of the hardback: 'After decades of relative neglect the Roman contio has now become the focus of an intense debate about the people's role in Republican politics. This new study by Morstein-Marx represents the fullest and most ambitious treatment of the institution so far. It is a provocative and stimulating work which offers important new insights into the nature of Roman politics. The scholarship is impressive and the analysis often profound.' Journal of Roman Studies

Book Description II
This book examines how public, political discourse shaped the distribution of power between the Senate and People in the Late Roman Republic (133 42 BC). It is the first work to analyze comprehensively the 'ideology' of Republican mass oratory and to situate it fully within the institutional, historical and physical contexts of the public meetings in which these speeches were heard. Against the background of the current debate between 'oligarchical' and 'democratic' interpretations of Republican politics, Professor Morstein-Marx emphasizes the perpetual negotiation and reproduction of power through communication. CBlurb This book examines how public, political discourse shaped the distribution of power between Senate and People in the Late Roman Republic. The 'ideology' of Republican mass oratory is analyzed comprehensively and situated fully within the institutional, historical and physical contexts of the public meetings in which these speeches were heard.

About the Author
Robert Morstein-Marx is Professor of Classics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of Hegemony to Empire: The Development of the Roman Imperium in the Greek East, 149-62 B.C. (1995).