Pax And The Politics Of Peace: Republic To Principate (oxford Classical Monographs)
by Hannah Cornwell /
2017 / English / PDF
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Perhaps in defiance of expectations, Roman peace (
Perhaps in defiance of expectations, Roman peace (pax
pax) was
a difficult concept that resisted any straightforward definition:
not merely denoting the absence or aftermath of war, it consisted
of many layers and associations and formed part of a much greater
discourse on the nature of power and how Rome saw her place in the
world. During the period from 50 BC to AD 75 - covering the
collapse of the Republic, the subsequent civil wars, and the dawn
of the Principate-the traditional meaning and language of peace
came under extreme pressure as
) was
a difficult concept that resisted any straightforward definition:
not merely denoting the absence or aftermath of war, it consisted
of many layers and associations and formed part of a much greater
discourse on the nature of power and how Rome saw her place in the
world. During the period from 50 BC to AD 75 - covering the
collapse of the Republic, the subsequent civil wars, and the dawn
of the Principate-the traditional meaning and language of peace
came under extreme pressure aspax
pax was co-opted to serve
different strands of political discourse. This volume argues for
its fundamental centrality in understanding the changing dynamics
of the state and the creation of a new political system in the
Roman Empire, moving from the debates over the content of the
concept in the dying Republic to discussion of its deployment in
the legitimization of the Augustan regime, first through the
creation of an authorized version controlled by the
was co-opted to serve
different strands of political discourse. This volume argues for
its fundamental centrality in understanding the changing dynamics
of the state and the creation of a new political system in the
Roman Empire, moving from the debates over the content of the
concept in the dying Republic to discussion of its deployment in
the legitimization of the Augustan regime, first through the
creation of an authorized version controlled by theprinceps
princeps and then the ultimate crystallization of the
and then the ultimate crystallization of thepax augusta
pax augusta as the first wholly imperial concept of peace.
Examining the nuances in the various meanings, applications, and
contexts of Roman discourse on peace allows us valuable insight
into the ways in which the dynamics of power were understood and
how these were contingent on the political structures of the day.
However it also demonstrates that although the idea of peace came
to dominate imperial Rome's self-representation, such discourse was
nevertheless only part of a wider discussion on the way in which
the Empire conceptualized itself.
as the first wholly imperial concept of peace.
Examining the nuances in the various meanings, applications, and
contexts of Roman discourse on peace allows us valuable insight
into the ways in which the dynamics of power were understood and
how these were contingent on the political structures of the day.
However it also demonstrates that although the idea of peace came
to dominate imperial Rome's self-representation, such discourse was
nevertheless only part of a wider discussion on the way in which
the Empire conceptualized itself.