Rulers and Ruled in Ancient Greece, Rome, and China
Rulers and Ruled in Ancient Greece, Rome, and China
Griet Vankeerberghen, McGill University, Montréal
$51.99
USDSituated on opposite flanks of Eurasia, ancient Mediterranean and Han-Chinese societies had a hazy understanding of each other's existence. But they had no grounded knowledge about one another, nor was there any form of direct interaction. In other words, their historical trajectories were independent. In recent years, however, many similarities between both cultures have been detected, which has energized the field of comparative history. The present volume adds to the debate a creative method of juxtaposing historical societies. Each contribution covers both ancient China and the Mediterranean in an accessible manner. Embarking from the observation that Greek, Roman, and Han-Chinese societies were governed by comparable features, the contributors to this volume explain the dynamic interplay between political rulers and the ruled masses in their culture specific manifestation as demos (Greece), populus (Rome) and min (China).
- Captures the political cultures of the two largest civilizations in antiquity
- Focusses on the relation between political leaders and the masses
- Fosters a new comparative approach to the ancient world
Reviews & endorsements
'The essays … highlight similarities between the manifestations of these topics and adduce specific circumstances that may explain the differences. Recommended.' S. M. Burstein, Choice Magazines
'… a commendable example for those who will venture into comparative studies and will be of great interest to sinologists, classicists, and comparativists alike.' Mengzhen Yue, Bryn Mawr Classical Review
Product details
No date availableAdobe eBook Reader
9781108624480
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Table of Contents
- Editors' preface: Introduction. The many faces of 'the people' in the ancient world: δήμος – populus – 民 min Hans Beck and Griet Vankeerberghen
- Part I. Authority and Lifestyles of Distinction:
- 1. Of gold and purple: nobles in western Han China and republican Rome Griet Vankeerberghen
- 2. A tale of two stones: social memory in Roman Greece and Han China Miranda Brown with Zhang Zhongwei
- 3. Private associations and urban experience in the Han and Roman Empires Carlos Noreña
- Part II. The People as Agents and Addressees:
- 4. Rhetoric, oratory and people in ancient Rome and early China Francisco Pina Polo
- 5. Female commoners and the law in early imperial China: evidence from recently recovered documents with some comparisons with classical Rome Robin Yates
- 6. Registers of 'the people' in Greece, Rome, and China Hans Beck
- 7. Food distribution for the People: welfare, food, and feasts in Rome and in Qin/Han China Moonsil Lee Kim
- Part III. Inversions of the People: Emperors and Tyrants:
- 8. Augustus, the Roman plebs and the dictatorship:
- 22 BCE and beyond Alexander Yakobson
- 9. Liberation as burlesque: the death of the tyrant Garret Pagenstecher Olberding
- 10. Historical necessity or biographical singularity? Some aspects in the biographies of C. Iulius Caesar and Qin Shi Huangdi David Engels
- 11. Employing knowledge: a case study in calendar reforms in the early Han and Roman Empires Rebecca Robinson
- Part IV. Identities and 'Others':
- 12. The invention of the 'barbarian' and ethnic identity in early Greece and China Yang Huang
- 13. Ethnic identity and the 'barbarian' in classical Greece and early China: its origins and distinctive features Hyun Jin Kim
- Glossary.
