Spectacular Power in the Greek and Roman City

This study of the visible representation of power and prestige in bothGreek and Roman polities of the ancient world demonstrates the importance ofcrowds' aesthetic and emotional judgement upon leaders and their ambitiousclaims for immediate and lasting significance. The spectacular rhetorics of avariety of individuals, from early Greece until the end of the Roman Republic,are considered, including Alcibiades, Demetrius Poliorcetes, the earlyPtolemies, Antiochus IV, Pompey, Cicero, and Caesar. Great men sought visiblepre-eminence and their methods and success reveal a great deal about the habitsand values of their civic societies.

Andrew Bell is Associate Professor of History, University of Nevada, Las Vegas.