The shape of the roman order: The republic and its spaces

Research output: Book/ReportBookpeer-review

38 Scopus citations

Abstract

In recent years, a long-established view of the Roman Empire during its great age of expansion has been called into question by scholars who contend that this model has made Rome appear too much like a modern state. This is especially true in terms of understanding how the Roman government ordered the city--and the world around it--geographically. In this innovative, systematic approach, Daniel J. Gargola demonstrates how important the concept of space was to the governance of Rome. He explains how Roman rulers, without the means for making detailed maps, conceptualized the territories under Rome’s power as a set of concentric zones surrounding the city. In exploring these geographic zones and analyzing how their magistrates performed their duties, Gargola examines the idiosyncratic way the elite made sense of the world around them and how it fundamentally informed the way they ruled over their dominion. From what geometrical patterns Roman elites preferred to how they constructed their hierarchies in space, Gargola considers a wide body of disparate materials to demonstrate how spatial orientation dictated action, shedding new light on the complex peculiarities of Roman political organization.

Original languageEnglish
Number of pages289
ISBN (Electronic)1469631849, 9781469631844
StatePublished - Jan 1 2017

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The University of North Carolina Press. All rights reserved.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Arts and Humanities

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The shape of the roman order: The republic and its spaces'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this