Overview

Imagining Emperors in the Later Roman Empire offers new analysis of the textual depictions of a series of emperors in the fourth century within overlapping historical, religious, and literary contexts. Drawing on the recent Representational Turn in the study of imperial power, these essays examine how literary authors working in various genres, both Latin and Greek, and of differing religious affiliations construct and manipulate the depiction of a series of emperors from the late third to the late fourth centuries CE. In a move away from traditional source criticism, this volume opens up new methodological approaches to chart intellectual and literary history during a critical century for the ancient Mediterranean world.

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[...] In sum, this is a highly successful collection of papers which furnishes many new insights into the construction and modification of late-antique imperial images. Its discussions reveal that imperial images were subjective, dynamic, and kaleidoscopic. Its particular strength lies in the attention paid to several 'understudied' imperial figures, as well as in the many contributions that discuss the cross-fertilization of texts, in particular panegyric and historiography. [...] To conclude, any scholar of the representation of late Roman emperorship and its reflections in literary and material sources will find that Imagining Emperors is a highly instructive, enlightening, and enjoyable read. - Muriel Moser, in: Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2019.03.33 Insgesamt uberrascht der Band mit deutlich mehr neuen Ergebnissen, als es auf den ersten Blick aussieht. Die Konzentration von manchen Beitragen auf spezifische Quellen (Munzen, Monumentalarchitektur, Literatur) gereicht nicht zum Schaden: Aufgrund der sich insgesamt sehr eng am Titel des Sammelbandes orientierenden Analysen ist die bunte Bandbreite an untersuchten UEberlieferungstragern uberaus erhellend. - Felix K. Maier, in: Sehepunkte 19:4, 2019

[...] In sum, this is a highly successful collection of papers which furnishes many new insights into the construction and modification of late-antique imperial images. Its discussions reveal that imperial images were subjective, dynamic, and kaleidoscopic. Its particular strength lies in the attention paid to several `understudied' imperial figures, as well as in the many contributions that discuss the cross-fertilization of texts, in particular panegyric and historiography. [...] To conclude, any scholar of the representation of late Roman emperorship and its reflections in literary and material sources will find that Imagining Emperors is a highly instructive, enlightening, and enjoyable read. Muriel Moser, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2019.03.33.

[...] In sum, this is a highly successful collection of papers which furnishes many new insights into the construction and modification of late-antique imperial images. Its discussions reveal that imperial images were subjective, dynamic, and kaleidoscopic. Its particular strength lies in the attention paid to several 'understudied' imperial figures, as well as in the many contributions that discuss the cross-fertilization of texts, in particular panegyric and historiography. [...] To conclude, any scholar of the representation of late Roman emperorship and its reflections in literary and material sources will find that Imagining Emperors is a highly instructive, enlightening, and enjoyable read. Muriel Moser, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 2019.03.33. Insgesamt uberrascht der Band mit deutlich mehr neuen Ergebnissen, als es auf den ersten Blick aussieht. Die Konzentration von manchen Beitragen auf spezifische Quellen (Munzen, Monumentalarchitektur, Literatur) gereicht nicht zum Schaden: Aufgrund der sich insgesamt sehr eng am Titel des Sammelbandes orientierenden Analysen ist die bunte Bandbreite an untersuchten UEberlieferungstragern uberaus erhellend. Felix K. Maier, Sehepunkte Vol. 19 No. 4, 2019.

Author Information

Diederik Burgersdijk is Lecturer in Latin at Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, and Visiting Scholar at Allard Pierson (University of Amsterdam). He published widely on historiography and rhetoric in the (Later) Roman Empire is currently working on a Text and Commentary on Nazarius' speech to Constantine the Great (321 AD). Alan J. Ross is Lecturer in Roman History at the University of Southampton (UK) and Visiting Research Fellow at University College Dublin (Ireland). He is the author of Ammianus’ Julian: Narrative and Genre in the Res Gestae (OUP, 2016) and is currently working on Greek panegyrics addressed to Constantius II. Contributors are: Diederik Burgersdijk, Daniël den Hengst, Jan Willem Drijvers, M. Pilar García Ruiz, Bruce Gibson, Raphael Hunsucker, Alessandro Maranesi, David Potter, Roger Rees, Alan J. Ross, Alvaro Sánchez-Ostiz, Catherine Ware, George Woudhuysen, Jürgen K. Zangenberg.

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