Confronting Identities in the Roman Empire - by José Luís Brandão & Cláudia Teixeira & Ália Rodrigues

About the Book

"This open access edited volume offers an understanding of how ancient texts, ranging from the historical and biographical to the oratorical and epistolary, demonstrate the negotiation and renegotiation of the concepts of otherness, identity and culture. Drawing together new research from emerging and senior scholars from across the world, this book presents an up-to-date insight into notions of identity and otherness, both at the level of the individual and community, in the ancient world. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by FCT - Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., under the project Rome our Home: (Auto)biographical Tradition and the Shaping of Identity(ies) (PTDC/LLT-OUT/28431/2017)"--

Book Synopsis

Drawing together new research from emerging and senior scholars, this open-access volumepresents an up-to-date discussion of these notions in the ancient world, both at the individual and community level. This open access edited volume offers insights into how ancient texts, ranging from the historical and biographical to the oratorical and epistolary, demonstrate the negotiation and renegotiation of otherness, identity and culture.

Roman identity emerged as the result of multiple interactions with real and imagined Others. This volume analyses specific case studies and networks of inclusion and transformation that informed concepts of unity, otherness and cultural identity. In part one, contributors discuss Roman perceptions of communal identity, considering ethnic, geographical, religious, occupational and social factors that informed various ideas of belonging and exclusion. Part two goes further by examining ancient texts from the perspectives of non-Romans, in addition to famous Roman figures who deviated from traditional models of identity.

The ebook editions of this book are available under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com.

Review Quotes

The volume can be easily consulted because it is open access and clearly offers a wide range of well-written contributions on otherness. Thus, the individual papers will be a fruitful resource for anyone researching otherness in the Roman Empire.
Bryn Mawr Classical Review

About the Author

José Luís Brandão is Associate Professor in Classic Studies at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, and Researcher at the Centre for Classic and Humanistic Studies (CECH) and PI of the BioRom Project (2018-22).

Cláudia Teixeira is Associate Professor of Literature at the University of Évora, Portugal, and Researcher at the Centre for Classic and Humanistic Studies (CECH), University of Coimbra and co-PI of the BioRom Project (2018-22).

Ália Rodrigues is Researcher at the Centre for Classic and Humanistic Studies (CECH), University of Coimbra, Portugal and Postdoctoral Fellow of the BioRom Project (2018-21).