The Spectacle of Everyday Life in the Roman Empire - by Sinclair Bell & Nathan T Elkins (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The construction, design, and patronage of buildings for mass entertainment in the Roman Empire rightfully remain a major focus of modern scholarship, especially as new structures continue to be discovered and attest to the centrality of spectacles in public life across the full extent of the empire. This collection, however, shifts focus from the structures to the ways in which the embodied experience of the events they held insinuated themselves into the everyday social practices of Romans. This volume is the first to survey the diverse social practices by which Romans individualized mass culture within the framework of their own lives, especially through the visual arts and material culture. It includes nine case studies which range from detailed analyses of the decoration and inscribed remains (e.g., graffiti, inscriptions) of individual buildings to the commissioning of mobile objects (e.g., tokens, finger rings, figurines) to choosing decoration for one's household or one's tomb (e.g., mosaics, wall paintings, reliefs). The volume brings together an international roster of experts whose contributions offer broad and nuanced coverage of this phenomenon as it manifests itself across the empire.

About the Author

Sinclair Bell, Northern Illinois University, Chicago, USA; Nathan T. Elkins, American Numismatic Society, New York City, USA.