Heritage-thinking and cultural destruction in Ancient Rome from the first century BCE to the first century CE / Cynthia Susalla.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Susalla, Cynthia, author.

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania. Department of Ancient History, degree granting institution.

Grey, Cam, 1972- degree supervisor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ancient history.

Classical studies.

Ancient History--Penn dissertations.

Penn dissertations--Ancient History.

Local Subjects:

Ancient history.

Classical studies.

Ancient History--Penn dissertations.

Penn dissertations--Ancient History.

Genre:

Academic theses.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (355 pages)

Contained In:

Dissertations Abstracts International 81-12A.

Place of Publication:

[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania] : University of Pennsylvania ; Ann Arbor : ProQuest Dissertations & Theses, 2020.

Language Note:

English

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

This dissertation argues for cultural heritage as a focus of analysis within the contexts of ancient Rome and traces the contours of an evolving cultural heritage discourse within Rome of the first centuries BCE and CE through an examination of literary episodes contesting acts of cultural destruction. Chapter 1 establishes a theoretical foundation for this examination by deconstructing the presumed modernity of "cultural heritage" as a phenomenon and reformulating it into an epistemological construct involving the politically-inflected valuation and regulation of objects, sites, and practices as expressions of culture. Building on the theoretical work of heritage studies scholars who criticize the UNESCO conceptualization of cultural heritage as hegemonic and not representative of the heritage values of many global societies today, this dissertation argues that once cultural heritage is recognized to take various shapes within various societies, there is no logical barrier to studying it in past societies. Chapters 2 through 4 examine negative reactions to cultural destruction in Cicero's In Verrem, Livy's Ab Urbe Condita, and Dio Chrysostom's Rhodian Oration as reflections of Roman heritage thinking. These texts demonstrate not only that individuals within Roman antiquity grappled with ethics concerning the proper and improper treatment of cultural property, such as statues, temples, monuments, and traditional customs, but also that contesting cultural destruction was a political tool within elite discourse long before it manifested as a component in conflict between Christians and pagans in the late antique period-a phenomenon that has received disproportional attention in the scholarship to date. Moreover, analysis of these texts underscores the interrelationship between ideas about the mistreatment of cultural property and a range of stigmatized identity categories, such as barbarians, pirates, and brigands, and corrupt magistrates. That this discourse contesting cultural destruction was both informed by and, in turn, contributed to identity politics within ancient Rome helps us recognize a pre-Christian and pre-modern history to the politics of caring about culture.

Notes:

Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 81-12, Section: A.

Advisors: Grey, Cam; Committee members: Cynthia Damon; Kimberly Bowes.

Department: Ancient History.

Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania 2020.

Local Notes:

School code: 0175

ISBN:

9798662374164

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.

This item is not available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses.

This item must not be sold to any third party vendors.