Fighting hydra-like luxury : sumptuary regulation in the Roman Republic / Emanuela Zanda.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zanda, Emanuela.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Roman law.

Sumptuary laws (Roman law).

Sumptuary laws.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (185 p.)

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

From the Old Testament to Elizabethan England, luxury has been morally condemned. In Rome, sumptuary laws (laws controlling consumption) seemed the only weapon to defeat ''hydra-like luxury'', the terrible monster that was weakening even the strongest citizens. The first Roman sumptuary law, the Lex Appia, declared that no woman could possess more than a half ounce of gold, wear a dress of different colours, or ride in a carriage in any city unless for a public ceremony. Laws listed how many different colours could be worn by members of different social classes: peasants could wear one colour

Contents:

Introduction: the evil of luxury

The Roman response to luxury

Previous measures against extravagance

Sumptuary laws

Sumptuary legislation in comparative prespective.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 129-166) and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed October 11, 2013).

ISBN:

1-4725-1969-8