Ancient Biographies of Statesmen
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 19056489 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jacqueline Klooster (0000-0002-3963-7354, corresponding author) |
| Editors | Koen De Temmerman (0000-0001-7943-8299) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Pages | 321-333 |
| Publication date | 2020-12-10 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198703013.013.26 |
| OpenAlex | W2588767621 |
| ISBN | 9780198703013 |
| Language | EN |
This chapter discusses ancient biographies of statesmen. What is the nature of ancient political biography? It is the description of the life and deeds of a significant political player of the recent or far past, individually told or in a series, with the intent of edifying the readers. This means that such a work often has an encomiastic, or at any rate evaluative cast, and may even employ certain acknowledged untruths in order to bring out the characteristic significance of a given politician. This too is the aim with which intimate details or gossip are told: so as to convey a clear image of what kind of man Solon, Demosthenes, Augustus, or Nero was, and how this influenced his career and his deeds
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |