Friends, Romans, Countrymen

Addressing the Roman People and the Rhetoric of Inclusion

Bibliographic Data

ID23670577
AuthorsKarl‐J Hölkeskamp (0009-0006-7117-7438, corresponding author), Karl-J Holkeskamp
Year2013
Pages11-28
Publication date2013-01-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueCommunity and Communication (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199641895.003.0002
OpenAlexW2483690021
ISBN9780199641895
LanguageEN
Citations received32

This chapter explores communication between the Roman elite and the people and, in particular, the ways in which the elite tried to convey a sense of shared community and aims when it addressed the people at contiones. A particular sort of rhetoric, the ‘rhetoric of emphatic direct address’, is omnipresent: the Roman people are addressed as part of, and partner in, an “imagined community” of the Quirites sharing a common universe of ‘Romanness’. The contio invariably, explicitly or implicitly, directly or indirectly, aims at the rhetorical construction of a consensus – just as the contio as a ‘place’ represents the performative side of this process. The contio as discourse is based on, and indeed largely consists in, the construction or negotiation, recreation or affirmation of Roman identity or identities, of the exclusiveness of being a Roman, the rôles and privileges, demands and burdens involved in being a true Roman citizen.

Art · Inclusion (mineral) · Linguistics · Rhetoric · Sociology · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Gender Studies · History · Philosophy

Tools

Open DOILibgen