Centers and Peripheries

Bibliographic Data

ID23698518
AuthorsRandall Pogorzelski (0009-0002-2036-5886), Randall J Pogorzelski (corresponding author)
Year2016
Pages223-238
Publication date2016-03-28
Open AccessYes
TypeOTHER
VenueA Companion to the Flavian Age of Imperial Rome (JOURNAL)
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/9781118878149.ch12
OpenAlexW2486812098
ISBN9781118878149
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited16

This chapter argues that change in the perception of Rome's place in the larger world characterizes the Flavian remaking of the principate. In contrast to the old arguments for Flavian centralization and scientific frontiers, the chapter also argues that Flavian culture decentralizes Rome and in fact problematizes the very concept of the center. One of the most straightforward inversions of center and periphery is in Silius representation of Hannibal crossing the Alps. The focalization of the narrative through Hannibal and the Carthaginian soldiers invites a worldview that moves Rome and Italy away from the center. Like Silius, Martial is concerned with the separation of the emperor from the imperial center of Rome. Statius’ Silvae even more insistently thematize and invert the social and economic relations between the center and periphery. The great geographer of the period, Pliny the Elder, decentralizes Rome and Italy.

Ancient history · Ancient Rome · Art · Cartography · Emperor · Geographer · Geography · Literature · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Principate · Representation (politics) · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Law · Organic Chemistry Synthesis Methods

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