This dissertation questions the dominant paradigm of a 'cultural revolution' in ancient Rome and Italy, as a product of the Augustan age. It also calls into consideration the notions that aristocratic elites were cultural trend-setters during the last two centuries BCE and that the majority of ancient Italians were largely passive as the sweeping changes of the period unfolded. Breaking new ground with sophisticated quantitative analyses, the dissertation conducts a long-term comparative study of food consumption among the mass society throughout Italy to see whether popular cultural habits come toward any point of homogeneity in the Augustan age. It illustrates how macroregional groups (Etruria, Apulia, and Latium) reveal a distinct tendency toward Italian homogeneity that transpires slowly over time starting around the mid-second century BCE. Apulian sites moreover begin to diverge from this trend starting in the first century CE, showing that the maximum point of cultural unification occurred under Augustus but that it was not permanent. These results thus not only complicate the narrative of Italian unification and illustrate the different levels into which culture can be particularized, but they also provide a context for the agency of Augustus and the members of his regime, in terms of their ability to exact or perpetrate cultural change: leaders and the elites of a social order are granted their authority, to a degree, through their own making, but the maintenance of that power depends upon a concession of power on the part of the rest of society. The way in which the proliferation of the symbols of power found common purchase within Italy corresponds with an era of a shared culture reflected in the habits of mass consumption. The success of the Augustan age, therefore, and its proliferation of symbols of power, should be considered in light of this preexisting long-term sociohistorical trend. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Classics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2014. / April 3, 2014. / Includes bibliographical references. / Nancy T. de Grummond, Professor Directing Dissertation; David Levenson, University Representative; John Marincola, Committee Member; Daniel Pullen, Committee Member; Debajyoti Sinha, Committee Member; David Stone, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_253552 |
| Contributors | Collins-Elliott, Stephen A. (authoraut), De Grummond, Nancy T. (professor directing dissertation), Levenson, David (university representative), Marincola, John (committee member), Pullen, Daniel (committee member), Sinha, Debajyoti (committee member), Stone, David (committee member), Department of Classics (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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