Some Fragments of the Propaganda of Mark Antony

1933 ◽  
Vol 27 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 172-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. P. Charlesworth
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Roman History ◽  
Antony And Cleopatra ◽  
Personal Character ◽  
Ancient Times

The civil war which ended in the victory of Octavian and the suicide of Antony and Cleopatra is one of the most exciting but most obscure periods of Roman history, obscure mainly because the victor succeeded in imposing bis version of affairs upon his countrymen and through them on posterity. That is not to say that his version is necessarily completely false: the danger that threatened Rome was a real one, the national feeling that resulted in the coniuratio totius Italiae of 32 B.C. and that inspired Virgil and Horace later was not an artificial growth, though it was carefully tended. But in kindling the requisite war-feeling and in rousing the necessary enthusiasm both sides had to propagand for themselves, and in ancient times propaganda often became a matter of personal abuse and mud-slinging. In this Octavian's agents were perhaps more successful, though few nowadays (save writers of sensational novels) would accept the conventional portraits of Antony and Cleopatra as anywhere near the truth. But Antony's propaganda, though not so effective, was not obliterated by Octavian's victory; indeed a great deal of it is still preserved and masquerades as fact in histories of the period, where Octavian's personal character suffers badly.

The Roman Plays on Screen

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Hatchuel ◽  
Nathalie Vienne-Guerin
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Roman History ◽  
Julius Caesar ◽  
Antony And Cleopatra

Screen adaptations of the Roman plays have given rise to two narrative groupings: Coriolanus and Titus, which have been adapted as individual Shakespearean texts; and Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra, which have been serialized or conflated, giving the impression that the two plays cannot stand as autonomous works. This conflation of Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra may stem from a desire for a restoration (or celebration) of national identity through the appropriation of Roman imagery and cycles of epic history. By contrast, Titus and Coriolanus rewrite less conspicuous landmarks of Roman history, giving directors more freedom to set the plays in different places and times and to introduce imagery that unmoors the stories from their Roman contexts.

scholarly journals On the Edge of Empire

2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-116
Author(s):  
Soumaya Pernilla Ouis
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Indian Ocean Region ◽  
Social Organizations ◽  
Ocean Region ◽  
The Indian Ocean ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
North And South ◽  
Oral Stories

In the preface of her On the Edge of Empire: Hadhramawt, Emigration,and the Indian Ocean 1880s-1930s, the author explains that a westernercould conduct research in the Hadhramawt region only after the unificationof North and South Yemen in May 1990. Hence, we can concludethat Boxberger’s work is an effort to add to our knowledge of this underresearchedarea. I have seldom read such a wonderfully detailed book,clearly written and polysonic in its application of diverse researchmethodologies, such as archive studies and oral stories collected fromanthropological fieldwork. It gives several important insights into a complexhistory of one of Arabia’s most fascinating regions.One often encounters the notion that Arabia has been isolated fromforeign influence, and thus left alone with its own traditions and lifestyles.This understanding particularly applies to Yemen, as being a mythical landthat has not changed since ancient times. However, this is far from thetruth. Since Yemen could be viewed as what the rest of Arabia would havebeen without oil, one could conclude that petrodollars have actually conservedcertain cultural values and social organizations. Yemen, on theother hand, has experienced communism, civil war, and recently democratization,unlike other parts of the Arabian peninsula.Boxberger’s study covers Hadhramawt’s Qu’ayti and Kathiri sultanatesduring 1880-1930, a period that is crucial for understanding modernYemen. Her study focuses on the British influence, as these sultanatesbecame British protectorates; the emigration of natives to other parts ofthe Indian Ocean region; and the development of modern communication ...

7. Classical plays

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley Wells
Keyword(s):  
School Education ◽  
Roman History ◽  
Julius Caesar ◽  
Grammar School ◽  
Antony And Cleopatra ◽  
Titus Andronicus ◽  
Troilus And Cressida ◽  
Timon Of Athens

Shakespeare’s grammar school education gave him a thorough grounding in Latin, and possibly some Greek, and in the writings of classical authors. He drew on and developed this knowledge at every stage of his career, most conspicuously in the remarkably diverse tragedies and other plays in which he dramatized Greek and Roman history. ‘Classical plays’ first considers Titus Andronicus and then Julius Caesar, which he wrote seven or so years later. It also discusses Troilus and Cressida, Timon of Athens, and his last two classical plays Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra for which he drew far more extensively on Plutarch.

scholarly journals A House Divided Against Itself

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrastos Omissi
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Civil War ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Military History ◽  
Roman History ◽  
The Political ◽  
Main Body ◽  
History Of ◽  
Late Roman

This short chapter constitutes an introduction to the main body of the work, and sets out the wide-reaching consequences of permanent civil war within the later Roman Empire. It argues that previous research has overemphasized the importance of external warfare with the barbarian outsiders in recounting the political and military history of the late third and early fourth centuries. Far more important were the wars that Romans fought against themselves. The chapter sets out the broadly chronological structure of the book, and urges the reader to see that chapter divisions organized by dynasty should not suggest that this book takes a traditional approach to late Roman history. Far from it: the legitimacy of many of the late Empire’s great dynasties will be thrown open to question.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document