Book contents
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- The Cambridge History of Violence
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume i
- General Introduction: Violence in World History
- Introduction to Volume I
- Part I The Origins of Conflict
- Part II Prehistoric and Ancient Warfare
- Part III Intimate and Collective Violence
- Part IV Religion, Ritual and Violence
- Part V Violence, Crime and the State
- 26 Violence, Law and Community in Classical Athens
- 27 Roman Violence: Attitudes and Practice
- 28 Suicide and Martyrdom among Christians and Jews
- Part VI Representations and Constructions of Violence
- Index
- References
27 - Roman Violence: Attitudes and Practice
from Part V - Violence, Crime and the State
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 March 2020
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- The Cambridge History of Violence
- The Cambridge World History of Violence
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume i
- General Introduction: Violence in World History
- Introduction to Volume I
- Part I The Origins of Conflict
- Part II Prehistoric and Ancient Warfare
- Part III Intimate and Collective Violence
- Part IV Religion, Ritual and Violence
- Part V Violence, Crime and the State
- 26 Violence, Law and Community in Classical Athens
- 27 Roman Violence: Attitudes and Practice
- 28 Suicide and Martyrdom among Christians and Jews
- Part VI Representations and Constructions of Violence
- Index
- References
Summary
The chapter examines the broad contours of violence in the Roman world, from the private, personal plane of violence in social relations (where self-help was the order of the day) to criminality and the law, to the ideological underpinnings of applying violence to those perceived as threats to the community. Various facets of the Romans’ socio-political landscape had an impact on how they viewed and practised violence. Romans had an ideology of dominance inherent in empire. They accepted the brutalities of mass slavery, a hierarchical social system that ranked people according to group membership and assigned personal worth (or lack of it) based on that membership. Violence reflected and enforced these systems. What emerges is a picture of a world where violence was, in no small measure, the language of rank and status.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge World History of Violence , pp. 550 - 571Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2020
References
Bibliographic Essay
- 2
- Cited by