Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different
Imperatores Victi: Military Defeat and Aristocractic Competition in the Middle and Late Republic
by Rosenstein, Nathan Stewart
- Used
- Hardcover
- Condition
- Very good in fine dust jacket.
- ISBN 10
- 0520069390
- ISBN 13
- 9780520069398
- Seller
-
Oakland, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
University of California Press. 1990. Hard cover. Very good in fine dust jacket.. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 208 p. Audience: General/trade. . Given the intense competition among aristocrats seeking public office in the middle and late Roman Republic, one would expect that their persistent struggles for honor, glory, and power could have seriously undermined the state or damaged the cohesiveness of the ruling class. Rome in fact depended on aristocratic competition, since no professional bureaucracy directed public affairs and no salary was attached to any public office. But as Rosenstein adeptly shows, competition appears to have been surprisingly limited, in ways that curtailed the possible destructive effects of all-out contests between individuals. Imperatores Victi examines one particularly striking case of such checks on competition. Military success at all times represented an abundant source of prestige and political strength at Rome. Generals who led armies to victory enjoyed a better-than-average chance of securing higher office upon their return from the field. Yet this study demonstrates that defeated generals were not barred from public office and in fact went on to win the Republic's most highly coveted and hotly contested offices in numbers virtually identical with those of their undefeated peers. Rosenstein explores how this unexpected limit to competition functions, reviewing beliefs about the religious origins of defeat, assumptions about common soldiers' duties in battle, and definitions of honorable behavior of an aristocrat during a crisis. These perspectives were instrumental in shifting the onus of failure away from a general's person and in offering positive strategies a general might use to win glory and respect even in defeat and to silence potential critics among a failed general's peers. Such limits to competition had an impact on the larger problems of stability and coherence in the Republic and its political elite; these larger problems are discussed in the concluding chapter.
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Masalai Press (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- Alibris.0023106
- Title
- Imperatores Victi: Military Defeat and Aristocractic Competition in the Middle and Late Republic
- Author
- Rosenstein, Nathan Stewart
- Format/Binding
- Hard cover
- Book Condition
- Used - Very good in fine dust jacket.
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Hardcover
- ISBN 10
- 0520069390
- ISBN 13
- 9780520069398
- Publisher
- University of California Press
- Place of Publication
- Berkeley, Ca, U.s.a.
- Date Published
- 1990
- Keywords
- Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 208 p. Audience: General/trade.
Terms of Sale
Masalai Press
Any book found unsatisfactory may be returned within 7 days of receipt but please advise.
About the Seller
Masalai Press
Biblio member since 2004
Oakland, California
About Masalai Press
Masalai Press is a publisher, book importer of new books and reseller of used books.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...