Public Opinion and Politics in the Late Roman Republic

Cristina Rosillo-López

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781108515511
• Topic: Geschichte
• Subtopic: Altertum

This book investigates the working mechanisms of public opinion in Late Republican Rome as a part of informal politics. It explores the political interaction (and sometimes opposition) between the elite and the people through various means, such as rumours, gossip, political literature, popular verses and graffiti. It also proposes the existence of a public sphere in Late Republican Rome and analyses public opinion in that time as a system of control. By applying the spatial turn to politics, it becomes possible to study sociability and informal meetings where public opinion circulated. What emerges is a wider concept of the political participation of the people, not just restricted to voting or participating in the assemblies.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-title page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Map
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 Public Opinion in Rome: Definition, Models and Constraints
• Chapter 2 Sociability and Politics
• Chapter 3 Rumours, Gossip and Conversations in Roman Political Life
• Chapter 4 Political Literature and Public Opinion (I): Defining Political Literature
• Chapter 5 Political Literature and Public Opinion (II): Genres of Political Literature
• Chapter 6 Groups and Agents of Public Opinion
• Chapter 7 Rhetoric and Public Opinion: Theory and Practice
• Chapter 8 Conclusions
• Bibliography
• Index of People
• Subject Index