Memory in Ancient Rome and Early Christianity

Front Cover
Karl Galinsky
Oxford University Press, Dec 18, 2015 - History - 448 pages
What and how do people remember? Who controls the process of what we call cultural or social memory? What is forgotten and why? People's memories are not the same as history written in retrospect; they are malleable and an ongoing process of construction and reconstruction. Ancient Rome provided much of the cultural framework for early Christianity, and in both the role of memory was pervasive. Memory in Ancient Rome and Early Christianity presents perspectives from an international and interdisciplinary range of contributors on the literature, history, archaeology, and religion of a major world civilization, based on an informed engagement with important concepts and issues in memory studies. Moving beyond terms such as 'collective', 'social', and 'cultural memory' as standard tropes, the volume offers a selective exploration of the wealth of topics which comprise memory studies, and also features a contribution from a leading neuroscientist on the actual workings of the human memory. It is an importamt resource for anyone interested in Roman antiquity, the beginnings of Christianity, and the role of memory in history.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
Memory and Roman Writers
41
Memory and Roman Emperors
113
Roman Honorific Statues Memory or Just Honour?
167
Memory in Roman Religion and Early Christianity
261
A Perspective from Neuropsychology
367
Index Locorum
393
General Index
398
Copyright

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About the author (2015)

Karl Galinsky is Floyd A. Cailloux Centennial Professor of Classics and University Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin.