People, Power, and Politics: Populism and the Roman Republic (82-27 BC)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: History and Cultures
Abstract
This multi-disciplinary thesis will analyse the rhetoric, institutions and political activity of the late Roman Republic, utilising the core concepts of and contemporary research on populism. This analysis aims to bring a new understanding of unresolved issues in scholarship on Roman republican political culture. In doing so, the thesis will also examine how the analysis of populism in antiquity illuminates our understanding of contemporary populism as a style, framework or ideology today.
This thesis asks, how does modern political theory of populism deepen our understanding of the complex relationships between institutions, crowds, individuals, and power in the late Roman Republic? Furthermore, how does this populist understanding - in which society is divided between 'a corrupt elite and the pure people' popular authority is sovereign, and lends itself to authoritarianism and anticonstitutionalism (Tarchi 2016; Mudde and Skenderovic 2017) - reframe and resolve the most pressing debate in contemporary Roman political scholarship: how real popular power existed side-by-side with elite domination of the political arena (Millar 1998; Hölkeskamp 2010; Mouritsen 2017)? In turn, how can this 'Roman populism' help us understand modern populism? To what extent can the conflicting taxonomic distinctions in political theories of populism - variously, an ideology, (Taggart 2000) a style, (Sengul 2019) or even a state of mind (Tarchi 2016) -help define the 'core' (Zanatta 2002) of an otherwise heterogeneous idea?
Using a range of ancient evidence, drawing from across Cicero's work (speeches, letters and philosophical treatises) and historiographical evidence (particularly Sallust, Livy and Cassius Dio), I will assess how populist rhetoric and praxis created a powerful and identifiable platform for popular authoritarianism. Examining antiquarian evidence (primarily Varro) and ancient political philosophical evidence - especially Plato and Aristotle - I will contextualise this populist political writing within its elite intellectual environment. Additionally, I will make use of inscriptions and coins to demonstrate how individuals and 'the state' projected power in practical terms over time. By analysing the rhetorical, historiographical, epigraphic, and philosophical evidence I will show how populism provides an extremely useful tool for redefining how conceptions like 'people', 'elites' and 'popular sovereignty' coloured the Roman political landscape and facilitated an ideological shift toward anti-constitutionalism and authoritarianism.
This thesis asks, how does modern political theory of populism deepen our understanding of the complex relationships between institutions, crowds, individuals, and power in the late Roman Republic? Furthermore, how does this populist understanding - in which society is divided between 'a corrupt elite and the pure people' popular authority is sovereign, and lends itself to authoritarianism and anticonstitutionalism (Tarchi 2016; Mudde and Skenderovic 2017) - reframe and resolve the most pressing debate in contemporary Roman political scholarship: how real popular power existed side-by-side with elite domination of the political arena (Millar 1998; Hölkeskamp 2010; Mouritsen 2017)? In turn, how can this 'Roman populism' help us understand modern populism? To what extent can the conflicting taxonomic distinctions in political theories of populism - variously, an ideology, (Taggart 2000) a style, (Sengul 2019) or even a state of mind (Tarchi 2016) -help define the 'core' (Zanatta 2002) of an otherwise heterogeneous idea?
Using a range of ancient evidence, drawing from across Cicero's work (speeches, letters and philosophical treatises) and historiographical evidence (particularly Sallust, Livy and Cassius Dio), I will assess how populist rhetoric and praxis created a powerful and identifiable platform for popular authoritarianism. Examining antiquarian evidence (primarily Varro) and ancient political philosophical evidence - especially Plato and Aristotle - I will contextualise this populist political writing within its elite intellectual environment. Additionally, I will make use of inscriptions and coins to demonstrate how individuals and 'the state' projected power in practical terms over time. By analysing the rhetorical, historiographical, epigraphic, and philosophical evidence I will show how populism provides an extremely useful tool for redefining how conceptions like 'people', 'elites' and 'popular sovereignty' coloured the Roman political landscape and facilitated an ideological shift toward anti-constitutionalism and authoritarianism.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Henriette Van Der Blom (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Tim Elliott (Student) |