Classical Culture and the Idea of Rome in Eighteenth-Century England (PDF)
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- Synopsis
- This book is the first to look at the aristocratic adoption of Roman ideals in eighteenth-century English culture and thought. Philip Ayres shows how, in the century following the Revolution of 1688, the ruling class promoted-by way of its patronage-a classical frame of mind embracing all the arts, on the foundations of 'liberty' and 'civic virtue'. The historical fact of a Roman Britain lent the endeavour an added authenticity, and it was partly out of an attachment to that past that a new 'Roman' present was constructed by Lord Burlington and his circle. Ayres's study shows that the propensity to adopt the self-image of virtuous Romans was the attempt of a newly empowered oligarchy to dignify and vindicate itself by association with an idealised image of republican Rome. This sense of affinity with the ideals of the free Roman Republic gave British classicism an authenticity impossible under the various versions of absolutism on the continent. Its discourse precluded any more thorough-going revolution by suggesting that Britain's liberty had been won by an 'oligarchy of virtue' which now defended, defined and emblematised the nation.
- Copyright:
- 1997
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Excellent
- ISBN-13:
- 9780521105798
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Date of Addition:
- 06/14/19
- Copyrighted By:
- Philip Ayres
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- History, Nonfiction, Literature and Fiction, Language Arts, Law, Legal Issues and Ethics, Philosophy
- Submitted By:
- Debbie Morton
- Proofread By:
- N/A
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.
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