TY - CHAP
T1 - Contemplating the end of Roman power
T2 - Polybius' Histories in context
AU - Wiater, Nicolas
PY - 2021/9/30
Y1 - 2021/9/30
N2 - Taking “eschatology” as engagement with the prospect of the breakdown of social and political order, this contribution discusses the various ways in which the question of the duration or fall of the Roman empire influenced the works of different Hellenistic authors. Bringing Polybius, Dionysius and Aemilius Sura, representatives of elite forms of historical writing in the Roman West, into dialogue with more “popular” texts such as the Third Sibylline Oracle and the miracle narrative in Phlegon of Tralleis, both associated with the Eastern Mediterranean, this chapter explores the interrelationship of eschatology and the debate about the end (or not) of Roman power in the late Hellenistic period. Honing in on the complexity of the debate about Rome's downfall, it argues for a revision of the widespread view that visions of Rome's fall were a form of “escapism”. In the process, it provides new insight into the pre-history of the concept of Roma aeterna. Finally, it offers a more nuanced understanding of a key aspect of Polybius’ concept of history and history-writing by bringing it into dialogue with its larger narrative and cultural context.
AB - Taking “eschatology” as engagement with the prospect of the breakdown of social and political order, this contribution discusses the various ways in which the question of the duration or fall of the Roman empire influenced the works of different Hellenistic authors. Bringing Polybius, Dionysius and Aemilius Sura, representatives of elite forms of historical writing in the Roman West, into dialogue with more “popular” texts such as the Third Sibylline Oracle and the miracle narrative in Phlegon of Tralleis, both associated with the Eastern Mediterranean, this chapter explores the interrelationship of eschatology and the debate about the end (or not) of Roman power in the late Hellenistic period. Honing in on the complexity of the debate about Rome's downfall, it argues for a revision of the widespread view that visions of Rome's fall were a form of “escapism”. In the process, it provides new insight into the pre-history of the concept of Roma aeterna. Finally, it offers a more nuanced understanding of a key aspect of Polybius’ concept of history and history-writing by bringing it into dialogue with its larger narrative and cultural context.
UR - https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315459486
UR - https://discover.libraryhub.jisc.ac.uk/search?isn=9781138208315&rn=1
U2 - 10.4324/9781315459486-11
DO - 10.4324/9781315459486-11
M3 - Chapter
SN - 9781138208315
SN - 9781032043050
T3 - Rewriting antiquity
SP - 156
EP - 168
BT - Eschatology in antiquity
A2 - Marlow, Hilary
A2 - Pollmann, Karla
A2 - van Noorden, Helen
PB - Routledge Taylor & Francis Group
CY - Abingdon, Oxon
ER -