Archaeologies, Origins, Antiquities: Narrating Early Cultural History in Ancient Greece and Rome

This book examines the narratives of early cultural history in ancient Greece and Rome, spanning from a macrocosmic outlook to a microcosmic exploration of individual stories, familial dynamics, and societal contexts. The collection investigates the concepts of archaeologies, origins, and antiquities through a multifaceted approach, considering literary, rhetorical, philosophical, historical, and epigraphic viewpoints. Each chapter delves into various aspects of cultural history, encompassing the influence of Homeric scholarship on Thucydides’ ’Archaeology, ’ Plato’s concept of ’archaeologies’, the interpretation of the past through Hellenistic inscriptions, and the cultural histories of Sallust, Dicaearchus, and Varro. It also discusses the relationship between history, humanity, and the natural world in Lucretius and Seneca, Vergil’s accounts of early human history, the role of families in shaping cultural history, the origins of sexual violence in mythological stories, and the reinterpretation of Roman foundational myths in late antiquity. This volume invites readers to reflect on the ways in which the Greeks and Romans narrated their past, interpreted their origins, and constructed their collective memories.

Nicoletta Bruno, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Neo-Latin Studies, Innsbruck, Austria.