The Small Stuff of Roman Antiquity

Why are the small and unimportant relics of Roman antiquity often the most enduring, in material form and in our affections? Through close encounters with minor things such as insects, brief lives, quibbles, irritants, and jokes, Emily Gowers provocatively argues that much of what the Romans dismiss...

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Váldodahkki: Gowers, Emily
Materiálatiipa: Online
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Almmustuhtton: University of California Press 2025
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Liŋkkat:https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/97984
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author Gowers, Emily
author_browse Gowers, Emily
author_facet Gowers, Emily
author_sort Gowers, Emily
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Why are the small and unimportant relics of Roman antiquity often the most enduring, in material form and in our affections? Through close encounters with minor things such as insects, brief lives, quibbles, irritants, and jokes, Emily Gowers provocatively argues that much of what the Romans dismissed as superfluous or peripheral in fact took up immense imaginative space. It was often through the small stuff that the Romans most acutely probed and challenged their society’s overarching values and priorities and its sense of proportion and justice. There is much to learn from what didn’t or shouldn’t matter. By marking the spots where the apparently pointless becomes significant, this book radically adjusts our understanding of the Romans and their world, as well as our own minor feelings and intimate preoccupations. “The Small Stuff is quintessential Gowers. Written with characteristic verve and elegance, it challenges us to think again about what constitutes a subject worth pursuing.” — WILLIAM FITZGERALD, Professor of Latin Language and Literature, King’s College London “The bold essayistic orientation of Emily Gowers’s book—in which wit, subversive potential, and interpretive levity stunningly come together—sets a new standard, which many will no doubt attempt to imitate.” — MARIO TELÒ, author of Greek Tragedy in a Global Crisis: Reading through Pandemic Times
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1519582025-07-21T15:44:42Z The Small Stuff of Roman Antiquity Gowers, Emily Roman Antiquity thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WC Antiques, vintage and collectables thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WC Antiques, vintage and collectables Why are the small and unimportant relics of Roman antiquity often the most enduring, in material form and in our affections? Through close encounters with minor things such as insects, brief lives, quibbles, irritants, and jokes, Emily Gowers provocatively argues that much of what the Romans dismissed as superfluous or peripheral in fact took up immense imaginative space. It was often through the small stuff that the Romans most acutely probed and challenged their society’s overarching values and priorities and its sense of proportion and justice. There is much to learn from what didn’t or shouldn’t matter. By marking the spots where the apparently pointless becomes significant, this book radically adjusts our understanding of the Romans and their world, as well as our own minor feelings and intimate preoccupations. “The Small Stuff is quintessential Gowers. Written with characteristic verve and elegance, it challenges us to think again about what constitutes a subject worth pursuing.” — WILLIAM FITZGERALD, Professor of Latin Language and Literature, King’s College London “The bold essayistic orientation of Emily Gowers’s book—in which wit, subversive potential, and interpretive levity stunningly come together—sets a new standard, which many will no doubt attempt to imitate.” — MARIO TELÒ, author of Greek Tragedy in a Global Crisis: Reading through Pandemic Times 2025-02-17T02:28:29Z 2025-02-17T02:28:29Z 2025-01-27T11:26:13Z 2025 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/97984 9780520413146 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/151958 eng open access image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/97984/1/the-small-stuff-of-roman-antiquity.pdf University of California Press 10.1525/luminos.217 10.1525/luminos.217 19856893-4bf2-4e3e-9137-c7692d64e4c1 9780520413146 193 Oakland open access
spellingShingle Roman Antiquity
thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WC Antiques, vintage and collectables
thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WC Antiques, vintage and collectables
Gowers, Emily
The Small Stuff of Roman Antiquity
title The Small Stuff of Roman Antiquity
title_full The Small Stuff of Roman Antiquity
title_fullStr The Small Stuff of Roman Antiquity
title_full_unstemmed The Small Stuff of Roman Antiquity
title_short The Small Stuff of Roman Antiquity
title_sort small stuff of roman antiquity
topic Roman Antiquity
thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WC Antiques, vintage and collectables
thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WC Antiques, vintage and collectables
topic_facet Roman Antiquity
thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WC Antiques, vintage and collectables
thema EDItEUR::W Lifestyle, Hobbies and Leisure::WC Antiques, vintage and collectables
url https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/97984
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