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9781350291898

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This remarkable and novel study highlights the potential for illuminating comparison between Roman and African historical experiences. Mlambo analyses personal testimonies by veterans about their involvement and emotions in the expropriation of land in modern Zimbabwe, which he uses, alongside the ancient clues, to inspire a vivid recreation of Roman veterans as active agents in the land expropriations of the late Republic. --Dominic Rathbone, Professor of Ancient History, King's College London, UK The striking resemblances between decommissioned legionaries in ancient Rome and African veteran guerrilla fighters in present-day Zimbabwe are mutually enlightening. Moving beyond a narrow consideration of a single region or epoch towards an exploration of parallels and contrasts, this book recalibrates the Eurocentric habit of taking classical antiquity as the unique key for understanding social and political life. Mlambo brings African and European perspectives into a fresh dialogue with one another in empirically well-grounded and unexpected ways. --Thomas Widlok, Professor of the Cultural Anthropology of Africa, University of Cologne, Germany A diligent intervention on land expropriation, veterans, masculinity and war in ancient Rome and contemporary Zimbabwe, this magnificent book yokes together two disparate societies separated by 2,000 years and allows them to shine their light on each other in ways that enrich our understanding of history and the limitless possibilities of engaging it. --Tavengwa Gwekwerere, Assistant Professor of Pan-African Studies, California State University, Los Angeles, USA

It is studies like this present book that provide the path forward to more groundbreaking research in the field of military history of all societies and periods. * The Classical Review * Well founded on theory and extremely persuasive ... This book is worth reading. * The Classical Association of the Middle West and South * This remarkable and novel study highlights the potential for illuminating comparison between Roman and African historical experiences. Mlambo analyses personal testimonies by veterans about their involvement and emotions in the expropriation of land in modern Zimbabwe, which he uses, alongside the ancient clues, to inspire a vivid recreation of Roman veterans as active agents in the land expropriations of the late Republic. -- Dominic Rathbone, Professor of Ancient History, King's College London, UK The striking resemblances between decommissioned legionaries in ancient Rome and African veteran guerrilla fighters in present-day Zimbabwe are mutually enlightening. Moving beyond a narrow consideration of a single region or epoch towards an exploration of parallels and contrasts, this book recalibrates the Eurocentric habit of taking classical antiquity as the unique key for understanding social and political life. Mlambo brings African and European perspectives into a fresh dialogue with one another in empirically well-grounded and unexpected ways. -- Thomas Widlok, Professor of the Cultural Anthropology of Africa, University of Cologne, Germany A diligent intervention on land expropriation, veterans, masculinity and war in ancient Rome and contemporary Zimbabwe, this magnificent book yokes together two disparate societies separated by 2,000 years and allows them to shine their light on each other in ways that enrich our understanding of history and the limitless possibilities of engaging it. -- Tavengwa Gwekwerere, Assistant Professor of Pan-African Studies, California State University, Los Angeles, USA Scholars of masculinity studies will likely find much of interest here... * The Journal of Roman Studies *

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Obert Bernard Mlambo is Associate Professor of Classical Studies and History at the University of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe. His research interests involve Roman History, Classics and Colonialism, Postcolonial Classics in Africa, and the issues of Violence, Gender, Politics, and Land in ancient Rome and Zimbabwe. Obert Mlambo also researches and teaches Roman history in a global context. He is a former Humboldt Fellow at the Institute of African Studies and Egyptology, University of Cologne, Germany, and a Guest Scholar at the Global South Studies Centre of the University of Cologne, Germany.

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