Pompey, Cato, and the Governance of the Roman Empire

Author:   Kit Morrell (Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award Fellow, Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award Fellow, University of Melbourne)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
ISBN:  

9780198858089


Pages:   320
Publication Date:   04 June 2020
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
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Pompey, Cato, and the Governance of the Roman Empire


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Overview

Provincial governance under the Roman republic has long been notorious for its corrupt officials and greedy tax-farmers, though this is far from being the whole story. This book challenges the traditional picture, contending that leading late republican citizens were more concerned about the problems of their empire than is generally recognized, and took effective steps to address them.Attempts to improve provincial governance over the period 70-50 BC are examined in depth, with a particular focus on the contributions of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey) and the younger Marcus Porcius Cato. These efforts ranged well beyond the sanctions of the extortion law, encompassing show trials and model governors, and drawing on principles of moral philosophy. In 52-50 BC they culminated in a coordinated reform programme which combined far-sighted administrative change with a concerted attempt to transform the ethos of provincial governance: the union of what Cicero called 'Cato's policy' of ethical governance with Pompey's lex de provinciis, a law which transformed the very nature of provincial command.Though more familiar as political opponents, Pompey and Cato were united in their interest in good governance and were capable of working alongside each other to effect positive change. This book demonstrates that it was their eventual collaboration, in the late 50s BC, that produced the republic's most significant programme of provincial reform. In the process, it offers a new perspective on these two key figures as well as an enriched understanding of provincial governance in the late Roman republic.

Full Product Details

Author:   Kit Morrell (Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award Fellow, Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award Fellow, University of Melbourne)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 1.80cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.492kg
ISBN:  

9780198858089


ISBN 10:   0198858086
Pages:   320
Publication Date:   04 June 2020
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

List of Abbreviations Note on the Texts 0: Introduction 1: Pompey and the Reforms of 70 2: Pompey in the East 3: Cato, Stoicism, and the Provinces 4: The Last lex repetundarum 5: The equites and the Extortion Law 6: Metus Parthicus 7: The lex Pompeia de provinciis 8: Cato s Policy 9: Conclusion Bibliography Index

Reviews

Morrell takes a refreshing look at Caesar's opponents Pompey and Cato and through them strives to re-evaluate several questions of the late republic . . . Morrell certainly challenges some interpretations long accepted by Roman historians . . . The strength of Morrell's book in many ways is the ability to see relationships and to connect events that hitherto have been considered to have little or no association . . . The primary achievement of Morrell's book is the re-interpretation of Cato, who for so long has either been surrounded with the aura of holiness or attacked for a philosophical stubbornness detached from reality . . . Morrell does an excellent job of evaluating Cato on his own merits, at least as much as possible given the sources, which are both encomiastic and hostile. * Thomas E. Strunk, Polis * Besides the undeniable value of its contents, the innovative approach of the book is probably its most significant aspect, since the author proposes a fresh perspective on the policy applied by the Romans in their provinces. * Alejandro Diaz Fernandez, Bryn Mawr Classical Review *


Besides the undeniable value of its contents, the innovative approach of the book is probably its most significant aspect, since the author proposes a fresh perspective on the policy applied by the Romans in their provinces. * Alejandro Díaz Fernández, Bryn Mawr Classical Review * Morrell takes a refreshing look at Caesar's opponents Pompey and Cato and through them strives to re-evaluate several questions of the late republic . . . Morrell certainly challenges some interpretations long accepted by Roman historians . . . The strength of Morrell's book in many ways is the ability to see relationships and to connect events that hitherto have been considered to have little or no association . . . The primary achievement of Morrell's book is the re-interpretation of Cato, who for so long has either been surrounded with the aura of holiness or attacked for a philosophical stubbornness detached from reality . . . Morrell does an excellent job of evaluating Cato on his own merits, at least as much as possible given the sources, which are both encomiastic and hostile. * Thomas E. Strunk, Polis *


Besides the undeniable value of its contents, the innovative approach of the book is probably its most significant aspect, since the author proposes a fresh perspective on the policy applied by the Romans in their provinces. * Alejandro D'iaz Fern'andez, Bryn Mawr Classical Review * Morrell takes a refreshing look at Caesar's opponents Pompey and Cato and through them strives to re-evaluate several questions of the late republic . . . Morrell certainly challenges some interpretations long accepted by Roman historians . . . The strength of Morrell's book in many ways is the ability to see relationships and to connect events that hitherto have been considered to have little or no association . . . The primary achievement of Morrell's book is the re-interpretation of Cato, who for so long has either been surrounded with the aura of holiness or attacked for a philosophical stubbornness detached from reality . . . Morrell does an excellent job of evaluating Cato on his own merits, at least as much as possible given the sources, which are both encomiastic and hostile. * Thomas E. Strunk, Polis *


Author Information

Kit Morrell completed her doctorate at the University of Sydney and is currently an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award fellow at the University of Melbourne. Her other publications include The Alternative Augustan Age, co-edited with Josiah Osgood and Kathryn Welch.

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