Theprosopography of ancient Rome is an approach toclassical studies andancient history that focuses on family connections, political alliances, and social networks inancient Rome.[1] The methodology of Romanprosopography involves defining a group for study—often the social ranking calledordo in Latin, as ofsenators andequestrians—then collecting and analyzing data.Literary sources provide evidence mainly for the ruling elite.Epigraphy andpapyrology are sources that may also document ordinary people, who have been studied in groups such as imperial freedmen, lower-class families, and specific occupations such aswet nurses(nutrices).[2]
In German scholarship,Friedrich Münzer's many biographical articles forRealencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft took a prosopographical approach.[3]Matthias Gelzer, one of the founders of prosopographical methodology in relation to ancient Rome, focused on the social institution ofpatronage and its effects on the Roman political system.[4]
Leading 20th-century scholars who wrote in English on theprosopography of theRoman Republic includeT.R.S. Broughton, whose three-volumeThe Magistrates of the Roman Republic is a standard reference;Ronald Syme, whoseRoman Revolution (1939) became the basis for later scholars' work on the late Republic and the transition to thePrincipate;T.P. Wiseman, who has studied in particular the careers and family lines of Romans from themunicipia, towns outside Rome;E. Badian, particularly his 1965 work on the trial ofGaius Norbanus;Lily Ross Taylor; andErich Gruen.[5]
Other scholars, such asP.A. Brunt, have cautioned against an overreliance on prosopography, particularly the tendency to see court trials as "proxy wars" between political factions rather than as judicial proceedings in pursuit of just outcomes: even bitter enemies such asCicero andClodius Pulcher are recorded as testifying on behalf of the same party.[6]
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