Warlords and generals : war and society in early Rome
This thesis will argue that the development of early Rome can be described using a sequence of large, socio-political dichotomies based on Rome's activity in the sphere of warfare. The use of dichotomies in early Roman history is not new,and indeed the confrontation between two opposing groups, typically the patricians and plebeians, can be found at the heart of even the earliest extant histories of the period. The problem which plagued these early models, and indeed many subsequent models based on their premise, is that they assumed that the same prescriptive set of social and political divisions which existed in the late Republic and early Empire also existed in early Rome. This study will discard this highly anachronistic assumption and redefine the dichotomies present in early Rome using active characteristics (i.e. behavior), rather than the prescriptive labels assigned by late republican authors. In particular, this study will attempt to view early Rome through the lens of warfare, where the formation of distinct 'in-group' and 'out-group' biases is most evident, in an effort to redraw the divisions of early Roman society. The end result of this redefining process will be an entirely different, albeit
Armstrong, Jeremy Scott
Early Rome ; Roman Army ; Warfare ; Archaic Latium
Warlords and generals : war and society in early Rome. This thesis will argue that the development of early Rome can be described using a sequence of large, socio-political dichotomies based on Rome's activity in the sphere of warfare. The use of dichotomies in early Roman history is not new,and indeed the confrontation between two opposing groups, typically the patricians and plebeians, can be found at the heart of even the earliest extant histories of the period. The problem which plagued these early models, and indeed many subsequent models based on their premise, is that they assumed that the same prescriptive set of social and political divisions which existed in the late Republic and early Empire also existed in early Rome. This study will discard this highly anachronistic assumption and redefine the dichotomies present in early Rome using active characteristics (i.e. behavior), rather than the prescriptive labels assigned by late republican authors. In particular, this study will attempt to view early Rome through the lens of warfare, where the formation of distinct 'in-group' and 'out-group' biases is most evident, in an effort to redraw the divisions of early Roman society. The end result of this redefining process will be an entirely different, albeit
general war society early rome argue development early rome describe use sequence large socio_political dichotomy base rome activity sphere warfare use dichotomy early_roman history new indeed confrontation oppose group typically plebeian find heart even early extant history period problem plague early model indeed many subsequent model_base premise assume prescriptive set social_political division exist late republic early_empire also exist early rome study discard highly anachronistic assumption redefine dichotomy present early rome use active characteristic behavior rather prescriptive label assign late_republican author particular study_attempt view early rome lens warfare formation distinct group out group bias evident effort division early_roman society end redefine process entirely different albeit