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- Title
Senatus and Sénat: the reception of the Roman Senate during the Radical Stage of the French Revolution (1792–4).
- Authors
da Vela, Beatrice; Earley, Benjamin
- Abstract
During the French Revolution, images and descriptions of the Roman Senate were ubiquitous. They were present in the history paintings of Jacques-Louis David, in the speeches of the Revolutionaries, and in the histories of Rome, which were read for political insight and inspiration. However, the Senate remained a problematic model. It represented a body of stoic republicans, fighting tyranny, and embodying citizen virtue. It could also represent the interests of a narrow group of aristocrats who suppressed the legitimate grievances of the people. In this article, we propose to analyse these conflicting ideas of the Senate in a range of media, including historical works, speeches, pamphlets, and the visual arts. The inclusion of such broad range of evidence allows us to demonstrate the complexity of the Revolutionary engagement with antiquity and the importance of the Senate in political discourse at the time. This article will be of interest to intellectual historians interested in the uses of antiquity in late eighteenth-century France and to classical reception scholars concerned with readings of ancient history as political thought.
- Subjects
ROME. Senate; FRENCH Revolution, 1789-1799; PRACTICAL politics -- History; ANCIENT history; POLITICS in art; EIGHTEENTH century
- Publication
Classical Receptions Journal, 2015, Vol 7, Issue 1, p46
- ISSN
1759-5134
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1093/crj/clu014