Ordering Knowledge in the Roman Empire

This fascinating collection considers the dialogue between technical literature and imperial society in the Roman Empire.

Jason König (Edited by), Tim Whitmarsh (Edited by)

9780521859691, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 15 November 2007

320 pages
23.5 x 16.1 x 2.3 cm, 0.64 kg

Review of the hardback: 'König and Whitmarsh's collection of eleven essays, whose origins can be traced to a 2001 conference held at St John's College, Cambridge, is a welcome edition for what might be called the emerging field of the history of information science … this volume comes highly recommended on account of the wide range of authors it considers, the variety of analytical methods it employs and its nuanced understanding of the relationship between compilations of knowledge and their contexts.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

The Romans commanded the largest and most complex empire the world had ever seen, or would see until modern times. The challenges, however, were not just political, economic and military: Rome was also the hub of a vast information network, drawing in worldwide expertise and refashioning it for its own purposes. This fascinating collection of essays considers the dialogue between technical literature and imperial society, drawing on, developing and critiquing a range of modern cultural theories (including those of Michel Foucault and Edward Said). How was knowledge shaped into textual forms, and how did those forms encode relationships between emperor and subjects, theory and practice, Roman and Greek, centre and periphery? Ordering Knowledge in the Roman Empire will be required reading for those concerned with the intellectual and cultural history of the Roman Empire, and its lasting legacy in the medieval world and beyond.

Part I. Introduction: 1. Ordering knowledge Jason König and Tim Whitmarsh
Part II. Knowledge and Textual Order: 2. Fragmentation and coherence in Plutarch's Quaestiones Convivales Jason König
3. Galen and Athenaeus in the Hellenistic library John Wilkins
4. Guides to the wor(l)d Andrew Riggsby
5. Petronius' lessons in learning - the hard way Victoria Rimell
6. Diogenes Laërtius, biographer of philosophy James Warren
7. The creation of Isidore's Etymologies or Origins John Henderson
Part III. Knowledge and Social Order: 8. Knowledge and power in Frontinus' On Aqueducts Alice König
9. Measures for an emperor: Volusius Maecianus' monetary pamphlet for Marcus Aurelius Serafina Cuomo
10. Probing the entrails of the universe: astrology as bodily knowledge in Manilius' Astronomica Thomas Habinek
11. Galen's imperial order of knowledge Rebecca Flemming.

Subject Areas: History of science [PDX], Roman law [LAFR], History of ideas [JFCX], History of Western philosophy [HPC], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]