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Fides in Flavian Literature

Edited by Antony Augoustakis, Emma Buckley, and Claire Stocks

© 2019

Fides in Flavian Literature explores the ideology of "good faith" (fides) during the time of the emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian (69–96 CE), the new imperial dynasty that gained power in the wake of the civil wars of the period. The contributors to this volume consider the significance and semantic range of this Roman value in works that deal in myth, contemporary poetry, and history in both prose and verse. Though it does not claim to offer the comprehensive "last word" on fides in Flavian Rome, the book aims to show that fides in this period was subjected to a particularly striking and special brand of contestation and reconceptualization, used to interrogate the broad cultural changes and anxieties of the Flavian period as well as connect to a republican and imperial past. The editors argue that fides was both a vehicle for reconciliation and a means to test the nature of "good faith" in the wake of a devastating and divisive period in Roman history.

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Product Details

  • Series: Phoenix Supplementary Volumes
  • World Rights
  • Page Count: 344 pages
  • Dimensions: 6.5in x 1.0in x 9.3in
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SKU# SP005524

  • PUBLISHED SEP 2019

    From: $57.75

    Regular Price: $77.00

    ISBN 9781487505530
  • PUBLISHED AUG 2019

    From: $57.75

    Regular Price: $77.00

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Quick Overview

This book investigates the presence of Fides ("good faith") in Flavian literature, exploring its ideological significance in the aftermath of Rome’s civil wars (68–69 CE) in a variety of works by prose and verse authors.

Fides in Flavian Literature

Edited by Antony Augoustakis, Emma Buckley, and Claire Stocks

© 2019

Fides in Flavian Literature explores the ideology of "good faith" (fides) during the time of the emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian (69–96 CE), the new imperial dynasty that gained power in the wake of the civil wars of the period. The contributors to this volume consider the significance and semantic range of this Roman value in works that deal in myth, contemporary poetry, and history in both prose and verse. Though it does not claim to offer the comprehensive "last word" on fides in Flavian Rome, the book aims to show that fides in this period was subjected to a particularly striking and special brand of contestation and reconceptualization, used to interrogate the broad cultural changes and anxieties of the Flavian period as well as connect to a republican and imperial past. The editors argue that fides was both a vehicle for reconciliation and a means to test the nature of "good faith" in the wake of a devastating and divisive period in Roman history.

Continue Reading Read Less

Product Details

  • Series: Phoenix Supplementary Volumes
  • World Rights
  • Page Count: 344 pages
  • Dimensions: 6.5in x 1.0in x 9.3in

  • Reviews

    "An illuminating volume, Fides in Flavian Literature showcases a number of issues and arguments, illustrated with pertinent, original, and literary examples which are bound to provoke further discussion."


    Joy Littlewood, independent scholar, Oxford, UK

    "This book is a major contribution to research on Flavian literature, and excellently unpacks the extraordinary semantic and cultural range of fides, while also tying it to its peculiarly Flavian context."


    Jean-Michel Hulls, Department of Classics, Dulwich College

  • Author Information

    Antony Augoustakis is a professor in the Department of the Classics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.


    Emma Buckley is a senior lecturer in the School of Classics at the University of St Andrews.


    Claire Stocks is a lecturer in the School of History, Classics, and Archaeology at Newcastle University.

  • Table of contents

    List of Illustrations
    Acknowledgments
    Abbreviations

    1. Introduction
    Antony Augoustakis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Emma Buckley, St. Andrews University, and Claire Stocks, Newcastle University

    Part I Fides: Flavian Politics

    2. Broken Bonds: Perfidy and the Discourse of Civil War
    Claire Stocks, Newcastle University

    3. The Fides of Flavius Josephus
    Steve Mason, University of Groningen

    4. "A Greater Love": Fides in Statius’ Silvae
    Neil W. Bernstein, Ohio University

    Part II Fides: Flavian Myth

    5. Faith in Fate: Plot, Gods, and Metapoetic Morality in Valerius Flaccus
    Helen Lovatt, Nottingham University

    6. Women’s Fides in Statius’ Thebaid
    Alison Keith, Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto

    7. Haec Pietas, Haec Fides: Permutations of Trust in Statius’ Thebaid
    Antony Augoustakis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    8. Trust and Mistrust in the Achilleid
    Dániel Kozák, Eötvös Loránd University

    Part III Fides: Flavian History

    9. Fides, Pietas, and the Outbreak of Hostilities in Punica
    Raymond Marks, University of Missouri-Columbia

    10. Hannibal as (Anti-)Hero of Fides in Silius’ Punica
    Marco Fucecchi, University of Udine

    11. The Failure of Female Fides in the Octavia
    Lauren Donovan Ginsberg, University of Cincinnati

    12. Fides under Fire: Virtue and Vice in the Octavia
    Emma Buckley, St. Andrews University

    Part IV Revisiting Flavian Fides

    13. Flavian Fides in Tacitus’ Histories
    Salvador Bartera, Mississippi State University

    Bibliography
    List of Contributors
    Index Locorum
    Genderal Index

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