arhs final paper annotated bibliography

5
Kelly Harris ARHS 200-01 Amanda Herring 17 November 2014 Annotated Bibliography D'Ambra, Eve. Art and Identity in the Roman World. London: Orion Publishing Group, 1998. In her piece, D’Ambra explores the class systems of Roman Life through artwork. She uses vivid images of artwork as the means to understanding Roman social identity. In Roman society, one must display wealth and culture in order to maintain social power. The author also touches on the different social levels within the society, such as the elites, the working class, women, and outsiders. This source is useful to me because it helped me understand the class system during this time. One quote that stood out to me the most was, “The public display of imagery in the city and its traditional function of honoring deserving citizens indicate

Upload: kelly-harris

Post on 17-Jan-2016

4 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

DESCRIPTION

Detailed info on sources

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: ARHS Final Paper Annotated Bibliography

Kelly Harris

ARHS 200-01

Amanda Herring

17 November 2014

Annotated Bibliography

D'Ambra, Eve. Art and Identity in the Roman World. London: Orion Publishing Group, 1998.

In her piece, D’Ambra explores the class systems of Roman Life through artwork. She

uses vivid images of artwork as the means to understanding Roman social identity. In

Roman society, one must display wealth and culture in order to maintain social power.

The author also touches on the different social levels within the society, such as the elites,

the working class, women, and outsiders. This source is useful to me because it helped

me understand the class system during this time. One quote that stood out to me the most

was, “The public display of imagery in the city and its traditional function of honoring

deserving citizens indicate that works of art bestowed status, or at least, indicated social

aspirations.” This particular section of the book implied that those wealthy and powerful

were to show it through their luxury items, and those whom aspire to move up in social

hierarchy should aim to acquire more items.

Hadrill, Andrew. "Luxury and Status." In Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1994.

Page 2: ARHS Final Paper Annotated Bibliography

Hadrill uses both archeological proof and Roman text to reveal the ways of life in Rome.

Specifically, he examines the preserved houses from the extinct city to uncover secrets of

Pompeian life. Various topics are covered, such as the public and private life, families,

work, and leisure. This source is vital to my work because within in specific chapter, it

addresses the opinions of two very important figures in Rome, Pliny and Cicero. They

both offer a model of society demonstrating that there is a divide between the upper and

lower classes. Cicero perceives that the desires of the leading and wealthy men can

“infect” the society as a whole. This source gives insight to the negativity that is created

by the upper class and the luxuries of the wealthy.

Pliny. Natural History. Trans. H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1938.

Pliny’s book serves as my primary source. Pliny wrote these books to serve as an

encyclopedia of all of the current knowledge in the world. He covers a range of topics

over a span of 37 books, including astronomy, geography, zoology, botany, mineralogy,

and contemporary technology. This source is one of the largest and most valuable pieces

to survive throughout the Roman Empire until present day. It serves an important role in

my research because I am able to directly see Pliny’s ideas that he had written down

during his life and the specific time period. He served as an eyewitness to the crash of

Pompeii, and his words are completely necessary to understanding Roman life in the city.

What I found to be most important to my work was his opinion on luxury, specifically in

book thirty-three. Pliny criticizes the obsession of luxury items, such as gems, gold,

silver, etc. Pliny believes that the Romans need not focus on obsessing over luxury items,

Page 3: ARHS Final Paper Annotated Bibliography

but more on moral values; luxury items interfere with quest of understanding the natural

world.

Zanker, Paul. "The Domestic Arts in Pompeii." In Pompeii: Public and Private Life. Cambridge,

Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1998.

Zanker’s book gives insight to how those in Pompeii lived as well. He focuses on many

different aspects of Roman life while distinguishing how those of superiority lived

apposed to those of lower class. He explores the public and private spaces of Pompeian

society, focusing on the architecture of public buildings, streets, gathering places,

theatres, and more. This source is necessary for my work because it discusses the

influence of the wealthy families on the city’s appearance, based on the ways in which

they built their homes. For example, he discusses the tradition of the Roman villa and that

time spent at the villa was associated with pleasure, wealth, and leisure. Those in Pompeii

were very concerned with their social image and statues in society; a villa was a sign of

superiority. This source also includes a number of drawings, photographs, and plans that

can help the reader better understand the ways of Roman life.