arhs final paper annotated bibliography
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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.
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,
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.