Knibbs, Christopher (2024). Female Exempla and Exemplary Feminae: The Socio-Political dimensions of exemplary discourse in Roman Culture. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.
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Knibbs2024PhD.pdf
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Abstract
This study re-examines the purpose and functions of exempla in Latin literature from the Late Republic to early Empire. With particular focus upon the exemplification of contemporary women in Latin letters, speeches, essays, and other such texts that engage with contemporaries, it will argue that exemplary discourse is not only situationally dependent upon the context of the exemplum’s citation, but it is also impacted by the relationship between the author and the individual who is posited as an exemplum. While Latin authors are well known for using exempla typically to offer illustrative examples, precedents and paradigmatic models for the purposes of moral instruction, when they exemplify certain women within their social circle, they can also be seen to instrumentalise exemplification as a strategy for achieving certain social or political objectives. As this study will show, Roman authors often adopt exemplification to negotiate personal and political relationships, exploiting its complimentary potential to flatter the individual. Alongside this, they also capitalise on its capacity to immortalise individuals and create a lasting legacy, to incentivise friends and family members to fulfil their various requests, or as a means of gift exchange. In other ways, exemplifying the women within their family, or their wider social circle, works to manipulate perceptions of their character and establish a positive public persona. By proclaiming affinity with, or proximity to, these exemplary women within their world, authors are able to enhance their social prestige, rehabilitate a tarnished reputation, or even revise a personal history. This study will advance our understanding of exemplarity in Roman culture by exploring these dimensions, and by highlighting how the introduction of this temporal variable transforms the nature of the discourse.
| Type of Work: | Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.) | |||||||||
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| Award Type: | Doctorates > Ph.D. | |||||||||
| Supervisor(s): |
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| Licence: | All rights reserved | |||||||||
| College/Faculty: | Colleges (2008 onwards) > College of Arts & Law | |||||||||
| School or Department: | School of History and Cultures, Department of History | |||||||||
| Funders: | Other | |||||||||
| Other Funders: | University of Birmingham, College of Arts and Law Doctoral Scholarship | |||||||||
| Subjects: | D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D051 Ancient History P Language and Literature > PA Classical philology |
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| URI: | http://etheses.bham.ac.uk/id/eprint/14502 |
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