Lucia Lakatosová
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Phd project: "The topoi of uprisings in the literature of the Late Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire"
My PhD project with the working title “The topoi of uprisings in the literature of the Late Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire” studies uprisings against Rome that happened in the Late Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire, 133 BC – 96 AD. It has two goals. The first one is the creation of an overview of all uprisings against Rome in all parts of the world under direct or indirect Roman control for this time period. I will only consider “native” uprisings for this work and leave out slave uprisings, usurpations and military uprisings in general.
The second goal is studying how these uprisings are portrayed in the ancient literary sources. I will study all kinds of literature in an attempt to look for topoi and the portrayal of uprisings against Rome. This will help to understand what ancient people considered reasons for Rome’s failure as an empire to control their territory, or which changes were necessary to cause an uprising according to them. The intention behind naming these reasons and changes will be examined as well - especially concerning the question if they criticize the Romans or the rebels.
Apart from the reasons for uprisings, things like who is said to have led them might be worthy of an investigation, as there are patterns to be found as well. This might help to shed light on the organization of uprisings, or at least on the ancient authors’ views on them.
I am also interested in the developments, similarities and differences between the topoi from different times and regions in antiquity. Does a Roman author from the first century BC use the same topoi as a Greek author from the same time? How about a century later? Do the topoi differ for uprisings in different time periods? Do the authors name different reasons for revolts during the Republic and the Empire? What does it mean if certain circumstances apply only to a singular uprising or author?
