Titus Flavius Vespasian was well known for restoring peace and stability to an empire in disarray following the death of Nero in A.D. 68. In the process he established the Flavian dynasty as the legitimate successor to the imperial throne.…
Works of literature often feature characters whose pride or selfishness creates problems. In William Shakespeare’s ‘’Julius Caesar’’, Caesar’s pride creates problems because it causes him to overlook the warnings signs that point him towards his demise. Thus Caesar’s experience with pride ultimately leads to his tragic demise.…
farmers gave up when the grain price decreased with the massive importation of grain from Sicily and North Africa. When they gave up they moved to cities and joined the work force there. Then, a change in society started to happen. The number of people in the countryside was reduced because they wanted to escape war or would rather settle in the cities than in the countryside after war. As a result, Rome became overpopulated. Another change that happened because of the Punic Wars was the Senate gained power and the society realized that the Senate had authority over military action. The Punic Wars really transformed Rome and helped to build their empire and society.…
This passage comes from the book of Leviticus, which is a written text of the laws given to the Israelites. The book lists what character and actions Yahweh expected from the Israelites as His chosen people. At first glance, chapter 19 of Leviticus seems to be filled with various laws that do not interconnect. Looking closer throughout the chapter, all the commands seemed to be linked to the first and second verses of chapter 19, which says “The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy (Lev. 19:1-2).” All of the various commands in chapter 19 appear to be connected by one idea: holiness! God called the Israelites to be holy, so the commands he gave are a means to be holy, as well as the command given in verses 9-10.…
A gladiator was a trained warrior who fought bloody battles to entertain the ancient romans. According to tradition, gladiators were introduced to Rome in 264 B.C., when Decimus Junius Brutus had three pairs of gladiators fight during his father's funeral. The games soon became very popular soon after. The gladiatorial games could be compared to that of a present day circus. Gladiators were usually prisoners of wars, prisoners who committed serious crimes, or slaves. The Romans built many structures and amphitheaters such as the Colosseum. The Colosseum could seat up to fifty thousand to eighty thousand, but usually had an average audience of approximately fifty thousand. The amphitheater had the most updated technology of the time. For…
What does archaeological/written evidence reveal about the role/importance of household gods and temples in Roman life during the first century AD?…
Many of William Shakespeare’s plays are so memorable because of the protagonists presented in them. Shakespeare delicately crafts (his) protagonists as complex characters that (evoke) different responses from the audience, often leaving the audience with a memorable impression of how they initially felt about the protagonist and how over time those feelings changed due to their experiences in life. Even after the play, the protagonist’s reactions to the events that took place in the play stay with us, because they make us question how we would have handled the situations that the protagonist was presented with. This exact feeling happens in two of Shakespeare’s early plays, Titus Andronicus and Hamlet. Both plays present two protagonists of…
1. Overall I would classify Marc Antony’s speech as largely monosyllabic as a whole in length. This took a much longer time to decide than it did of Brutus’ speech, this could be that Antony is a smarter and nobler person or that it’s just how Julius Caesar constructed the speech to persuade the crowd. One of the lines that demonstrate a great use of one syllable would be “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar and I must pause ‘till it come back to me” (Shakespeare, Lines 108-109). This is just one of the many lines that uses a lot of one syllable words but in the end the speech was mainly one syllable in length.…
Masculinity is defined as the attributes most commonly associated with men. The perception of men’s masculinity had been such an integral part of Roman society that it was insulting to be considered not masculine and therefore not a man. Society valued masculinity so much that in order for boys to become Roman citizens they had to learn to never be submissive. As such, masculinity was often a prerequisite for citizen status and privilege. Masculinity and sex were so interconnected in the values and ideals of ancient Roman society that being masculine was the most important part of a man’s sexual relationships.…
Without any power, a society tends to become irrational, indecisive and flavorless. This ideal is portrayed in all scenes including plebeians, whether through direct or indirect characterization. The premiering scene portrayed Marullus and Flavius along the streets, scolding commoners for being hypocrites. “You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things!/O you hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome,/Knew you not Pompey?” (1.1.27-29) was proclaimed by Marullus, in protest of Caesars’ celebrations. This reveals that the common people of Rome are easily swayed, as they cheered for Caesar defeating his predecessor, after recently cheering for Pompey himself. An exquisite example of the citizens’ complacency comes from the Third Plebeian. He states,“The noble Brutus is ascended: silence” (3.2.14) but yet, after a short speech from Antony regarding the conspirators, he claims, “There’s not a nobler man in Rome than Antony”( 3.2.96). Furthermore, when attending to Caesar,“We are bless’d that Rome is rid of him”(3.2.48) stated the citizens, only to later say, “They were villains, murderers” (3.2.135) merely for doing the very “ridding” they praised! Complicity and irrationality are portrayed by the violent outburst, “Revenge!—About!—Seek!—Burn!/Fire!—Kill!—Slay! Let not a traitor live” (3.2.183-184) from the citizens, once Antony’s speech is…
The story reflects that humans can do immoral things, without thinking well of the consequences and the effect it is going…
It is widely understood that both Tamora and Titus Andronicus are leaders in their own right. When the wars are over, they both have families to return to. So now it is a question of parenting. Who is the better parent? Tamora is a better parent than Titus Andronicus. She cares about her children, she has a good relationship with her children, and she is capable of influencing her children.…
William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus is a play full of gore and violence from its very core. The play continually compares the two nationality groups, the Goths, and the Romans. The title character and his family are considered the protagonists, and the Goths, are mainly the antagonists. Each group has noble attributes, but also darker and sickly attributes. There is the constant question of civilized versus uncivilized characters throughout the play. Shakespeare uses animal imagery and references to convey the brutality and beastly viciousness the characters have. The use of animals and comparing characters to them is a metaphor for the civilization of the characters. These comparisons to animals is a symbol of how both the Goths and the…
Thus, by concentrating on the main levers of government in his hands, Caesar was able to control all the main spheres of life of the Roman society. He expanded the social composition of the ruling elites, integrating almost all the available layers of Roman society into it, and he solved a number of vitally important social issues that helped him to restore peace in the…
I have chosen to close read Act V, Scene iii as I believe it is the most significant scene in the play. The language forms, thematical inclusions and possibilities for staging all add to its importance. Titus Andronicus is often called “Shakespeare’s bloodiest spectacle” and this is one of the most gruesome conclusions written.…