Pomp, Circumstance, and the Performance of Politics: Acting Politically Correct in the Ancient World [Paperback]

When we imagine ancient political life, we think of powerful rulers and awe-inspiring monuments, not grassroots movements. But if the cacophony of our modern political discourse can teach us anything, it is that negotiating power and legitimacy is an ongoing conversation, not a monologue. Pomp, Circumstance, and the Performance of Politics investigates moments and spaces in the premodern world where audiences had the opportunity to weigh in on the messages their leaders were sending. How did ordinary people experience and contribute to their political realities, and what strategies did rulers use to gain support? Bringing together scholars working in a wide variety of disciplines and time periods, from prehispanic Mesoamerica and Early Historic India to the Assyrian Empire and papal Rome, this book takes a bottom-up approach to evaluating the risks and rewards of acting politically correct —or incorrect—in the ancient world.Bringing together scholars working in a wide variety of disciplines and time periods, from prehispanic Mesoamerica and Early Historic India to the Assyrian Empire and papal Rome, this book takes a bottom-up approach to evaluating the risks and rewards of acting politically correctly or incorrectly in the ancient world.Acknowledgments Introduction: Is Everything Political? Kathryn R. Morgan 1. Rethinking Politics and Spectacle in the Deep Past: Parallels for the Present? Gary M. Feinman and Linda M. Nicholas Part I: Making Space2. Spatial Performances of Identity and Belonging in the Walled Cities of the Indian Subcontinent: Nested Spaces and Public Places. Monica L. Smith 3. Performing Community: Ritual, Copper Production, and Local Politics on Archaic-Classical Cyprus. Catherine Kearns 4. The Reinvented Social Somatics of Ritual Performance on Early Crete: Engagements of Humans with Zoomorphic Vessels. Emily S. K. Anderson 5. The Power of the Populace: Politics and the Mortuary Monuments of Tell Banat. Anne Plc3