Guide to Further Reading

The best introduction to different aspects of Roman social structure is Garnsey and Saller 1987: chapters 6-8: it focuses on the Principate, but most of its key ideas are applicable to the Republic. On the nature of the Roman elite and the workings of politics see Hopkins and Burton 1983, and, briefly but provocatively, Beard and Crawford 1985. On the Roman citizenship, see Nicolet 1980 and Gardner 1993; on patronage, the important articles in Wallace-Hadrill 1989b; on the social identity of the lower classes, Joshel 1992. Recent ideas on Cicero’s orations against Catiline, and on the development of Latin language and literature as a means of social differentiation, in Habinek 1998; on the role of morality in Roman social and political discourse, Edwards 1993. Burke 1980 offers a good general introduction to the use of modern sociological concepts in history; see also Morley 1996: chapter 4. On status, see Finley 1985a: chapter 2; on class, de Ste Croix 1981 and the more general discussion in Wood 1995. Slavery: Bradley 1994 offers an excellent introduction to the subject, with a guide to further reading. Patterson 1982 is a fascinating comparative study of the institution. Fitzgerald 2000 surveys Roman literary representations of slavery; Garnsey 1996 covers intellectual and philosophical attitudes. Demography: Parkin 1992 is a good introduction to the subject in general, especially the evidence and its limitations; Scheidel 2001a offers a still more pessimistic view on how little we really know, while also surveying recent debates. Brunt 1971a remains the basic account of Italian population under the Republic; recent arguments on population decline can be found in Lo Cascio 1994 and Morley 2001.