Politics and Society in Imperial Rome

"Politics and Society in Imperial Rome" offers fresh new interpretations of the politics, society, and culture Rome's imperial era. Argues that the early principate was fundamentally incompatible with the persisting structures of the Roman Republic. Demonstrates how these contradictory systems affected the development of Roman society. Includes case studies on the imperial court and the emperor Caligula, as well as chapters on the scholarship of Theodor Mommsen and Christian Meier. Toward a new interpretation of Imperial Rome -- Paradoxical structures. "State," "society," and political integration ; Friendship and patron-client relations ; "public" and "private" -- Two cases in point. A court without "state." The aula Caesaris ; Meaningful madness : the Emperor Caligula -- Academic approaches. Theodor Mommsen's theory of "Dyarchia" ; Christian Meier's "Crisis without alternative" in Ancient Rome.