+612 9045 4394
Hardcover
Published: 14th August 1992
ISBN: 9780415032193
Number Of Pages: 288
In antiquity Lucullus was indisputably a great general, one to be numbered with alongside Sulla and Pompey. "Lucullus" narrates the great Asiatic campaigns upon which his military repute chiefly rests. Despite his reputation, some ancient traditions suggest that when the wars were done Lucullus became an overweight degenerate, a miserable trifler devoting his time to banquets, baths and the building of follies. Arthur Keaveney explodes this myth, arguing that Lucullus' leisure activities were the outward expression of an aesthetic impulse, not simply of weak self-indulgence. He demonstrates that Lucullus was highly active in public spheres up until the very end of his life.
Sulla, one of the Republic's great dictators, was a major influence on the life and political outlook of Lucullus. The general and his friends aimed to carry the Sullan political ideal and constitutional arrangements into the next generation. This book details Lucullus' fight to do this, showing how and why he ultimately failed. Keaveney suggests that he may be viewed as a paradigm of the age in which he lived. Inheritor of the Sullan ideal, Lucullus' failure is also its failure--in one man is embodied a whole class and its melancholy fate.
This is the first full length study of this most interesting figure to be undertaken in English. Lucullus offers a thoroughly revisionist account of this ruler--dispelling many of the wild fictions which have accumulated around his name.
"Fully documented, clearly written, and forcefully argued, Keaveney's controversial biography, the only one in English, will interest students and scholars alike." -"Choice
| Preface | |
| Lucius Licinius Lucullus and the Luculli | p. 1 |
| Master and pupil | p. 15 |
| The politic man | p. 32 |
| The consulship | p. 51 |
| Confronting the king: the war with Mithridates | p. 75 |
| Confronting the king: the war with Tigranes | p. 99 |
| The life of a sponge? | p. 129 |
| '...retired Leisure that in trim gardens takes his pleasure' | p. 143 |
| Lucius Licinius Lucullus and his age | p. 166 |
| Appendix 1: Asia 81-79 | p. 182 |
| Appendix 2: When did the Third Mithridatic War begin? | p. 188 |
| Notes | p. 206 |
| Bibliography | p. 261 |
| Index | p. 268 |
| Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved. |
ISBN: 9780415032193
ISBN-10: 0415032199
Series: Classical Lives
Audience:
Tertiary; University or College
Format:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Number Of Pages: 288
Published: 14th August 1992
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd
Country of Publication: GB
Dimensions (cm): 21.6 x 14.0
x 2.54
Weight (kg): 0.51
Edition Number: 1
