Synopses & Reviews
This pioneering study examines a pivotal period in the history of Europe and the Near East. Spanning the ancient and medieval worlds, it investigates the shared ideal of sacred kingship that emerged in the late Roman and Persian empires. This shared ideal, while often generating conflict during the four centuries of the empires' coexistence (224-642), also drove exchange, especially the means and methods Roman and Persian sovereigns used to project their notions of universal rule: elaborate systems of ritual and their cultures' visual, architectural, and urban environments. Matthew Canepa explores the artistic, ritual, and ideological interactions between Rome and the Iranian world under the Sasanian dynasty, the last great Persian dynasty before Islam. He analyzes how these two hostile systems of sacred universal sovereignty not only coexisted, but fostered cross-cultural exchange and communication despite their undying rivalry. Bridging the traditional divide between classical and Iranian history, this book brings to life the dazzling courts of two global powers that deeply affected the cultures of medieval Europe, Byzantium, Islam, South Asia, and China.
Review
and#8220;This very good book is a welcome contribution . . . and is worthy of the prestigious series in which it appears.and#8221;
Synopsis
Diliana Angelova argues that from the time of Augustus through early Byzantium, a discourse of sacred founders”articulated in artwork, literature, imperial honors, and the built environmenthelped legitimize the authority of the emperor and his family. The discourse coalesced around the central idea, bound to a myth of origins, that imperial men and women were sacred founders of the land, mirror images of the empires divine founders. When Constantine and his formidable mother Helena established a new capital for the Roman Empire, they initiated the Christian transformation of this discourse by brilliantly reformulating the founding myth. Over time, this transformation empowered imperial women, strengthened the cult of the Virgin Mary, fueled contests between church and state, and provoked an arresting synthesis of imperial and Christian art. Sacred Founders presents a bold interpretive framework that unearths deep continuities between the ancient and medieval worlds, recovers a forgotten transformation in female imperial power, and offers a striking reinterpretation of early Christian art
Synopsis
Diliana Angelova offers fresh and highly original approaches to a set of topics of great interest: Constantinople, imperial representation, late Roman empresses, and the cult of the Virgin Mary. Truly a great, groundbreaking book!”Susanna Elm, Professor of History at University of California, Berkeley and author of
Sons of Hellenism, Fathers of the Church: Emperor Julian, Gregory of Nazianzus, and the Vision of Rome "Angelova produces a skillfully contextualized study that embraces both Roman and early Byzantine norms, mutually illuminating both eras through her balanced analysis. This book will be of great interest to both art historians and historians, and its historical range encompassing Roman and Byzantine imperial culture makes it necessary reading for scholars and students of both eras."Anne McClanan, Professor of Medieval Art and Digital Humanities at Portland Sate University and author of Representations of Early Byzantine Empresses: Image and Empire
Synopsis
and#147;This book is a true
tour de force in the scholarship of the late ancient world. Canepa has bridged the traditional divide between Classical and Iranian studies to illuminate the long-running artistic dialogue between the late Roman and Sasanian Empires. Every chapter offers exciting new insights into the development of late antique art and rituals of power."and#151;Joel Walker, author of
The Legend of Mar Qardagh: Narrative and Christian Heroism in Late Antique Iraq"The Two Eyes of the Earth is a masterly synthesis of a theme of the utmost importance for the political culture of the late antique world."and#151;Peter Brown, author of Power and Persuasion
About the Author
Matthew P. Canepa is Assistant Professor of Art History at the College of Charleston where he is a faculty member in the interdisciplinary programs in Archaeology and Asian Studies.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Sources and Abbreviations
1. Introduction
2. The Art and Ritual of Kingship Within and Between Rome and Sasanian Iran
3. The Lure of the Other and the Limits of the Past
4. Sapur I, King of Kings of Iran and Non-Iran
5. Romeand#8217;s Troubled Third Century and the Emergence of a New Equilibrium
6. Contested Images of Sacral Kingship and New Expressions of Triumph
7. Unceasing Embassies
8. City as Stage and Art as Statecraft
9. The Late Antique Kosmos of Power
Epilogue: The Legacy of the Two Eyes of the Earth
Notes
Bibliography
Index