FRINK Linked Data Fragments server

Matches in SemOpenAlex for { <https://semopenalex.org/work/W7856940> ?p ?o ?g. }

• W7856940 startingPage "187" @default.
• W7856940 abstract "Senseless Violence? Roman brutality can be perplexing. Tales of punishments wildly out of proportion to their crimes, as when Vedius Pollio fed a child to his lampreys for breaking a crystal cup (Seneca, Dial. 3.40.2), defy belief. Equally senseless were the consequences of a slave killing his master: the guilty slave was to be burned alive, a punishment that would seem horrible enough, but all other slaves of his household were to be killed as well--women, children, old, young. This law was observed even when it meant the death of hundreds. (1) Fictional accounts of violence, told with an air of disapproval, are also mystifying, as they seem to positively revel in graphic, even ornamental detail. Thus Juvenal describes the savage master as qui gaudet acerbo plagarum strepitu et nullam Sirena flagellis conparat. (14.18-20) one who delights in the harsh screams produced by blows, and considers no Siren's song more beautiful that the crack of the whip. It is tempting to simply condemn such incidents as sadistic or perverse, or attribute them to a greater intimacy with death than our own and, hence, to a general devaluation of life. One would at least like to dismiss such familiarity with violence as rare, but it is not. Furthermore, even when such assessments are correct, they do not make Roman violence any more comprehensible. Sadism, indifference, and rarity are excuses, not explanations. Such phenomena say only that violence happens, but they cannot not tell us why violence assumes the shapes it does, why it is spectacular, why certain parts of the body and types of people are wounded, or why some acts of violence become symbols, mute references to more general social concepts and possibilities. Another easy, but inadequate explanation of violence, particularly violence against slaves, is that it is goal oriented. That is, a blow is delivered to make a slave do, or stop doing, a particular activity, much like a mother might smack the hand of a child as he reaches for a hot burner. The blow is immediate and effective. It can be argued, on the other hand, that even such an immediate, instinctive reaction is also culturally determined. Why not pull the child's hand from the burner, or let him touch it and learn a valuable lesson? Likewise, violence against slaves, even in its simplest forms, will inevitably reflect cultural perceptions of what it means to be a master or a slave. Such perceptions are only more obvious in gratuitous or embellished forms of violence, but they are never absent, not even from the most utilitarian violent act. Clearly there is at work in Roman violence. In this paper I explore what that something else is, examining the logic of violence, namely, why it takes the forms it does and what these forms mean. Because I am interested in the protocols and techniques of violence as it is performed onstage, I will concentrate on a scene whose details are fairly clear: the vicarious fight waged by a husband and wife through their slaves in Plautus' Casina. (2) I should say at the outset, however, that what we see in Plautus should not be taken as a straightforward reflection of violence in the real world. This is particularly true of this play's violent scenes, which are highly stylized. Such contrivance, however, is exactly where we can expect cultural perceptions to be most visible. (3) And because this is Plautus, we can also expect such perceptions to be toyed with; the Romans are never more revealing than when they are amusing themselves. But what is revealed in the movements of these characters, and th e rationale behind those movements, are more a way of thinking, an ideology, expressed in the medium of the human body, than a reflection of the real day-to-day experiences of master and slave. The Casina The premise of the Casina will be familiar to any reader of ancient comedy. …" @default.
• W7856940 created "2016-06-24" @default.
• W7856940 creator A5059856090 @default.
• W7856940 date "2000-09-22" @default.
• W7856940 modified "2023-09-23" @default.
• W7856940 title "Violence and the Performance of Class in Plautus' Casina" @default.
• W7856940 hasPublicationYear "2000" @default.
• W7856940 type Work @default.
• W7856940 sameAs 7856940 @default.
• W7856940 citedByCount "0" @default.
• W7856940 crossrefType "journal-article" @default.
• W7856940 hasAuthorship W7856940A5059856090 @default.
• W7856940 hasConcept C11171543 @default.
• W7856940 hasConcept C124952713 @default.
• W7856940 hasConcept C142362112 @default.
• W7856940 hasConcept C15744967 @default.
• W7856940 hasConcept C17744445 @default.
• W7856940 hasConcept C187288502 @default.
• W7856940 hasConcept C199539241 @default.
• W7856940 hasConcept C2777308609 @default.
• W7856940 hasConcept C2778030639 @default.
• W7856940 hasConcept C2779295839 @default.
• W7856940 hasConcept C73484699 @default.
• W7856940 hasConcept C77805123 @default.
• W7856940 hasConcept C8597951 @default.
• W7856940 hasConcept C95457728 @default.
• W7856940 hasConceptScore W7856940C11171543 @default.
• W7856940 hasConceptScore W7856940C124952713 @default.
• W7856940 hasConceptScore W7856940C142362112 @default.
• W7856940 hasConceptScore W7856940C15744967 @default.
• W7856940 hasConceptScore W7856940C17744445 @default.
• W7856940 hasConceptScore W7856940C187288502 @default.
• W7856940 hasConceptScore W7856940C199539241 @default.
• W7856940 hasConceptScore W7856940C2777308609 @default.
• W7856940 hasConceptScore W7856940C2778030639 @default.
• W7856940 hasConceptScore W7856940C2779295839 @default.
• W7856940 hasConceptScore W7856940C73484699 @default.
• W7856940 hasConceptScore W7856940C77805123 @default.
• W7856940 hasConceptScore W7856940C8597951 @default.
• W7856940 hasConceptScore W7856940C95457728 @default.
• W7856940 hasIssue "2" @default.
• W7856940 hasLocation W78569401 @default.
• W7856940 hasOpenAccess W7856940 @default.
• W7856940 hasPrimaryLocation W78569401 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W100480378 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W153262323 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W155237574 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W1599494110 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W2007571338 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W20118645 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W2025373779 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W2056783162 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W2318395380 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W2479961607 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W2524121756 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W2557016883 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W304511609 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W333676721 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W349358510 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W630227859 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W777433212 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W193085698 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W2593846024 @default.
• W7856940 hasRelatedWork W2603622551 @default.
• W7856940 hasVolume "27" @default.
• W7856940 isParatext "false" @default.
• W7856940 isRetracted "false" @default.
• W7856940 magId "7856940" @default.
• W7856940 workType "article" @default.