Spectacular power in the Greek and Roman city [electronic resource]

Andrew Bell's analysis of the power of prestige in civic communities of the ancient world demonstrates the importance of crowds' aesthetic and emotional judgement upon leaders and their ambitious claims for immediate and lasting significance; and also finds consideration of this dynamic still to be valuable for modern citizens. An initial discussion of the fall of Ceausescu in 1989 prompts theoretical considerations about the inseparability of authority and its manifestation; andscrutiny of Julius Caesar's gestures towards self-definition introduces the complexity of ancient political relation