Roman decadence

The Romans in their Decadence, French painting by Thomas Couture, 1847

Roman decadence refers to the popular criticism of the culture of the later Roman Empire's elites, seen also in much of its earlier historiography and 19th and early 20th century art depicting Roman life. This criticism describes the later Roman Empire as reveling in luxury, in its extreme characterized by corrupting "extravagance, weakness, and sexual deviance", as well as "orgies and sensual excesses".[1][2][3]

Background

Main article: Fall of the Western Roman Empire

Decadence, literally meaning "decline", is the term most commonly used to describe the social decline among the ruling elite of the Roman Empire and is associated with hedonism, irreligion, and immorality.

In art

These characterizations of Rome achieved the height of their prominence in the art and popular culture of the Nineteenth century among European countries such as Britain or Russia.[4][5]

See also

References

  1. ^ Hoffleit, Gerald (2014), Landgraf, Diemo (ed.), "Progress and Decadence—Poststructuralism as Progressivism", Decadence in Literature and Intellectual Debate since 1945, New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, pp. 67–81, doi:10.1057/9781137431028_4, ISBN 978-1-137-43102-8, retrieved 2021-07-24
  2. ^ Geoffrey Farrington (1994). The Dedalus Book of Roman Decadence: Emperors of Debauchery. Dedalus. ISBN 978-1-873982-16-7.
  3. ^ Toner, Jerry (2019), Weir, David; Desmarais, Jane (eds.), "Decadence in Ancient Rome", Decadence and Literature, Cambridge Critical Concepts, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 15–29, ISBN 978-1-108-42624-4, retrieved 2021-07-24
  4. ^ Hurst, Isobel (2019-08-22), Desmarais, Jane H.; Weir, David (eds.), "Nineteenth-Century Literary and Artistic Responses to Roman Decadence", Decadence and Literature, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 47–65, ISBN 978-1-108-42624-4, retrieved 2021-07-24
  5. ^ Patrick M. House (1996). The Psychology of Decadence: The Portrayal of Ancient Romans in Selected Works of Russian Literature of the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries. University of Wisconsin--Madison.


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