Patrium amnem: the image of the Nile in Roman art and literature in the late 1st century AD
https://doi.org/10.20310/1810-0201-2022-27-2-560-573
Abstract
The image of the Nile, formed by Roman authors in the literature of the Flavian era, is compared to the so-called Nilotic scenes embodying a specifically expressed interest in Egyptian culture. It is noted that in relation to the end of the 1st century AD it would be incorrect to say that rhetorical attacks on Egypt, especially inherent of Octavian’s reign, have completely ceased: they continued to exist in parallel with new imperially politicized views, less contemptuous, but in any case emphasizing the importance of the conquest of Egypt. The conclusion is made that for Statius, as well as for Valerius Flaccus, the Nile remains a politicized object, but the focus of political interpretation is shifting from sharp criticism of the otherness of the new province towards rethinking the space of the Nile Valley as an integral part of the empire. The Nile is assigned only the role of a link between the events of the distant (mostly mythical) past and the present. At the same time, of the whole variety of plot lines of the Julio-Claudian era, the most stable are the negative motives of the works of Virgil and Lucan. At the same time, the political motives so representative of the literature of the second half of the 1st century AD are not directly reflected in the Nilotic scenes.
Supporting agencies: The work is fulfilled under support of Russian Science Foundation, project no. 20-18-00374 “The Imperial Mediterranean: Models, Discourses and Practices of Imperialism from Antiquity to the Early Modern Age”.
About the Author
M. S. Chistalev
National Research Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Mark S. Chistalev, Candidate of History, Research Scholar of Research Laboratory of Ancient History and Middle Ages Department
23 Gagarina Ave., Nizhny Novgorod 603950
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For citations:
Chistalev M.S. Patrium amnem: the image of the Nile in Roman art and literature in the late 1st century AD. Tambov University Review. Series: Humanities. 2022;27(2):560-574. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.20310/1810-0201-2022-27-2-560-573
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