Paul and Seneca Among the Condemned: The Use of Spectacle in the Early Empire relocates the comparison of these two figures from the philosophers lecture hall to the amphitheaters of Rome and Corinth. The book explores the sites and images of spectacle that littered the landscapes of the ancient world. By examining archaeological remains alongside the letters of Paul and Seneca, James R. Unwin recreates their exhibitions of spectacle imagery. What we discover in viewing these provocative scenes from the grim world of the arena are suggestive responses to sovereign power and state terror. Their responses open up space for us to think through the reproduction of new arenas in our present world.
James R. Unwin is a senior policy analyst at the Ministry for Primary Industries in Wellington, New Zealand.
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
List of Illustrations
Introduction: Grim Worlds of the Condemned
Part I: Rome, Corinth, and their Spectacular Landscapes
Chapter 1: Sites, Sponsors, and Spectators: The Popularity of Roman and Corinthian Arenas
Chapter 2: The Stands and the Sand: Ideology and Representation of Arenas Empire-Wide
Part II: Paul, Seneca, and their Spectacles of Death
Chapter 3: “Thrown Down but not Destroyed”: Arenas of Suffering and Struggle
Chapter 4: “In Honour and Dishonour”: Criticising Performances and Confronting Death
Epilogue: Mimicry or Subversion of Grim Worlds
Bibliography
About the Author
In this profound and courageous investigation, James Unwin reaches beyond conventional scholarship on Paul and Seneca to retrieve an understanding of their respective uses of spectacle imagery to subvert the power structure of Roman militarism and imperialism. Unwin guides readers through the spectacle landscapes of the early Empire, recovering the mostly neglected Neronian and Corinthian amphitheaters. Writing with rare lyricism and passion, Unwin demonstrates that Paul and Seneca imaginatively placed themselves among the “disposable and discarded” of society, to envision alternative ways of life, through Stoic philosophy and political theology. Unwin’s retrieval of Paul among the condemned fortifies readers to resist the power of modern nation-states whose policies dehumanize refugees, migrants, and all the dispossessed of the earth. — L. L. Welborn, Fordham University
Unwin has given us a powerful new synthesis of how ancient Mediterranean spectacles of death operated as a horrific backdrop through which were articulated surprising and often paradoxical reflections on life, equality, and the valiant self-assertion of value amid de-humanizing injustice and terror. Full of productive and original insights, Unwin reveals ancient thought experiments of Paul and Seneca to be worthy testing grounds for our own perplexities about how people can be designated illegal, bestialized, and exposed to death. — Ward Blanton, author of Materialism for the Masses: Saint Paul and the Philosophy of Undying Life
