Stéphane Benoist

Rome, a City and Its Empire in Perspective: The Impact of the Roman World through Fergus Millar's Research

Distinguished and younger scholars have dealt with the main aspects of Millar’s research, and proposed surveys about current inquiries, as well as perspectives for future studies, mainly about the Roman republic, the functioning of the Empire and the evolution of the Near East.

Biography, history and memory about some imperial figures

This is a paper about some imperial figures, and mainly the first emperor, Augustus, through the reception of his persona during the first four centuries of the Principate. In three sections, a few aspects of a Roman perception of history are developed through various uses of autobiography, biography, and historical narratives about emperors, from the very beginnings to the reception, from the Antonines to the Theodosians, of model portraits of emperors. The imperial history was made of personal itineraries and biographies, in a ‘republican’ staging: the permanence of a ‘Populus Romanus’ attending, if not participating in, political rituals, the imperial eloquentia frequently celebrated by imperial biographers and used in traditional contiones, the monumental setting of politics — the central function of the forum and many other localities of a city ‘full of memories’. The very inspiring contributions offered by the books and articles Fergus Millar has dedicated to a ‘Greco-Roman’ world considered as widely as possible are used as a guide throughout this essay.

Coloni et incolae, vingt ans après

Il m’apparaît nécessaire de rappeler que toute histoire, consciemment ou inconsciemment, s’écrit au temps présent et qu’il est ainsi illusoire de considérer que le contexte de rédaction puisse n’avoir aucune incidence sur la nature des enquêtes historiques que nous menons.2 Dans les années 1970-1980, l’essentiel de la réflexion a porté, tant en France que dans le monde anglo-saxon, sur la définition des empires et de l’impérialisme, ce qui induisait un rapport étroit entre histoire contemporaine de la décolonisation et perception du monde romain impérial, l’une et l’autre questions étant étroitement liées en Afrique du Nord romaine.3 Il ne viendrait à personne de considérer qu’un long

Fergus Millar, un historien dans la cité

This book is in French language. The opportunity to organize a seminar on the history of work of Fergus Millar, Camden professor emeritus of Ancient History (Oxford, Brasenose College, 1984-2002), and author of a large-scale work which marked a significant renewal of approaches of the Roman world during the last four decades, is to look at the circumstances and evidence. Keywords: Fergus Millar; Roman world