The Victorians and Ancient Rome

Book excerpt: THE VICTORIANS & ANCIENT ROME Norman Vance has written the first full-length study of the impact on Victorian Britain of the history and literature of ancient Rome. His comprehensive account shows how not only scholars and poets but also engineers, soldiers, scientists and politicians gained inspiration from the writing, theory and practice of their Roman predecessors. The Roman theme is traced in nineteenth-century painting and music as well as literature and political discussion. There are chapters on the imaginative influence throughout the nineteenth century of five major Roman poets, framed by other chapters on Rome and European revolutions, nineteenth-century versions of Roman history, fictions of Rome, imperialism and decadence. Attention is also paid to the influence of developments in archaeology both at Rome and Pompeii and at Romano-British sites. Professor Vance provides a fascinating account of the sense of connection Victorian Britain felt with the Roman experience, a connection made the more complex because Britain had once been a Roman colony and because Christianity took hold and spread under the Roman Empire.