The New Carthaginians
Date
2024
Authors
Eisenberg, Gabrielle
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Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Victoria
Abstract
'This project explores how Augustan literature uses the Carthaginians as a symbol for the 'dangerous other' to allude to their contemporary enemies. This form of inadvertent political commentary functioned as a way for Augustus to justify his sole rule over the Roman people. Later, these literary paradigms surrounding the Carthaginians impacted cinema created in the modern era. Films such as Cabiria (Dir. Pastrone, 1914), Scipio Africanus; The Defeat of Hannibal (Dir. Gallone, 1937), and Hannibal (Dir. Ulmer, 1959) all demonstrate how Augustan literature's depictions of Carthage are used to create a commentary on the social anxieties of their time. Furthermore, later iterations of films depicting Carthage often respond to what was made previously, creating a scaffolded reception of the fallen North African nation, which began with the Augustan literature's Carthaginian Legend
Description
Keywords
Rome, Carthage, propaganda, reception, colonialism, Augustus