While Roman religion worshipped a number of gods; one kind in particular aroused the fury of early Christians and the wonder of scholars: the cult of Roman emperors alive or dead. Was the divinity of emperors a glue that held the Empire together? Were rulers such as Julius Caesar and Caligula simply mad to expect such worship of themselves? Or was it rather a phenomenon which has only been rendered incomprehensible by modern and monotheistic ideas of what religion is--or should be--all about?This book presents the first study of emperor worship among the Romans themselves; both in Rome and in its heartland Italy. It argues that emperor worship was indeed perfectly in keeping with Roman religious tradition; which has been generally misunderstood by a posterity imbued with radically different notions of the relationship between humans and the divine.
#420261 in Books Oxford University Press 2017-05-01Original language:English 5.60 x 1.20 x 8.60l; #File Name: 0198765835272 pagesOxford University Press
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Sardonic; sneering; wealthy; and wearing immaculate linen. Preferably ruffled.By Lady FancifullCarol Dyhouse’s Heartthrobs; A History of Women and Desire; looking at the possibly changing faces of masculine desirability; as expressed in literature; film and pop culture is interesting; though I’m not certain it is really saying anything particularly new. She certainly backs up what she chooses to say by reference to much other material. Heartthrobs is 190 pages; plus a full 50 pages of cited references plus 7 of index.Tracing the changing views of sexy; desirable men; from the earliest of novels (whether written by men; or particularly; women) we are shown that; whether in Richardson’s Pamela; the first novel; Austen’s novels; (especially Pride and Prejudice; with Darcy; the pinnacle of desirability) or Bronte’s; what set female hearts a flutter was a dominant; dominating; often ‘sardonic’ (a favourite adjective) on the verge of cruel; man; ultimately to be tamed; reformed in some way by the virtuous love of a good woman. Love tames the beast into marriage. And; rescuing him from being merely bestial; was of course; wealth. Easy to see why; in a time when a woman’s ability to make wealth for herself was lacking. So it is a little depressing to see how little has changed….she reminds the reader of a more than on the verge of cruel man in that runaway viral success; 50 Shades of Grey. What of course stopped the – I can’t bring myself to name him hero – of that; from merely being a thug; was – (sighs) wealth and fine linen denoting wealth; rather than grubby grease stained overalls.Others; in films; followed the trend; from Valentino to Rhett Butler. I found it interesting; and; depressing too; as explained with Valentino (The Sheik) though his Arabian mien is exotic; and in part gives his allure; it was necessary that the character turned out to have Caucasian ancestry – there was; surely; an inherent racism in this.Later sections in the book look at sexual desire in early teens and pre-teens; and examines the pretty boy/boy band phenomenon – David Cassidy is particularly focused on – the allure for his young fans his unthreatening; androgynous; not quite developed sexuality. It’s the other end of the spectrum from the adult female’s object of desire who masters.There are some amusing anecdotes – I particularly enjoyed the revelation of the potency of Austen’s Darcy - perhaps not unconnected with Colin Firth’s wet shirt; but; of course; P+P was an enduring literary romance before THAT BBC adaptation – as evidenced by the following quote :“scientist working on pheromones in mice discovered a protein in the urine of the male mouse which was irresistible to females. There named it after Jane Austen’s character.’Darcin’. There are many ways in which Darcy has proved a money spinnerâ€I received this as a review copy from Vine UK0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Fascinations of FemalesBy Making Good StoriesThe cult of celebrity worship is often a strong lure; particularly for those with disposable income and ample time to follow the objects of their obsession; but what draws the attention of women to particular men? Carol Dyhouse's Heartthrobs: A History of Women and Desire outlines some cultural history behind the stars and figures women have fawned over through the decades.The role that women have played and their status within society has shifted throughout history. With these shifts; so too did the male ideal they fantasized about morph to accommodate the changing times and desires. Ranging from sensitive men to caveman/alpha males to supernatural beings; there have been rather observable trends of the types of men that women lusted after.While an informative read; it was primarily a surface level exploration and a sweeping history that doesn't delve deep into the root of the topic to more fully explain the reasons behind the aspects of men that women dreamed about. There was clearly a lot of research that went in to the development of this book; as evidenced by the myriad of sources given as examples; this could certainly be used as a base source from which to further research the topic or explicate the attributes of a heartthrob that either remained static or evolved to qualify men as a heartthrob through the various eras. I do appreciate that this text offers a counterpoint to the proliferation of material available about the male gaze and addresses the fact that women are also capable of being the person doing the looking and objectifying of men.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. I am super in love with the idea of this bookBy Susan L McGrathI received an advance copy of this book from the Publisher (Oxford University Press) in exchange for an honest review.Heartthrobs by Carol Dyhouse is a nonfiction analysis of women and desire. It focuses mostly on what women are drawn to in books; television; movies; and music performers and what that reveals about what women really want in men and relationships.I am super in love with the idea of this book; but had a hard time getting into it. The issue was not necessarily with the book itself. Dyhouse is writing a history here; so she covers a huge span of time; from before Mr. Darcy through Christian Grey. Most of the examples she focuses on are from the pre-1980s.I was not familiar with most of her examples (even Rudolph Valentino is an unfamiliar face to me); so I had a hard time following some of her points and fully understanding the connections Dyhouse made. The more modern examples (or historical ones that I was familiar with) had more impact for me.I would love to take this book as a class. I think it would work well in a format where you were reading the original texts (including Pride and Prejudice; Gone With the Wind; and a slew of paperbacks from the ‘50s-’70s); watching the original movies; and watching performances of the original artists. From there; conversations about why these stories (and men) were so popular would be very engaging.Overall; the ideas in this book are very interesting. The text is very academic in tone; however; and you should be prepared to do some heavy Googling.
