BMCR 2009.07.34: Nelis on Malamud, Ancient Rome and Modern America. Classical Receptions

Margaret Malamud, Ancient Rome and Modern America. Classical
Receptions.  Malden, MA/Oxford:  Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.  Pp. xi, 296.
ISBN 9781405139342.  39.95 (pb).

Reviewed by Jan Nelis, University of Ghent, Belgium
([email protected] and [email protected])
Word count:  1807 words
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Table of Contents (http://lccn.loc.gov/2008019006)

In Ancient Rome and Modern America, Margaret Malamud offers an
alternative account of American history from the eighteenth century to
the present day. The book focuses on the importance of Republican and
Imperial Rome to modern America, and more specifically on the way in
which the latter has used and moulded contemporary perceptions of
ancient Rome. In her history of the United States of America seen
'through the lens of antiquity', Malamud presents a variety of source
material, ranging from theatre, painting, novels, personal writings and
speeches by politicians to more popular domains in which ancient Rome
has played an active part (cinema, material wealth and luxury
goods...).

Chapter 1 treats the period from the War of Independence to around
1840, when ancient Rome evolved from being an example of moral virtue
to being a negative example, incarnating the excesses of tyranny, loss
of liberty and moral decadence. Malamud illustrates how the history of
ancient Rome initially functioned as a source of inspiration for modern
America's struggle against British imperialism; consider the importance
attached to the figure of Cato, as in the play Cato which was performed
to demoralized American soldiers in 1778 at the request of George
Washington. Figures such as Cato and Cicero became central heroes in
the fight against tyranny,  which was represented by in turn Julius
Caesar. This emotional interest in late Republican Rome endured during
the first years of independence, when some started to perceive America
as a new kind of empire. The traces of this tendency can be found in
writings of politicians, as well as in those of elite women, who saw
themselves as reflections of Roman matronae, and in historical plays.
With the rise to power of Andrew Jackson, a caesura occurred in many an
American's perception of the Caesarian era. Indeed for many members of
the old aristocratic class, Caesar now represented an internal rather
than an external enemy, i.e., the president himself as a popular kind
of dictator. As such, during the Jacksonian era a vivid debate
developed, which focused mainly on Julius Caesar, imperialism and
tyranny.

The second chapter illustrates how Roman history was simultaneously
being written in the opposite sense The (mainly aristocratic) opponents
of Andrew Jackson and of the democratic ideals he represented saw in
the late Roman Republic and above all in Caesar a negative historical
example and a warning against the menace of authoritarian rule by
Jackson, in an era of increasing wealth and the accompanying social
tensions provoked by it. But Jackson's supporters focused on themes of
civic liberty and equality, which they often traced back to the Roman
past. As has been the case in the preceding chapter, Margaret Malamud
supports her analysis with examples taken from a number of plays, books
and speeches by politicians. She also includes a growing number of
press reports and figurative artworks. The chapter ends with the
growing importance which was being attached to the Gracchi brothers,
who, at least in the North, were seen as quintessential examples of
'working man's heroes'.

The following chapter focuses on the discourse concerning the politics
of slavery, both in ancient Rome and in modern America. Through
examples of speeches and writings of contemporaries, Malamud
illustrates ways in which both defence and condemnation of slavery were
often being supported by references to antiquity. Abolitionists, for
example, often had recourse to Carthage, whose 'heroic' resistance to
Roman imperialism they saw as being motivated by a fear of enslavement
to the Roman Empire. Other Northerners referred not to slavery as it
was generally known, but to what could be termed (white) 'wage
slavery', i.e. the risk of becoming 'enslaved' by wage capital. In this
context, the Gracchi brothers featured as historical exempla. In the
South, supporters of slavery equally turned to the Roman Empire,
arguing that slavery had brought Rome to greatness, and that it had
permitted the development of culture. In their line of thinking, the
decline of Rome had been the result of the avarice of the rich, and not
of its dependence on slavery. The chapter ends with a case study of
Southern matron Louisa S. McCord's tragedy Caius Gracchus, which
reflected the way in which many Southerners saw the possibility of a
Northern victory as a form of enslavement of the South to the Yankees,
comparable to the effects of ancient Roman imperialism.

The fourth chapter is one of the more interesting ones, at least to a
contemporary reader, while at the same time it seems to be of somewhat
lesser importance to the subject of reception of antiquity. It treats
the growing social tensions between finance capital and the poor
working -and unemployed- classes, and elevates the discussion beyond
party politics to issues of human dignity and the threat of social
inequality, in other words to the level of universal themes which are
recurrent in many a modern capitalist society. The specific subject of
the reception of Roman antiquity rather stays in the background, and is
mainly based on references to the oppression of the poor in Roman
antiquity which can be found in political speeches and writings.

Next is a chapter which focuses on two novels, Edward Bulwer-Lytton's
The Last Days of Pompeii (1834) and Lew Wallace's Ben-Hur: A Tale of
the Christ (1880). Both novels had a tremendous impact on their
readership, conveying notions of virtue and (Christian) religious
piety, as opposed to (Roman) degenerate imperialism. Whereas The Last
Days of Pompeii combined this message with a stress on the importance
of Greece and hence of democratic values,an issue which was highly
sensitive during and in the aftermath of the presidency of Andrew
Jackson, for many a reader Ben-Hur provided an alternative answer to
the increasing cry for social justice. It not only offered the image of
Christianity as a possible catalyst for the survival of ancient Rome
-and hence also of modern America--but it also suggested that wealth
and riches need not necessarily be seen as the cause of social
inequality and injustice. Indeed they were to be considered as just the
thing which American Christians needed to safeguard the future of their
country.

Chapter 6 treats the triumph of American imperialism at the end of the
nineteenth and at the beginning of the twentieth century. The latter
led to, among other things, the development of a lavish classicist
architectural style which gradually invaded the country's major cities.
This 'American Renaissance' also reflected an increasing interest in
luxury goods and services. Americans seemed to have lost much of their
sense of measure; Roman antiquity became a reservoir of aesthetic
rather than of moral values, as is for example evidenced by baths
erected in a style which was termed Roman and  luxury goods which
copied ancient Roman relics. Indeed quite an untold story: 'how
America's imagined relationship with ancient Rome was re-articulated to
celebrate empire, wealth, and power is a fascinating but buried moment
in the history of America's identification with ancient Rome.' (p. 179)

The subsequent chapter treats the period of the Great Depression. It
focuses mainly on two films which appeared shortly after the Crash of
1929: Cecil B. DeMille's The Sign of the Cross and Samuel Goldwyn's
Roman Scandals. Through the example of these two highly popular
productions, Malamud illustrates the way in which in these times of
economic and social crisis the Roman Empire, in its more decadent form,
became a counter-example for modern America. Whereas Roman Scandals,
featuring Jewish actor Eddie Cantor, focused exclusively on pagan Rome,
DeMille also made an outspoken religious statement, using, quite
ironically, images of Roman luxury and decadence as elements to attract
and titillate crowds. The example of both productions shows how
moviemakers used antiquity to respond to the dire economic and social
conditions by offering 'reassuring and essentially conservative
responses to the crises of the Depression era.' (p. 204)

In the eighth chapter, Malamud offers an insightful treatment of some
instances in which, during the early Cold War years, the international
political climate influenced the way in which ancient Rome was
interpreted and used in the US. In an America which was rapidly
evolving into a nation proffering a Manichean world view in which the
Soviets and their communist 'faith' stood for the total negation and
opposite of mainly Christian, democratic and free Americanism,
productions such as Quo Vadis and The Robe pointed at the dangers of
tyranny and 'political heresy'. Rome became mainly a negative example,
the fierce, decadent oppressor for which there was only one true
alternative: true, Christian faith. There were however also dissident
voices, such as the novel Spartacus by Howard Fast. The latter used the
example of Spartacus to promote his socialist world view, in a rare
effort at criticizing the American Cold War rhetoric. Years later, his
novel also inspired Kirk Douglas, who starred in a film based on the
book. For all its cinematic qualities, the movie had to make many
concessions to Fast's version, the result being a much less
controversial, more salonfaehige Spartacus.

The last chapter treats increasing American consumerism since the end
of World War II, using as an iconic exemplum the ever expanding city of
Las Vegas. Here we see Rome being exclusively put at the service of
empty consumerist ideology. Indeed in the two main examples described
in the chapter, Caesars Palace and the Forum Shops, Roman art and
history are ornamentally inserted into a world which has as sole
purpose the accumulation of riches through the attractive powers of
pleasure and diversion. Devoid of any ideological value, antiquity
becomes a symbol of opulence, riches and decadence. The latter aspect
is now no longer being criticized, but it has effectively become the
core element around which life seems to orbit.

The book fittingly ends in a brief assessment of the dangers of modern
American imperialism, which bears striking resemblance--at least when
observing the Bush-era--to the excessive, arrogant variant of Roman
imperialism.

Ancient Rome and Modern America is an imaginative account on the
importance of Roman antiquity throughout the history of the United
States of America. The book is as much a history of American identity
and culture as a history of the American reception of Roman antiquity.
The fact that it considers both examples of higher and lower culture is
an aspect which adds to its overall value. These merits are joined by
an element which is of great value from a sociological viewpoint, and
which is all too often neglected in reception studies, namely what
could be termed the 'reception of the reception': not only does
Margaret Malamud trace the importance of antiquity to modern America in
the mentioned forms of culture, but her inclusion of press reports and
personal writings gives us an idea of how the presentation of Rome in
politics, novels, film, and architecture was received in turn by its
American audience.