{"product_id":"the-world-of-roman-song-from-ritualized-speech-to-social-order","title":"The World of Roman Song: From Ritualized Speech to Social Order","description":"Winner of the Classics and Ancient History award in the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Awards given by the Association of American Publishers In this bold work  Thomas Habinek offers an entirely new theoretical perspective on Roman cultural history. Although English words such as \"literature\" and \"religion\" have their origins in Latin  the Romans had no such specific concepts. Rather  much of the sense of these words was captured in the Latin word carmen  usually translated into English as \"song.\" Habinek argues that for the Romans  \"song\" encompassed a wide range of ritualized speech  including elements of poetry  storytelling  and even the casting of spells. Habinek begins with the fraternal societies  or sodalitates  which predated the Republic and endured into the Imperial era  and whose rites  although adapted over time to different deities and cults  were from the beginning centered on song (perhaps most notably in the ancient Carmen Saliare). He goes on to show how this early use of song became a paradigm for cultural reproduction throughout Roman history. Ritual mastery of the chaos of everyday life  embodied and enacted in song  produced and transmitted the beliefs on which Roman culture was founded and by which Roman communities were sustained. By the emergence of the Empire  \"song \" in all of its senses  served in particular to reproduce the power of the state  organizing relations of power at every level of society. The World of Roman Song presents a systematic and comprehensive approach to Roman cultural history. Informed and imaginative  this book challenges classicists  social theorists  and literary scholars to engage in a provocative discussion of the power of song.","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44847062843445,"sku":"ByrdShop_0801881056","price":81.78,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/ByrdShop_0801881056_edbe3d1f-97a9-4139-b895-fe7e501e07eb.jpg?v=1770416985","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-world-of-roman-song-from-ritualized-speech-to-social-order","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}