Abstract
This article attempts to read the phenomenon of collective resistance in the Roman army of the Late Republic as political action. Taking my inspiration from post-colonial theories of popular power, I contend that we should not understand acts of collective resistance in military settings as simple events activated by a singular cause, but rather as expressions of individual and collective grievances with the status quo. Indeed, the variant practices of military recruitment in the Late Republic, and the exploitative nature of Rome’s imperial rule put oppressed groups – Italians, provincials, and former slaves – in constant contact with the state apparatus. Thus, military service offered an essential space for political action in the first century BC. These findings help us to better understand how popular power could be realized beyond traditional institutional settings in this period.
Acknowledgment
This paper is greatly indebted to Lakshmi Ramgopal and Nicole Gianella who invited me to take part in a panel, entitled “Resistance and Unrest: The Roman Empire and Contemporary Postcolonial Politics”, at the 2020 meeting of the European Social Science History Conference. While the panel was cancelled just days before it was supposed to happen, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the invitation led to the first full draft of this paper. I am also thankful for numerous conversations on this topic with Lee Brice, Luther Karper, Lisa Mignone, and Roberta Stewart, all of whom encouraged me to pursue it, and to Gary Farney and the anonymous reviewer at JAH, whose comments substantially improved this piece.
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