The Empire of the Self: Self-Command and Political Speech in Seneca and Petronius

In "The Empire of the Self", Christopher Star studies the question of how political reality affects the concepts of body, soul, and self. Star argues that during the early Roman Empire the establishment of autocracy and the development of a universal ideal of individual autonomy were mutually enhancing phenomena. The Stoic ideal of individual empire or complete self-command is a major theme of Seneca's philosophical works. The problematic consequences of this ideal are explored in Seneca's dramatic and satirical works, as well as in the novel of his contemporary, Petronius. Star examines the rhetorical links between these diverse texts. He also demonstrates a significant point of contact between two writers generally thought to be antagonists - the idea that imperial speech structures reveal the self.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Soul-Shaping Speech 1. Senecan Philosophy and the Psychology of Command 2. Self-Address in Senecan Tragedy 3. Self-Address in the Satyricon Part II: Soul-Revealing Speech 4. Political Speech in Declementia 5. Soul, Speech, and Politics in the Apocolocyntosisand the Satyricon 6. Writing, Body, and Money Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Christopher Star is an assistant professor of classics at Middlebury College.

Review :
This [review] can hardly do justice to the scope and richness of Star's argument in each chapter, to the thoroughness with which he discusses his chosen texts, and to the creativity with which he exploits his simultaneous treatments of Seneca and Petronius. This book makes a major contribution to the modern bibliography of selfhood and self-formation in the early empire, and it will doubtless generate further debate in so vibrant an area of study. -- Gareth Williams Classical Journal With this book, Star contributes to a growing body of scholarship on the construction of the self in classical antiquity. Choice If this book only managed to demonstrate -- as it unquestionably does -- the complementary intertexuality of the Satyricon with Senecan philosophy, that alone would be a noteworthy achievement. But in fact The Empire of the Self is rife with compelling readings of its target texts that have ramifications beyond a narrow understanding of either author of their relationship to one another. Star's study offers its readers valuable insights into the governing metaphors and preoccupations of the Roman intelligentsia in the mid-first century CE. -- Amanda Wilcox Bryn Mawr Classical Review