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Content archived on 2024-06-18

The Emperor's New Clothes. Power Dressing in the Roman Empire from Augustus to Honorius

Objective

"This project will explore changes in the costume of the Roman emperor, his family and his court. My hypothesis is that we can track the development of an imperial wardrobe, which follows the gradual acceptance and consolidation of autocracy, from the plain woolen toga of the ideal princeps to the luxurious purple silks of the monarch. In terms of status representation, the early Roman emperors walked a tight rope between conforming to the supposed frugality and uniformity of their ancestors and being the rulers of the Roman world. For historical reasons they had to avoid allusions to monarchy and behave as ""first among equals"" in their interaction with their senatorial peers. Changes in status display through clothes therefore mirror, I argue, the changing perception of the position of the emperor within the social hierarchy. This project will cover the time from the first princeps, Augustus, to the emperor Honorius (1st century BCE-5th century CE). In particular it will focus on the representation of ""good"" vs. ""bad"" emperors as the discourses surrounding them are highly ideologically charged. This will help to define the turning point(s) when the discourses changed and permitted ""good"" emperors to wear precious clothes. This, I believe, indicates that the position of the emperor at the top of the social hierarchy was now openly acknowledged and their corresponding status representation considered appropriate. My aim is to highlight the continuities and breaks as well as the idiosyncrasies that occurred during this process. I will take into account written sources (literature, legal texts, inscriptions, papyri) as well as archaeological ones (textile finds and depictions of the emperors and their close relations, e. g. in form of statues, reliefs, coins, consular diptychs and mosaics). This project will shed new light on the political and institutional history of the Roman Empire through the study of imperial dress and representation."

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Topic(s)

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Call for proposal

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FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF
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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF)

Coordinator

KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET
EU contribution
€ 308 587,80
Address
NORREGADE 10
1165 KOBENHAVN
Denmark

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Region
Danmark Hovedstaden Byen København
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

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