Claudia Moatti
Claudia Moatti (also known as Claude Moatti; born 19 February 1954)[1] is a French historian specialised in ancient Roman Studies. She is currently professor of Roman history at University of Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, and Adjunct Professor of Classics and Law at the University of Southern California (USC).[2][3]
Claudia Moatti | |
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| Born | 19 February 1954 |
| Nationality | French |
| Alma mater | École normale supérieure de Sèvres |
| Occupation | Historian on Roman studies |
| Employer | Paris 8 University, University of Southern California |
Career
Moatti studied classics at the École normale supérieure de Sèvres in France, where she specialised in political thought and the crisis in culture that arose at the end of the Roman Republic and in the early Roman Empire, a period around the 2nd century BC to 1st century AD.[4]
She earned her PhD in History at the Paris-Sorbonne University,[5] and taught at the University of Paris. She is also a former member of the staff of the French Academy in Rome. She has done research on the history of the discovery of ancient Rome and the "invention" of Roman archaeology in the late 1980s. The first findings of this project is presented in her book À la recherche de la Rome antique.[4]
Moatti has been a full professor at USC since 2004.[5] She has published a number of books and articles. She is interested in the construction of the concept of Res publica, her book on this subject—Res publica : Histoire romaine de la chose publique—has been published in April 2018, by Fayard.[6] She is currently working on four books.[5]
À la recherche de la Rome antique
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| Author | Claude Moatti |
|---|---|
| Original title | À la recherche de la Rome antique |
| Translator | Anthony Zielonka |
| Cover artist | Joseph-Louis Duc (FR ed.) Jacques Carlu (UK & US eds.) |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Series | Découvertes Gallimard●Archéologie |
Release number | 56 |
| Subject | Archaeology of the city of Rome |
| Genre | Nonfiction monograph |
| Publisher | FR: Éditions Gallimard US: Harry N. Abrams UK: Thames & Hudson |
Publication date | 1989 |
Published in English | 1993 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 208 pp. |
| ISBN | 978-2-070-53073-1 (first edition) |
| OCLC | 717883007 |
| Preceded by | Cézanne : « Puissant et solitaire » |
| Followed by | Les sorcières, fiancées de Satan |
| Website | www |
Moatti organised a project of research on the history of rediscovery of the ancient city of Rome in the late 1980s, the findings of this project gave birth to a small volume—À la recherche de la Rome antique (lit. 'In Search of Ancient Rome'; English-language edition: The Search for Ancient Rome)—published by Éditions Gallimard in their "Découvertes" collection. According to standards of the collection, the book is profusely illustrated with colour plates—illustrations taken from manuscripts, maps, mosaics, frescoes, photographs, drawings, engravings, 16th to 19th-century paintings and other sources—printed on glossy paper.
It is part of the Archéologie series, that is to say, the work recounts how people discovered the past of this Eternal City after the fall of Roman Empire. The story is divided into six chapters: I, "Rome, the Eternal City" (Rome, Ville Éternelle); II, "The Age of the Humanists" (Les Temps des humanistes); III, "From Private Collections to Art History" (Des collections privées à l'histoire de l'art); IV, "Rome Under Napoleon" (La Rome de Napoléon); V, "The Age of Reason" (L'Âge de raison); VI, "From One Myth to Another" (D'un mythe à l'autre). At the beginning, Moatti emphasises the obscurity of Rome's past, because Rome was "being destroyed and buried time and time again over centuries, its history has been obscured", and "the veil of legend has covered its ruins". During Medieval period, these ruins have exerted a real fascination as shown in the Mirabilia Urbis Romae. In the Renaissance era, while Columbus was exploring the New World, artists, scholars, princes, adventurers and popes were searching through the soil of Rome for the remains of its former splendour. The city was rebuilt, brought back to life. But it was not until the 20th century, thanks to the development of archaeology, that the origins of the city were finally revealed.
The second part of this book is the "Documents" section containing a compilation of excerpts which is divided into six parts (pp. 145–199): 1, The city under threat (La ville menacée); 2, Piranesi, the archaeologist (Piranèse archéologue); 3, The journey to Rome (Le voyage à Rome); 4, Parker the photographer (Parker photographe); 5, Tales of excavations (Histoires de fouilles); 6, Christian archaeology (L'archéologie chrétienne). These are followed by a list of further reading, list of illustrations and an index. The book has been translated into American and British English, Dutch, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Slovenian, South Korean, Spanish, simplified and traditional Chinese.
Selected publications
- With Odile Bombarde, Living in Ancient Rome, Young Discovery Library, 1988
- À la recherche de la Rome antique, coll. « Découvertes Gallimard » (nº 56), série Archéologie. Éditions Gallimard, 1989
- US edition – The Search for Ancient Rome, "Abrams Discoveries" series. Harry N. Abrams, 1993
- UK edition – The Search for Ancient Rome, 'New Horizons' series. Thames & Hudson, 1993 (reprinted in 2001)
- The Birth of Critical Thinking in Republican Rome, Cambridge University Press, 2015
- Res publica : Histoire romaine de la chose publique, Librairie Arthème Fayard, 2018
References
- "Moatti, Claudia (1954-....)". catalogue.bnf.fr (in French). Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- "MOATTI CLAUDIA". univ-paris8.fr (in French). Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- "Claudia Moatti – Adjunct Professor of Classics and Law". dornsife.usc.edu. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- Moatti, Claude (1993). The Search for Ancient Rome. 'New Horizons' series. Translated by Zielonka, Anthony. London: Thames & Hudson. p. 208. ISBN 978-0-500-30026-8.
About the author
- "Claudia Moatti". gould.usc.edu. 5 July 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
- Bastière, Jean-Marc (21 June 2018). "Res publica, de Claudia Moatti : les racines romaines de la chose publique". Le Figaro (in French). Paris. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
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