Culture and power in the Roman Alexandria

Author(s)

Joana Campos Climaco

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São Paulo.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH/SBD)
• Defense date: 2007-04-27

Examining board members

Norberto Luiz Guarinello; Vicente Carlos Rodrigues Alvarez Dobroruka; Francisco Murari Pires

• Advisor: Norberto Luiz Guarinello

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to investigate a group of small Alexandrian fragments of papyrus named Acta Alexandrinorum. The texts narrate episodes concerning Alexandria in the two first centuries of Roman Empire. But they were found in different places of Egypt, fact that suggests a moderate circulation of the writings in the region. The hypothesis is that a structured and limited group of Alexandrian citizens from the gymnasium, of Greek ascendance and noble birth, would use the writings to express their feelings of dissatisfaction to the Imperial power. They intended, with the accounts, to create an atmosphere of resistance to the Romans, and at the same time, to exalt the importance of Alexandria in that universe and also, to delimit an Alexandrian identity that should be restricted to their elements of higher distinction. Besides that, they also longed to emphasize the indignation to their Jewish neighbors, which were 8 threatening some rights that were before limited to their group. Through the texts, we can analyze how Romanization was received and understood by the Alexandrians. Besides that, the documents illustrate several elements of the civic and social life of the city and help to evaluate its importance in the imperial context. (AU)