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Shakespeare's Roman Trilogy: The Twilight of the Ancient World
Paul A. Cantor first probed Shakespeare’s Roman plays— Coriolanus, Julius Caeser, and Antony and Cleopatra —in his landmark Shakespeare’s Rome (1976). With Shakespeare’s Roman Trilogy , he now argues that these plays form an integrated trilogy that portrays the tragedy not simply of their protagonists but of an entire political community.
Cantor analyzes the way Shakespeare chronicles the rise and fall of the Roman Republic and the emergence of the Roman Empire. The transformation of the ancient city into a cosmopolitan empire marks the end of the era of civic virtue in antiquity, but it also opens up new spiritual possibilities that Shakespeare correlates with the rise of Christianity and thus the first stirrings of the medieval and the modern worlds.
More broadly, Cantor places Shakespeare’s plays in a long tradition of philosophical speculation about Rome, with special emphasis on Machiavelli and Nietzsche, two thinkers who provide important clues on how to read Shakespeare’s works. In a pathbreaking chapter, he undertakes the first systematic comparison of Shakespeare and Nietzsche on Rome, exploring their central point of Did Christianity corrupt the Roman Empire or was the corruption of the Empire the precondition of the rise of Christianity? Bringing Shakespeare into dialogue with other major thinkers about Rome, Shakespeare’s Roman Trilogy reveals the true profundity of the Roman Plays.
Cantor analyzes the way Shakespeare chronicles the rise and fall of the Roman Republic and the emergence of the Roman Empire. The transformation of the ancient city into a cosmopolitan empire marks the end of the era of civic virtue in antiquity, but it also opens up new spiritual possibilities that Shakespeare correlates with the rise of Christianity and thus the first stirrings of the medieval and the modern worlds.
More broadly, Cantor places Shakespeare’s plays in a long tradition of philosophical speculation about Rome, with special emphasis on Machiavelli and Nietzsche, two thinkers who provide important clues on how to read Shakespeare’s works. In a pathbreaking chapter, he undertakes the first systematic comparison of Shakespeare and Nietzsche on Rome, exploring their central point of Did Christianity corrupt the Roman Empire or was the corruption of the Empire the precondition of the rise of Christianity? Bringing Shakespeare into dialogue with other major thinkers about Rome, Shakespeare’s Roman Trilogy reveals the true profundity of the Roman Plays.
320 pages, Paperback
Published June 28, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 17, 2026
Paul Cantor is a professor in the truest sense of the word. His great strength is knowing exactly how far to take things, giving you the opportunity (and, at the same time, inviting you) to think for yourself.
Without oversimplifying any aspect of the subject under discussion, and thus giving the hurried reader the illusion of understanding, Prof. Cantor’s writing is always clear and remarkably precise.
A book that is certainly worth reading!
Without oversimplifying any aspect of the subject under discussion, and thus giving the hurried reader the illusion of understanding, Prof. Cantor’s writing is always clear and remarkably precise.
A book that is certainly worth reading!
February 17, 2018
Scary, I'm the first one to write a review of this on Goodreads. Bear with me as we embark on this journey.
"Shakespeare's Roman Trilogy: The Twilight of the Ancient World" by Paul Cantor analyzes Shakespeare's Coriolanus, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra in conjunction with the ride and fall of the Roman Republic. By putting these plays in dialect with one another, Cantor explores the changing nature of Rome as it transitioned from a Republic to a Empire and its values, morality and what it means for us today.
Coming into this book, I had read Julius Caesar when I was a freshman in high school, and I read Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra before approaching this book. Sadly, reading a Shakespeare play on my own is never as good as reading in a academic setting, and I felt my understanding of those plays was also hampered by my lack of knowledge of Roman history as well. After reading Cantor's essays, I feel like I have a much deeper grounding in the history and knowledge of these plays and going back and rereading each of them would be entertaining to see the elements he points out in his essays in play.
The essays provided in the book range in size and topic. The first two essays, which compose two-thirds of the book, tackle "Shakespeare, Nietzsche, and the Reevaluation of Roman Values", while the remaining essays tackle globalization, heroes and colonialism. The bulk of the book is the first chapter, "Shakespeare's Tragic City: The Rise of the Roman Republic". Frankly, this chapter covers so much in its efforts to look at the three plays and the change in Rome over time, it's kind of hard to encapsulate everything it tackles. The following chapter analyzes the plays in light of Nietzsche, which while kind of interesting, I personally didn't enjoy as much mainly due to my disagreements with Nietzsche's philosophy, but that's on me. The final three essays were all short, about 20 pages apiece, and I felt were the right size to tackle and look at each of their designated topics.
Overall, I enjoyed the depth and scope of Cantor's book - it provided insight to each of these plays and made me want to hasten to reread them all to see if I myself would draw the same conclusions. Cantor purposefully takes stances that are against the grain, which is fun, and playing Shakespeare off against Nietzsche is something I would never think of doing. My favorite might be the visiting of Julius Caesar's stoicism and epicureanism - I remember learning about this in my 9th grade class and it was entertaining to read Cantor really rip into Brutus' questionable ethical stance.
If you're looking to really critical analyze these plays and their historical context, this book is for you. The first chapter is a doozy though, and I kind of wish Cantor adapted it more for a book format, breaking it down into slightly smaller chapters. Also, going into this book viewing it more as a compilation of essays regarding these plays rather than the chapters building off one another is a good mentality to have as well.
Going to five star this to even out the 3 star some other person left here. :)
"Shakespeare's Roman Trilogy: The Twilight of the Ancient World" by Paul Cantor analyzes Shakespeare's Coriolanus, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra in conjunction with the ride and fall of the Roman Republic. By putting these plays in dialect with one another, Cantor explores the changing nature of Rome as it transitioned from a Republic to a Empire and its values, morality and what it means for us today.
Coming into this book, I had read Julius Caesar when I was a freshman in high school, and I read Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra before approaching this book. Sadly, reading a Shakespeare play on my own is never as good as reading in a academic setting, and I felt my understanding of those plays was also hampered by my lack of knowledge of Roman history as well. After reading Cantor's essays, I feel like I have a much deeper grounding in the history and knowledge of these plays and going back and rereading each of them would be entertaining to see the elements he points out in his essays in play.
The essays provided in the book range in size and topic. The first two essays, which compose two-thirds of the book, tackle "Shakespeare, Nietzsche, and the Reevaluation of Roman Values", while the remaining essays tackle globalization, heroes and colonialism. The bulk of the book is the first chapter, "Shakespeare's Tragic City: The Rise of the Roman Republic". Frankly, this chapter covers so much in its efforts to look at the three plays and the change in Rome over time, it's kind of hard to encapsulate everything it tackles. The following chapter analyzes the plays in light of Nietzsche, which while kind of interesting, I personally didn't enjoy as much mainly due to my disagreements with Nietzsche's philosophy, but that's on me. The final three essays were all short, about 20 pages apiece, and I felt were the right size to tackle and look at each of their designated topics.
Overall, I enjoyed the depth and scope of Cantor's book - it provided insight to each of these plays and made me want to hasten to reread them all to see if I myself would draw the same conclusions. Cantor purposefully takes stances that are against the grain, which is fun, and playing Shakespeare off against Nietzsche is something I would never think of doing. My favorite might be the visiting of Julius Caesar's stoicism and epicureanism - I remember learning about this in my 9th grade class and it was entertaining to read Cantor really rip into Brutus' questionable ethical stance.
If you're looking to really critical analyze these plays and their historical context, this book is for you. The first chapter is a doozy though, and I kind of wish Cantor adapted it more for a book format, breaking it down into slightly smaller chapters. Also, going into this book viewing it more as a compilation of essays regarding these plays rather than the chapters building off one another is a good mentality to have as well.
Going to five star this to even out the 3 star some other person left here. :)
November 24, 2018
An excellent analysis of Shakespeare's Roman trilogy -Coriolanus, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra. Author Cantor carefully delineates the particular constructions of each play and how each reflects Shakespeare"s deep consideration of both the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A significant portion of the work interprets Antony and Cleopatra as the final gasp of the Republic and it's particularly Roman virtues and the slow slide into Oriental despotism as a result of the Egyptianization of Rome.
Cantor also uses Nietzsche in very interesting ways to reinforce what he sees in Shakespeare's presentation of the descent from republican virtue to oriental luxury particularly the idea of master and slave morality. Cantor's interpretation pays close attention to the text of the plays finding in them the evidence of Shakespeare's fascination with Ancient Rome. Well presented, very readable. Perhaps the most most particular virtue of the book is that they send the reader back t the plays there to discover anew or once again the great political wisdom within.
Cantor also uses Nietzsche in very interesting ways to reinforce what he sees in Shakespeare's presentation of the descent from republican virtue to oriental luxury particularly the idea of master and slave morality. Cantor's interpretation pays close attention to the text of the plays finding in them the evidence of Shakespeare's fascination with Ancient Rome. Well presented, very readable. Perhaps the most most particular virtue of the book is that they send the reader back t the plays there to discover anew or once again the great political wisdom within.
April 2, 2020
Cantor does a wonderful job both telling you a story and providing you insight and understanding on a variety of topics. Sure, the focus is Shakespeare and his Roman plays but the book is so much more. Connecting Shakespeare, Machiavelli, Nietzsche, Hegel and a host of others was enlightening a bit of Seven Degrees of Kevin Bacon. Cantor methodically blends theatre, history, philosophy into a enjoyable finished product.
This book was a great tool in my effort to understand Shakespeare outside of a direct reading of his works.
This book was a great tool in my effort to understand Shakespeare outside of a direct reading of his works.
November 8, 2020
Terrific book. Learned but eminently readable.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews