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Introduction: Families in the Greek and Roman Worlds
Beryl Rawson
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“Families” rather than “the family;” “Greek and Roman worlds” rather than “Greece and Rome.” These plurals in the title reflect the diversity of family types and practices in the societies discussed in this volume as well as the regional and chronological diversity covered and the development of new approaches and themes. Family studies have been an increasingly active field of study in recent decades in many disciplines, not least in Greek and Roman history, law, art and archeology. The range of materials and methodologies used has expanded to provide new perspectives. And somewhere along the way scholars in the field realized that they were dealing with such a diverse phenomenon that they were obliged to speak not of “the family” but of “families.” This volume aims to give an overview of the development of such studies, to indicate some of the stimulating new work being done around the world, and to help shape future studies. It aims to interest readers and scholars in a wide range of fields. In total the chapters in this volume draw on a wide range of primary evidence and reflect modern scholarship from four continents, much of it going beyond the Anglophone sources which dominated many earlier collections (until the new Dasen and Späth volume, which draws heavily on non-Anglophone scholarship). This makes for a very large bibliography of references. It also reflects different ... log in or subscribe to read full text
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