Urban Legends

Explores the role of the classical past in the construction of urban identity in late medieval Italy. Focuses on the appropriation of classical symbols, ancient materials, and Roman myths to legitimate the regimes of various Italian city-states.

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Between 1250 and 1350, numerous Italian city-states jockeyed for position in a cutthroat political climate. Seeking to legitimate and ennoble their autonomy, they turned to ancient Rome for concrete and symbolic sources of identity. Each city-state appropriated classical symbols, ancient materials, and Roman myths to legitimate its regime as a logical successor to—or continuation of—Roman rule. In Urban Legends, Carrie Beneš illuminates this role of the classical past in the construction of late medieval Italian urban identity.