Language and Civil Conflict in the Greco-Roman Tradition

Offering new readings on language and civil conflict in a variety of Ancient Greek and Roman texts, this study puts these reflections from the classical world in dialogue with contemporary philosophy and political theory. Daniel Sutton focuses on Thucydides, Plato, Sallust, and Tacitus, exploring the ways in which the figure of paradiastole (often termed 'rhetorical redescription') was deployed to explain the conflicts of value which underpinned civil strife. These texts paint vivid pictures of what happens to language during civil discord: pictures which seem increasingly familiar today. Simultaneously, they grapple deeply with what it means to search for timeless values in times of conflict. This study demonstrates how ancient texts can offer us new ways of understanding the role of language in civil discord, of restoring political dialogue in fractious times, and of approaching intellectual history itself.