Behind Caesar's Back

Name: Behind Caesar's Back
Price: 61.95 AUD
Availability: PreOrder
ISBN: 9780300276459

Rumor, Gossip, and the Making of the Roman Emperors

Caillan Davenport

$61.95

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Yale University
30 March 2026

Biography: royalty; History; European history; Ancient history: to c 500 CE; Social & cultural history; Greeting cards

A thrilling exploration of what Romans thought about their emperors, and how rumors and gossip—ranging from new taxes to rulers' sex lives—shaped leadership

Traversing more than seven hundred years of Roman history, this book explores how everyday Romans swapped gossip, spread rumors, told jokes, and chanted protests about their emperors—activity that amounted to much more than idle chatter. Caillan Davenport uses ancient evidence, including letters, graffiti, and songs, to reveal how Romans engaged in politics outside the senate house or imperial council. He argues that the idea of the Roman emperor was shaped not only by the political powers granted to him but also by the debate taking place in the streets, churches, taverns, and markets.

Davenport reveals how Romans spoke about ""the emperor"" as a figure of stability, as an agent of justice and retribution, or as a fallible human. Although few would ever see an emperor, his face (and therefore his power) was everywhere: on coins, banners, standards, and even dessert molds, as well as in statuary and paintings. While most Romans did not question the transformation of their republic into a monarchical system of government, they were indeed invested in the empire and were in constant discussion about the type of ruler they had, wanted, and deserved.

By: Caillan Davenport
Imprint: Yale University
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780300276459
ISBN 10: 0300276451
Pages: 392
Publication Date: 30 March 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Caillan Davenport is professor of classics and head of the Centre for Classical Studies at the Australian National University in Canberra. He is the author of A History of the Roman Equestrian Order, winner of the Gladstone Book Prize. He lives in Canberra, Australia.

Reviews for Behind Caesar's Back: Rumor, Gossip, and the Making of the Roman Emperors

""This first-of-its-kind book sets back into motion the rumor mills and gossip circles that fed a fifty-million-person imperial audience hungry for news from an autocracy deliciously incapable of controlling the spread of information about itself—long before the rise of social media.""—Noel Lenski, author of Constantine and the Cities: Imperial Authority and Civic Politics