Episode 118: A Crisis of Masculinity, with Melanie Racette-Campbell

We talk to Melanie Racette-Campbell about her new book, “The Crisis of Masculinity in the Age of Augustus”, and discuss why Roman elite men were particularly vulnerable to a societal transformation that changed their role in the state. What did it mean to be a good man in ancient Rome, and how and why did that change?

Melanie’s book is available here

Broken concrete/stone carved into the shape of a ship's prow, with a carving of the rod of Asclepius

Tiber Island, picture by Jenny Muslin