This is the first comprehensive treatment of the political thought of the Romans. Through chapters on Cicero, Lucretius, Sallust, Virgil, Livy, Seneca, Tacitus, Marcus Aurelius, and Augustine, and discussions of Polybius, the Stoics, Epicurus, and Epictetus, Hammer argues that the Romans engaged in a penetrating reflection on politics.
Focusing on the political dimensions of Homer's Iliad, Dean Hammer offers a fresh analysis of its iconic characters, including Odysseus, Achilles, Hektor, and Helen of Troy. By examining the interplay of power, conflict, and human nature within the epic, Hammer sheds light on its relevance to contemporary political discourse. This reinterpretation invites readers to explore the Iliad not just as a tale of war but as a profound commentary on the complexities of politics and society throughout history.
The Puritan Tradition examines how a Puritan past, historically reconstructed as a founding legend, gave meaning to early American political culture. In tracing the rhetorical invocations of this Puritan legacy, this study lends important insight into how this constructed past helped shape the political thought that underlies revolutionary, Federalist, and Whig political discourse. This emphasis on the changing political uses of this puritan Past is an important departure from scholarship that identifies an enduring Puritan essence that is read forward into American culture. Where such scholarship has often yielded either unpersuasive genealogies or a view of Puritanism as dissolving into irrelevance, The Puritan Tradition demonstrates how a Puritan past continues to play a critical role in American political identity.