Old Age and Rulers in the Ancient World

Christian Laes, Borja Méndez Santiago (eds)

Pages: approx. 370 p.
Size:156 x 234 mm
Illustrations:2 col., 4 tables b/w.

Language(s):English, Greek, Latin
Publication Year:2026

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This volume explores the theme of old age and rulers in the Ancient World in a broad perspective: from the Ancient Egyptian tradition up to Late Antiquity chronologically, from the Latin West to ancient China geographically.

Subject(s)

BIO

Christian Laes is professor of Ancient History at the University of Manchester.

Borja Méndez Santiago obtained his PhD in Gender and Diversity from the University of Oviedo (2022). He is working as a ‘Juan de la Cierva’ postdoctoral fellow at the University of Vigo (Spain). His research interests include Gender History, and the history of childhood, adolescence, old age and disability.

Summary

This is the first volume ever to explore the topic of old age in relation to rulership in the ancient world. The chapters deal with social and cultural perceptions of aged rulers; literary stereotypes of elderly and/or disabled rulers; epigraphical and artistic representations of aging rulers; day-to-day experience of ruling, vulnerability and strategies employed by such rulers. The ancient world is approached in a broad perspective: from the Ancient Egyptian tradition up to Late Antiquity chronologically, from the Latin West to ancient China geographically.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Towards a Global History of Old Age and Rulers in the Ancient World (Christian Laes & Borja Méndez Santiago)

Problems of Aged Rulers in the Ancient Near East (Edgar Kellenberger)
‘We Old Men, the Elderly, Have a Complaint against the City’ (Ar. Ach. 676). Old Age, Vulnerability and Political Participation in Aristophanes’ Plays (Aida Fernández Prieto & Miriam A. Valdés Guía)
The Gerousiai of the Later Greek City (Nigel Kennell)
Countries for Old Men – Aging among Alexander’s Successors (Philip Christian Höhre)
The Old Attalids of Pergamon: Discourses and Representations on Age in the Hellenistic World (Dolores Mirón)
Old Age and Politics in the Roman World (Santiago Castán)
The Elderly Statesmen in Plutarch’s Lives. Exercising Power in Old Age (Borja Méndez Santiago)
Politics and Old Age in Plutarch’s An seni respublica gerenda sit (Joaquim Pinheiro)
Not Your Average Avus? Grandparents and Grandchildren in the Roman Imperial Family (Lisa Brunet)
The Power of the Aged Paterfamilias (Sara Casamayor Mancisidor)
When the Emperor Gets Old. Old Age and Emperors during the Principate, in the Biographical Tradition of Suetonius and the Historia Augusta (Christian Laes)
Gaiseric the Geriatric? Considerations on Agnatic Seniority in the Vandal Kingdom (Christian Michel)
Bishops and Ageing in Visigothic Iberia (6th–7th centuries). Episcopal Challenges in Later Life (Pablo Poveda Arias)
Old Great Kings between Iranian Traditions and Graeco-Roman Sources (Omar Coloru)
In the Realm of an Aging Monarch: The Challenges Faced by Old Rulers in Early China (Olivia Milburn)

Indexes