The Renaissance’s understanding of the Roman republic differed considerably from that of modern times, both as a political concept and as a historical period. James Hankins’s lecture shows how this contested historical concept evolved from the late fourteenth to the middle of the sixteenth century. The evolution of the concept is collated with the parallel story of the recovery of ancient sources, both Greek and Latin, for the history of Rome.

Hankins (1982 Fellow) is professor of history at Harvard University and an American Academy in Rome Scholar in Residence.