The paper investigates the way in which Roman leaders, during the classical and Renaissance periods, used foundation myths as a form of persona l propaganda. It shows that men like Julius Caesar used the supposed founders of the city to promote their own claims to power through art and architecture. It not only explains how men like Augustus would build upon this by including not only the city’s founders, but also Caesar to legitimize their own claims though art, architecture, and literature. And final ly, it provides a look into how the princes of the Renaissance—especially the papal princes—took ancient, imperial, and biblical founders to uphold the papacy’s power over Rome and Christendom, through art, architecture, literature, and art collecting.
","abstract_html":"<p>The paper investigates the way in which Roman leaders, during the classical and Renaissance periods, used foundation myths as a form of persona l propaganda. It shows that men like Julius Caesar used the supposed founders of the city to promote their own claims to power through art and architecture. It not only explains how men like Augustus would build upon this by including not only the city’s founders, but also Caesar to legitimize their own claims though art, architecture, and literature. And final ly, it provides a look into how the princes of the Renaissance—especially the papal princes—took ancient, imperial, and biblical founders to uphold the papacy’s power over Rome and Christendom, through art, architecture, literature, and art collecting.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Marsh, Danielle L."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Open Access Thesis","degree_discipline":"History and Philosophy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dr. Ronald K. Delph, Chair","Dr. James P. Holoka"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-03-15T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-03-15T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:16:51Z","subjects":["Aeneas","Julius Caesar","Papacy","Rome","Romulus","History"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.emich.edu/theses/470","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Dr. Ronald K. Delph, Chair","Dr. James P. Holoka"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Marsh, Danielle L."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-06-20T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["History and Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Aeneas","Julius Caesar","Papacy","Rome","Romulus","History"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.emich.edu/theses/470"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The paper investigates the way in which Roman leaders, during the classical and Renaissance periods, used foundation myths as a form of persona l propaganda. It shows that men like Julius Caesar used the supposed founders of the city to promote their own claims to power through art and architecture. It not only explains how men like Augustus would build upon this by including not only the city’s founders, but also Caesar to legitimize their own claims though art, architecture, and literature. And final ly, it provides a look into how the princes of the Renaissance—especially the papal princes—took ancient, imperial, and biblical founders to uphold the papacy’s power over Rome and Christendom, through art, architecture, literature, and art collecting.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Heroes, saints, and gods: Foundation legends and propaganda in ancient and Renaissance Rome"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dr. Ronald K. Delph, Chair","Dr. James P. Holoka"],"dc:creator":["Marsh, Danielle L."],"dc:date.available":["2013-06-20T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The paper investigates the way in which Roman leaders, during the classical and Renaissance periods, used foundation myths as a form of persona l propaganda. It shows that men like Julius Caesar used the supposed founders of the city to promote their own claims to power through art and architecture. It not only explains how men like Augustus would build upon this by including not only the city’s founders, but also Caesar to legitimize their own claims though art, architecture, and literature. And final ly, it provides a look into how the princes of the Renaissance—especially the papal princes—took ancient, imperial, and biblical founders to uphold the papacy’s power over Rome and Christendom, through art, architecture, literature, and art collecting.
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