{"product_id":"the-importance-of-being-gorgeous-susanna-elm-9780520413344","title":"The Importance of Being Gorgeous: Gender and Christian Imperial Rule in Late Antiquity Volume 66","description":"\u003cb\u003eA free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press's Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In this book, Susanna Elm radically changes our understanding of imperial rule in the later Roman Empire. As she shows, the so-called eastern decadence of the Emperor Theodosius and his successors was in fact a calculated revolution in masculinity and the representation of imperial power. Here, the emperor's hard yet soft, mature yet youthfully gorgeous beauty was central. Because the Theodosian emperors were divine--gods one could see--so was their beauty: their manliness was the face and body of God. The emperors' gorgeousness, their sparkling regalia, how they wished their bodies to be seen by their elite subjects--who authored the texts on which Elm's analysis is based--were as important as laws, taxes, and armies. Their \u003ci\u003evir\u003c\/i\u003e-ness strategically deployed male same-sex erotic desire to enhance the unity of the realm in times of tension, incorporate the signifying potency of child emperors, and create a flexible yet stable model of Christian sovereignty.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Susanna Elm\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0520413342\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780520413344\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of California Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/25\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 364\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback","brand":"Susanna Elm","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46962019336447,"sku":"9780520413344","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_58c03ef7-aab2-463c-b388-f94adc55d09f.jpg?v=1750649071","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-importance-of-being-gorgeous-susanna-elm-9780520413344","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}