Cultural Uses of the Caesars on the English Renaissance Stage

Lisa Hopkins is Professor of English at Sheffield Hallam University, UK.

• Contents: Introduction: 'king nor keisar'; Part I The Whore of Babylon: Reformation and deformation: Titus Andronicus; Hamlet among the Romans. Part II Caesar and the Czar: Tamburlaine and Julius Caesar; Pocahontas and The Winter's Tale. Part III The Romans in Britain: Cleopatra and the myth of Scota; The Romans in Wales: Cymbeline; He, Claudius; Conclusion; Works cited; Index.

'In this important study of the uses of the past in early modern England, Hopkins reminds us what has always been at stake in the term "Renaissance". Hopkins sheds new light on the importance of legends of British antiquity alongside (and often in tension with) the history of classical Rome.' Philip Schwyzer, University of Exeter, UK ’... a well researched and useful work... adds an important dimension to the study of Roman-ness on the English stage.’ Comparative Drama ’... lively, well-researched, provocative...’ Renaissance Quarterly