Studies on honour in the Greek and Roman worlds emerged in the early twentieth century with the anthropological concept of ‘Mediterranean honour’, but gained clearer epistemological foundations in the 1990s through the seminal works of Jon E. Lendon and Carlin A. Barton. Building on this broader context of renewed academic interest, the present volume originates from the colloquium organised by Christophe Badel and Henri Fernoux at the University of Rennes 2, titled Honneur et dignité dans le monde antique. The volume sets out to achieve three principal objectives: first, to introduce French scholarship into a discussion of Graeco-Roman honour, which has been predominantly shaped by Anglo-Saxon studies; second, to re-examine the concept of honour through a longue durée perspective; and third, to evaluate the intellectual soundness and scholarly relevance of the now contested anthropological notion of ‘Mediterranean honour’.
The book is organised around four main thematic units, each dealing with longue durée phenomena. The first, entitled ‘Honneurs et compétition’, examines the complex interplay of honour between the individual and the political community. Within this section, three studies collectively trace a historical trajectory of rhetorical and practical honour-based competition, from Homeric society through the Greek polis to the Roman Middle Republic. Pascal Payen opens the discussion by scrutinising the subtle transition from the mortal isolation of heroic honour contests and their associated aretē in Homer to the collective pursuit of honours and excellence in the classical polis (27–39). This is followed by Christian Bouchet's analysis of the distinctive nature of democratic honours in fourth-century Athens, which challenges the notion that post-classical honour culture undermined the egalitarian principle underpinning citizenship. On the contrary, competition for honours now came to define democratic life, and honours could not exist outside of democratic sanction (41–50). Finally, Jean-Luc Bastien shifts our perspective to the Middle Republic, where Roman commanders competed for honour and glory. He argues that M. Claudius Marcellus’ innovation, integrating the cult of Hellenised Honos and Virtus, reveals the emergence of a new Republican sphere of honorific commemoration especially attuned to individual Hellenistic heroisation and immortality (53–78).
The second section, ‘Les énigmes de l'honneur familial’, delves into the construction of familial and feminine honour. Christophe Badel begins by challenging the notion of blood vengeance as a central norm within the honour system of Roman society, instead framing it as an ambivalent practice employed by Roman families in a broader sociological context shaped by gratia, res publica and dignitas—concepts defining strategically negotiated political decisions by free social actors (85–125). Marie Augier follows with an epigraphic study of Hellenistic honours granted to priestesses, arguing that their honorific vocabulary and moral framework centred on well-executed magistracies and family connections, rather than any specifically feminine attributes (127–42). Lastly, Candice Greggi examines feminine honour in the Roman Republic, arguing that, contrary to the so-called Mediterranean model of honour, Roman sources portray women as part of a far more nuanced moral code encapsulated by pudicitia. In this framework, women assumed active roles, vengeance was a duty neither for parents nor families, and social norms favoured judicial solutions over retaliatory actions (143–76).
The third section, ‘Les modulations de l'honneur militaire’, examines the honorific dynamics of the Roman army. Xavier Lapray begins by proposing the existence of a distinctly Roman honour system for combat behaviour during the Republican period, characterised by active civic recognition of individual achievements and passive collective responsibility of soldiers towards their legion and combat unit (181–94). Jean-Louis Voisin continues with a brief study on the honorific significance of Roman military suicides from 340 to 211 b.c.e., arguing that ‘morte volontaire’ was a key component of a moral code rooted in the respect for fides, mediated through honos and virtus. This framework enabled suicide, from the fourth century b.c.e. to the second century c.e., to function as an aristocratic institutionalised safeguard for honour, pride and glory (195–206). Egon Flaig concludes this section with an analysis of the advantages of applying a sociological perspective to the study of the ‘organisation totale’ of the imperial army, using the case study of the Year of the Four Emperors. He demonstrates that the Roman imperial army possessed a dense and extensive honour system that transcends historiographical biases, revealing it as a distinctive, complex and self-aware social group (207–20).
The fourth and final section, ‘Deshonneur’, explores the various manifestations of dishonour as a way to prevent individuals from menacing the civic frame for communal welfare. Henri Fernoux challenges the monolithic and ahistorical anthropological conception of honour, focusing on Dion of Prusa's conservative critiques of the Rhodians’ reuse of honorific statues for Roman newcomers in the first century c.e. (Or. XXXI). Contrary to the judgements of both anthropology and Dion of Prusa, Fernoux demonstrates that the interactions between political authorities, monuments and polis elites reveal this honour–dishonour dynamic to be a deeply historically conditioned phenomenon (227–44). Florence Gherchanoc continues by surveying the cultural dimensions of gestural, apparel-related and bodily ritualised expressions associated with dishonourable behaviours in the Greek polis, focusing on three key examples: adultery, celibacy and cowardice. The cultural mechanisms of dishonour employed by civic communities reveal, in each case, carefully adapted systems of norms and hierarchies that utilise gender, space and artefacts to regulate, educate and discipline individuals in accordance with cultural standards shaped by historical contexts (245–58). Vincent Goncalves transitions to Late Antiquity with a study of corporeal signs of honour, focusing on the fifth-century bishop Sidonius Apollinaris and his analogy between defeat and hair loss (Letters 4.24.3). He argues that this reference merges classical tradition and monastic asceticism, creating a dynamic interplay between estime and honour, which he terms the ‘corps de l'honneur’ (259–76). We then return to the Late Roman Republic with Robinson Baudry's study on electoral dishonour, focusing on the case of Cato's defeat in 51 b.c.e. and the historiographical debate about it. According to the author, Cato's apathetic reaction did not stem from a Greek Stoic display of self-righteousness but rather from an ‘austérité ostentatoire’ as a means of defending the aristocratic Roman principles embodied and sustained by Republican elections, now corrupted by demagogues and oligarchs (277–92). Finally, Mathieu Jacotot applies the external dimension of Frank H. Stewart's sociological definition of honour to interpret Cicero's evolving assessment of Roman Republican honos. The author identifies a clear progression in Cicero's conception: from a politically legitimate pursuit, tempered by traditional Roman values during his ascent to prominence, to its philosophical repudiation in favour of an immaterial and introspective pursuit of Hellenised otium following his exile and the decline of Republican political culture (293–305).
As a whole, the book is highly effective, achieving its main objectives and demonstrating how historical conditions relativise the anthropological model of Mediterranean honour. The articles have a dual impact: they underscore the active role of French scholarship in Graeco-Roman honour studies while reflecting a growing sociological focus within French academia, as exemplified by this volume's exploration of honour and dignity as a dialectic of action and recognition. This insightful volume will undoubtedly become essential for future research on honour in Mediterranean classical societies.
