The Great and Little Tradition in the Roman World

This dissertation investigates the cultural interaction that took place within the Roman Empire as Roman traditions and the cultures of provincial communities encountered one another. In earlier scholarship these encounters were cast as ‘Romanization,’ but increasing criticism over the last decades has shown this concept to be problematic. In its stead, scholars have proposed a range of theoretical concepts. Some of these have emphasized the wide-ranging cultural interaction taking place within the empire, others the unequal status of these different cultures.

The dissertation seeks to construct a middle position between these two poles, and produce the framework for a cultural history that may capture both aspects of Roman imperialism: the abundance of contacts between cultures and also the hierarchy in which they existed. For this purpose, the study employs the model of the great and little tradition, designed by the anthropologists Robert Redfield and McKim Marriott. This model envisages agrarian civilisation as always consisting of two traditions. The great tradition is the culture of the elite, and it is standardised and codified by literature. The little tradition is the culture of the local communities. It exists in the oral sphere, and is therefore prone to change over time or from place to place.

The dissertation argues that the establishment of the Roman Empire produced a significant cultural interaction throughout the affected communities. This interaction affected local cultures deeply, at times even transforming them. However, full participation in the culture of the ruling elite was only possible for a small segment of the provincial populations. Therefore, encounter with the Roman elite traditions did not lead to the demise of the local cultural world.

Denne afhandling undersøger den kulturelle interaktion, der foregik inden for Romerrigets grænser, hvor romerske traditioner og provinsernes lokale kulturer mødte hinanden. I tidligere forskning er disse møder blevet italesat som ‘romanisering.’ Imidlertid er dette begreb inden for de sidste årtier i stigende grad blevet opfattet som problematisk. Forskere har foreslået en række teoretiske begreber som alternativ. Det har skabt to forskellige strømninger: én der lægger vægt på den omfattende kulturudveksling, der foregik i Romerriget, og én, der lægger vægt på de ulige magtforhold imellem kulturer i imperiet.

Denne afhandling forsøger at etablere en mellemposition, og skabe rammerne for en kulturhistorie, der kan omfavne begge disse aspekter ved romersk imperialisme: den omfattende kulturelle interaktion og det hierarki som de forskellige kulturer eksisterede i. Til dette formål gør afhandlingen brug af antropologerne Robert Redfield og McKim Marriotts model ‘den store og lille tradition’. Ifølge denne model består agrare civilisationer altid af to traditioner. Den store tradition er elitens kultur. Den er forankret i litteratur og er derfor udpræget statisk. Den lille tradition er til gengæld bøndernes kultur. Den overleveres mundtligt og den forandrer sig derfor over tid.

Afhandlingen argumenterer for at Romerrigets opståen forårsagede en omfattende kulturel interaktion for de berørte samfund. Denne interaktion påvirkede lokale kulturer dybt og forandrede dem nogle gange radikalt. Fuldgyldig deltagelse i den romerske elites kultur forblev imidlertid et privilegium for de få. Derfor medførte den kulturelle interaktion aldrig de lokale kulturers forsvinden.