Abusing Antiquity?

The first ever collection of essays to explore the contemporary far rights fascination with the classical past, Abusing Antiquity? sheds new light on the ways in which ancient Greece and Rome are being used to legitimize political agendas in the present. Through analyses from contemporary Europe and the United States, the volume examines how historical figures, images, events and texts connected with the classical world have been mobilized by the far right to promote extremist views related to race, gender and immigration.

From the rise of mid-20th-century fascism to the modern day, the individual chapters examine evidence ranging from memes and online media to literature, music and visual and material culture. The volume addresses questions of best practice, methodology and ethics, while providing historical context for the far rights use of classics, and interrogating how the structures within classical studies itself can provide support for far-right ideologies. Rather than situating classical antiquity as simplistically abused by modern extremist movements, this volume traces Classics implication and its appropriations in the recent rise of the far-right, thus contributing to more effective methods of countering extremism.