The French Revolution reactivated Rome and Charlemagne as historical legitimation

Evidence

So the juridical Rousseauism that had long been its main theme led, in some sense, to the reactivation of two great historical forms during the Revolution. On the one hand, you have the reactivation of Rome, or rather of the Roman city, or in other words, of an archaic Rome that was both republican and virtuous, rather than the GalloRoman city with its freedoms and its prosperity. Hence the Roman festival, or the political ritualization of a historical form which, in constitutional or basic terms, derived from those freedoms. The other figure to be reactivated is that of Charlemagne; we have seen the role Mably gave him and how he became the point where Frankish and Gallo-Roman freedoms merged; Charlemagne was the man who summoned the people to the Champ de Mars. Charlemagne as sovereign-warrior, but also as the protector of trade and the towns. Charlemagne as both Germanic king and Roman emperor. Right from the beginning of the Revolution, a whole Carolingian dream unfolds, and it goes on unfolding throughout the Revolution, but much less has been said about it than about the Roman festival. — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 225

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to how authors reactivate historical forms to mask discontinuity — relevant later when reading how the nation-state claims a continuous past. — connects to: Nobility’s conquest doctrine split France into two peoples before race-thinking emerged; France’s bourgeoisie arrived in 1789 already equipped to dominate culturally; Modern European states formed through reform waves rather than revolution (+2 more)

Related

• Napoleon’s empire fused the Carolingian and Roman revival dreams (similarity 0.82)
• France’s bourgeoisie arrived in 1789 already equipped to dominate culturally (similarity 0.81)
• The French bourgeoisie re-appropriated Roman heritage as its own ancestry (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Napoleon’s empire fused the Carolingian and Roman revival dreams #expands (0.90) — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 225