Cantel - De Romana Republica - 1726

ROMA ANTIQA, ARMY, TRIUMPHs AND COSTUMES IN LARGE FOLIOS OFTEN RE-FOLDED
Important and richly illustrated seventeenth-century edition of the famous treatise by Pietro Giuseppe Cantelli on Roman civilization, published in Leiden in 1726 by Samuel Luchtmans. Sixth edition, stated on the title page “prioribus correctior, & quamplurimis aeneis figuris ornata,” i.e., corrected relative to the previous editions and enriched with numerous engravings on copperplates. The work constitutes a complex compendium of the military, civil, religious, and social institutions of ancient Rome, designed as a tool for understanding classical authors. Of particular interest is the iconographic apparatus, with plates devoted to the topography of Rome, army formations, military insignia, shields, ceremonial crowns, triumphs, sacrifices, circus performances, and daily life. Exemplary inlaid with a remarkable full-pigskin binding with gold decorations on the boards and spine.

WHY TO BUY
• ICONOGRAPHIC APPARATUS – Rich assortment of copper-engraved plates, with spectacular large folded plates.
• ANCIENT ROME – Important testimony on the army, triumphs, sacrifices, weapons, costumes and the topography of the Urbs.
• ENHANCED EDITION – Sixth edition of 1726, corrected and considerably expanded in the illustrative apparatus.
• VALUABLE BINDING – Full pigskin binding with gold decorations and a large engraved heraldic stamp pressed on the board.

MARKET VALUE
For a complete exemplar of the sixth edition of 1726, with the plates present and preserved in a binding decorated as that of the described exemplar, an indicative commercial assessment may place the value in the range of €650–800. The completeness of the iconographic apparatus, particularly the large folded plates, is decisive for valuation; complete, fresh copies in particularly prestigious bindings can reach higher prices.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Full leather with gilded ornaments and fillets impressed on the boards and spine, and a large gold heraldic emblem at the center of the board. Illustrated by a frontispiece figuratively engraved in copper and numerous copper-engraved plates, several of which are folded and of considerable size, devoted to the topography of Rome, buildings, the army, insignia, weapons, military crowns, triumphs, sacrifices, and other aspects of Roman life. Some woodworm holes are present, one of which marginally affects some letters between pp. 1 and 58; normal minor signs of aging. In old books with a multigenerational history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (6); 14nn; 392; (4).
1 title page engraved
1 folded plan of Rome and surroundings
13 copperplates, many folded
1 folded table

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
De Romana Republica.
Lugduni Batavorum, apud Samuelem Luchtmans, 1726.
Petrus Josephus Cantelius.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
De Romana Republica belongs to the great European antiquarian tradition developed between the 17th and 18th centuries around the systematic study of Roman civilization. Cantelli’s stated aim was not merely to recount Rome’s political history, but to provide readers with the tools necessary “ad explicandos Scriptores antiquos”: to concretely understand the institutions, offices, military organization, religion, buildings, customs, and daily life described by classical authors.
A particular focus is given to res militaris. The engravings visualize legionary formations, insignia, armaments, shields, military and ceremonial crowns of victory. Among the most spectacular images is the large folded plate dedicated to the Roman triumph, where the procession is reconstructed through chariots, soldiers, prisoners, musicians, magistrates, and the triumphator’s chariot.
Other plates illustrate sacrifices and priests, spectacles and monumental architectures. The grand depiction of the circus, derived from Onofrio Panvinio’s antiquarian tradition, also documents how scholars of the early modern period attempted to reconstruct monumentality and rituals of antiquity graphically through the cross-referencing of literary, numismatic, and archaeological sources.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Pierre-Joseph Cantel, latinized Petrus Josephus Cantelius (1645–1684), was a French scholar and Jesuit, active in teaching and in historical and antiquarian studies. He belonged to that generation of Jesuit scholars who contributed decisively to the systematization of historical, chronological, and geographical knowledge in 17th-century Europe.
His fame is mainly linked to studies on Roman antiquity and the ability to organize a vast amount of classical testimonies into didactic and accessible form. De Romana Republica enjoyed particular success because it offered students and readers of Latin authors a true repertory of Roman institutions and customs, accompanied in later editions by an increasingly developed iconographic apparatus.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
The work experienced numerous editions from the late 17th to the 18th century, testimony to its popularity as a manual of Roman antiquarianism and a tool for studying the classics. The Leiden edition of 1726 is explicitly indicated on the title page as the sixth edition and “prioribus correctior,” corrected compared to previous editions, and “quamplurimis aeneis figuris ornata,” enriched with numerous copper-engraved figures.
Publishing in Lugdunum Batavorum, today Leiden, with Samuel Luchtmans places the volume in one of the most important centers of European scholarly publishing. The Luchtmans family played a significant role in the production and international distribution of academic, philological, and antiquarian texts.
The richness of the illustrative apparatus progressively transformed the work from a simple manual into a true visual repertory of ancient Rome, making these seventeenth- and eighteenth-century editions particularly interesting compared with earlier impressions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Cantelius, Petrus Josephus, De Romana Republica, sive de Re Militari & Civili Romanorum, Lugduni Batavorum, Samuel Luchtmans, 1726.
Sommervogel, Carlos, Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus.
Bibliothèque nationale de France, bibliographic catalogs relating to Pierre-Joseph Cantel.
Dutch catalogs of editions published at Lugdunum Batavorum.
Bibliographic catalogs of antiquarian and archaeological works on Roman civilization.
Studies on the European antiquarian tradition and the visual reconstruction of the institutions, the army, and monuments of ancient Rome."