De Romeinen van Bart De Wever.

This article discusses the functions of classical references in contemporary political culture. It focuses on the various ways in which the Belgian politician and Flemish nationalist Bart De Wever makes use of Latin oneliners and historical parallels with ancient Rome in op-eds, speeches and interviews, and how they are received by the press and in political discussions. The use of classical references here is examined from the perspective of recent concepts from Classical Reception Studies, such as ‘banal reception' and ‘reflex'. It is argued that the references, how trivial they may seem at first sight, are a vital part of De Wever's overall tactics to frame political communication and spread a conservative political message: his alleged wish to safeguard what is called, after Edmund Burke, ‘the costly fabric of society'. Rather than stressing the Flemish nationalist agenda of his party, De Wever promotes himself by means of the classical reference and its connotations as the rebellious caretaker of a long-established European humanist tradition and as the embodiment of a neoconservative art of living, both of which are said to be threatened by left-wing cultural politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]