Aurelius Victor and the Ending of Sallust's Jugurtha
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The Political and Military Aspects of Accession of Constantine the Great
Graeco-Latina Brunensia 24 / 2019 / 2 https://doi.org/10.5817/GLB2019-2-2 The Political and Military Aspects of Accession of Constantine the Great Stanislav Doležal (University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice) Abstract The article argues that Constantine the Great, until he was recognized by Galerius, the senior ČLÁNKY / ARTICLES Emperor of the Tetrarchy, was an usurper with no right to the imperial power, nothwithstand- ing his claim that his father, the Emperor Constantius I, conferred upon him the imperial title before he died. Tetrarchic principles, envisaged by Diocletian, were specifically put in place to supersede and override blood kinship. Constantine’s accession to power started as a military coup in which a military unit composed of barbarian soldiers seems to have played an impor- tant role. Keywords Constantine the Great; Roman emperor; usurpation; tetrarchy 19 Stanislav Doležal The Political and Military Aspects of Accession of Constantine the Great On 25 July 306 at York, the Roman Emperor Constantius I died peacefully in his bed. On the same day, a new Emperor was made – his eldest son Constantine who had been present at his father’s deathbed. What exactly happened on that day? Britain, a remote province (actually several provinces)1 on the edge of the Roman Empire, had a tendency to defect from the central government. It produced several usurpers in the past.2 Was Constantine one of them? What gave him the right to be an Emperor in the first place? It can be argued that the political system that was still valid in 306, today known as the Tetrarchy, made any such seizure of power illegal. -
Catullum Numquam Antea Lectum […] Lego »: a Short Analysis of Catullus’ Fortune in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
chapter 15 « Catullum Numquam Antea Lectum […] Lego »: A Short Analysis of Catullus’ Fortune in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Alina Laura de Luca The Liber Catulli Veronensis has a mysterious history full of twists and turns, chance discoveries and sudden disappearances, avid attempts at correction and of convictions for obscenity. We know that it had an enormous and imme- diate popularity among poets of the ‘Golden Age’ and was read and discussed from the second to the fourth century.1 However, the study and discussion of Catullus in the Middle Ages have left only a few traces. He is mentioned two or three times and he is not listed in the manuscript catalogues of monastic libraries during the Carolingian age; whereas in the same period we witness a multiplication of copies of Horace, Virgil, Ovid, and Juvenal. Nevertheless, there is evidence that Catullus was being read in France and northern Italy: in the late ninth century poem 62 was included in a florilegium;2 in 966 Raterio, Bishop of Verona, was reading Catullus, as he says in one of his sermons: “I read Catullus that has never been accessed before”.3 However, the Liber soon disap- peared, or more probably it lay undisturbed in the Chapter Library of Verona throughout most of the Middle Ages.4 1 The modern study of Kenneth Quinn, The Catullan revolution (Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 1959), describes the impact that Catullus had on Roman poetry. Individual Catullan poems were admired and imitated by the Augustan poets, above all by elegists, and his popularity continued later with Martial, Pliny the Younger, Aulus Gellius and Pomponius. -
Illinois Classical Studies
24 Parental Gifts: Father-Son Dedications and Dialogues in Roman Didactic Literature FANNIE J. LEMOINE Introduction Literary dedications are designed either to acknowledge a bond between the author and the dedicatee or to attempt to establish such a bond. In the Latin didactic tradition authors frequently present themselves as fathers giving their educational treatises to their sons or composing fictive dialogues in which they act as the teacher and the son as the pupil. The dedications and dialogues reflected historical practice and reinforced patterns of paternal and filial behavior through literary example. Father-son dedications and dialogues also serve formal literary ends. They help the author speak in a more intimate, yet authoritative voice and create a sense of reciprocal obligation between composer and reader. The dedication or the dialogue establishes the context within which the author presents his literary gift. The five aims of this study are: (1) to trace a brief history of father-son dedications and dialogues in Latin didactic literature, (2) to examine the formative contributions made by Cato and Cicero, (3) to argue for a distinctly Roman character to the tradition, (4) to illustrate the conventional presentations of authorial personality and subject matter found in later introductory prefaces, and (5) to show how the conventions dealing with persons and subject matter are subverted by two late Latin paternal authors, Augustine and Martianus Capella. The article concludes with a brief discussion of the influence of this pattern of familial instruction upon didactic texts in the Middle Ages. Ancient rhetorical theory advocated finding the material for introductions either from the personalities involved (ex personis) or from the subject matter itself {ex rebus). -
Magic and the Roman Emperors
1 MAGIC AND THE ROMAN EMPERORS (1 Volume) Submitted by Georgios Andrikopoulos, to the University of Exeter as a thesis/dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Classics, July 2009. This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. ..................................... (signature) 2 Abstract Roman emperors, the details of their lives and reigns, their triumphs and failures and their representation in our sources are all subjects which have never failed to attract scholarly attention. Therefore, in view of the resurgence of scholarly interest in ancient magic in the last few decades, it is curious that there is to date no comprehensive treatment of the subject of the frequent connection of many Roman emperors with magicians and magical practices in ancient literature. The aim of the present study is to explore the association of Roman emperors with magic and magicians, as presented in our sources. This study explores the twofold nature of this association, namely whether certain emperors are represented as magicians themselves and employers of magicians or whether they are represented as victims and persecutors of magic; furthermore, it attempts to explore the implications of such associations in respect of the nature and the motivations of our sources. The case studies of emperors are limited to the period from the establishment of the Principate up to the end of the Severan dynasty, culminating in the short reign of Elagabalus. -
The Royal Librarian's Notes
Gábor Bolonyai The Royal Librarian’s Notes The first printed Greek-Latin dictionary was edited by Johannes Crastonus in 1478 in Milan. Its second edition was released 5 years later on 10 November 1483 in Vicenza. One copy of it was bought by a certain Paulus Romuleus,1 who sent it as a present to his friend, Taddeo Ugoleto serving at that time as a royal librarian in the distant Buda. Apart from enlarging the library’s collection, Ugoleto was also for a while in charge of educating János Corvin, Matthias’s illegitimate son. In the king’s ambitious view, a proper education for a royal scion and heir (although, for the time being, János was only a secret heir) comprised knowledge of both Latin and Greek languages. Thus, a new printed dictionary must have been doubly welcome for Ugoleto: both for his own research work (perhaps he had already cherished plans of editing printed texts, which were fulfilled later on)2 and his teaching obligations. It is no wonder, therefore, that as soon as the Crastonus dictionary had arrived, Ugoleto immediately got down to work on it. He read through the whole book item by item, and added notes propria manu on the margins, by inserting missing entries, alternative meanings, and other grammatical information. The original printed dictionary contained about 15 thousand entries (on 520 pages), to which Ugoleto supplied more than one thousand new items. We do not know exactly how much time this meticuously done work took, but certainly not more than six months, because, as his note at the end of the book indicates, by the 20th of June next year he had already finished it: „Relectum xxo. -
The Religious World of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus
The Religious World of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus ‘A thesis submitted to the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy’ 2016 Jillian Mitchell For Michael – and in memory of my father Kenneth who started it all Abstract for PhD Thesis in Classics The Religious World of Quintus Aurelius Symmachus This thesis explores the last decades of legal paganism in the Roman Empire of the second half of the fourth century CE through the eyes of Symmachus, orator, senator and one of the most prominent of the pagans of this period living in Rome. It is a religious biography of Symmachus himself, but it also considers him as a representative of the group of aristocratic pagans who still adhered to the traditional cults of Rome at a time when the influence of Christianity was becoming ever stronger, the court was firmly Christian and the aristocracy was converting in increasingly greater numbers. Symmachus, though long known as a representative of this group, has only very recently been investigated thoroughly. Traditionally he was regarded as a follower of the ancient cults only for show rather than because of genuine religious beliefs. I challenge this view and attempt in the thesis to establish what were his religious feelings. Symmachus has left us a tremendous primary resource of over nine hundred of his personal and official letters, most of which have never been translated into English. These letters are the core material for my work. I have translated into English some of his letters for the first time. -
Urania's Discourse in Cicero's Poem on His Consulship: Some Problems
HENRY D AVID J OCEL YN URANIA'S DISCOURSE IN CICERO'S POEM ON HIS CONSULSHIP: SOME PROBLEMS It was between March and December of the year 60 that Cicero wrote three books of epic hexameters in the manner of Ennius on the domestic events of 63 (1). This was a period when Cicero had withdrawn from the cen- tre of the political stage and when he felt his past services to the state un- dervalued. The figure of Pompey no longer filled him with enthusiasm. He also produced around the same time an account of the same events in Greek prose (2) and a text of twelve speeches which he had delivered while consul (3). His youthful translation of Aratus' <l>rnv6f.Lc:va. had perhaps gained him some public esteem as a poet (4). The consular epic destroyed this esteem. L. Calpurnius Piso, cos. 58, exploited the poem's failure in a speech which he made to the Senate in the summer of 55 (5). The failure was not forgotten and M. Antonius exploited it again in September of 44 (6). The text of the poem was preserved for some centuries after Cicero's death (7) along with works whose reputation suffered little challenge, but its reputation remained (1) Att. 1, 19, 10 (written 15 March 60) shows that the work was then only an idea in Cicero's mind. Att. 2, 3, 4 (written in the second half of December 60) shows it complete and, one would think, known at least among the author's friends. Q. -
Ammianus and Constantius: the Portrayal of a Tyrant in the Res Gestae
University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 12-2009 Ammianus and Constantius: The Portrayal of a Tyrant in the Res Gestae Sean Robert Williams University of Tennessee - Knoxville Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Williams, Sean Robert, "Ammianus and Constantius: The Portrayal of a Tyrant in the Res Gestae. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2009. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/572 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Sean Robert Williams entitled "Ammianus and Constantius: The Portrayal of a Tyrant in the Res Gestae." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in History. Michael Kulikowski, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Maura Lafferty, Christine Shepardson Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Sean Robert Williams entitled “Ammianus and Constantius: The Portrayal of a Tyrant in the Res Gestae .” I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, with a major in History. -
Sallust's Histories and Triumviral Historiography
University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2012 Sallust's Histories and Triumviral Historiography Jennifer Gerrish University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Classics Commons Recommended Citation Gerrish, Jennifer, "Sallust's Histories and Triumviral Historiography" (2012). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 511. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/511 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/511 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Sallust's Histories and Triumviral Historiography Abstract This dissertation explores echoes of the triumviral period in Sallust's Histories and demonstrates how, through analogical historiography, Sallust presents himself as a new type of historian whose "exempla" are flawed and morally ambiguous, and who rejects the notion of a triumphant, ascendant Rome perpetuated by the triumvirs. Just as Sallust's unusual prose style is calculated to shake his reader out of complacency and force critical engagement with the reading process, his analogical historiography requires the reader to work through multiple layers of interpretation to reach the core arguments. In the De Legibus, Cicero lamented the lack of great Roman historians, and frequently implied that he might take up the task himself. He had a clear sense of what history ought to be : encomiastic and exemplary, reflecting a conception of Roman history as a triumphant story populated by glorious protagonists. In Sallust's view, however, the novel political circumstances of the triumviral period called for a new type of historiography. To create a portrait of moral clarity is, Sallust suggests, ineffective, because Romans have been too corrupted by ambitio and avaritia to follow the good examples of the past. -
Political Biography at Rome: a New Start with His Lives of the Caesars
214 Political biography at Rome: A new start 5·5 SUETONIUS ON POETS AND EMPERORS Gaius Sueronius Tranquillus, the most widely known and influenrial among Roman biographers, was born around AD 69, perhaps in North Africa; but he spenr most of his life in Rome, as a scholar and a civil servant in the imperial administration. He disappears from sight after AD 122 when he is reported to have lost the favour of Emperor Hadrian, as whose chief secretary, ab epistulis, he had then served for some years. His fame rests with his Lives of the Caesars (De vita Ctresarum), twelve in all from Julius Caesar to Domirian; but he seems to have been a prolific writer in a variety 5-5 Suetonius on poets and emperors 215 of learned subjects, and his biographical writing also includes a large work of collective biography known under the tide De viris illustribus, 'Famous Men'. While the Caesars has come down to us almost in its complete form (just the preface and the beginning of the first Life are missing), only smaller parts survive of the other collection. Like Nepos' work of the same tide, Suetonius' De 7Jiris ilfustribus was divided into books according to the profession treated: teachers of gram mar and rhetoric (extant except for the last part), poets (partly extant), historians, orators, and philosophers (the internal order is unknown)- but no generals or statesmen as in Nepos and his successor Hyginus. The time of composition is uncertain, but probably falls between AD 107 and u8.83 The amount of space allotted to each entry varies considerably, from a few lines to some seven printed pages. -
The Statues of Horatius Cocles and Cloelia By
Legendary Art & Memory in Republican and Imperial Rome: the Statues of Horatius Cocles and Cloelia By Copyright 2014 Andrea Samz-Pustol Submitted to the graduate degree program in Classics and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. ________________________________ Chairperson Phil Stinson ________________________________ John Younger ________________________________ Tara Welch Date Defended: June 7, 2014 The Thesis Committee for Andrea Samz-Pustol certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: Legendary Art & Memory in Republican and Imperial Rome: the Statues of Horatius Cocles and Cloelia ________________________________ Chairperson Phil Stinson Date approved: June 8, 2014 ii Abstract The display contexts of the bronze statues of legendary heroes, Horatius Cocles and Cloelia, in the Roman Forum influenced the representation of these heroes in ancient texts. Their statues and stories were referenced by nearly thirty authors, from the second century BCE to the early fifth century CE. Previous scholarship has focused on the bravery and exemplarity of these heroes, yet a thorough examination of their monuments and their influence has never been conducted.1 This study offers a fresh outlook on the role the statues played in the memory of ancient authors. Horatius Cocles and Cloelia are paired in several ancient texts, but the reason for the pairing is unclear in the texts. This pairing is particularly unique because it neglects Mucius Scaevola, whose deeds were often relayed in conjunction with Horatius Cocles’ and Cloelia’s; all three fought the same enemy at the same time and place. This pairing can be attributed, however, to the authors’ memory of the statues of the two heroes in the Forum. -
A Roman Town in Africa
A ROMAN TOWN IN AFRICA It is no doubt a truism to say that the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome were based on the idea of the city state. Everyone would probably agree that it is possible to define the Roman Empire as a complex of municipalities, each one with its own government which administered the municipal property, had the right of jurisdiction over the citizens, and served as the agent of the central government for the collection of taxes and for various other purposes. Above these local units was the government of Rome, itself a municipality that had sur- rendered many of its sovereign rights to one man, the Emperor, and whose duty it was to protect the peace of the whole empire. It is this superstructure, the government of Rome, that has always engaged the special attention of students of ancient history. The lesser units, the municipalities, have never been studied as closely as they deserve to be. This is, indeed, a fact that is easily understood. Our chief sources of information, the writings of the Romans themselves, give heed only to what happened to the Roman state. The affairs of the provinces, when they did not directly affect the fortunes of Rome, were beneath notice. Yet the life of the provinces, and even the life of individual municipalities, is :certainly important for one who wishes to understand the social conditions of the Roman Empire. The affairs of these smaller units touched the lives of ordinary men infinitely more closely than did the affairs of Rome. If the central government saw to it that the inhabitants of the Empire were safe from the attacks of barbarians from without and of pirates and brigands from within, the life of the municipalities influenced all the more intimate relations of life, one's method of gaining a livelihood, one's social intercourse, one's pleasures.