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The Politics of Anger in Roman Society

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The Politics of Anger in Roman Society THE POLITICS OF ANGER IN ROMAN SOCIETY: A STUDY OF ORATORS AND EMPERORS, 70 BCE-68 CE by Jayne Elizabeth Knight B.A., University of Florida, 2008 M.A., University of Florida, 2010 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Classics) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2015 © Jayne Elizabeth Knight, 2015 Abstract This dissertation examines the sociopolitical dynamics of anger in Roman public life during the late Republic and early Principate, specifically within the professional contexts of the orator and the emperor. I am interested in Roman thought on the pragmatic functions of anger during this time period. Evidence for how anger was employed by orators and emperors is drawn from a broad range of Roman prose sources. My analysis is both philological and historical in nature. I examine how the Latin lexicon of anger is deployed by authors and consider how diction functions in the representation of political anger. My analysis acquires a chronological shape as I trace the ways in which Roman discourse about the roles of anger in public life changes during the transition from Republic to Principate. Chapter 1 provides methodological background and contextualizes this project within the subfield of ancient emotion studies. Concepts taken from emotions history are defined and adapted for usage in Roman contexts. Chapter 2 discusses the Latin lexicon of anger and its relationship with ancient philosophical understandings of anger. Chapter 3 is the first of two chapters on anger in Ciceronian oratory. It features discussions of In Verrem 1, In Catilinam 1-2, Pro Murena, and Pro Milone. These case studies reveal how Cicero approached anger as an advocate and a consul. Chapter 4 examines Cicero’s treatment of anger late in his career in the Caesarianae and the Philippics. Chapter 5 presents sources on the anger of Augustus and explores how the first emperor developed an imperial emotional persona. I demonstrate that a balance between expressions of anger and displays of mercy was important to this persona. Chapter 6 considers how the remaining Julio-Claudian emperors employed anger in their regimes, with an eye toward their adaptation and/or perversion of the standard set by Augustus. ii This dissertation expands our understanding of Roman thought on anger, which has traditionally been accessed through the lens of philosophical writings on emotion. It demonstrates that anger is represented in many sources as an essential tool of both public speaking and imperial leadership at Rome. iii Preface This dissertation is original, independent, and unpublished work by the author, Jayne E. Knight. iv Table of Contents Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... ii Preface ............................................................................................................................................ iv Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ viii List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... ix Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... x Dedication ..................................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1: Toward a History of Roman Anger ............................................................................. 1 1.1 Approaches ........................................................................................................................ 6 1.2 Review of scholarship ...................................................................................................... 16 1.3 Scope and organization ................................................................................................... 22 Chapter 2: Defining Anger ........................................................................................................... 24 2.1 The Latin lexicon of anger .............................................................................................. 25 2.2 Ancient philosophical understandings of anger ............................................................... 31 2.3 A script for Roman anger ................................................................................................ 39 Part 1: The Republican Orator .................................................................................................... 42 Chapter 3: Anger in Cicero’s Pre-Civil War Oratory .................................................................. 54 3.1 In Verrem 1 ......................................................................................................................... 55 3.2 In Catilinam 1-2 ................................................................................................................. 66 v 3.2.1 In Catilinam 1 .............................................................................................................. 66 3.2.2 In Catilinam 2 .............................................................................................................. 77 3.3 Pro Murena ......................................................................................................................... 85 3.4 Pro Milone .......................................................................................................................... 95 3.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 105 Chapter 4: Anger on the Eve of the Principate: Cicero’s Caesarianae and Philippics .................... 108 4.1 Pro Marcello ..................................................................................................................... 109 4.2 Pro Ligario ........................................................................................................................ 116 4.3 Pro Rege Deiotaro ............................................................................................................... 126 4.4 The Philippics .................................................................................................................. 129 4.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 139 Part 2: The Julio-Claudian Emperor .......................................................................................... 141 Chapter 5: Foundational Anger: Augustus and Earlier Roman Exempla of Autocratic Rule ..... 149 5.1 Earlier Roman exempla of autocratic rule ....................................................................... 150 5.2 Augustus ......................................................................................................................... 161 5.3 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 176 Chapter 6: The Evolution of Ira Caesaris: Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero .................... 178 6.1 Tiberius .......................................................................................................................... 179 6.2 Caligula .......................................................................................................................... 193 6.3 Claudius ......................................................................................................................... 197 6.4 Nero ............................................................................................................................... 202 6.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 209 vi Summary and Final Conclusions ................................................................................................ 212 References ................................................................................................................................... 219 vii List of Tables Table 2.1 Latin anger vocabulary..................................................................................................30 Table 2.2 A script for Roman anger..............................................................................................41 viii List of Abbreviations Abbreviations for classical authors and their works follow the Oxford Classical Dictionary (Hornblower, Spawforth, and Eidinow eds. 2012). OLD Oxford Latin Dictionary (Glare ed. 1982) OCT Oxford Classical Text ix Acknowledgements I am fortunate to have many people to thank for helping me see this project to completion. First, I would like to thank the members of my committee. My supervisor Susanna Braund deserves special recognition for the tireless support and guidance she has provided throughout my studies at UBC. Her enthusiasm for my ideas inspired me to pursue this difficult topic, and her thorough knowledge of Latin literature and Roman culture was invaluable to me as I wrestled with it. Susanna read
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