William Alan Robert Dempsie Phd Thesis
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0;8829@.>D ;9 =# 0A>@5A? >A3A? !45?@;>5.2 .72C.91>5! /;;6 C BMOOMEP .OEQ >RFITV 1IPSUMI . @LIUMU ?WFPMVVIH JRT VLI 1IKTII RJ <L1 EV VLI AQMXITUMV[ RJ ?V# .QHTIYU &++' 3WOO PIVEHEVE JRT VLMU MVIP MU EXEMOEFOI MQ >IUIETGL-?V.QHTIYU,3WOO@IZV EV, LVVS,$$TIUIETGL"TISRUMVRT[#UV"EQHTIYU#EG#WN$ <OIEUI WUI VLMU MHIQVMJMIT VR GMVI RT OMQN VR VLMU MVIP, LVVS,$$LHO#LEQHOI#QIV$&%%'($'+)* @LMU MVIP MU STRVIGVIH F[ RTMKMQEO GRS[TMKLV A COMMENTARY ON Q. CURTIUS RUFUS HISTORIA.E ALEXA.NDRI BOOK X By W.A.R. Dempsie A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of St. Andrews October 1991 Abstract This thesis consists of a text and commentary on Book Ten of Quintus Curtius Rufus' His toriae Alexandri Magni Macedonis; the work was probably written in the middle of the first century A.D. The main body of the commentary deals with linguistic, stylistic and historical matters; each episode is preceded by a more general introduction to the issues involved. In addition, there is an introduction, dealing with the manuscript tradition, the date of composition, the identity of the writer, the popularity of Alexander as an exemplum in Rome and contemporary historical and biographical practices. There are three appendices: the first deals with Curtius' sources and includes detailed tables in which the five main Alexander sources are compared throughout Book Ten; the second brings together elements of contemporary political allusion in Book Ten and attempts to draw a conclusion concerning the undoubted similarities between the accessions of Arrhidaeus, Alexander's brother, and the emperor Claudius; the third compares Curtius' preferences for certain clausulae with that of other writers. At the end, there is an index nominum and an index rerum. Acknowledgements -I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to my supervisor, Mr. P.A. George, for his continual help, good humour and understanding over the last few years. I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. M.M. Austin, who looked at an early draft of the historical side of the commentary and was always willing to answer any questions put to him, and Dr. J.R. Ball, who helped me with any computer difficulties. I would like to thank the Department of Education for Northern Ireland for awarding me a Major State Studentship and those publishers who allowed me to reproduce illustrations. I would also like to thank all those who have taught me Classical subjects both in St. Andrews and at Coleraine Academical Institution and, in particular, Mr. T.D. Surgenor for advice and continued interest. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for their encouragement and support and for giving me the opportunity to have a really good education. Contents 1. Abbreviations and Conventions P. i 2. Introduction: pp. ii - xiii A. The Historiae Alexandri Magni p. B. The manuscript tradition pp. ii - iv C. The date of composition pp. iv -v D. The writer pp. v - vi E. The popularity of Alexander as an exemplum at Rome PP- vii F. Contemporary historical and biographical practices at Rome pp. vii-viii G. Conclusion pp. viii - ix 3. Latin Text pp. 1 -21 4. Commentary: Section 1. The Reign of Terror: X.1.1 - X.1.9 pp. 23 - 35 Section 2. The Arrival of the Fleet: X.1.10 - X.1.16 pp. 36 - 46 Section 3. Alexander's Plans for the Future: X.1.17 - X.1.19 pp. 47 - 53 Section 4. Events in India: X.1.20 - X.1.21 pp. 54 - 56 Section 5. Pasargadae: X.1.22 - X.1.42 pp. 57 - 76 Section 6. Events in Europe: X.1.43 - X.1.45 pp. 77 - 79 Section 7. The Flight of Harpalus and the Exiles' Decree: X.2.1 - X.2.7 PP. 86 Section 8. The Freeing of Debts: X.2.8 - X. 2.11 pp. 87 - 92 Section 9. The Mutiny: X.2.12 - X.4.3 pp. 93 - 119 Section 10. The Death of Alexander: X.5.1 - X.5.6 pp. 120 - 131 Section 11. The Reaction in Babylon: X.5.7 - X.5.25 pp. 132- 150 Section 12. Assessment of Alexander X.5.26 - X.5.37 pp. 151 - 166 Section 13. The Leadership Dispute: X.6.1 - X.8.23 pp. 167 - 219 Section 14. Digression on Rome: X.9.1 - X.9.6 pp. 220 - 228 Section 15. The Lustration: X.9.7 - X.9.21 pp. 229 - 238 Section 16. The Division of Provinces: X.10.1 - X.10.8 pp. 239 - 248 Section 17. Alexander Remembered: X.10.9 - X.10.20 pp. 249 - 263 5. Map of Alexander's Conquests p. 264 6. Appendix A: Curtius' Sources pp. 265 -274 7. Appendix B: Contemporary Political Allusion in Book Ten pp. 275 - 281 8. Appendix C: Curtius' Clausulae pp. 282 - 284 9. Bibliography pp. 285 - 298 10. Index Norninum pp. 299 -301 11. Index Rerum pp. 302 - 309 Abbreviations and Conventions _ Throughout this commentary modern writers are referred to by name, date of publication and relevant page numbers.. There are, however, two exceptions to this rule: commentators are referred to by name and ad loc.; the editors of editions of Curtius consulted and other editors known only through the apparatus criticus of later editions are referred to by name only when textual matters are being discussed. The abbreviations used in the Oxford Latin Dictionary are followed for Latin writers; those given in the ninth edition of Liddell and Scott's A Greek-English Lexicon are used for Greek writers. Where a particular writer is not mentioned in either of these dictionaries, an appropriate abbreviation is employed. Standard works of reference are not referred to in the bibliography and are known by the following abbreviations: CIL - Corpus inscriptionum latinarum, Berlin, 1863-. F.Gr.H. - Jacoby, F. Die Fragmente der greichischen Historiker, Berlin & Leiden, 1923-. F.H.G. - Muller, C. Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum, vol. 3, Paris, 1849. IG - Inscriptiones graecae, Berlin, 1873-. K-S - Kiihner, R. & Stegmann, C. Ausfiihrliche Grammatik der lateinischen Sprache, 2 vols, Leverkausen, 1955. RE - Paulys Real-Encyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, Stuttgart, 1894-. SIG3 - Sylloge inscriptionum graecarum, ed. W. Dittenberger, 4 vols., 3rd ed., Leipzig, 1915-24. TLL - Thesaurus linguae latinae, Leipzig, 1900-. The same conventions are always followed in the tables throughout the commentary: Alexander is referred to simply as A.; when it is not clear which events in different writers precede each other, the events are numbered from the left column; where the same event is given by different writers, but the tone or information is not the same, an "a", or "b", is added to make this clear; where an additional piece of information is given which is not an event in itself, or where one writer extends one incident over a greater space, a decimal point and an extra number are added. 1 Introduction A. The Historiae Alexandri Magni Quintus Curtius Rufus' Historiae Alexandri Magni Macedonis is the sole full length Latin history of Alexander to survive from antiquityl . However, there is no mention of it in ancient writers and the work seems to have had little influence in the middle ages2, although it came into favour in the fifteenth century; the first edition was produced by Vindelin in A.D. 14703 . Unfortunately, the text is incomplete and, even what survives, is badly affected by lacunae. The greatest loss is that of the first two books, where a title for the work and also some idea of Curtius' reason for writing might have been expected. Instead, the surviving work opens in the winter of 334/3 B.C., a little before the cutting of the knot at Gordium, and continues until there is an equally unfortunate lacuna at the end of the fifth book, depriving the reader of Curtius' rendering of Darius' dying words in July 330 B.C. This lacuna also affects the start of Book Six, which is concerned with events in Greece, namely the unsuccessful revolt led by Agis, the Spartan king, of which only the final dramatic details remain& From that point there are no more major lacunae until Book Ten, where there are two places of particular significance. The first, and less significant, is the loss of some details about events in Europe, Alexander's marriage at Susa, the death of the Indian wiseman, Calanus, and most of the Harpalus affair 5 . The presentation of the final stages of the mutiny, placed by Curtius at Susa6, is also riddled with lacunae, the last of which continues until a scene where Alexander is lying on his death bee; thus a great deal of narrative has been lost at that point, including the king's return to Babylon and the cause of his illness8. B. The manuscript tradition Curtius' work now survives in some one hundred and twenty-three manuscripts, all of which are based on the same incomplete version. The earliest belongs to the ninth century, but the vast majority are later interpolated versions9. The best manuscripts were first identified by Hedicke in his 1908 edition 10. He defined two distinct groups, one containing BFLV and the other represented by P 11 , and describes12 their quality as follows: "Nam, ut dicam, quod sentio, codex Parisinus melioris generis deterius exemplum, archetypon autem codicum Bernensis, Florentini, Leidensis, Vossiani deterioris generis melius exemplum repraesentare mihi videtur"13. This grouping has been subsequently accepted 14 and Miiller15 has compiled a stemma illustrated in fig. 1; in addition to the the five main manuscripts, he also includes R, the excerpta Rhenaugiensia (cod.