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Todesdarstellungen in Caesars Bericht Über Den Gallischen Krieg Und Ihre Funktion

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Todesdarstellungen in Caesars Bericht Über Den Gallischen Krieg Und Ihre Funktion Mortui vivos docent: Todesdarstellungen in Caesars Bericht über den Gallischen Krieg und ihre Funktion Diplomarbeit zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades einer Magistra der Philosophie an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz vorgelegt von Andrea Carmen Berger am Institut für Alte Geschichte Begutachter: Ass.-Prof. Dr. phil. Peter Mauritsch Graz, 2017 Αἱ μὲν δὴ Μάρτιαι Εἰδοὶ πάρεισιν. Ναὶ πάρεισιν, ἀλλ᾿ οὐ παρεληλύθασι. 1 1 Caesar wurde am 15.3.44 v. Chr., also an den Iden des März, während einer Senatssitzung mit 23 Dolchstichen ermordet. Nach Plutarch (Caes. 63,3) wurde er zuvor von einem Seher gewarnt, er solle sich vor den Iden des März hüten. Am Weg zum Senat soll Caesar zu ebendiesem gesagt haben: „Die Iden des März sind nun da“, woraufhin dieser antwortete: „Ja, sie sind da, aber sie sind noch nicht vorüber“. 2 Ehrenwörtliche Erklärung Ich erkläre ehrenwörtlich, dass ich die vorliegende Arbeit selbstständig und ohne fremde Hilfe verfasst, andere als die angegebenen Quellen nicht benutzt und die den Quellen wörtlich oder inhaltlich entnommenen Stellen als solche kenntlich gemacht habe. Die Arbeit wurde bisher in gleicher oder ähnlicher Form keiner anderen inländischen oder ausländischen Prüfungsbehörde vorgelegt und auch noch nicht veröffentlicht. Die vorliegende Fassung entspricht der eingereichten elektronischen Version. Graz, am........................................ Unterschrift........................................ 3 Danksagung Mein Dank gilt insbesondere Herrn Professor Mauritsch, der meine Arbeit durch seine fachliche sowie persönliche Unterstützung begleitet hat und sich stets die Zeit nahm, meine offenen Fragen zu beantworten. Außerdem will ich meinen Eltern und meiner Schwester Silvia danken, die mir mein Studium ermöglicht haben und mir immer zu Seite gestanden sind. Darüber hinaus möchte ich mich bei meinem lieben Freund Adrian bedanken, der mich mit viel Geduld und Zeit moralisch unterstützt hat. 4 Zusammenfassung Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit den Todesdarstellungen in Caesars Werk „Bellum Gallicum“. Es werden folgende Forschungsfragen untersucht: Wie wird der Tod beschrieben? Ist die Beschreibung realistisch oder gibt es vielleicht Unstimmigkeiten? Könnte der Autor mit der Darstellung des Todesfalles womöglich einen bestimmten Zweck verfolgen? Zu Beginn der Bearbeitung dieser Fragen stehen einleitende Überlegungen zu Caesars Leben sowie zu seinem Werk. Anschließend werden die sieben Bücher in chronologischer Reihenfolge beschrieben und interpretiert. Daraufhin folgen Ausführungen über die Bilanz des Gallischen Krieges sowie auch eine tabellarische Darstellung der Verluste, welche ebendiese zusammenfassen und veranschaulichen soll. Abschließend werden in einem Resümee die Ergebnisse der vorliegenden Arbeit aufgezeigt. Infolgedessen wird dargelegt, ob die zentralen Fragen beantwortet werden konnten. Im Hintergrund dieser Überlegungen steht die These, dass Caesar den Tod bewusst inszeniert und gekonnt in sein Werk einsetzt, um den Leser in eine bestimmte Richtung zu lenken. 5 Abstract The work in hand attends to the portrayal of death in Caesar’s opus „Bellum Gallicum“. The following research questions will be focused on: How is death described? Is the depiction done in a realistic way or are there any discrepancies? Is there a hidden intention by representing death in this way? Firstly, it will be necessary to reflect about Caesar’s life and his work. Secondly, it is helpful to take a closer look on the seven books in a chronological order and to interpret them. Thirdly, there is a chapter treating the result of the war including a collection of the casualties listed in tabular form. Finally, it is required to summarize the outcome and demonstrate if an answer to the research questions could be found. The decisive factor for this thesis is the assumption, that Caesar cunningly uses the portrayal of death to manipulate the readers. 6 Inhaltsverzeichnis Einleitung .............................................................................................................................. 9 Vorwort ..........................................................................................................................9 Forschungsfrage und Aufbau ........................................................................................ 10 Aktueller Forschungsstand ........................................................................................... 11 Caesar und sein Werk ................................................................................................... 13 Allgemeines .............................................................................................................. 13 Bellum Gallicum ....................................................................................................... 14 1. Buch ............................................................................................................................. 16 Bellum Helveticum....................................................................................................... 16 Selbstmord des Orgetorix .......................................................................................... 16 Tod des Dumnorix .................................................................................................... 17 Die Schlacht bei Bibracte .......................................................................................... 20 Die Geschehnisse um den Germanen Ariovist .............................................................. 21 2. Buch ............................................................................................................................. 25 Der Kampf gegen die Belger ........................................................................................ 25 3. Buch ............................................................................................................................. 30 Caesars hartes Vorgehen gegen die Veneter .................................................................. 30 Parallele Handlung ....................................................................................................... 33 4. Buch ............................................................................................................................. 36 Die Inszenierung eines Völkermordes – Die Usipeter und Tenkterer............................. 36 Caesars erste Britannienexpedition ............................................................................... 40 5. Buch ............................................................................................................................. 43 Die erfolgreiche Darstellung eines Misserfolges – Die zweite Britannienexpedition ..... 43 Der Widerstand Galliens............................................................................................... 45 6. Buch ............................................................................................................................. 53 Der Gallier- und Germanenexkurs ................................................................................ 54 Selbstmord des Catuvolcus ........................................................................................... 61 Verfolgung des Ambiorix ............................................................................................. 63 7 7. Buch ............................................................................................................................. 67 Die drei entscheidenden Städte ..................................................................................... 69 Avaricum .................................................................................................................. 69 Gergovia ................................................................................................................... 71 Alesia ....................................................................................................................... 78 Versuche einer Bilanz .......................................................................................................... 85 Tabellarische Darstellung der Verluste von Truppen und Einzelpersonen ..................... 86 Resümee .............................................................................................................................. 95 Bibliographie ....................................................................................................................... 97 Anhang: Zeittafel ............................................................................................................... 102 8 Einleitung Vorwort In der antiken Historiographie finden sich häufig detaillierte Schilderungen extremer physischer Gewalt. Dem Leser begegnen geradezu abscheuliche Szenarien, die zwar oft nahezu absurd erscheinen, dennoch aber bewusst Abscheu oder Furcht erzeugen. Diese Passagen verfolgen meist eine bestimmte Intention und sind klar als narrative Strategie zu verstehen, die einer langen Tradition folgen. So kann bereits die Anzahl der getöteten Feinde äußerst zweckdienlich sein, da eine große Masse an ermordeten Gegnern auch das eigene Ansehen stärkt. In diesem Kontext erscheint ein schneller Tod äußerst einleuchtend, weshalb meistens nur der Todesstoß künstlerisch ausgestaltet wird. Die Todesarten sind hierbei ebenfalls beschränkt, da sowohl verschiedene Motive als auch Formulierungen immer wieder auftreten. Beliebt ist zudem die Beschreibung von Einzelkämpfen, bei welchen die Gewalt geradezu als Zweck der Aktion
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