DOCSLIB.ORG

Optimates Populares

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Optimates Populares 3/16/12 Lucius Sergius Calina Marcus Tullius Cicero - patrician (but poor & unscrupulous) • Equestrian from Arpinum - unsuccessful run for consul for 63 BC • Defeats Caline for consulship of 63 BC - novus homo • Commentariolum Pe22onis - “LiHle HandbooK on Geng Elected” - “Every day or so, as you go down to the Forum , you must repeat to yourself ‘I am a new man; I seeK the consulship; this is Rome.’” - Cicero lucKy both opponents = scoundrels (though nobiles) Accusaons ag. Caline’s character: OPTIMATES POPULARES “Born in his father’s beggary, raised debauching his sister, grown up in civil slaughter, his entry into public life was Cicero (Equestrian) Caline (Noble) a massacre of Roman Knights. He Killed with his own Novus homo (starts as Sullan, but hands his sister’s husband…Marius Gradianus… Before soon turns populist) our eyes, he drove him to the tomb of Catulus, mangled him there with every torture, and, with a Conservave: Promises to fight for sword in his right hand, holding the man’s hair in his Uphold power of agrarian reform & debt le], he severed the man’s necK as he stood there alive, while rills of blood flowed between his fingers! senatorial elite cancellaon Then he lived with actors & gladiators as accomplices, Wants “Concord of the A would-be tyrant using the former in lust, the laer in crime … He has such Orders” (Noble & Eq.): the people for support or impudence, such wicKedness, such skill & efficiency in i.e.: Senate bacKed up a real reformer? lust that he has raped children almost at their parents’ by leading equites We’ll never Know. knees.” 1 3/16/12 Caline’s trouble with the law… Calinarian Conspiracy • 64-63 BC: Disappointed Caline plans a revolt • Ini2ally worKs for Sulla (inv. in proscrip2ons) – Prosecuted later for torture & murder of brother- • Promises grain, land, money, and freedom in-law Marius Gradianus during proscripons from oppression of Senatorial oligarchy • Prosecuted for murder of his own wife & son • Raises army outside of Rome & plans murder • Prosecuted for sleeping with Vestal Virgin! of opponents (incl. Consul Cicero) and arson at • Prosecuted for abuses while gov. of Africa Rome itself AcquiHed: • Who joined Caline? • Rumor of bribery: “Caline le] the court as Plebs, Sulla’s veterans, and dishonored elite who poor as some of his judges had been before had been removed from Senate the trial.” Cicero (consul) uncovers conspiracy • Caline flees to join army outside Rome and denounces Caline in the senate • Conspirators le] behind are arrested • Sen. debates punishment for the captured -Cicero (consul with SCU) suggests death penalty -Caesar argues against execu2on (now seen as revolu2onary popularis) -Cato argues for death penalty (aligns self as conservave opmate) Cesare Maccari (1888): Cicero Denounces Caline 2 3/16/12 First Calinarian (delivered 63, published 60 BC) What? Did not that most illustrious man, Publius Scipio, in his capacity of a private ci2zen, put to Shame on this age and on its principles! The senate death Tiberius Gracchus, though Gracchus was but is aware of these things; the consul sees them; slightly undermining the cons2tu2on? and yet this man lives. Lives! Yes, he comes even And shall we, who are the consuls, tolerate Caline, into the senate! He takes a part in the public openly desirous to destroy the whole world with deliberaons; he is watching & marKing down & fire and slaughter? There was—there was, I say— checKing off for slaughter every individual among once such virtue in this Republic, that brave men us. And we, gallant men that we are, thinK that would repress mischievous ci2zens with more we are doing our duty to the Republic if only we severe measures than they would use against the Keep out of the way of his frenzied aacKs? most biHer enemy. We have a resolu2on of the You ought, O Caline, long ago to have been led to senate, a formidable and authoritave decree against you, O Caline; the wisdom of the Republic execu2on by command of the consul. That is not at fault, nor the dignity of this senatorial destruc2on which you have been long plong body. We, we alone—I say it openly— we, the against us ought to have already fallen on your consuls, are wan2ng in our duty. own head. Conspirators are Executed, and… • Enmity between Caesar and Cato is born • Caline dies in bale (a hero?) • Cicero = pater patriae (father of fatherland) “O fortunatam natam me consule Romam!” “O Roman state most fortunate to be born under my consulate” But Cicero exiled in 58 BC… 3 .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Stories of Ancient Rome Unit 4 Reader Skills Strand Grade 3
    Grade 3 Core Knowledge Language Arts® • Skills Strand Ancient Rome Ancient Stories of of Stories Unit 4 Reader 4 Unit Stories of Ancient Rome Unit 4 Reader Skills Strand GraDE 3 Core Knowledge Language Arts® Creative Commons Licensing This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. You are free: to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work to Remix — to adapt the work Under the following conditions: Attribution — You must attribute the work in the following manner: This work is based on an original work of the Core Knowledge® Foundation made available through licensing under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. This does not in any way imply that the Core Knowledge Foundation endorses this work. Noncommercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes. Share Alike — If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one. With the understanding that: For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ Copyright © 2013 Core Knowledge Foundation www.coreknowledge.org All Rights Reserved. Core Knowledge Language Arts, Listening & Learning, and Tell It Again! are trademarks of the Core Knowledge Foundation. Trademarks and trade names are shown in this book strictly for illustrative and educational purposes and are the property of their respective owners.
    [Show full text]
  • RICE, CARL ROSS. Diocletian's “Great
    ABSTRACT RICE, CARL ROSS. Diocletian’s “Great Persecutions”: Minority Religions and the Roman Tetrarchy. (Under the direction of Prof. S. Thomas Parker) In the year 303, the Roman Emperor Diocletian and the other members of the Tetrarchy launched a series of persecutions against Christians that is remembered as the most severe, widespread, and systematic persecution in the Church’s history. Around that time, the Tetrarchy also issued a rescript to the Pronconsul of Africa ordering similar persecutory actions against a religious group known as the Manichaeans. At first glance, the Tetrarchy’s actions appear to be the result of tensions between traditional classical paganism and religious groups that were not part of that system. However, when the status of Jewish populations in the Empire is examined, it becomes apparent that the Tetrarchy only persecuted Christians and Manichaeans. This thesis explores the relationship between the Tetrarchy and each of these three minority groups as it attempts to understand the Tetrarchy’s policies towards minority religions. In doing so, this thesis will discuss the relationship between the Roman state and minority religious groups in the era just before the Empire’s formal conversion to Christianity. It is only around certain moments in the various religions’ relationships with the state that the Tetrarchs order violence. Consequently, I argue that violence towards minority religions was a means by which the Roman state policed boundaries around its conceptions of Roman identity. © Copyright 2016 Carl Ross Rice All Rights Reserved Diocletian’s “Great Persecutions”: Minority Religions and the Roman Tetrarchy by Carl Ross Rice A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts History Raleigh, North Carolina 2016 APPROVED BY: ______________________________ _______________________________ S.
    [Show full text]
  • 2. Fighting Corruption: Political Thought and Practice in the Late Roman Republic
    2. Fighting Corruption: Political Thought and Practice in the Late Roman Republic Valentina Arena, University College London Introduction According to ancient Roman authors, the Roman Republic fell because of its moral corruption.i Corruption, corruptio in Latin, indicated in its most general connotation the damage and consequent disruption of shared values and practices, which, amongst other facets, could take the form of crimes, such as ambitus (bribery), peculatus (theft of public funds) and res repentundae (maladministration of provinces). To counteract such a state of affairs, the Romans of the late Republic enacted three main categories of anticorruption measures: first, they attempted to reform the censorship instituted in the fifth century as the supervisory body of public morality (cura morum); secondly, they enacted a number of preventive as well as punitive measures;ii and thirdly, they debated and, at times, implemented reforms concerning the senate, the jury courts and the popular assemblies, the proper functioning of which they thought might arrest and reverse the process of corruption and the moral and political decline of their commonwealth. Modern studies concerned with Roman anticorruption measures have traditionally focused either on a specific set of laws, such as the leges de ambitu, or on the moralistic discourse in which they are embedded. Even studies that adopt a holistic approach to this subject are premised on a distinction between the actual measures the Romans put in place to address the problem of corruption and the moral discourse in which they are embedded.iii What these works tend to share is a suspicious attitude towards Roman moralistic discourse on corruption which, they posit, obfuscates the issue at stake and has acted as a hindrance to the eradication of this phenomenon.iv Roman analysis of its moral decline was not only the song of the traditional laudator temporis acti, but rather, I claim, included, alongside traditional literary topoi, also themes of central preoccupation to Classical political thought.
    [Show full text]
  • A New Perspective on the Early Roman Dictatorship, 501-300 B.C
    A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE EARLY ROMAN DICTATORSHIP, 501-300 B.C. BY Jeffrey A. Easton 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’s of Arts. Anthony Corbeill Chairperson Committee Members Tara Welch Carolyn Nelson Date defended: April 26, 2010 The Thesis Committee for Jeffrey A. Easton certifies that this is the approved Version of the following thesis: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE EARLY ROMAN DICTATORSHIP, 501-300 B.C. Committee: Anthony Corbeill Chairperson Tara Welch Carolyn Nelson Date approved: April 27, 2010 ii Page left intentionally blank. iii ABSTRACT According to sources writing during the late Republic, Roman dictators exercised supreme authority over all other magistrates in the Roman polity for the duration of their term. Modern scholars have followed this traditional paradigm. A close reading of narratives describing early dictatorships and an analysis of ancient epigraphic evidence, however, reveal inconsistencies in the traditional model. The purpose of this thesis is to introduce a new model of the early Roman dictatorship that is based upon a reexamination of the evidence for the nature of dictatorial imperium and the relationship between consuls and dictators in the period 501-300 BC. Originally, dictators functioned as ad hoc magistrates, were equipped with standard consular imperium, and, above all, were intended to supplement consuls. Furthermore, I demonstrate that Sulla’s dictatorship, a new and genuinely absolute form of the office introduced in the 80s BC, inspired subsequent late Republican perceptions of an autocratic dictatorship.
    [Show full text]
  • Damnation, Deification, Commemoration 3
    / 3 Damnation, Deification, Commemoration Ja n n e k e DE J o n g & Olivier H e k s t e r T h e i m p o r t a n c e o f m e m o r y or Romans, dynastic lines were of great importance. This was already Fthe case in the Roman Republic, in which aristocratic families who controlled politics took great care of their commemoration of the dead. Funerary occasions offered families the opportunity to publicly show famous ancestors, whose fame would radiate upon their next of kin through lineage which was made explicit1. On marked occasions, the masks of the deceased members of the family (imagines) were carried around in a procession, so that every spectator could be reminded of the family’s ancestors2. Commemoration started from the moment of some­ one’s death. At the funeral, it was customary for a member of the fam­ ily to give a speech in which the deceased was praised for deeds and virtues. This way of commemorating the deceased not only bestowed honour on the dead and his family, but also served as an example of good behaviour that should be imitated. The funeral and laudatio fune- bris could also have political implications3. Occasionally, persons who 1 See, for instance, H.I. Flower, Ancestor Masks and Aristocratic Power in Roman Culture, Oxford, 1996 ;Ead., The Art of Forgetting. Disgrace and Oblivion in Roman Political Culture, Chapel Hill, 2006; T.P. Wiseman, « Domi Nobiles and the Roman cultural elite » in M. Cébeillac-Gervasoni (ed.), Les « Bourgeoisies » municipales italiennes aux i f et f r siècles av.
    [Show full text]
  • Tacitus on Marcus Lepidus, Thrasea Paetus, and Political Action Under the Principate Thomas E
    Xavier University Exhibit Faculty Scholarship Classics 2010 Saving the Life of a Foolish Poet: Tacitus on Marcus Lepidus, Thrasea Paetus, and Political Action under the Principate Thomas E. Strunk Xavier University - Cincinnati Follow this and additional works at: http://www.exhibit.xavier.edu/classics_faculty Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, Ancient Philosophy Commons, Byzantine and Modern Greek Commons, Classical Archaeology and Art History Commons, Classical Literature and Philology Commons, Indo-European Linguistics and Philology Commons, and the Other Classics Commons Recommended Citation Strunk, Thomas E., "Saving the Life of a Foolish Poet: Tacitus on Marcus Lepidus, Thrasea Paetus, and Political Action under the Principate" (2010). Faculty Scholarship. Paper 15. http://www.exhibit.xavier.edu/classics_faculty/15 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Classics at Exhibit. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Exhibit. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SYLLECTA CLASSICA 21 (2010): 119–139 SAVING THE LIFE OF A FOOLISH POET: TACITUS ON MARCUS LEPIDUS, THRASEA PAETUS, AND POLITICAL ACTION UNDER THE PRINCIPATE Thomas E. Strunk Abstract: This paper explores Tacitus’ representation of Thrasea Paetus. Preliminary to analyzing this portrayal, I discuss two pas- sages often cited when exploring Tacitus’ political thought, Agricola 42.4 and Annales 4.20. I reject the former’s validity with regard to Thrasea and accept the latter as a starting point for comparing Tacitus’ depictions of Marcus Lepidus and Thrasea. Tacitus’ char- acterizations of Thrasea and Lepidus share the greatest resemblance in the trials of Antistius Sosianus and Clutorius Priscus, both of whom wrote verses offensive to the regime.
    [Show full text]
  • The Military Reforms of Gaius Marius in Their Social, Economic, and Political Context by Michael C. Gambino August, 2015 Directo
    The Military Reforms of Gaius Marius in their Social, Economic, and Political Context By Michael C. Gambino August, 2015 Director of Thesis: Dr. Frank Romer Major Department: History Abstract The goal of this thesis is, as the title affirms, to understand the military reforms of Gaius Marius in their broader societal context. In this thesis, after a brief introduction (Chap. I), Chap. II analyzes the Roman manipular army, its formation, policies, and armament. Chapter III examines Roman society, politics, and economics during the second century B.C.E., with emphasis on the concentration of power and wealth, the legislative programs of Ti. And C. Gracchus, and the Italian allies’ growing demand for citizenship. Chap. IV discusses Roman military expansion from the Second Punic War down to 100 B.C.E., focusing on Roman military and foreign policy blunders, missteps, and mistakes in Celtiberian Spain, along with Rome’s servile wars and the problem of the Cimbri and Teutones. Chap. V then contextualizes the life of Gaius Marius and his sense of military strategy, while Chap VI assesses Marius’s military reforms in his lifetime and their immediate aftermath in the time of Sulla. There are four appendices on the ancient literary sources (App. I), Marian consequences in the Late Republic (App. II), the significance of the legionary eagle standard as shown during the early principate (App. III), and a listing of the consular Caecilii Metelli in the second and early first centuries B.C.E. (App. IV). The Marian military reforms changed the army from a semi-professional citizen militia into a more professionalized army made up of extensively trained recruits who served for longer consecutive terms and were personally bound to their commanders.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is Racial Domination?
    STATE OF THE ART WHAT IS RACIAL DOMINATION? Matthew Desmond Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin—Madison Mustafa Emirbayer Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin—Madison Abstract When students of race and racism seek direction, they can find no single comprehensive source that provides them with basic analytical guidance or that offers insights into the elementary forms of racial classification and domination. We believe the field would benefit greatly from such a source, and we attempt to offer one here. Synchronizing and building upon recent theoretical innovations in the area of race, we lend some conceptual clarification to the nature and dynamics of race and racial domination so that students of the subjects—especially those seeking a general (if economical) introduction to the vast field of race studies—can gain basic insight into how race works as well as effective (and fallacious) ways to think about racial domination. Focusing primarily on the American context, we begin by defining race and unpacking our definition. We then describe how our conception of race must be informed by those of ethnicity and nationhood. Next, we identify five fallacies to avoid when thinking about racism. Finally, we discuss the resilience of racial domination, concentrating on how all actors in a society gripped by racism reproduce the conditions of racial domination, as well as on the benefits and drawbacks of approaches that emphasize intersectionality. Keywords: Race, Race Theory, Racial Domination, Inequality, Intersectionality INTRODUCTION Synchronizing and building upon recent theoretical innovations in the area of race, we lend some conceptual clarification to the nature and dynamics of race and racial domination, providing in a single essay a source through which thinkers—especially those seeking a general ~if economical! introduction to the vast field of race studies— can gain basic insight into how race works as well as effective ways to think about racial domination.
    [Show full text]
  • The Late Republic – Crises and Civil Wars a Society Falls Apart in Italy
    The Late Republic – Crises and Civil Wars A Society Falls Apart In Italy, much had changed after Rome rose to a world power. In the long wars, many peasants and their sons had died. Others had not been able to properly cultivate their farms for years. More and more small farmers left the countryside. In their place, many large farms arose, because large landowners had bought up the land of indebted peasants, forcibly driven some farmers out, and laid claim to large portions of state-owned land for themselves. Their standard of living rose, because they specialized themselves in certain products. They grew wine-grapes and olives on a grand scale, or reorganized themselves toward livestock. Around the cities, there were large landowners who obtained high profits by raising poultry and fish. Such large landowners usually owned several farms, which were managed by administrators, while they themselves pursued political business in Rome. On their estates, slaves worked, who were obtained either as prisoners of war or on the slave markets. According to careful analysis, in the time between 200 B.C. and 150 B.C., approximately 250,000 prisoners of war were brought to Italy as slaves. In the following 100 years, more than 500,000 slaves – mainly from Asia Minor – came to Rome. Especially the small farmers suffered in this situation. Earlier, they had gotten for themselves additional income as daily workers on the estates, but now they were needed there, at most, only for harvest. So many had to give up their farms, and moved with their families to Rome.
    [Show full text]
  • Calendar of Roman Events
    Introduction Steve Worboys and I began this calendar in 1980 or 1981 when we discovered that the exact dates of many events survive from Roman antiquity, the most famous being the ides of March murder of Caesar. Flipping through a few books on Roman history revealed a handful of dates, and we believed that to fill every day of the year would certainly be impossible. From 1981 until 1989 I kept the calendar, adding dates as I ran across them. In 1989 I typed the list into the computer and we began again to plunder books and journals for dates, this time recording sources. Since then I have worked and reworked the Calendar, revising old entries and adding many, many more. The Roman Calendar The calendar was reformed twice, once by Caesar in 46 BC and later by Augustus in 8 BC. Each of these reforms is described in A. K. Michels’ book The Calendar of the Roman Republic. In an ordinary pre-Julian year, the number of days in each month was as follows: 29 January 31 May 29 September 28 February 29 June 31 October 31 March 31 Quintilis (July) 29 November 29 April 29 Sextilis (August) 29 December. The Romans did not number the days of the months consecutively. They reckoned backwards from three fixed points: The kalends, the nones, and the ides. The kalends is the first day of the month. For months with 31 days the nones fall on the 7th and the ides the 15th. For other months the nones fall on the 5th and the ides on the 13th.
    [Show full text]
  • GLADIATOR by David Franzoni Revisions by John Logan SECOND
    GLADIATOR by David Franzoni Revisions by John Logan SECOND DRAFT October 22, 1998 FADE IN: EXT. FOREST - DAY Germania. The far reaches of the Roman Empire. Winter 180 A.D. Incongruously enough, the first sound we hear is a beautiful tenor voice. Singing. A boy's voice. CREDITS as we hear the haunting song float through dense forests. We finally come to a rough, muddy road slashing through the forest. On the road a GERMAN PEASANT FATHER is herding along three sickly looking cows. His two SONS are with him. His youngest son sits on one of the cows and sings a soft, plaintive song. They become aware of another sound behind them on the road -- the creak of wood, the slap of metal on leather. The Father immediately leads his cattle and his sons off the road. They stand-still, eyes down: the familiar posture of subjugated peoples throughout history. A wagon train rumbles past them. Three ornate wagons followed by a mounted cohort of fifty heavily-armed PRAETORIAN GUARDS. The young boy dares to glance up at the passing Romans. His eyes burn with hatred. INT. WAGON - DAY Mist momentarily obscures a man's face. Frozen breath. The man is in his 20's, imperious and handsome. He is swathed in fur, only his face exposed. He is COMMODUS. He glances up. COMMODUS Do you think he's really dying? The woman across from him returns his gaze evenly. She is slightly older, beautiful and patrician. A formidable woman. She is LUCILLA. LUCILLA He's been dying for ten years.
    [Show full text]
  • The Extension of Imperial Authority Under Diocletian and the Tetrarchy, 285-305Ce
    University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2012 The Extension Of Imperial Authority Under Diocletian And The Tetrarchy, 285-305ce Joshua Petitt University of Central Florida Part of the History Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Petitt, Joshua, "The Extension Of Imperial Authority Under Diocletian And The Tetrarchy, 285-305ce" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 2412. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2412 THE EXTENSION OF IMPERIAL AUTHORITY UNDER DIOCLETIAN AND THE TETRARCHY, 285-305CE. by JOSHUA EDWARD PETITT B.A. History, University of Central Florida 2009 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History in the College of Arts and Humanities at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2012 © 2012 Joshua Petitt ii ABSTRACT Despite a vast amount of research on Late Antiquity, little attention has been paid to certain figures that prove to be influential during this time. The focus of historians on Constantine I, the first Roman Emperor to allegedly convert to Christianity, has often come at the cost of ignoring Constantine's predecessor, Diocletian, sometimes known as the "Second Father of the Roman Empire". The success of Constantine's empire has often been attributed to the work and reforms of Diocletian, but there have been very few studies of the man beyond simple biography.
    [Show full text]