DOCSLIB.ORG

Virtus Et Disciplina

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Virtus Et Disciplina VIRTUS ET DISCIPLINA: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF THE ROMAN MARTIAL VALUES OF COURAGE AND DISCIPLINE _______________________________________ A Dissertation presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School at the University of Missouri-Columbia _______________________________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy _____________________________________________________ By JUSTIN RYAN JAMES Dr. Dennis Trout, Dissertation Supervisor May 2019 Copyright by Justin R. James 2019 All Rights Reserved The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the Graduate School, have examined the dissertation entitled VIRTUS ET DISCIPLINA: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF THE ROMAN MARTIAL VALUES OF COURAGE AND DISCIPLINE Presented by Justin Ryan James, a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, and hereby certify, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance. _______________________________________________________ Professor Dennis Trout _______________________________________________________ Professor Anatole Mori _______________________________________________________ Professor Raymond Marks _______________________________________________________ Professor Marcello Mogetta ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Profs. Jordan B. Peterson, Stephen Hicks, and Bret Weinstein for their generous publishing of free online lectures, which ultimately changed and dramatically improved my thesis in a relatively short time, and at no cost. I thank philosopher Stefan Molyneux for his philosophical principles of peaceful parenting and universally preferable behavior, which in their own way also improved my thesis. I thank Michael Howlett for his lengthy discussions of Roman military topics, and Talia Ting Gong for her conversations as well, on Chinese history and mythology. Lastly, I thank Prof. Dennis Trout for generously and carefully proofreading the manuscript. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ ii Abstract ...........................................................................................................................v I. Roman Martial Values: An Interdisciplinary Approach .............................................1 1. Key Terms: Culture, Ideology, Hierarchy, and Military Doctrine .........................3 2. Idealized Characteristics of Roman Warfare ....................................................... 16 3. Primary Sources ................................................................................................. 18 4. Literature Review............................................................................................... 24 5. Methodologies ................................................................................................... 31 6. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 43 II. Virtus .................................................................................................................... 45 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................... 45 2. First Principles ................................................................................................... 47 3. Virtus in Action .................................................................................................. 61 A. Commanders ..................................................................................................... 61 B. Junior Officers................................................................................................... 72 C. Enlisted Ranks................................................................................................... 86 4. Conclusion: Virtus and Manliness ...................................................................... 96 III. Disciplina .......................................................................................................... 104 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 104 2. First Principles ................................................................................................. 109 iii 3. Mechanics of Disciplina ................................................................................... 121 4. Origins of Disciplina: Experience and Wisdom ................................................ 131 5. The Cycle of Disciplina: Great-Father, Child-Hero .......................................... 139 6. Comparanda ..................................................................................................... 154 7. Conclusion: Disciplina and Conscientiousness ................................................. 164 IV. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 170 Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 175 Vita ............................................................................................................................. 194 iv VIRTUS ET DISCIPLINA: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDY OF THE ROMAN MARTIAL VALUES OF COURAGE AND DISCIPLINE Justin James Dr. Dennis Trout, Dissertation Supervisor ABSTRACT This thesis discusses Roman martial values, principally virtus and disciplina, and their literary characterization. This is an interdisciplinary study that employs data and methodologies from anthropology, evolutionary biology, moral philosophy, military history, and analytical psychology to supplement scholarship from classical studies. My aim is to analyze and interpret, as deeply and profoundly as possible, the values that the Romans regarded as essential to their military success. I argue that Greek and Roman authors depict nuanced but relatively consistent representations of Roman martial values, which both derive from actual Roman military practice and project an important component of Roman cultural identity. Virtus was a virtue that primarily denoted martial courage, an ethical quality, while disciplina functioned as a means to virtus, but it was not necessarily a virtue itself. The premises of my argument are as follows: 1) military doctrine reflects culture, which manifests in the projection of Roman values through military narratives; 2) there is significant agreement among classical authors discussing Roman warfare in the abstract; 3) historiography distorts to some extent but is not deliberately mendacious, which derives from the relatively meritocratic hierarchies cultivated by the Roman army; 4) an appreciation of archetypal imagery has utility in interpreting Roman v values, given that the primary evidence for these qualities derive from stories imbued with moral instruction. vi I. Roman Martial Values: An Interdisciplinary Approach The subjects of this thesis are Roman military values and their literary characterisation. War is a frequent and important theme in classical literature, and the Romans themselves believed that they surpassed all others in its practice. Questions may be raised about both the reality and the representation of Roman warfare: What martial values do classical authors convey that, in their view, contributed to Roman military success? To what degree are these characteristics socially constructed and, by extension, the hierarchies that they generated? How rational and ethical are Roman martial values, that is in comparison with contemporary cultures and as universal principles? Lastly, how much do classical authors distort Roman martial values, or even employ them for political or social commentary? I argue that Greek and Roman authors depict nuanced but relatively consistent representations of Roman martial values, which both derive from actual Roman military practice and project an important component of Roman cultural identity. The first premise is that military doctrine reflects culture, regardless of a state’s proclivity toward war-making. Roman military doctrine, in accord with the significance of war in Roman society, is both preserved and formulated by the literary tradition and projects important Roman values. The second premise is that idealized characteristics of Roman warfare, which include but are not limited to those identified in this thesis, reveal the agreement of literary discourse and the capacity for classical authors to discuss Roman warfare in the abstract.1 While the depictions and terms for Roman martial values are relatively 1 Andrew M. Riggsby, Caesar in Gaul and Rome; War in Words (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2006), 3. Intersubjectivity is jargon for the agreement that speakers of a common language have on a subjective definition(s) or meaning(s) for something in a discourse. Individuals, however, will have slightly different 1 consistent, individual authors do provide nuanced representations that are influenced by historical context but, importantly, grounded in reality. The third premise is that the reality of Roman warfare can elucidate the literary representation of Roman warfare, since the values themselves, especially virtus, manifest a hierarchy predicated on competence. Classical military narratives are distortions of reality to a degree but they are not false, which would only be the case if they included details that they knew to be untrue, whether literally or metaphorically. It is still possible to distinguish
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Great Britain, the Two World Wars and the Problem of Narrative
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE The Historical Journal provided by Apollo Great Br itain, the Two World Wars and the Problem of Narrative Journal: The Historical Journal Manuscript ID HJ-2016-005.R2 Manuscript Type: Article Period: 1900-99, 2000- Thematic: International Relations, Military, Cultural, Intellectual Geographic: Britain, Europe, Continental Cambridge University Press Page 1 of 60 The Historical Journal Britain, the Two World Wars and the Problem of Narrative BRITAIN, THE TWO WORLD WARS AND THE PROBLEM OF NARRATIVE: PUBLIC MEMORY, NATIONAL HISTORY AND EUROPEAN IDENTITY* David Reynolds Christ’s College, Cambridge So-called ‘memory booms’ have become a feature of public history, as well as providing golden opportunities for the heritage industry. Yet they also open up large and revealing issues for professional historians, shedding light on how societies conceptualize and understand their pasts.1 This article explores the way that British public discourse has grappled with the First and Second World Wars. At the heart of the British problem with these two defining conflicts of the twentieth century is an inability to construct a positive, teleological metanarrative of their overall ‘meaning’. By exploring this theme through historiography and memorialization, it is possible not merely to illuminate Britain’s self-understanding of its twentieth-century history, but also to shed light on the country’s contorted relationship with ‘Europe’, evident in party politics and public debate right down to the ‘Brexit’ referendum of 2016. The concept of mastering the past ( Vergangenheitsbewältigung ) originated in post-1945 West Germany as that country tried to address the horrendous legacies of Nazism.
    [Show full text]
  • Umbria from the Iron Age to the Augustan Era
    UMBRIA FROM THE IRON AGE TO THE AUGUSTAN ERA PhD Guy Jolyon Bradley University College London BieC ILONOIK.] ProQuest Number: 10055445 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10055445 Published by ProQuest LLC(2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Abstract This thesis compares Umbria before and after the Roman conquest in order to assess the impact of the imposition of Roman control over this area of central Italy. There are four sections specifically on Umbria and two more general chapters of introduction and conclusion. The introductory chapter examines the most important issues for the history of the Italian regions in this period and the extent to which they are relevant to Umbria, given the type of evidence that survives. The chapter focuses on the concept of state formation, and the information about it provided by evidence for urbanisation, coinage, and the creation of treaties. The second chapter looks at the archaeological and other available evidence for the history of Umbria before the Roman conquest, and maps the beginnings of the formation of the state through the growth in social complexity, urbanisation and the emergence of cult places.
    [Show full text]
  • Libertarian Marxism Mao-Spontex Open Marxism Popular Assembly Sovereign Citizen Movement Spontaneism Sui Iuris
    Autonomist Marxist Theory and Practice in the Current Crisis Brian Marks1 University of Arizona School of Geography and Development [email protected] Abstract Autonomist Marxism is a political tendency premised on the autonomy of the proletariat. Working class autonomy is manifested in the self-activity of the working class independent of formal organizations and representations, the multiplicity of forms that struggles take, and the role of class composition in shaping the overall balance of power in capitalist societies, not least in the relationship of class struggles to the character of capitalist crises. Class composition analysis is applied here to narrate the recent history of capitalism leading up to the current crisis, giving particular attention to China and the United States. A global wave of struggles in the mid-2000s was constituitive of the kinds of working class responses to the crisis that unfolded in 2008-10. The circulation of those struggles and resultant trends of recomposition and/or decomposition are argued to be important factors in the balance of political forces across the varied geography of the present crisis. The whirlwind of crises and the autonomist perspective The whirlwind of crises (Marks, 2010) that swept the world in 2008, financial panic upon food crisis upon energy shock upon inflationary spiral, receded temporarily only to surge forward again, leaving us in a turbulent world, full of possibility and peril. Is this the end of Neoliberalism or its retrenchment? A new 1 Published under the Creative Commons licence: Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works Autonomist Marxist Theory and Practice in the Current Crisis 468 New Deal or a new Great Depression? The end of American hegemony or the rise of an “imperialism with Chinese characteristics?” Or all of those at once? This paper brings the political tendency known as autonomist Marxism (H.
    [Show full text]
  • The Roman Empire
    S1 SOCIAL SUBJECTS Home Learning Booklet Angus Lauder WHEC S1 SOCIAL SUBJECTS HOME LEARNING This workbook has been created to support you with your social subjects learning at home. Please complete work at a pace that suits you and your family. Also, we understand that you have many different subjects sending you work and need to manage your time to complete work for all subjects. We would recommend completing 1 or 2 tasks per week - some will take longer than others. As you complete a task, you can email it to your teacher (email addresses below). This will allow your teacher to give you feedback. You can attach your work as a word document or take a picture of work you have handwritten. If you have any questions, we are also working from home, and will reply to any emails you send. Our email addresses are listed below: Mr Sinclair – [email protected] Ms Oliver – [email protected] Mrs Millar – [email protected] Mr Lauder – [email protected] 1 Contents History: The Romans 1. Curriculum Links 2. History Skills 3. The Growth of Rome 4. The People of Rome 5. The Roman Empire 6. The Roman Army 7. Life in the Roman Army 8. Roman Slavery 9. Roman Food 10. Just for Fun Curriculum for Excellence Level 3 2 • I can describe the factors contributing to a major social, political, or economic change in the past and can assess the impact on people’s lives. SOC 3-05a • I can use my knowledge of a historical period to interpret the evidence and present an informed view.
    [Show full text]
  • Iron Age and Roman Italy
    World Archaeology at the Pitt Rivers Museum: A Characterization edited by Dan Hicks and Alice Stevenson, Archaeopress 2013, page 336-357 16 Iron Age and Roman Italy Zena Kamash, Lucy Shipley, Yannis Galanakis and Stella Skaltsa 16.1 Introduction The Pitt Rivers Museum (PRM) holds c. 346 artefacts from Italy that are recorded as Iron Age or Roman in date. A further c. 302 artefacts are listed as ‘Roman’, but with no country of provenance. This chapter therefore presents a characterization of c. 648 artefacts, complementing the discussions of Iron Age and Roman material in the chapters on Egypt (Chapter 7), Europe (Chapter 11), the Aegean and Cyprus (Chapter 15), the Levant (Chapter 22) and South-West Asia (Chapter 23). After setting this collection in its geographic and temporal context (16.2), this chapter presents an overview of the collectors represented by the Iron Age and Roman Italian collections (16.3), with reference to the PRM founding collection (16.3.1), and the material collected by John Wickham Flower (16.3.2), Henry Balfour (16.3.3), Robert William Theodore Gunther (16.3.4), Anthony John Arkell (16.3.5), Walter Leo Hildburgh (16.3.6), and other collectors (16.3.7). The collections from Iron Age Italy are considered in section 16.4 by Lucy Shipley, Yannis Galanakis and Stella Skaltsa, with reference to the Etruscan collections (16.4.1) and the other Iron Age material from Italy (16.4.2). Collections from Roman Italy and unprovenanced Roman objects are considered by Zena Kamash in section 16.5, and brief conclusions are drawn in section 16.6.
    [Show full text]
  • Ius Militare – Military Courts in the Roman Law (I)
    International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research (IJSBAR) ISSN 2307-4531 (Print & Online) http://gssrr.org/index.php?journal=JournalOfBasicAndApplied --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ius Militare – Military Courts in the Roman Law (I) PhD Dimitar Apasieva*, PhD Olga Koshevaliskab a,bGoce Delcev University – Shtip, Shtip 2000, Republic of Macedonia aEmail: [email protected] bEmail: [email protected] Abstract Military courts in ancient Rome belonged to the so-called inconstant coercions (coercitio), they were respectively treated as “special circumstances courts” excluded from the regular Roman judicial system and performed criminal justice implementation, strictly in conditions of war. To repress the war torts, as well as to overcome the soldiers’ resistance, which at moments was violent, the king (rex) himself at first and the highest new established magistrates i.e. consuls (consules) afterwards, have been using various constrained acts. The authority of such enforcement against Roman soldiers sprang from their “military imperium” (imperium militiae). As most important criminal and judicial organs in conditions of war, responsible for maintenance of the military courtesy, were introduced the military commander (dux) and the array and their subsidiary organs were the cavalry commander, military legates, military tribunals, centurions and regents. In this paper, due to limited available space, we will only stick to the main military courts in ancient Rome. Keywords: military camp; tribunal; dux; recruiting; praetor. 1. Introduction “[The Romans...] strictly cared about punishments and awards of those who deserved praise or lecture… The military courtesy was grounded at the fear of laws, and god – for people, weapon, brad and money are the power of war! …It was nothing more than an army, that is well trained during muster; it was no possible for one to be defeated, who knows how to apply it!” [23].
    [Show full text]
  • Augustine and the Art of Ruling in the Carolingian Imperial Period
    Augustine and the Art of Ruling in the Carolingian Imperial Period This volume is an investigation of how Augustine was received in the Carolingian period, and the elements of his thought which had an impact on Carolingian ideas of ‘state’, rulership and ethics. It focuses on Alcuin of York and Hincmar of Rheims, authors and political advisers to Charlemagne and to Charles the Bald, respectively. It examines how they used Augustinian political thought and ethics, as manifested in the De civitate Dei, to give more weight to their advice. A comparative approach sheds light on the differences between Charlemagne’s reign and that of his grandson. It scrutinizes Alcuin’s and Hincmar’s discussions of empire, rulership and the moral conduct of political agents during which both drew on the De civitate Dei, although each came away with a different understanding. By means of a philological–historical approach, the book offers a deeper reading and treats the Latin texts as political discourses defined by content and language. Sophia Moesch is currently an SNSF-funded postdoctoral fellow at the University of Oxford, working on a project entitled ‘Developing Principles of Good Govern- ance: Latin and Greek Political Advice during the Carolingian and Macedonian Reforms’. She completed her PhD in History at King’s College London. Augustine and the Art of Ruling in the Carolingian Imperial Period Political Discourse in Alcuin of York and Hincmar of Rheims Sophia Moesch First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Published with the support of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
    [Show full text]
  • Iron Kingdom: the Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947
    [Pdf] Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947 Christopher Clark - download pdf free book Free Download Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947 Ebooks Christopher Clark, PDF Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947 Popular Download, Read Online Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947 E-Books, Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947 Full Collection, Read Best Book Online Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947, I Was So Mad Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947 Christopher Clark Ebook Download, Read Online Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600- 1947 Ebook Popular, free online Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947, online free Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947, pdf download Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947, read online free Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947, Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947 Christopher Clark pdf, Download Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947 E-Books, Read Online Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947 E-Books, Read Best Book Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947 Online, Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947 PDF read online, Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947 Ebooks Free, Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947 Read Download, Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600-1947 Books Online, Iron Kingdom: The Rise And Downfall Of Prussia, 1600- 1947 Ebook Download, DOWNLOAD CLICK HERE Do you think you can do better.
    [Show full text]
  • The Complexity of Roman Suicide Carmine Anthony Ruff
    University of Richmond UR Scholarship Repository Master's Theses Student Research 1974 The complexity of Roman suicide Carmine Anthony Ruff Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses Part of the Classics Commons Recommended Citation Ruff, Carmine Anthony, "The ompc lexity of Roman suicide" (1974). Master's Theses. Paper 937. This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Research at UR Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of UR Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE COMPLEXITY OF ROMAN SUICIDE BY CARMINE ANTHONY RUFFA A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN CLASSICAL STUDIES MAY 1974 APPROVAL SHEET ii TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE • . • • . .iv Chapter I. INTRODUCTION . • . • • • • . • • • • • . • 1 II. ANCIENT SUICIDE: A PROBLEM OF SEMANTICS. • • • • • • • • • • • • 5 Latin Citations to Suicide The Absence of A Standard Word Or Phrase III. PHILOSOPHIC SUICIDE . • .11 The Attitude of the Latin Philosophers Toward Suicide The Divergent Views of the Stoic Philosophers The Effect of Cato's Suicide on Stoicism IV. THE TREATMENT OF LUCRETIA'S SUICIDE BY LIVY AND AUGUSTINE • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 4 4 Section I: Livy's Lucretia Section II: Augustine's Denunciation of Lucretia v. SUICIDE IN THE AENEID • • • • • • . .61 Vergii's Development of Dido's Suicidal Personality The Condemnation of Suicides in the Underworld Amata's Suicide CONCLUSION. .80 APPENDIX I • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• 83 APPENDIX II • . .86 BIBLIOGRAPHY . .91 VITA . .99 iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author would like to acknowledge two people who have influenced and inspired his academic and professional life.
    [Show full text]
  • Academic Freedom and Controversial Speech About Campus Governance — Rogers Brubaker
    Academic Freedom and Controversial Speech about Campus Governance — Rogers Brubaker — Rogers Brubaker is Professor of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles and UCLA Foundation Chair; Visiting Professor, CEU. Classical definitions of academic freedom focused on freedom of re- search and teaching. In the American context, the right of professors to speak freely as citizens outside the university has also been emphasized. But many recent controversies over academic freedom in the US—and I limit my comments to the US—have turned on speech inside the univer- sity yet outside the traditional domains of research and teaching. Research and teaching continue of course to be central to the defense of academic freedom in the face of external pressures, notably from private and public funders, government regulators, and the populist right. But I have been asked to address internal threats to academic freedom. And while some internal controversies have focused on the freedom of research and teaching, many have focused on other issues. The most widely discussed of these controversies have concerned invita- tions to controversial outside speakers. Public attention has focused on efforts by the campus left to “disinvite” or “de-platform” speakers such as Charles Murray at Middlebury and Milo Yiannopoulos and Ann Coulter 93 i6 AF - 00 Book.indb 93 2017.11.22. 9:01 at Berkeley. These widely publicized incidents have already generat- ed a substantial backlash: several conservative state legislatures have passed campus speech bills.1 The campus right has also sought to pre- vent or disrupt events involving controversial (especially pro-Palestinian) outside speakers. But there is another kind of internal academic freedom controversy that I would like to highlight.
    [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]
  • Expulsion from the Senate of the Roman Republic, C.319–50 BC
    Ex senatu eiecti sunt: Expulsion from the Senate of the Roman Republic, c.319–50 BC Lee Christopher MOORE University College London (UCL) PhD, 2013 1 Declaration I, Lee Christopher MOORE, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 Thesis abstract One of the major duties performed by the censors of the Roman Republic was that of the lectio senatus, the enrolment of the Senate. As part of this process they were able to expel from that body anyone whom they deemed unequal to the honour of continued membership. Those expelled were termed ‘praeteriti’. While various aspects of this important and at-times controversial process have attracted scholarly attention, a detailed survey has never been attempted. The work is divided into two major parts. Part I comprises four chapters relating to various aspects of the lectio. Chapter 1 sees a close analysis of the term ‘praeteritus’, shedding fresh light on senatorial demographics and turnover – primarily a demonstration of the correctness of the (minority) view that as early as the third century the quaestorship conveyed automatic membership of the Senate to those who held it. It was not a Sullan innovation. In Ch.2 we calculate that during the period under investigation, c.350 members were expelled. When factoring for life expectancy, this translates to a significant mean lifetime risk of expulsion: c.10%. Also, that mean risk was front-loaded, with praetorians and consulars significantly less likely to be expelled than subpraetorian members.
    [Show full text]