Tacitus on Marcus Lepidus, Thrasea Paetus, and Political Action Under the Principate Thomas E
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
ANNALS UNABRIDGED Read by David Timson
TACITUS NON- FICTION ANNALS UNABRIDGED Read by David Timson Beginning at the end of Augustus’s reign, Tacitus’s Annals examines the rules of the Roman emperors from Tiberius to Nero (though Caligula’s books are lost to us). Their dramas and scandals are brought fully under the spotlight, as Tacitus presents a catalogue of their murders, atrocities, sexual improprieties and other vices in no unsparing terms. Debauched, cruel and paranoid, they are portrayed as being on the verge of madness. Their wars and battles, such as the war with the Parthians, are also described with the same scrutinising intensity. Tacitus’s last major historical work, the Annals is an extraordinary glimpse into the pleasures and perils of a Roman leader, and is considered by many to be a masterpiece. David Timson has made over 1,000 broadcasts for BBC Radio Drama. For Naxos AudioBooks he has written The History of Theatre, an award-winning Total running time: 18:11:34 production read by Derek Jacobi, and directed four Shakespeare plays including View our catalogue online at n-ab.com/cat King Richard III (with Kenneth Branagh). He has also read the entire Sherlock Holmes canon and Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. 1 The Annals of Imperial Rome 14:18 27 The emperor opposed the motion. ‘Although,’ he said… 11:46 2 On the first day of the senate he allowed nothing to… 14:33 28 Book 4 15:05 3 Great too was the Senate’s sycophancy to Livia. 14:31 29 The same honours were decreed to the memory of… 14:28 4 As soon as he entered the entrenchments… 12:30 30 -
Vestal Virgins and Their Families
Vestal Virgins and Their Families Andrew B. Gallia* I. INTRODUCTION There is perhaps no more shining example of the extent to which the field of Roman studies has been enriched by a renewed engagement with anthropology and other cognate disciplines than the efflorescence of interest in the Vestal virgins that has followed Mary Beard’s path-breaking article regarding these priestesses’ “sexual status.”1 No longer content to treat the privileges and ritual obligations of this priesthood as the vestiges of some original position (whether as wives or daughters) in the household of the early Roman kings, scholars now interrogate these features as part of the broader frameworks of social and cultural meaning through which Roman concepts of family, * Published in Classical Antiquity 34.1 (2015). Early versions of this article were inflicted upon audiences in Berkeley and Minneapolis. I wish to thank the participants of those colloquia for helpful and judicious feedback, especially Ruth Karras, Darcy Krasne, Carlos Noreña, J. B. Shank, and Barbara Welke. I am also indebted to George Sheets, who read a penultimate draft, and to Alain Gowing and the anonymous readers for CA, who prompted additional improvements. None of the above should be held accountable for the views expressed or any errors that remain. 1 Beard 1980, cited approvingly by, e.g., Hopkins 1983: 18, Hallett 1984: x, Brown 1988: 8, Schultz 2012: 122. Critiques: Gardner 1986: 24-25, Beard 1995. 1 gender, and religion were produced.2 This shift, from a quasi-diachronic perspective, which seeks explanations for recorded phenomena in the conditions of an imagined past, to a more synchronic approach, in which contemporary contexts are emphasized, represents a welcome methodological advance. -
Pliny the Elder and the Problem of Regnum Hereditarium*
Pliny the Elder and the Problem of Regnum Hereditarium* MELINDA SZEKELY Pliny the Elder writes the following about the king of Taprobane1 in the sixth book of his Natural History: "eligi regem a populo senecta clementiaque, liberos non ha- bentem, et, si postea gignat, abdicari, ne fiat hereditarium regnum."2 This account es- caped the attention of the majority of scholars who studied Pliny in spite of the fact that this sentence raises three interesting and debated questions: the election of the king, deposal of the king and the heredity of the monarchy. The issue con- cerning the account of Taprobane is that Pliny here - unlike other reports on the East - does not only use the works of former Greek and Roman authors, but he also makes a note of the account of the envoys from Ceylon arriving in Rome in the first century A. D. in his work.3 We cannot exclude the possibility that Pliny himself met the envoys though this assumption is not verifiable.4 First let us consider whether the form of rule described by Pliny really existed in Taprobane. We have several sources dealing with India indicating that the idea of that old and gentle king depicted in Pliny's sentence seems to be just the oppo- * The study was supported by OTKA grant No. T13034550. 1 Ancient name of Sri Lanka (until 1972, Ceylon). 2 Plin. N. H. 6, 24, 89. Pliny, Natural History, Cambridge-London 1989, [19421], with an English translation by H. Rackham. 3 Plin. N. H. 6, 24, 85-91. Concerning the Singhalese envoys cf. -
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. -
Brutus, Cassius, Judas, and Cremutius Cordus: How
BRUTUS, CASSIUS, JUDAS, AND CREMUTIUS CORDUS: HOW SHIFTING PRECEDENTS ALLOWED THE LEX MAIESTATIS TO GROUP WRITERS WITH TRAITORS by Hunter Myers A thesis submitted to the faculty of The University of Mississippi in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. Oxford, Mississippi May 2018 Approved by ______________________________ Advisor: Professor Molly Pasco-Pranger ______________________________ Reader: Professor John Lobur ______________________________ Reader: Professor Steven Skultety © 2018 Hunter Ross Myers ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Dr. Pasco-Pranger, For your wise advice and helpful guidance through the thesis process Dr. Lobur & Dr. Skultety, For your time reading my work My parents, Robin Myers and Tracy Myers For your calm nature and encouragement Sally-McDonnell Barksdale Honors College For an incredible undergraduate academic experience iii ABSTRACT In either 103 or 100 B.C., a concept known as Maiestas minuta populi Romani (diminution of the majesty of the Roman people) is invented by Saturninus to accompany charges of perduellio (treason). Just over a century later, this same law is used by Tiberius to criminalize behavior and speech that he found disrespectful. This thesis offers an answer to the question as to how the maiestas law evolved during the late republic and early empire to present the threat that it did to Tiberius’ political enemies. First, the application of Roman precedent in regards to judicial decisions will be examined, as it plays a guiding role in the transformation of the law. Next, I will discuss how the law was invented in the late republic, and increasingly used for autocratic purposes. The bulk of the thesis will focus on maiestas proceedings in Tacitus’ Annales, in which a total of ten men lose their lives. -
The Eleven Caesars Sample Question Paper
Oxford Cambridge and RSA A Level Ancient History H407/22 The Eleven Caesars Sample Question Paper Date – Morning/Afternoon Time allowed: 2 hours 30 minutes You must have: the OCR 12-page Answer Booklet (OCR12 sent with general stationery) Other materials required: None INSTRUCTIONS Use black ink. Complete the boxes on the front of the Answer Booklet. There are two sections in this paper: Section A and Section B. In Section A, answer Question 1 or 2 and Question 3. In Section B, answer Question 4 and Question 5 or 6. Write the number of each question clearly in the margin. Additional paper may beSPECIMEN used if required but you must clearly show your candidate number, centre number and question number(s). Do not write in the bar codes. INFORMATION The total mark for this paper is 98. The marks for each question are shown in brackets [ ]. Quality of extended response will be assessed in questions marked with an asterisk (*) This document consists of 4 pages. © OCR 2016 H407/22 Turn over 603/0805/9 C10056/3.0 2 Section A: The Julio-Claudian Emperors, 31 BC–AD 68 Answer either question 1 or question 2 and then question 3. Answer either question 1 or question 2. 1* To what extent was there discontent with the emperors during this period? You must use and analyse the ancient sources you have studied as well as your own knowledge to support your answer. [30] 2* How important a role did imperial women play during the reigns of Claudius and Nero? You must use and analyse the ancient sources you have studied as well as your own knowledge to support your answer. -
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. -
TRADITIONAL POETRY and the ANNALES of QUINTUS ENNIUS John Francis Fisher A
REINVENTING EPIC: TRADITIONAL POETRY AND THE ANNALES OF QUINTUS ENNIUS John Francis Fisher A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY RECOMMENDED FOR ACCEPTANCE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF CLASSICS SEPTEMBER 2006 UMI Number: 3223832 UMI Microform 3223832 Copyright 2006 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 © Copyright by John Francis Fisher, 2006. All rights reserved. ii Reinventing Epic: Traditional Poetry and the Annales of Quintus Ennius John Francis Fisher Abstract The present scholarship views the Annales of Quintus Ennius as a hybrid of the Latin Saturnian and Greek hexameter traditions. This configuration overlooks the influence of a larger and older tradition of Italic verbal art which manifests itself in documents such as the prayers preserved in Cato’s De agricultura in Latin, the Iguvine Tables in Umbrian, and documents in other Italic languages including Oscan and South Picene. These documents are marked by three salient features: alliterative doubling figures, figurae etymologicae, and a pool of traditional phraseology which may be traced back to Proto-Italic, the reconstructed ancestor of the Italic languages. A close examination of the fragments of the Annales reveals that all three of these markers of Italic verbal art are integral parts of the diction the poem. Ennius famously remarked that he possessed three hearts, one Latin, one Greek and one Oscan, which the second century writer Aulus Gellius understands as ability to speak three languages. -
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. -
Jacqueline Michelle Elliott Department of Classics University of Colorado, 248 UCB Boulder, CO 80309-0248; 303-492-7944; [email protected]
Jacqueline Michelle Elliott Department of Classics University of Colorado, 248 UCB Boulder, CO 80309-0248; 303-492-7944; [email protected] Education: 2005 PhD (Classics), Columbia University 2002 MPhil (Classics), Columbia University 2000 MA (Greek), Columbia University 1995 BA (Classics), University College, Oxford Dissertation (Columbia University): History and Poetry in Ennius’ Annales (Sponsor: J.E.G. Zetzel) Academic employment: University of Colorado at Boulder: 2013– Associate Professor of Classics 2005–13 Assistant Professor of Classics Columbia University: 2002–4 Core Curriculum (Literature Humanities) Preceptor 1999–2002 Classics Department Teaching Fellow Marlboro College, Vermont: 1995–7 Classics Teaching Fellow Teaching and research interests: • The epic tradition from Homer to Vergil • Roman Republican historiography • The theory and practice of commentaries • Intertextuality and reception Book: • Ennius and the Architecture of the Annales (Cambridge 2013): http://www.cambridge.org/gb/knowledge/isbn/item6953544/Ennius%20and%20the%20Architect ure%20of%20the%20%3CEM%3EAnnales%3C/EM%3E/?site_locale=en_GB o Eugene M. Kayden Book Award 2014. o CAMWS First Book Award 2015. o Rev. W. Fitzgerald, Times Literary Supplement 4 June 2014, ‘O Tite, tute’; J. Nethercut, Classical Journal Online 2014.10.04 (http://cj.camws.org/sites/default/files/reviews/2014.10.04%20Nethercut%20on%20Elliott.pd f); Gesine Manuwald, Gymnasium 121 (6), 2014, 608-10; J.H. Clark, Histos 9 (2015), I-VIII: http://research.ncl.ac.uk/histos/documents/2015RD01ClarkonElliottEnnius.pdf; Nora Goldschmidt, Journal of Roman Studies (2015): http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=9694532&fileId =S0075435815000556. Journal articles: • ‘Ennius’ ‘Cunctator’ and the history of a gerund in the Roman historiographical tradition’, Classical Quarterly 59.2, 2009, 531–41. -
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. -
Magic and the Roman Emperors
1 MAGIC AND THE ROMAN EMPERORS (1 Volume) Submitted by Georgios Andrikopoulos, to the University of Exeter as a thesis/dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Classics, July 2009. This thesis is available for Library use on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own work has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. ..................................... (signature) 2 Abstract Roman emperors, the details of their lives and reigns, their triumphs and failures and their representation in our sources are all subjects which have never failed to attract scholarly attention. Therefore, in view of the resurgence of scholarly interest in ancient magic in the last few decades, it is curious that there is to date no comprehensive treatment of the subject of the frequent connection of many Roman emperors with magicians and magical practices in ancient literature. The aim of the present study is to explore the association of Roman emperors with magic and magicians, as presented in our sources. This study explores the twofold nature of this association, namely whether certain emperors are represented as magicians themselves and employers of magicians or whether they are represented as victims and persecutors of magic; furthermore, it attempts to explore the implications of such associations in respect of the nature and the motivations of our sources. The case studies of emperors are limited to the period from the establishment of the Principate up to the end of the Severan dynasty, culminating in the short reign of Elagabalus.