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A Natural Starting Point for a Study of Cicero's Attitude Toward Military Matters Is His Actual Military Experience

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A Natural Starting Point for a Study of Cicero's Attitude Toward Military Matters Is His Actual Military Experience Cicero de re militari: A civilian perspective on military matters in the late Republic Katherine Amie Liong PhD in Classics The University of Edinburgh 2011 The candidate hereby confirms that this thesis was composed by her and represents her own work, except where credit has been given to the work of others. She furthermore confirms that no part of this thesis has been submitted for any other degree or qualification except as specified on the title page. __________________________________ Katherine Liong i Acknowledgements A PhD thesis inevitably takes on a life of its own, and accrues many debts along the way. I am pleased to express here my profound gratitude for the support, encouragement, and enlightenment that I have received from individuals and institutions while I completed this project. Thanks are first of all due to my supervisors, Dr Dominic Berry and Prof. Andrew Erskine, for their attention to detail, patience, and flexibility in managing our respective leaves of absence. Dr Berry first drew my attention to the potential of this topic when I was beginning my MA with him at the University of Leeds, and I have benefitted greatly from his enthusiasm and expertise about Cicero in the intervening years. I am also grateful to Drs Gavin Kelly and Ulrike Roth for their feedback and perspective at my annual reviews and in other conversations. Friends and family on both sides of the Atlantic were a constant source of motivation and reassurance; of these, my partner Duncan has my particular thanks (and admiration) for sharing this journey with me. Last but not least, I should like to thank the funding bodies whose support made this project possible. A doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2006-10) made it feasible to come to Edinburgh, where awards from the University (2006-09) and Overseas Research Student Award Scheme (2007-09) provided assistance with fees and research expenses. I was honoured to be named the Crake Doctoral Fellow in Classics at Mt Allison University (Canada) for 2009-10, and should like to express my gratitude to the Department of Classics for their generosity and inspiration during my writing up. I dedicate this thesis to the memory of my grandmother. ii Abstract Cicero‘s value as a military commentator has traditionally been obscured by his reputation as an unmilitary figure. This focus ignores the considerable quantity – and quality – of references to military matters in his writings, as well as the engagement demanded by his public profile as a senior senator and advocate during the war-torn final decades of the Republic. As a participant-witness writing as events unfolded, he provides unrivalled insight into developing contemporary issues from an equally unrivalled civilian/domestic perspective. Far from precluding meaningful discussion, this perspective draws attention to the wider consequences of the activities of the army, from their symbolic representation of Rome‘s might to their impact on domestic stability and role in imperial expansion. This thesis explores Cicero‘s contribution to the militarized culture of the late Republic, bringing together his military-themed comments in the first major study of its kind. Chapter 1 sets the scene with an examination of his military service, demonstrating that it met the standards of the day and identifying characteristics of his outlook that can be linked directly to his experience. Chapter 2 investigates his engagement with Rome‘s military heritage by way of his use of military exempla, specifically the priorities indicated by his choice and description of these figures. Chapter 3 presents a similar assessment of his relationships with contemporary military figures, noting the effect of their political influence on the interest he took in their military responsibilities. Chapters 4 and 5 assess his theory concerning military matters in the domestic and foreign spheres, respectively. Both highlight the focus on ethics which sets Cicero‘s theory apart from that of his contemporaries. Finally, iii Chapter 6 addresses the tension between civic and military values in the previous chapters, contextualizing his pro-civic bias as a reaction to military despotism rather than anti-militarism for its own sake. The analysis of these themes confirms Cicero‘s awareness of military matters as well as his contemporary authority as a commentator. It moreover highlights the historical value of his remarks as the rhetorical product of a civilian context and an alternative discourse about the relationship between the army and the state. Although his views are broadly comparable to those of contemporary authors, his coverage of associated domestic concerns is not. The end result is an account of military matters which complements conventional military histories and manuals of military science, and deserves to be taken seriously as military commentary. iv Abbreviations The titles of periodicals which are cited repeatedly are abbreviated according to the system of L’Année Philologique. Other abbreviations are as follows: ANRW H. Temporini and W. Haase, eds. 1972—. Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt. Festschrift J. Vogt. Berlin and New York. CAH2 J. Crook, A.W. Lintott, and E. Rawson, eds. 1994. The Cambridge ancient history. Vol. 9. 2nd ed. Cambridge. ILS H. Dessau, ed. 1962. Inscriptiones Latinae selectae. Vol. 3.2. 3rd ed. Berlin. MRR T.R.S. Broughton. 1951-86. Magistrates of the Roman Republic. 3 vols and supplement. New York. OLD P.G. W. Glare, ed. 1968-92. Oxford Latin dictionary. Oxford. ORF H. Malcovati, ed. 1976-9. Oratorum Romanorum fragmenta. 2 vols. 4th ed. Turin. TLL 1900—. Thesaurus linguae Latinae. Leipzig. Editions Quotations of Cicero are taken from the editions specified in the Oxford Latin dictionary except for the following texts: Catilinarians (Dyck 2008); Philippics (Ramsey & Manuwald 2010); De re publica, De legibus, De senectute, De amicitia (Powell 2006); De finibus (Reynolds 1998); De officiis (Winterbottom 1994); and the letters (Shackleton Bailey 1999-2002). Quotations of other ancient authors are taken from the Oxford classical texts where available, and the Teubner editions in all other cases except the following: Commentariolum petitionis (Shackleton Bailey 2002); Plutarch Cicero (Zeigler 1964); Quintilian (Russell 2001); Tibullus (Maltby 2002). Full bibliographical details for all editions are provided in the bibliography. v Table of contents Declaration of own work i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii-iv Abbreviations and editions v Table of contents vi-vii Introduction: Cicero as a military commentator 1 Chapter 1: Cicero on the battlefield 13 Cicero‘s military career 15 Quantifying Cicero‘s military experience 27 Conclusion: Cicero‘s civilian perspective 33 Chapter 2: Rome‘s military heritage in Cicero‘s writings 36 Conventional comparisons 41 Foreign exempla 56 Military interlocutors 58 Marius, Cinna, and Sulla 69 Conclusion: history and strategy 79 Chapter 3: Cicero‘s relationship with contemporary military men 81 Soldiers 85 Military protégés 93 Military sponsors 105 Military inimici 117 Quintus Cicero 124 Conclusion: perception and personalities 128 Chapter 4: Ciceronian military theory I: domi 130 Justice in warfare 134 The ideal commander 145 Military gloria 159 Civil war 168 Conclusion: the civilian on the home front 180 Chapter 5: Ciceronian military theory II: militiae 183 The provincial governor as a commander 187 The socii as military allies 205 Empire 217 Conclusion: Cicero‘s world view 230 vi Chapter 6: Cicero‘s ―anti-militarism‖ 232 Value judgements 235 A continuum of anti-militarism? 250 Cicero‘s self-representation as a domestic military leader 261 Conclusion: an alternative discourse? 285 Conclusion: Cicero de re militari 288 Bibliography 295 vii Introduction Cicero as a military commentator At first glance, Cicero seems an unlikely source for information about res militaris. He is remembered as an orator and a man of peace, one who joined an army on only three occasions in his life, and whose public career was almost entirely spent in the domestic sphere.1 In an age of soldiers-turned-statesmen and military despotism, he stands out as a conspicuously civilian figure. Plutarch has Antony ridicule his oi)kouri/a and call him a)stra/teutoj (Cic. 41.6), and Livy‘s epitomator describes him as a vir nihil minus quam ad bella natus (Per. 3). A 15th-century scribe, confronted with a military treatise bearing Cicero‘s name, had no qualms about rejecting the attribution: non est Ciceronis sed tamen bonus est.2 This remark sums up well the assumptions that have shaped modern attitudes towards Cicero‘s relevance where military matters are concerned: a well-written treatise about political or rhetorical theory might have received the benefit of the doubt, but a treatise De re militari raised suspicions of mistaken identity or forgery. Although the Ciceronian corpus has long been recognized as a useful source for information about legal, social, and political matters (among others) in the late Republic, it is rarely used to illuminate the military history of an exceptionally violent period. This is in spite of the insight Cicero provides as a participant-witness and the chronological range and sheer quantity of his extant works. 1 Cf. Planc. 64-6 where he describes his decision to pursue his career under the oculos… acris atque acutos of the electorate at Rome. 2 Quoted by Reeve 2003, 426. The treatise is now regarded as the work of ―Modestus‖, drawing on Vegetius‘ De re militari. See Reeve 2003, esp. 417. 1 His lifetime (106-43 BC)3 coincides with the most tumultuous years of the late Republic, a period characterized by domestic and foreign warfare which led to the destruction of the Republican form of government. He came of age during (and served in) the Social War (91-88) and was a student during the civil wars of the 80s, entering the Senate as a quaestor as the Third Mithridatic War began (c.74-63).
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