AFTER THE DAGGERS : POLITICS AND PERSUASION AFTER THE ASSASSINATION OF CAESAR Trevor Bryan Mahy A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of St. Andrews 2010 Full metadata for this item is available in the St Andrews Digital Research Repository at: https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/ Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10023/928 This item is protected by original copyright This item is licensed under a Creative Commons License After the Daggers: Politics and Persuasion After the Assassination of Caesar by Trevor Bryan Mahy A thesis submitted to the School of Classics in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of St Andrews St Andrews, Fife, United Kingdom 30 October 2009 ii iii Declarations I, Trevor Bryan Mahy, hereby certify that this thesis, which is approximately 80,000 words in length, has been written by me, that it is the record of work carried out by me and that it has not been submitted in any previous application for a higher degree. I was admitted as a research student in September 2005 and as a candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in September 2006; the higher study for which this is a record was carried out in the University of St Andrews between 2005 and 2009. DATE: _________________ SIGNATURE OF CANDIDATE: ___________________ I hereby certify that the candidate has fulfilled the conditions of the Resolution and Regulations appropriate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of St Andrews and that the candidate is qualified to submit this thesis in application for that degree. DATE: _________________ SIGNATURE OF SUPERVISOR: __________________ In submitting this thesis to the University of St Andrews we understand that we are giving permission for it to be made available for use in accordance with the regulations of the University Library for the time being in force, subject to any copyright vested in the work not being affected thereby. We also understand that the title and the abstract will be published, and that a copy of the work may be made and supplied to any bona fide library or research worker, that my thesis will be electronically accessible for personal or research use unless exempt by award of an embargo as requested below, and that the library has the right to migrate my thesis into new electronic forms as required to ensure continued access to the thesis. We have obtained any third-party copyright permissions that may be required in order to allow such access and migration, or have requested the appropriate embargo below. The following is an agreed request by candidate and supervisor regarding the electronic publication of this thesis: Access to Printed copy and electronic publication of thesis through the University of St Andrews. DATE: _________________ SIGNATURE OF CANDIDATE: ___________________ SIGNATURE OF SUPERVISOR: __________________ iv v Abstract In this thesis, I examine the nature and role of persuasion in Roman politics in the period immediately following the assassination of Caesar on the Ides of March 44 B.C. until the capture of the city of Rome by his heir Octavianus in August 43 B.C. The purpose of my thesis is to assess the extent to which persuasion played a critical role in political interactions and in the decision-making processes of those involved during this crucial period in Roman history. I do this by means of a careful discussion and analysis of a variety of different types of political interactions, both public and private. As regards the means of persuasion, I concentrate on the role and use of oratory in these political interactions. Consequently, my thesis owes much in terms of approach to the work of Millar (1998) and, more recently, Morstein-Marx (2004) on placing oratory at the centre of our understanding of how politics functioned in practice in the late Roman republic. Their studies, however, focus on the potential extent and significance of mass participation in the late Roman republican political system, and on the contio as the key locus of political interaction. In my thesis, I contribute to improving our new way of understanding late Roman republican politics by taking a broader approach that incorporates other types of political interactions in which oratory played a significant role. I also examine oratory as but one of a variety of means of persuasion in Roman political interactions. Finally, in analyzing politics and persuasion in the period immediately after Caesar’s assassination, I am examining not only a crucial period in Roman history, but one which is perhaps the best documented from the ancient world. The relative richness of contemporary evidence for this period calls out for the sort of close reading of sources and detailed analysis that I provide in my thesis that enables a better understanding of how politics actually played out in the late Roman republic. vi vii Acknowledgements Although the title page of this thesis has but one author, it would surely not have seen the light of day without the support and advice of family, friends, colleagues, and others too numerous to mention here, though I shall try to do my best. The Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Ronald Morton Smith Scholarship Fund, the Miller-Lyell Scholarship Fund, and the University of St Andrews have all provided generous financial support, without which it would not have been possible for me to research and write this thesis; in addition, the School of Classics has provided the necessary facilities and resources (not least of which was a desk in the new postgraduate office, though in the latter stages of finishing up it perhaps saw far too much of me), as well as that essential administrative support, without which one cannot cut the Gordian Knot of university beauracracy, from the ever helpful persons of Irene Paulton, Margaret Goudie, and Andy Crawford. Turning to academic matters now, I owe an eternal debt of gratitude to my supervisors, Christopher Smith and Greg Woolf, for which I hope that this thesis may go some way to repaying. Along similar lines, I would like to express my gratitude to my examiners, Kathryn Welch and Roger Rees, who, though it scarcely sounds credible, managed to make the viva a pleasant and enjoyable experience, and whose many insightful commments and suggestions will improve my work for years to come. I would also like to express my gratitude to all the academic staff and postgraduate community in the School of Classics, all of whom worked and contributed to creating a lively and supportive atmosphere for research. Special mention must also be made of my good friend Conor Trainor, whose friendship, support, and advice I have enjoyed ever since we first met during our M.A. all those years ago. Looking further back, I viii cannot fail to mention three persons in particular, Roland Jeffreys, Josh Beer, and Gregory MacIsaac, all of the College of the Humanities at Carleton University, whose enthusiasm, expertise, and devotion to their students ensured that I would endeavour to follow in their footsteps. Of course, custom dictates that the final acknowledgements are reserved for family, in whom I have been particularly blessed, and without whose support I simply would not be here or have written this thesis. First and foremost, I must thank my mother, Debbie, and, with sadness, my father, Lorne, taken from us in the prime of life and to whom I dedicate this thesis. Similarly, I would like to thank my sister, Heather, and her husband, Steve, for their support and friendship, and for their putting up with my talking ad nauseum about Rome whenever we meet. Special thanks must also be given to my father-in-law Bruce, my mother-in-law Cynthia, and my sister-in-law Liz, who have welcomed me into their family as a son and brother, and who have given me invaluable support. It would be remiss of me not to give particular thanks to my nephews and niece, all of whom have given me such joy and delight. Finally, the special place of honour in my acknowlegements must go to my dearest wife, Allison, who has always been there for me these past years with her constant devotion and support. Words cannot express my gratitude to you, my dearest Allison. ix Table of Contents NOTE TO READER...................................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................................3 “Let arms yield to the toga, let the laurel bow to the tongue” ...........................................................3 Exposition of Thesis Argument............................................................................................................4 Relationship to Previous Scholarship ..................................................................................................6 The Primary Sources..........................................................................................................................11 Thesis Outline....................................................................................................................................16 CHAPTER I: GOVERNMENT BY PUBLIC CONSENSUS..............................................................................19 Introduction ......................................................................................................................................19