This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Speech and silence freedom of speech and processes of censorship in early imperial Rome McCarthy, Jane Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). 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Speech and silence: freedom of speech and processes of censorship in early imperial Rome Jane Isobel McCarthy Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Classics, King’s College, London. 31 January 2013 1 Abstract This thesis is concerned with freedom of speech in early imperial Rome. The creation of the principate meant that the emperor held absolute power based on military force, but there is no comprehensive survey of how this affected freedom of speech. This study therefore examines relevant primary sources, approaching the question through three areas – controls imposed by the emperor through law and force majeure, self-censorship and peer pressure among the elite, and popular political protest. Most of the evidence presented is literary, reflecting the interests and concerns of the elite authors and their intended audience, though where relevant reference is made to inscriptions, graffiti and dipinti. The thesis considers the hierarchical, status-conscious nature of Roman society, arguing that concern for social standing affects all communication. Although there are incidents of control imposed by the emperor or his representatives, peer-to-peer pressure has a greater impact upon freedom of speech. Communication is affected by the status of the speaker, the audience and the occasion. The distinctions between “public” and “private” speech differed significantly from modern conceptions. This means that protocols arose for dealing with potentially offensive subjects – insult, criticism and obscenity – so that offence was minimised and social relations could continue harmoniously. This argument is developed by an exploration of political communication between senate and emperor, especially the importance of the differing relationships between the emperor and individual senators. The study concludes by exploring informal and popular protest at Rome, through gossip, demonstrations at ludi and munera, and through graffiti and pamphleteering. Even here, concerns for status and personal relationships with the emperor explain the forms protests take. This study aims to extend existing work and re-examine assumptions commonly made about freedom of speech, or its lack, in early imperial Rome. 2 Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................. 1 Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………5 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 6 1: The legal basis for action against slander and libel .................................... 20 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................ 20 1.2 Gaius’ Institutes ..................................................................................... 22 1.3 Ulpian ..................................................................................................... 24 1.4 Lex Cornelia de iniuriis ......................................................................... 29 1.5 The Twelve Tables ................................................................................. 35 1.6 Maiestas and perduellio ......................................................................... 43 1.7 The imperial sources .............................................................................. 54 1.8 Penalties ................................................................................................. 57 1.9 Burning and banning books ................................................................... 63 1.10 Conclusion............................................................................................ 70 2: Social conventions and status anxiety among the Roman elite: obscenity, humour and licensed insult ............................................................................... 73 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................ 73 2.2 Libertas and licentia ............................................................................... 77 2.3 Overview: the Roman elite and systems of patronage ........................... 82 3 2.4 Obscenity................................................................................................ 90 2.4.1 Conflicting evidence and attitudes ...................................................... 90 2.4.2 Festival and permitted licence ............................................................. 93 2.5 Humour and ridicule ............................................................................ 104 2.5.1 Ridicule, invective and appropriate speech in oratory ...................... 108 2.5.2 Ridicule, invective and appropriate speech in satire ......................... 113 2.5.3 Named targets in Roman satire ......................................................... 123 2.6 Conclusion............................................................................................ 128 3: Social conventions and status anxiety among the Roman elite: communication and strategies for avoiding offence ...................................... 131 3.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 131 3.2 Insults ................................................................................................... 133 3.3 Insults and social status ........................................................................ 138 3.4 Status, criticism and reproof ................................................................ 142 3.5 Imperial status and insult ..................................................................... 150 3.6 Private and public communication ....................................................... 159 3.7 Conclusion............................................................................................ 172 4. Politics and freedom of speech: emperor and senate ................................ 175 4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................... 175 4.2 Debates in the senate ............................................................................ 178 4 4.3 Praise, imperial honours and freedom of speech ................................. 186 4.4 Protest, criticism and imperial response............................................... 198 4.5 Maiestas trials in the senate ................................................................. 215 4.6 Conclusion............................................................................................ 222 5: Popular protest and freedom of speech ....................................................