JOHAN VEKSELIUS AN ECOLABEL 3041 0903 Weeping for the for Weeping Weeping for the res publica ryck, Lund 2018 NORDIC SW Tears in Roman political culture JOHAN VEKSELIUS res publica – Printed by Media-T DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND ANCIENT HISTORY | LUND UNIVERSITY Tears inTears Roman political culture Weeping for the res publica Why is Julius Caesar said to have wept in front of his soldiers after cros- sing the Rubicon, and Scipio Aemilianus as he beheld the destruction of Carthage? How should we understand the criticism leveled against the emperor Tiberius’ refusal to weep after the death of Germanicus? Why was the Roman law court flooded with tears? What was the significance of Pliny the Younger’s praise of Trajan’s tears? And why could elite Romans be praised for their excessive tears by Statius and criticized for similar tears by Seneca? In his doctoral thesis, Johan Vekselius engages with these cases and many more in pursuit of the function and meaning of tears in the political culture of ancient Rome during the Republic and Early Empire. Lund University The Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology 473776 Department of Archaeology and Ancient History 2018 ISBN 978-91-88473-77-6 (print) 789188 ISBN 978-91-88473-78-3 (electronic) 9 Weeping for the res publica Tears in Roman political culture Johan Vekselius DOCTORAL DISSERTATION by due permission of the Faculty of Humanities, Lund University, Sweden. To be defended at LUX:C121, Helgonavägen 3, Lund. 4TH of May 2018 at 10.15. Faculty opponent Prof. Anthony Corbeill, University of Virginia, USA 1 Organization: Document name: The Joint Faculties of Humanities and Weeping for the res publica. Tears in Roman political culture Theology, Lund University. Dep. of Archaeology and Ancient History Author(s) Johan Vekselius Sponsoring organization Title and subtitle: Weeping for the res publica. Tears in Roman political culture Abstract: This study explores the significance of tears and weeping in the political culture of ancient Rome during the Late Republic and Early Empire. Using a “dramaturgical metaphor,” it investigates the representation of weeping in different literary genres. The thesis stresses the theatricality that characterized Roman public life. Romans assumed roles associated with different weeping behaviors. One conclusion is that there was no universal script for Roman tears. Instead, the study demonstrates that the function and meaning of tears varied according to historical context. Such contexts include mourning, the law court, and the exercise and expression of power in various political settings. The study also argues the importance of genre and author for the representation of emotions and tears. The study argues the existence of two paradigms for weeping: one appreciative of weeping, the other valuing self-control. The two paradigms are found in different genres and represented options for historical behaviors. Tears articulated the importance of the family and social virtues such as pietas, fides, clementia, and civilitas. Conversely, by not weeping a Roman could convey virtus, gravitas, and maiestas. A mourning elite Roman faced a tradeoff. He needed to show that he could cope with the proper self-control, which was a mark of the dominant group. At the same time, a Roman should convey that he was he was a man of feeling by weeping. The study also considers the question of the change over time and argues that both self-control and extrovert weeping were available as responses to the autocracy of the Empire. Tears of mourning could be used politically to incite the crowd emotionally against opponents. This subversive potential of tears led them at times to be prohibited. The Roman law court was lachrymose. The rhetorical manuals recommended tears and orators wept without much censure. Romans shed tears in the law court aiming to elicit misericordia and to invoke clementia. Literature represents high-status Romans such as emperors, generals, senators, and magistrates as weeping in front of their followers when their authority was questioned, assumed, or rejected. Such tears sought to establish consensus and fides between groups of different status. Several famous Roman generals followed a Greek literary motif and wept at the moment of victory for a variety of reasons: the ephemeral nature of victory and everything human, the fickleness of fortune, dire forebodings for himself and Rome, the piteous state of the fallen, and perhaps joy. Tears’ problematic relationship with sincerity is also explored. Tears not only express emotions but also communicate emotional sincerity—even as they might be taken as being insincere. To be understood as sincere a Roman needed to weep intensely, something that increased the stakes and his humiliation if he was understood as being insincere. Literature depicts “bad emperors” as feigning tears or forcing their subjects to weep or hide their emotions. This can be read as a literary characterization of a broken political culture. A good emperor, meanwhile, showed concern for his subjects by tears and wept with them and allowed them to shed tears freely. The study argues that the need to adjust faces and weeping according to the autocrat’s sentiments could well reflect historical realities. The appropriateness of tears depended on a complex interplay between contexts, gender, and status. In general, weeping for family, friends, and the res publica was called for. Key words: ANCIENT ROME, POLITICAL CULTURE, EMPIRE, EMPEROR, IMPERIAL, REPUBLIC, TEARS, WEEPING, MOURNING, PITY, DIPLOMACY, VIRTUS, PIETAS, FIDES, CLEMENTIA, EMOTIONS, HISTORY, HISTORIOGRAPHY, ORATORY, RHETORIC , LATIN, CICERO, SENECA, TACITUS, LIVY Classification system and/or index terms (if any) Supplementary bibliographical information Language ENGLISH ISSN and key title ISBN: 978-91-88473-77-6 (print) 978-91-88473-78-3 (electronic) Recipient’s notes Number of pages: 237 Price Security classification I, the undersigned, being the copyright owner of the abstract of the above-mentioned dissertation, hereby grant to all reference sources permission to publish and disseminate the abstract of the above-mentioned dissertation. Signature Date 2018-03-23 2 Weeping for the res publica Tears in Roman political culture Johan Vekselius 3 Coverphoto La Mort de Germanicus, Nicolas Poussin Copyright Johan Vekselius The Joint Faculties of Humanities and Theology, Lund University Department of Archaeology and Ancient History ISBN 978-91-88473-77-6 (print), 978-91-88473-78-3 (electronic) Printed in Sweden by Media-Tryck, Lund University Lund 2018 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements ........................................................................................... 7 Chapter 1. Approaching Roman Tears ............................................................ 11 Introduction ......................................................................................... 11 Roman Political Culture ....................................................................... 15 The Dramaturgical Metaphor ............................................................... 22 Tears in Texts ....................................................................................... 29 Tears in Previous Scholarship ................................................................ 32 Methodology and Working Process ...................................................... 36 Outline of the Book .............................................................................. 37 Chapter 2. The Virtues of Tears of Mourning ................................................ 39 The Theater of Mourning ..................................................................... 39 Self-control and the Performance of Elite Status ................................... 46 The Empire and the Appreciation of Tears ........................................... 58 Concluding Discussion ......................................................................... 68 Chapter 3. The Political Use of Tears of Mourning ........................................ 73 Introduction ......................................................................................... 73 The Instrumental Use of Tears of Mourning ........................................ 73 Mourning Emperors ............................................................................. 91 Forbidden Tears .................................................................................... 99 Concluding Discussion ....................................................................... 103 Chapter 4. Tears in the Roman Law Court ................................................... 107 Introduction ....................................................................................... 107 The Significance of Tears in the Law Court ........................................ 111 The Script for Tears in the Law Court ................................................ 115 Tears and misericordia ......................................................................... 126 5 Orators and Actors, Sincerity and Tears .............................................. 135 Concluding Discussion ....................................................................... 143 Chapter 5. Tears and Authority .................................................................... 147 Introduction ....................................................................................... 147 Tears of Subjection in Diplomacy ....................................................... 147 The Weeping Victor ..........................................................................