Roman History Books and More

gaius maecenas, patron of the arts

Gaius Maecenas, friend and counselor of Augustus (until he fell from grace) was an important friend of Horace, whose Satires we will be discussing next week.  N.S. Gill has more: 

Who Was Maecenas

Definition: A wealthy descendant of Etruscan kings, Gaius Maecenas was a Roman literary patron and writer whose works have not survived except as titles and in fragments.  He was born April 13, c. 70 B.C.

The equestrian Maecenas was an advisor and friend of Augustus. Maecenas as well as Agrippa fought for Augustus during the civil wars;  Agrippa the more so since Maecenas was often in Rome where he served as magistrate. Maecenas is mentioned as having fought at Mutina, Philippi and Perusia, according to Propertius, in the 1911 Encyclopedia.

The name and patronage of Maecenas is associated with Vergil, Horace, Propertius, and Varius.  read on

Here is a typical 19th century Schinken, At Maecenas' Reception by Stepan Bakalovich:

Image Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
click on image to enlarge

gaius lucilius, writer of satires, and his influence on horace

Gaius Lucilius (Wikipedia, handle with care), c.160–103/2 BC, is considered the earliest Roman satirist.  (Other sites give his dates a c.180–102.)  Only fragments of his work remain.  He was a Roman citizen of the equestrian class and belonged to the circle of Scipio Aemilianus.  Horace was influenced by him, and Lucilius appears in several of the latter's satires:

BkISatIV:1-25 Horace praises and also criticises him.
BkISatIV:26-62 An example of a great Satirist.
BkISatX:1-30 Horace’s criticism of his style.
BkISatX:50-71 Lucilius’ own criticism of others.
BkIISatI:1-23 He wrote about Scipio Africanus.
BkIISatI:24-46 Horace considers Lucilius a better man than himself.
BkIISatI:47-86 Lucilius’ satires were tolerated.

Jacques Perret in his Horace points out similarities, such as being part of a circle around the patron:  Aemilianus/Maecenas, the independence of being an equestrian, chroniclers of little groups, etc.  He writes, "[Horace found], in Lucilius, the assurance that one could build a literary work around one's own person.  Perhaps no Greek author would have have encouraged him in that direction."

quick afterthought after tonight's chat: bagaudae

Wikipedia seems to have a reasonable page on them:

Bagaudae

play what the romans played, on your mac (sorry, windows users!)

hat tip Caroline Lawrence

Now you can play what the Romans played on your Macintosh computer.  Using the latest in Artificial Intelligence, we’ve recreated this ancient game for your enjoyment.  It’s completely free, and is licensed under an Open Source license.

Welcome to Latrunculi for Mac OS X

Latrunculi at Smith's Dictionary (LacusCurtius)

LATRUʹNCULI (πεσσοί, ψήφοι), draughts.  The invention of a game resembling draughts was attributed by the Greeks to Palamedes (Abacus, § 5).  The game is certainly mentioned by Homer, who represents the suitors of Penelope amusing themselves with it (Od. I.107). Others ascribed the invention to the Egyptian Theuth (Plat. Phaedr. p274d);  and the paintings in Egyptian tombs, which are of far higher antiquity than any Grecian monuments, not unfrequently represent persons employed in this recreation.   read on

wikipedia and weasel words

Looking at Catiline on Wikipedia, I came across the term Weasel Words, very helpful for all of us who do look at Wikipedia but with the proviso "handle with care."

Weasel words are words or phrases that seemingly support statements without attributing opinions to verifiable sources. They give the force of authority to a statement without letting the reader decide whether the source of the opinion is reliable. If a statement can't stand on its own without weasel words, it lacks neutral point of view; either a source for the statement should be found, or the statement should be removed. If a statement can stand without weasel words, they may be undermining its neutrality and the statement may be better off standing without them.

notes to 'roma, the novel of ancient rome' numen, hercules and cacus

This is more or less a dictionary, covering the first chapters of Roma,the Novel of Ancient Rome by Steven Saylor.

numen (veneration of objects)

Before gods, there were numina, see Roman religion » History » Early Roman Religion » Veneration of objects (Britannica Online). 
One of such 'objects' is Fascinus, whose amulet has a special meaning to the Potitii and Pinarii in the novel.

Hercules and Cacus

Cacus is monster that terrorizes the villagers and kills a Pinarius.  Hercules appears with his oxen and dog and manages to slay Cacus.  In the novel, Hercules becomes the first god to be worshiped.  Ara Maxima Herculis (Platner).

The story is narrated in Aeneid 8.195ff., Book 8  (Dryden translation, Gutenberg) and Ovid's Fasti, Book I, January 11: The Carmentalia (Tony Kline).

Beham, (Hans) Sebald (1500-1550): Hercules killing Cacus at his cave, from The Labours of Hercules (1542-1548). Engraving, 1545. (Wikimedia Commons)

rogatio, lex, and jus

In tonight's chat we encountered the Licinio-Sextan Rogations of 367 BCE.  So, what is a rogatio?

Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875 (via LacusCurtius) has the answer:  "The word Rogatio (from the verb rogo) properly means any measure proposed to the legislative body, and therefore is equally applicable to a proposed Lex and a proposed Plebiscitum …"

The above can be found in the entry Lex:

Lex is defined by Papinian (Dig. 1 tit. 3 s1):— "Lex est commune praeceptum, virorum prudentium consultum, delictorum, quae sponte vel ignorantia contrahuntur, coercitio, communis reipublicae sponsio." Cicero I (de Leg. I.6) defines it thus:— "Quae scripto sancit quod vult, aut jubendo, aut vetando" (see also de Leg. II.16). A Law is properly a rule or command of the sovereign power in a state, published in writing, and addressed to and enforced upon the members of such state; and this is the proper sense of Lex in the Roman writers.
read on

archimedes of syracuse

A young Archimedes is the protagonist of our next book, The Sand-Reckoner by Gillian Bradshaw, set during the time of the first siege of Syracuse at 264 BC – join our chat on Wednesday, December 17.

Wikipedia (as usual handle with care) has an extensive page about Archimedes of Syracuse.

There is also another Archimedes site, "a collection of Archimedean miscellanea under continual development with the following contents . . . "  It includes pages about the then Royal Family of Syracuse.

veleda, bructerian prophetess

Veleda was the Bructerian prophetess whom Falco – and Justinus – tangle with in The Iron Hand of Mars, or read next Wednesday.

Jona Lendering has more about Veleda:

The word Veleda seems to be a title:  it has been assumed that it is a Latin rendering of the Celtic word 'prophetess', but there is a problem – she was not living in a region where Celtic languages were spoken.  Perhaps West-Germanic, 'to have power', is a better parallel.  The Veleda we know about predicted the successes of the Batavians when they revolted against the Roman empire (69).  It is not known whether she merely prophesied, or actively incited the rebellion.

read on    

Veleda at Wikipedia (as usual handle with care) gives more references.

coriolanus

Update 2:  Here you can listen to the Coriolan Overture.

Update 1:  Bingley wrote about Coriolanus on About.com:

• Coriolanus Biography
  Bingley's Biography of Coriolanus Who Was Originally Known as Cnaeus Marcius
• Coriolanus
  Plutarch's Biography of Coriolanus and Shakespeare's Coriolanus Play

Last Sunday we went to the opening concert of the 2008/2009 season of the Stamford Symphony Orchestra.  After the National Anthem, the first order of business was the Coriolan Overture by Beethoven (followed by Symphony No. 9 in C major (D.944) – The Great for big as opposed to little and better known to me as Symphony No. 7 – by Schubert;  and the Emperor Concerto No. 5 for Piano & Orchestra in E flat major by Beethoven, soloist Vladimir Feltsman).  The program note for Coriolan says,

No doubt the protagonist’s temperament—iron-willed, passionate, uncompromising and moved to reckless bravery—resonated deeply in Beethoven’s psyche; he saw in Coriolanus a mirror of himself.

bingley blogged about mithraism (ref. eagle in the snow)

The protagonist in our current read, Eagle in the Snow by Wallace Breem, Paulinus Gaius Maximus, is still a Pagan in a by now largely Christian world.  Like many soldiers in an earlier Rome he worships the God Mithra. 

Our friend Bingley tells us all we wanted to know and more:  Mithraism.

To add to this, Britannica online has this to say: Mithraism.

The image on the right from Wikimedia Commons represents  Mithras as the Sun god banqueting with Selene (the Moon) and the twin divinities Cautes (Dawn) and Cautopates (Twilight), his attendants. Marble, side B of a two-faced Roman relief, 2nd or 3rd century AD. (The Louvre).  Bingley's post shows side A, Mithras killing a sacred bull (tauroctony).

roman boundary festivals

In Chapter Eight, The Power of Rome in the Sixth Century, of  The Beginnings of Rome: Italy From the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (Circa 1,000 to 264 B.C.), T.J. Cornell discusses the walls and boundaries of Rome, and mentions three related festivals:  Terminalia, Robigalia, and Ambarvalia.

Terminalia, named after the god Terminus who protected boundary markers. (Wikipedia, as usual handle with care)

LacusCurtius has Smith's Dictionary:

TERMINAʹLIA, a festival in honour of the god Terminus, who presided over boundaries. His statue was merely a stone or post stuck in the ground to distinguish between properties. On the festival the two owners of adjacent property crowned the statue with garlands and raised a rude altar, on which they offered up some corn, honeycombs, and wine, and sacrificed a lamb (Hor. Epod. II.59) or a sucking pig. They concluded with singing the praises of the god (Ovid. Fast. II.639, &c.). The public festival in honour of this god was celebrated at the sixth milestone on the road towards Laurentum (Id. 682), doubtless because this was originally the extent of the Roman territory in that direction.

The festival of the Terminalia was celebrated a. d. VII. Kal. Mart., or the 23d of February on the day before the Regifugium. The Terminalia was celebrated on the last day of the old Roman year, whence some derive its name.

karl otfried müller, 19th century scholar, student of the greeks and the etruscans

In Chapter Six of  The Beginnings of Rome: Italy From the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (Circa 1,000 to 264 B.C.), titled The Myth of Etruscan Rome,  T.J. Cornell refers to

"the pioneering study of Karl Otfried Müller, whose two volumes on Die Etrusker appeared in 1828 … and created the modern study of the Etruscans as we know it today.  The updated second edition of his book by W. Deecke is still required reading, and all subsequent books of any seriousness of 'the Etruscans' are basically new version of Müller."

I found this intriguing, considering the antiquity of the book.  However, further googling found this Bryn Mawr Classical Review of a book of essays: Calder III, William M., Renate Schlesier, Zwischen Rationalismus und Romantik: Karl Otfried Müller und die antike Kultur (Hildesheim:  Weidmann, 1998.  Pp. x, 478; 34 halftones.  ISBN 3-615-00198-2 (pb).), which shows how important Müller overall is still considered:

the trial of gaius verres

A longish chapter of our current read, Imperium, A Novel of Ancient Rome by Robert Harris deals with the trial of Gaius Verres, the only trial in which Cicero acted as prosecutor.  Harris tells a compelling story here about the rapacious governor of Sicily and Cicero's determination to prosecute him against all odds.

In Verrem gives background at Wikipedia (as usual, handle with care).  Translation of Cicero's text of the trial is on Perseus, which, as so often, does not come up;  but luckily, it has been copied into Wikisource:  Against Verres, translation C. D. Yonge, 1903 (includes the pre-trial so-called Divination). 

One must always take into account that Cicero polished his speeches after the fact.

asklepios, god of medicine

Asklepios (latin: Asclepius), the god of healing, was an important deity to our medicus Gaius Petreius Ruso (Medicus: A Novel of the Roman Empire, by Ruth Downie).  A statue of the god was kept at the entrance of the base hospital, and Ruso paid his respect daily.

An excellent discourse can be found on Asklepois at theoi.com.

The image, at Wikimedia Commons, represents a Colossal head of Asclepios wearing a metal crown (now lost), from a cult statue. Marble, Hellenistic artwork, 325-300 BC. from Melos.  At the Blacas Collection.

what did a roman army medicus know and do?

… c.117 CE, that is.  Ruth Downie, in Medicus: A Novel of the Roman Empire, creates a vivid and imaginative picture about what the book's protagonist, the army doctor Gaius Petreius Ruso, and his collegue Valens do and how a military camp hospital is run, orderlies, patients, and all.  But what was their actual medical knowledge?

The University of Virginia's Health Sciences Library has a section Antiqua Medicina, From Homer to Vesalius.  The credits say, "This electronic display was generated from materials assembled for a print exhibit of the same name created in fall 1996 for Historical Collections in the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library." Included is a brief section, Military Medicos, with an image from Trajan's Column, and of interest is also Surgery and Surgical Instruments.

judith weingarten on zenobia

Now All Shame is Exhausted...

for in the weakened state of the commonwealth things came to such a pass that ... even women ruled most excellently. For, in fact, even a foreigner, Zenobia by name, proceeded to cast about her shoulders the imperial mantle, [and was] ruling longer than could be endured from one of the female sex.

Thus begins the biography of Zenobia, queen of Palmyra, in the unreliable and fantastical Historiae Augustae, written near the end of the 4th C.

Read on, and enjoy the illustration too!

another lament: literary criticism and me

… don't get on too well with each other, going back to my German Lit. teacher in high school.

I'm having a bad case of criticismophobia right now, reading all these essays on Ovid, and two separate introductions to the Metamorphoses.  'foregrounded,' 'closurally,' and 'gendered' are bad enough, but what about this?

"… In particular, a return to Kristeva's notion of intertextuality as a way of 'orienting the text to its sociohistorical signification' via the ideologeme, i.e. 'the communal function that attaches a concrete structure (like the novel) to other structures (like the discourse of science) in an intertextual space' would seem a healthy antidote to the enervated concept of intertexuality as a kind of glamorous but non­-political version of literary history that prevails in Latin literary studies."  (Thomas Habinek, Part III of "Context and History," chapter "Ovid and empire" in The Cambridge Companion to Ovid.)

syllepsis

syllepsis (from Silva Rhetoricae, an interesting site with a complete index of rhetorical terms)

When a single word that governs or modifies two or more others must be understood differently with respect to each of those words.  A combination of grammatical parallelism and semantic incongruity, often with a witty or comical effect.  Not to be confused with zeugma.
read on

Ovid practiced syllepsis, especially in the Metamorphoses, together with personification, as is discussed by Philip Hardie in the chapter "Ovid and early imperial literature" (Part II of "Context and History") in The Cambridge Companion to Ovid.

appius claudius caecus, "the first living personality in roman history"

"What would have happened if Augustus – like that great politician, the censor Appius Claudius – had been blessed with five daughters for dynastic matches may inspire and baffle conjecture."

(Ronald Syme: The Roman Revolution, Chapter XXV, The Working of Patronage.)

And what a conjecture that would be!

Appius Claudius Caecus, "the blind" (ca. 340 - 273 BC), was a formidable character.  As censor he attempted reforms but is better known to us for building the Via Appia (Appian Way) and the first aqueduct to Rome, the Aqua Appia.