Roman History Books and More

for german speakers: “abenteuer archäologie” website

Nach umfangreichen Renovierungsarbeiten öffnet die Zeitschrift »Abenteuer Archäologie« am 28.9.2006 ihre neue Webseite.  Unter www.abenteuer-archaeologie.de wird neben Bewährtem auch viel Neues präsentiert.  Die Besucher können in allen bisher erschienenen Ausgaben des Magazins zu recherchieren, Abonnenten können darüber hinaus sämtliche Artikel online lesen und ausdrucken.

Außerdem bietet die Redaktion zukünftig regelmäßig und kostenfrei Nachrichten über die wichtigsten Erkenntnisse archäologischer Forschung und die spektakulärsten Funde. 

Im Rahmen einer Medienpartnerschaft mit dem Deutschen Archäologischen Institut wird zudem die Heft-Rubrik DAI International jeder Ausgabe als PDF-Datei zum Download bereit gestellt. An anderer Stelle werden Stipendiaten des DAI ein Jahr lang über ihre Reise um die Welt berichten.   Mit den Bildern einer Ausstellung lädt die Redaktion zum virtuellen Besuch in ein Museum ein.

Die Überarbeitung der Webseite geht mit dem Erfolg von Abenteuer Archäologie auf dem Zeitschriftenmarkt einher.  Im August 2006 hatte die Heidelberger Spektrum der Wissenschaft Verlagsgesellschaft eine Erhöhung der Erscheinungsweise von drei- auf zweimonatlich verkündet.

Please note that part of the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut site is in English, see left-hand column & drop-down menues at top.

tacitus' works meant to be declaimed?

H. Mattingly, the original translator of the Penguin Classics edition – later revised by S.A. Handford – of The Agricola and The Germania, writes in his introduction, which is almost as long as both works themselves:

Tacitus is fond of short sentences and shuns the long period.  He is terse, fond of variety, given to inversion and poetic forms of expression.  His works were probably all designed to be declaimed, in the first place.  That is why a chapter so often ends with an epigram;  it is a signal for applause before the next chapter begins.  Many of these epigrams leave their sting behind them.  But occasionally the form is there without the spirit, because what Tacitus actually has to say is quite simple and not really epigram­matic.

I wonder, is that a majority opinion?  Or, conversely, were most prose works meant to be declaimed, as is implied in so many novels about Ancient Rome?  I have not been able to locate a source for the latter so far.

Postcript:  Go to comments below.

an illustrated timeline of art history

Today I met a friend from out of town for lunch at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and we admired the new Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries for Byzantine Art … and did a spot of nitpicking as experts (one) and seasoned museum goers (both of us).

I googled the thing and found Byzantium (ca. 330-1453), and discovered to my pleasant surprise that the Met Online has an illustrated Timeline of Art History,  with various navigating options. 

Drop-down list for Byzantine Art

Drop-down list for Greek and Roman Art

Enjoy!

For those of you who know the museum:  The Byzantine galleries are the ones at the left and right sides of the Grand Staircase (where you walk through to get to the Medieval Section), and they are connected by a crypt-like area that has been opened up underneath the staircase, with the original brickwork maintained.  It contains the section Byzantine Egypt in the South.  It says in the brochure that

[the] newly expanded galleries restore much of the original Morris Hunt and Richard Howland Hunt 1894-1902 Beaux Arts plan for the building’s monumental Fifth Avenue facade and entrance.

As to the museum’s new entrance fee policy, here is a recent piece by fellow blogger Dorothy King:  Into the Metropolitan Museum:  What’s It Worth to You?

who were these people?

Tacitus: Agricola 2: 1-2

We have read that when Paetus Thrasea was praised by Arulenus Rusticus and Priscus Helvidius by Herennius Senecio, it was a capital offence and not only the authors themselves but even their books were treated savagely. The task having been assigned to the board of three, these monuments to the great fame of men of genius were burnt in the comitium and the forum. One might have thought that in that fire the voice of the Roman people and the liberty of the Senate and the moral consciousness of the human race had been wiped out. What is more, philosophers were expelled and every noble practice was sent into exile so that no virtuous acts could occur. 

Paetus Thrasea was condemned to death under Nero.
Arulenus Rusticus (aka Junius) wrote a panegyric on Paetus Thrasea, for which he was condemned to death by Domitian.

Priscus Helvidius was condemned to death by Vespasian. His biography was written by Herennius Senecio, who was also condemned to death under Domitian.

the politics of latin literature

Another likely enjoyable book  (I started it a while ago but set it aside for more pressing matters), which relates to our current subject author:

The Politics of Latin Literature
Writing, Identity, And Empire In Ancient Rome
by Thomas N. Habinek

Here is the list of chapters:

CHAPTER ONE
Latin Literature and the Problem of Rome
CHAPTER TWO
Why Was Latin Literature Invented?
CHAPTER THREE
Cicero and the Bandits
CHAPTER FOUR
Culture Wars in the First Century B.C.E.
CHAPTER FIVE
Writing as Social Performance
CHAPTER SIX
Roman Women's Useless Knowledge
CHAPTER SEVEN
An Aristocracy of Virtue
CHAPTER EIGHT
Pannonia Domanda Est:  The Construction of the Imperial Subject through Ovid's Poetry from Exile

There is a Bryn Mawr Classical Review (1999.02.04) which  concludes with this paragraph:

agricola and the intellectual conquest of britain

An Island Nation: Re-Reading Tacitus’ “Agricola”
by Katherine Clarke, The Journal of Roman Studies Vol. 91 (2001), pp. 94-112  JSTOR, restricted access.

The above paper discusses the location of Agricola’s res gestae and how Tacitus’ portrayal of Britain itself may ultimately “offer us insights into Agricola, Domitian, and Roman political life.”

This is a pleasantly complex treatment of the subject, too extensive to be summarized here.  I'd rather concentrate on one aspect and argument, the “intellectual conquest of the island of Britain after the literal conquest.”

The Romans, writes Clarke, cannot start to re-assess the island in their world-view until they have become informed about the island itself.  From the Briton’s perspective, the less the Romans know about them, the better;  whereas for the Romans, intellectual conquest is going to be an important part of the take-over.

It is Agricola’s mission to acquire and extend this knowledge, season by campaign season.  According to Tacitus, Agricola reaches that aim and semi-attaches Britain to the continent, so to speak, as opposed to the previous remote Oceanic nature of the island.  The circumnavigation, which Agricola initiates, leads to the embrace (complectitur) of it.

In the sixth year of the campaign, the battle moves to land and ocean, which latter the Britons considered their sea (sui maris), and which now becomes the Roman sea (mare nostrum).  Thus, the conquest has become complete. 

Tacitus re-enforces all this through the speeches in his treatise.

the cambridge companion to roman satire

The Cambridge Companion to Roman Satire (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

I came across the BMCR review of this book.  It does sound interesting!

“In sum, this volume proves to be a worthy companion.  Each author hands the traveler on to the next author, never isolating the reader but always providing connections by which to find a way back and to make the current scenery familiar.  Egressum magna me accepit Freudenburg Roma hospitio magno ...”   Martha Habash

first note on the upcoming tacitus / barbarians chat

This is a first note on the upcoming book chat on The Agricola and The Germania and The Barbarians Speak:  How the Conquered Peoples Shaped Roman Europe.

See my recent blog post.

The chats are scheduled for October 4 & 18, but may be extended for another night.

I think it's best that we split this into The Agricola  (October 4) and Germania / Barbarians  (October 18), as the former is largely a biography and the latter two's connection is ethnography.

On the face of it, The Agricola is rather short, but I've searched JSTOR – unfortunately not available to all, I give daily  thanks to my generous public library – and on brief scanning, there is a lot of food for thought, so I will assemble discussion points over the next week or so.  (With the appropriate JSTOR links for those who do have access.)

The Agricola online.

c. julius caesar and tall german tales

In Book 6 of his War Commentaries, Caesar dabbles in ethnography, and has this description of the Hercynian Forest:

[6.25] The breadth of this Hercynian forest, which has been referred to above, is to a quick traveler, a journey of nine days.  For it can not be otherwise computed, nor are they acquainted with the measures of roads.  It begins at the frontiers of the Helvetii, Nemetes, and Rauraci, and extends in a right line along the river Danube to the territories of the Daci and the Anartes;  it bends thence to the left in a different direction from the river, and owing to its extent touches the confines of many nations;  nor is there any person belonging to this part of Germany who says that he either has gone to the extremity of that forest, though he had advanced a journey of sixty days, or has heard in what place it begins.  It is certain that many kinds of wild beast are produced in it which have not been seen in other parts;  of which the following are such as differ principally from other animals, and appear worthy of being committed to record.

cornelius tacitus, historian

Tacitus (ca. 55 CE to after 117) was a prolific historian and writer.  Not much is know about him personally.  The Tacitus Home Page at the University of Maryland has a Vita,  which I assume to be in the public domain:

The Life of Cornelius Tacitus

greek romance novels

Gibbon often referred to 'instruction and amusement' as the benefits we can obtain from the study of history. The Romans surely derived 'instruction' from the prose works of Caesar, Cicero, Tacitus and so on, but what amusement did they get from prose?

We have two examples of Latin novels, Petronius' "Satyricon" and Apuleius' "The Golden Ass". We also have a number of Greek romance novels, mostly written under the Roman Empire.

In Aristotle and Poetic Justice, the second in Margaret Doody's Aristole Detective series, there is a subplot involving the gorgeously handsome slave, Korydon, who is searching for his equally gorgeous girlfriend, Kallirrhoe. They were free and living in Asia Minor when they  first met, but were soon caught up in the upheavals caused by Alexander the Great's invasion of the Persian Empire. After lives full of incident (including attempted seduction and rape, shipwreck, capture by pirates and enslavement) they are finally re-united. As you might imagine, the whole thing is about as realistic as one of the Pirates of the Carribean films.

classics e-text resources at about.com

N.S. Gill, editor of Ancient / Classical History, presents us with an A-Z of ancient texts, most of which are in the public domain:

Classical Texts, Literature, Primary Sources, Public Domain Translations, and Ancient History Texts

upcoming book chat: tacitus (agricola & germania) - peter s. wells (the barbarians speak)

After completing “First Man in Rome” Wednesday, we will be turning to Tacitus and to the barbarians.

Of Tacitus, we'll read The Agricola and The Germania, also available online:  Agricola and Germania.

As to the “barbarians” – mostly in Northern Europe – we have  The Barbarians Speak:  How the Conquered Peoples Shaped Roman Europe, by  Peter  S. Wells.

The chat was originally scheduled for October 4 and 18, but this may not be enough, and we'll play it by ear, if necessary splitting the second Gibbon chat that follows.

Of neither book I could find an audio version.  If someone knows of any, please respond in comments below.

Background literature

lucius appuleius saturninus

Lucius Appuleius Saturninus (d. 100 BCE) was a Roman politician, orator, and demagogue.  He was quaestor in 104 and twice tribune of the plebs, 103 and 100.  He was violently opposed to the optimates in the senate, possibly blaming them for his removal from his post as quaestor in charge of grain importation in Ostia, which seems to have been unjustified.  He allied himself with Caius Marius, whom he assisted with the passage of an agrarian law, and the establishment of new colonies in Sicily, Achaia, and Macedonia.

Saturninus was an enemy of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus, who had tried as censor in 102 to remove Saturninus from the Senate.  When Saturninus forced through the agrarian law, Metellus refused a required oath and was driven into exile.

roman knowledge of britain

Although Pytheas of Massilia voyaged to Britain and probably circumnavigated the island in the 4th century BC, his account of his travels was not well received by his contemporaries. My review of Barry Cunliffe's account of Pytheas' voyage can be read here.

So what did Romans know of the geography of Britain? Julius Caesar visited the island twice, and left us with this account of its geography. Strabo included this information about Britain in his Geography, which Sarah Pothecary dates to 17 - 23 AD.

Tacitus includes some incidental information about the geography of the island in his biography of Agricola, who had been governor of Britain. During his governorship Britain was circumnavigated. One of Plutarch's philosophical dialogues, has a character named Demetrius who had come from Britain where he had been sent on a voyage of exploration by the emperor's order (see Chapter XVIII).

Ogilvie and Richmond in their commentary on the Agricola suggest that the information in Ptolemy's Geography about northern Britain derives from Agricola's time in Britain. For what Roman maps of Britain would have looked like, see romanmap.com and have fun with the maps and place names.

gone fishing again . . .

I'll be out of town for a few days this week, enjoying fresh ocean air and sans laptop, so blogging may be sporadic, depending on what Bingley can do. 

cornelia, mother of the gracchi

According to Colleen McCullough's portrayal of Aurelia, her heroine is Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi.

The main source of what little we know about Cornelia's life is Plutarch's biography of her sons Tiberius and Gaius. She was the daughter of Scipio Africanus, who defeated Hannibal, and married Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, who was much older than she was. When he found two snakes on his bed he called in the soothsayers and was told that if he must kill one or the other, but if he killed the male one he would die shortly and if he killed the female one, Cornelia would die. He killed the male one and was generally thought to have made the right decision.

Despite being wooed by very eligible suitors, including the king of Egypt, Cornelia devoted herself after her husband's death to bringing up her children, although only three out of the twelve reached adulthood. She was much admired for this and collections of her letters were published towards the end of her life. Cornelius Nepos in a lost work preserved parts of a letter to her son Gaius from the time he decided to run for tribune. However, not everyone agrees that it is genuine. It can be read in Latin at Bibliotheca Augustana. My translation follows:

You will say it is a fine thing to take vengeance on one’s enemies. It does not seem finer or greater to anyone than it does to me, but only if it were possible to go after this with the republic safe. In so far as it is not possible for this to be done, then hopefully our enemies will not perish for a long time and on many sides and remain as they now are rather than the republic being done away with or perishing.

I would dare swear in formally drawn up words, that besides those who killed Tiberius Gracchus no enemy has handed me so great a nuisance and so much trouble as you have on account of these things, you who of all those children I used to have ought to have endured and taken care so that I would have the least amount of anxiety in my old age and so that whatever you did you would want it to make me happy and would consider it impious to do any great thing against my opinion, especially when there is so little left of my life. Is it possible for so brief a time to help so that you will not act against me and do away with the republic? At what point will this stop? Will our family ever refrain from running insane? Will there ever be any moderation in this matter? Will we ever stop and abandon suffering and offering these disturbances? Will this confusion and disturbances to the republic ever cause shame? But even if it were not possible for that to be done, at least try for the tribuneship when I am dead. Do what you want for all I care when I cannot feel it. When I am dead you will hold a memorial service and call on your ancestral gods. At that time won’t you be ashamed to  offer up prayers to those gods you desert and abandon while they are here alive? Hopefully Jupiter will not allow you to carry on with this, nor will such madness enter your mind. And if you do carry on I am afraid that it will be your own fault if you bring such great trouble on your whole life that you will never be able to please yourself in safety.

alfred duggan, author of historical novels

Three of Alfred Duggan's novels,  Three's Company,  Winter Quarters, and Family Favourites (to be re-issued in January 2007), are among the books suggested for our 2007 reading list.

I've only read Children of the Wolf (sometimes titled The Founding Fathers) so far and found it totally boring.  But there seems to be more to Duggan than met my eye.  He certainly has his fans in our group.  Literary Criticism by John Derbyshire has Alfred Duggan's Past, providing an overview of Duggan's writings and his life.

Derbyshire thinks that Three's Company — the story about the triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepidus — is Duggan's most successful book.

       

new book by robert harris: imperium

There is a new book out by Robert Harris, the author of Pompeii: A Novel.

Imperium: A Novel of Ancient Rome

A novel about Cicero, and the first of two volumes, narrated by Cicero's slave and secretary, Tiro.

Pompeii: A Novel is now available as paperback – I liked it very much and will put it on the suggested reading list for 2007.

new novel by margaret george: helen of troy

Thanks to David Meadows at rogueclassicism, an alert about a new novel by Margaret George, Helen of Troy, with a review.

Some of you may remember her excellent Cleopatra treatment: The Memoirs of Cleopatra, which we discussed aeons ago.