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MDS1TRW The Roman World: Myth and Empire Lecture 7 The Republic: Poli>cs as War Why is Cicero so important? •  The bulk of textual evidence for the late republic, which is s>ll extant, comes from Cicero •  So much so that you might see the late republic being referred to by some scholars as the Ciceronian period hIp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/
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Va>can_Museums.jpg Who was Cicero? •  Marcus Tullius Cicero •  3 January 106 BCE – 7 December 53 BCE •  Born in Arpinum hIp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cicero_-­‐_Musei_Capitolini.JPG Arpinum, Italty hIp://www.skidmore.edu/classics/caesarandcicero.html Who was Cicero? •  Marcus Tullius Cicero –  Usually just referred to by his cognomen Cicero –  Tullius is his nomen, or family name –  Marcus is his praenomen, similar to a given name today •  3 January 106 BCE – 7 December 53 BCE •  Born in Arpinum hIp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cicero_-­‐_Musei_Capitolini.JPG Roman naming prac>ces •  Praenomen: equivalent to a given name today •  Nomen: the gens (family or clan name) •  Cognomen: this began as a nickname but by the late republic were passed from father to son •  Agnomen: aaer the cognomen was passed from father to son, agnomina were some>mes associated with people –  Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Gaius Julius Caesar hIp://www.denomine.com/category/historical/ Who was Cicero? •  Marcus Tullius Cicero –  Usually just referred to by his cognomen Cicero –  Tullius is his nomen, or family name –  Marcus is his praenomen, similar to a given name today •  3 January 106 BCE – 7 December 53 BCE •  Born in Arpinum •  Roman philosopher, poli>cian, lawyer, orator and consul •  From a wealthy equestrian family hIp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cicero_-­‐_Musei_Capitolini.JPG The Roman Equestrian Order •  The lower of two aristocra>c classes of ancient Rome •  The equites (equestrians) were outranked by patricii (patricians) •  Equestrians could own land and were just as wealthy as patricians, but had less poli>cal power A c. 2nd-­‐century Roman coin depic>ng Mars on side and an equestrian on the other hIp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sg0542.jpg Who was Cicero? •  Marcus Tullius Cicero –  Usually just referred to by his cognomen Cicero –  Tullius is his nomen, or family name –  Marcus is his praenomen, similar to a given name today •  3 January 106 BCE – 7 December 53 BCE •  Born in Arpinum •  From a wealthy equestrian family •  Roman philosopher, poli>cian, lawyer, orator and consul •  He was a novus homo hIp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cicero_-­‐_Musei_Capitolini.JPG What is meant by the term novus homo? •  Novus homo = a new man –  The opposite of a nobilis or a ‘known man’ who had a network of family and client rela>onships which had been built up over genera>ons •  They were the children of senators •  A novus homo was first person in their family to be in the senate or to be elected consul –  In some rare cases (M. Porcius Cato, C. Marius and Cicero) they were not only the first person in their family to be both a senator and a consul Marcus Porcius Cato hIp://kvanasscheasia.blogspot.com.au/2010/08/persistence.html •  In the republic, novi homines were usually of equestrian rank –  Used oratorical and military skill to reach the senate as well as good connec>ons Gaius Marius hIp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marius_Glyptothek_Munich_319.jpg Novus homo, nobiles, patricii and plebeii •  Novi homines: new men •  Nobiles: a group of wealthy plebeians, who had become an oligarchy in the 3rd century BCE –  Nobilitas: by Cicero’s life >me, the term was used to refer to a descendent of a consul or equivalent magistrate •  Patricii (‘patricians’): Rome’s privileged class; status gained through birth •  Plebeii (‘plebians’): the mass of Roman ci>zens Why it maIers that Cicero was a new man •  Personal merit and not ancestry should be the criterion of a person’s success •  Being a novus homo doesn’t mean that Cicero was socially progressive – he advocated a return to the mos maiorum (‘ways of our ancestors’) •  Many of Cicero’s poli>cal decisions reflect his uncertain social status hIp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:M-­‐T-­‐Cicero.jpg The cursus honorum: The Roman career path •  Cursus honorum = course of honours •  Successful elec>on depended on skills and connec>ons •  Success was achieved in holding magistracies, military command or civil and military posi>ons in Rome, Italy or the provinces hIp://www.mmdtkw.org/AU0301CursusHonorum.jpg Gemng started in a poli>cal career • 
Prosecu>ons –  Slightly risky because you could gain a reputa>on for cruelty and, if you lost, could cause residual hos>lity between you and the accused • 
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Prosecu>ons led to requests to defend, which was a much more effec>ve way to gain poli>cal support Through a reputa>on as a good orator, you could garner connec>ons that would help shore up votes in elec>ons Gaining poli>cal offices led to more opportuni>es to speak and thus more opportuni>es for power and higher office Oratory, alongside a military career, was THE way to climb the cursus honorum 1st-­‐century-­‐BCE statue of a Roman orator hIp://www.the-­‐romans.co.uk/educa>on.htm#Oratory Cicero’s career •  Received an educa>on in philosophy and rhetoric in both Rome and later Greece •  90/89: Military service under Gn. Pompeius Strabo (Pompey’s father) •  75: Quaestor in Sicily •  66: Praetor •  63: Consul (Ca>line Conspiracy) •  58: Exiled •  57: Returns from exile •  43: Civil Wars break out again. Cicero’s delivers Philippics against Antony. Cicero proscribed and killed (December 7, 43) hIp://8170.pbworks.com/w/page/52174811/Decorum The Ca>line Conspiracy •  A supposed aIempt by Lucius Sergius Ca>lina to overthrow the republic and in par>cular the power of the senate •  Cicero discovers the plot and argues in the senate that Ca>line must leave Rome •  Ca>line leaves Rome, but con>nues to plot while away •  5 other conspirators remain in Rome but are found out •  Cicero presents the evidence of their conspiracy to the senate, and they are condemned to death without a trial – because of Cicero’s role in this he is exiled in 58 Cicero Denounces Ca>line Cesare Maccari, 1889 hIp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Maccari-­‐Cicero.jpg Cicero and other key republican figures •  Caesar –  Cicero was oaen in awe of Caesar but also distrusted him •  Mark Antony –  Cicero wanted the Senate to declare Antony an enemy of the state, because of this Cicero was eventually proscribed (i.e. condemned to death) by the Second Triumvirate (Mark Antony, Lepidus and Octavian) •  Pompey –  Cicero was at core a supporter of Pompey and during the Civil War he overtly supported him •  Octavian –  Cicero made sure that the terms of Caesar’s will, which declared Octavian his adopted son, were carried out Cicero: op;mates and populares •  Cicero was mainly aligned with Pompey (as opposed to Caesar) •  Op;mates: wished to limit the power of the popular assembly and the tribune and were against land reforms that would give the plebs beIer poli>cal representa>on •  Populares: members of the elite who relied on the support of the people, the popular assembly and the tribunate to acquire poli>cal power – 
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The Gracchi Marius Caesar Clodius Ca>line •  The terms don’t refer to co-­‐ordinated par>es as much as two different means for achieving poli>cal aims Cicero’s works Poems hIp://www.bloomsbury.com/(X(1)S(afgec5yjppnvoa55ayuu2m45))/us/the-­‐poems-­‐of-­‐cicero-­‐9781853995293/ Speeches hIp://careers.theguardian.com/university-­‐clearing-­‐2012-­‐perspec>ve Rhetorical Theory hIp://openlibrary.org/works/OL15733516W/De_oratore Philosophy hIp://www.library.usyd.edu.au/libraries/rare/philosophy/cicero.html Literature and Poli>cs: Cicero’s speeches •  48 speeches survive either in full or par>ally •  Speeches either in support of or against fellow poli>cians •  Person’s ability as an orator >ed to character: a bonus vir (a good man) was thus bound to be a good speaker Cicero’s choice of who to defend and who to prosecute is a catalogue of his poli5cal alliances/
enemies •  In Verrem (70 BCE) –  Prosecuted Verres who was defended by Q. Hortensius Hortalus –  The prosecu>on of Verres enabled Cicero to defeat Hortalus, whom he replaced as a leading figure at the bar •  Pro Caelio (56 BCE) –  Although it is defence speech of Marcus Caelius Rufus, Cicero uses the case to get back at Publius Clodius Pulcher who had been instrumental in his exile •  In Pisonem (55 BCE) Lucius Calpurnius Piso hIp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
File:L_Calpurnius_Piso_Pon>fex_MAN_Napoli_Inv5601.jpg –  Consul at the >me of Cicero’s exile –  Cicero felt that Piso hadn’t done enough to stop his exile Literature and Poli>cs: Cicero’s LeIers •  Collec>ons –  Ad familiares –  Ad ABcum –  Ad Quintum fratrem –  Ad Brutum •  Content –  Some include official dispatches and are semi-­‐public outlining maIers of poli>cal importance –  Others are more personal, such as those in which he talks about the grief he feels at the death of his daughter Major philosophical schools in the 1st century BCE • 
Academic Skep>cism – 
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An ancient variant of Platonism that claimed knowledge of truth was impossible Stoics They thought that a happy life would come by being virtuous –  They renounced all passions and aimed for a state of apathy – 
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Epicureans – 
They argued that ataraxia could be achieved by following 4 basic precepts • 
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Peripate>cism – 
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Don’t fear the gods Don’t fear death What is good is easy to obtain What is painful is easy to endure Followers of Aristotle Neopythagoreanism The concept of the soul and communion central to this school of philosophy –  Derived from the doctrines of Pythagoras – 
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Cynics They regarded poverty as the best way of achieving happiness –  They eschewed conven>onal social >es – 
hIp://www.sacred-­‐des>na>ons.com/france/autun-­‐musee-­‐rolin Literature and Poli>cs: Cicero and Philosophy •  He was the first Roman to aIempt to find La>n words to convey Greek philosophical thought •  He did more than just copy Greek philosophy, and he interpreted it through the lens of Roman culture •  He followed the Academy and Stoicism, although his works reflect eclec>cism and he oaen picked and chose from different creeds •  Cicero regarded philosophy as subordinate to poli>cs –  His works on philosophy had a poli>cal purpose: to help defend and improve the Roman republic Literature and Poli>cs: Sallust, Catullus, Lucre>us •  Gaius Sallus>us Crispus (86 BC – c. 35 BC) –  Historian who felt that he could best contribute to republic by wri>ng history rather than through military deeds –  He wrote the Bellum Ca;linae and Bellum Iugurthinum •  Gaius Valerius Catullus (ca. 84–54 BC) –  A poet who uses poli>cal and military language to talk about love –  (Cicer really didn’t like Catullus) •  Titus Lucre>us Carus (c. 99 BC – c. 55 BC) –  He is concerned with showing how Epicurean doctrine will help Romans cure their social and poli>cal problems Poli>cs as a way of life •  Choosing not to par>cipate in poli>cs is itself poli>cal – it is an act of poli>cal dissidence •  For the Roman elite, everything came back to poli>cs –  Probably the result of such a small group of people being in charge –  It is also an accident of history, that all remaining literary sources (with the excep>on of some poems by the female poet Sulpicia and some leIers found near Hadrian’s wall) from Rome are wriIen by men for a male audience The Roman Forum hIp://www.history.com/photos/roman-­‐architecture-­‐and-­‐engineering/photo5