roman texts

Augustus, Res Gestae

Written 14 CE (upon Augustus' death); Autobiographical inscription listing Augustus' achievements to be posted across the empire; suggests the intense use of propaganda to justify the principate; emphasis on restoring 'the Republic' while consolidating personal power.

Suetonius, Life of Augustus

Early 2nd century CE (under Hadrian); Part of Lives of the Twelve Caesars — biographical portraits blending fact, rumor, and personal character; suggests Roman fascination with personal morality of leaders; the blurred line between private virtue and public power.

Tacitus, Annals and Life of Agricola

Early 2nd century CE (c. 100-120 CE); Annals cover the Julio-Claudian dynasty; Agricola memorializes his father-in-law and critiques Domitian's tyranny; suggests deep senatorial cynicism toward emperors; longing for lost Republican values; concern about the cost of imperialism.

Seneca, Apocolocyntosis

54 CE; Satirical attack on Emperor Claudius after his death, mocking his deification; suggests elite disdain for certain emperors; growing use of satire to veil political critique.

Petronius, Satyricon

Mid-1st century CE; A picaresque novel lampooning Roman social climbers, freedmen, and debauchery; suggests sharp class divisions; moral decline perceived among the nouveau riche; tension between old aristocratic values and new wealth.

Pliny the Younger, Letters

Late 1st-early 2nd century CE; Personal correspondence covering events like the eruption of Vesuvius and early Christians; suggests elite social life was highly formalized; emergence of Christianity caused administrative uncertainty but not yet widespread persecution.

Josephus, Jewish War

c. 75-79 CE; An account of the Jewish revolt against Roman rule (66-73 CE); suggests Rome's brutal suppression of resistance; tension between Roman imperialism and local identities; the precarious position of provincial elites.

Lex de imperio Vespasiani

69-70 CE; Formal grant of imperial powers to Vespasian during the Year of the Four Emperors; suggests transition from Republic to monarchy was now fully normalized legally; the emperor's authority became institutionalized.

Apuleius, *The Golden ****

Late 2nd century CE (c. 160 CE); Only surviving complete Roman novel; story of a man turned into a donkey; suggests popular fascination with magic, mystery religions, and transformation; a society seeking personal salvation amidst instability.

Cassius Dio, History of Rome

Early 3rd century CE; Comprehensive history from the founding of Rome to Dio's lifetime (written in Greek).

Life of Hadrian (M)

Author: Unknown (part of the Historia Augusta); Timeframe: Late 4th century CE (though pretending to be earlier); Context: Semi-fictional biography mixing fact and invention; Suggests: Late Roman fascination with strong, cultured emperors; nostalgia for more stable times amidst growing instability.

The Passion of St. Perpetua

Author: Unknown; partly written by Perpetua herself; Timeframe: Early 3rd century CE (c. 203 CE); Context: Account of Christian martyrs in Carthage; Suggests: Christianity's growing presence and threat to Roman traditional authority; importance of visions, martyrdom, and female piety.

Notitia Dignitatum

Author: Official imperial bureaucrats; Timeframe: Early 5th century CE; Context: A list of all military units and administrative posts across the empire; Suggests: Massive bureaucratic complexity; survival of Roman structures even as military strength declined.

Eusebius, Life of Constantine (M)

Author: Eusebius of Caesarea (bishop and historian); Timeframe: Mid-4th century CE; Context: Panegyrical biography of Constantine the Great; Suggests: Close union between Christianity and imperial power; the redefinition of Roman identity through Christianization.

Zosimus, New History (M)

Author: Zosimus (pagan historian); Timeframe: Early 6th century CE; Context: A history blaming Christianity for Rome's decline; Suggests: Continued resistance to Christian dominance among pagans; nostalgia for the pagan past as the empire collapses.

Ammianus Marcellinus, Histories (M)

Author: Ammianus Marcellinus (former soldier, historian); Timeframe: Late 4th century CE; Context: Continuation of Tacitus, focusing on the later empire's struggles; Suggests: Military and political chaos increasingly threatened Roman stability; admiration for "good" emperors like Julian the Apostate.

Symmachus' Relation 3

Author: Quintus Aurelius Symmachus (senator and orator); Timeframe: Late 4th century CE (c. 384 CE); Context: Petition to restore the Altar of Victory (symbol of paganism) to the Senate house; Suggests: Final battles over religious identity in Rome; senatorial elites divided between paganism and Christianity.

Ambrose's Response to Symmachus

Author: St. Ambrose (bishop of Milan); Timeframe: Late 4th century CE; Context: Letter arguing against restoring the Altar of Victory; Suggests: Ascendancy of Christianity in politics; assertion that Christian truth must prevail over traditional Roman religion.

Procopius: Alaric's Sack of Rome

Author: Procopius (later Byzantine historian); Timeframe: Early 6th century CE; Context: Retelling of the 410 sack of Rome by the Visigoths under Alaric; Suggests: The symbolic collapse of Roman security; psychological trauma of losing the 'eternal city.'

St. Jerome on the Fate of Rome

Author: St. Jerome (Christian scholar); Timeframe: Early 5th century CE; Context: Letters reflecting on Rome's fall and the end of an age; Suggests: Christian framing of Rome's fall as punishment and transition to a spiritual kingdom.

Jordanes, History of the Goths, XXIV-XLVII

Author: Jordanes (Gothic historian, Christianized); Timeframe: Mid-6th century CE; Context: A summary history of the Goths based partly on earlier works; Suggests: Integration of 'barbarian' groups into Roman historical narratives; Goths no longer purely seen as enemies but as heirs to Roman traditions.