reading summaries for essays

for hist 1702

Aristotle, Politics

• Defines good vs perverted constitutions based on rule for common good vs narrow interest.

• Discusses citizen virtue: being capable of rule and being ruled.

• Rejects idea that birth/wealth = right to rule; emphasizes function and excellence.

• Introduces framework for polity, oligarchy, democracy, and “mixed constitutions.”

• Stresses leadership must be judged by aim (common benefit) rather than by number of rulers.

Themes: ethical grounding of political authority; suspicion of hereditary right.

xunzi

• Argues human nature is bad, requiring ritual and moral training to produce goodness.

• Leaders must impose standards, regulate desires, create ritual order.

• The ruler’s task is deliberate construction of morality, not reliance on innate goodness.

• Condemns charismatic spontaneity; praises discipline, learning, rectification.

• Presents model where ruler = architect of civilization through institutions.

Themes: leadership through rigid cultivation; anti-charismatic theory.

plutarch (greek lives), life of solon

• Solon chosen because Athens is in crisis: class conflict between debt-slavery poor and landowning elite.

• Rejects tyranny even though people pressure him to take it.

• Performs seisachtheia: cancels debts + frees debt-slaves.

• Reforms weights, measures, and class structure to broaden political participation.

• Creates Council of 400; introduces jury courts that empower ordinary citizens.

• Leaves Athens after legislating to prevent repeal of his reforms.

• Leadership characterized by moderation, institution-building, refusal of personal power.

Themes: founder-leader as constitutional architect; legitimacy through fairness + balance.

sima qian, the first emperor

• Displays Qin Shi Huangdi’s transformation from king → emperor.

• Centralizes power: abolishes aristocratic fiefs, creates commanderies with appointed officials.

• Standardizes weights, measures, writing system, roads, axles.

• Uses law as primary instrument of control.

• Also increasingly tyrannical: harsh punishments, literary suppression, secretive behavior.

• Obsessed with immortality; manipulated by alchemists.

• His paranoia + massive projects (wall, mausoleum) drain state resources.

• Ends with rebellion ignited by harshness and misrule.

Themes: founder as revolutionary-centralizer; cost of absolutism.

Plutarch (Greek Lives), Pericles

• Born into elite, highly educated (music, philosophy, Anaxagoras).

• Known for incorruptibility (Plutarch: beyond reach of bribery).

• Uses persuasion over force; dominates democracy through rhetorical authority.

• Tight personal discipline: few appearances in public, crafts carefully controlled image.

• Initiates major building programs (Acropolis) to glorify city + employ public.

• Expands Athenian empire; institutes pay for jury service, enabling poor participation.

• Faces criticism for imperialism; prosecuted but acquitted.

• Leadership defined by strategic restraint, moral reputation, intellectualism, imperial vision.

Themes: democratic leadership mixing charisma + intellect; tension between public trust and empire-building.

plutarch (greek lives), cicero

• Early life: rises through rhetoric; outsider to Roman nobility.

• His consulship defined by Catiline conspiracy 63 BCE: uses speeches to rally Senate, orders executions.

• Navigates volatile late Republic politics; uneasy position between populares and optimates.

• Often portrayed as anxious, self-promoting, valuing the gloria of public life.

• Exiled for actions during Catiline affair; returns through support networks.

• In later years, philosophical writing + opposition to Antony become central.

Themes: leadership in declining republics; fragility of rhetorical authority; moral posturing vs political constraint.

plutarch (greek lives), alexander the great

• Describes Alexander’s ambition, speed, and boldness.

• Emphasizes personal bravery, leading charges, risking life.

• Strategic adaptation; uses small force to defeat large Persian Empire.

• Relationship to companions: generous but expects absolute loyalty.

• Increasingly adopts/tolerates Near Eastern royal customs; tension with Macedonians.

• Moments of violent temper (killing Cleitus).

• Expansion driven by desire for glory + world conquest.

Themes: charisma + extremity; fusion of cultural models; danger of unchecked ambition.

Xenophon, Cyropaedia

• Cyrus as idealized ruler; Book 8 shows late-reign problems.

• Cyrus establishes disciplined empire, uses merit-based appointments, rewards loyalty.

• Values obedience, self-control, ritual.

• Funeral + succession reveal instability: despite his leadership virtues, the empire fractures after death.

Themes: charismatic founder whose system depends too much on him; fragility of empire after strongman’s death.

Suetonius, Life of Augustus

• Covers Augustus’ rise: adoption by Caesar → alliance with Antony → civil wars.

• Lists his reforms of Senate, army, taxation, public works.

• Describes extremely careful curation of image: modesty, refusal of extraordinary titles.

• Presents clemency and political calculation; avoids appearing tyrannical.

• Uses moral legislation, family-values propaganda.

• Public benefactions, games, temples → legitimacy through visible generosity.

Themes: autocrat disguising autocracy; leadership through moral performance

Res Gestae, Augustus Auto-Biography

• First-person self-presentation of Augustus.

• Emphasizes generosity, restoration of order, refusal of dictatorship.

• Claims to have “transferred republic back to Senate and people.”

• Lists military victories and funding of public works.

• Text = ideological self-fashioning emphasizing service over domination.

Themes: narrative control; how leaders manufacture legacy.

Herodotus Book III

Darius rise to power

• After Cambyses dies, nobles realize “Smerdis” ruling Persia is a fake.

• Darius is one of the seven who overthrow him.

Horse trick

• Seven agree kingship goes to whoever’s horse neighs first at sunrise.

• Darius’ groom rigs it by letting his stallion mate with a mare at the spot beforehand.

• At dawn the horse smells the mare and neighs → Darius wins.

• He claims divine sign, uses cunning to secure rule.

Behistun

• Darius carves massive inscription to justify rule (first thing he includes his is lineage claiming connected to Achaemenes and Cyrus.

• Lists rebels he defeated; frames them as “liars.”

• Emphasizes Ahura Mazda’s support (god in Zoroastianism)

• Leadership legitimated by truth, military success, divine favor.

royal ideology through narrative; suppression = core of imperial consolidation.

shaw, spartacus

• Spartacus leads massive slave revolt.

• Shaw emphasizes scale, coordination, multiethnic composition.

• Spartacus displays strategic intelligence, avoids pitched battles until necessary.

• Refuses opportunistic plans; wants freedom rather than plunder.

• Internal fractures (Gauls/Germans) weaken revolt.

• Crassus’ brutal discipline (decimation) eventually turns tide.

• Spartacus dies fighting in front lines.

revolutionary leadership vs structural constraints; importance of unity; moral authority without institutions.

Gordon, Age of Attila

• Attila takes power after Roua dies (c. 433), rules with Bleda until he kills Bleda around 444/445.

• Described as terrifying by reputation alone, haughty, always looking around, “born to shake the nations.”

• Treaty w/ Eastern Romans: 700 lbs gold yearly; constantly demands fugitives back.

• 443–447 unstable peace, many embassies; Attila rejects gifts if offended, sees gifts as tribute.

• Exposes Roman plot (Bigilas + gold), humiliates embassy by sending the gold back to Constantinople.

• Court described as simple wood houses + felt mats, but huge enclosed compound to show power.

• Executes people brutally (impalement, crucifixion), uses terror as discipline.

• Controls ambassadors by forbidding trade, stalling meetings, threatening war.

• Sends armies through Scythia subduing tribes, punishes defectors.

• Honoria sends ring → Attila demands marriage + half the empire, uses as excuse to invade West.

fear, simplicity used as image, diplomacy as intimidation, unpredictability, dominance over Romans.

roller, cleopatra

• Ch. 4–6 cover ascent to throne, alliance with Caesar, consolidation of rule.

• Cleopatra portrayed as politically adept, using education, multilingualism, and court ritual.

• Manages civil war with siblings; uses Roman alliance to stabilize Egypt.

• Demonstrates administrative control: famine relief, coinage reforms.

• Ch. 9: alliance with Antony; strategic display at Tarsus; joint political imagery; naval preparations.

female kingship through performance, diplomacy

Historia Augusta, “Zenobia”

• Zenobia extremely educated, knows Greek and Egyptian history, compares herself to Cleopatra but claims she’s better.

• After husband Odaenathus is killed, she takes over rule of Palmyra and the East.

• Runs the empire strictly, travels with army, supposedly marches on foot with soldiers.

• Expands control: takes Egypt, takes much of the eastern provinces while Rome is weak.

• Claims descent from Cleopatra and Ptolemies to justify rule.

• Keeps court disciplined, demands modesty and restraint

• Famous for her toughness: hunts, rides horses, endures hardship.

• Aurelian campaigns against her; she resists fiercely but eventually flees toward Persia.

• Captured alive at the Euphrates crossing.

• Displayed in Aurelian’s triumph but treated with dignity afterward (estate granted, allowed to live).

disciplined queen, intellectual image, mixes Roman + Eastern royal styles, uses lineage + moral authority to rule.

tacitus, annals

• Boudicca abused after husband’s death; daughters assaulted.

• Leads Iceni + Trinobantes revolt against Roman settlers’ exploitation.

• Motivated by grievances: confiscation of land, enslavement, humiliation.

• Early victories: destruction of Camulodunum, London, Verulamium.

• Massive casualties among Romans and allies.

• Suetonius reorganizes, defeats rebels in pitched battle.

• Boudicca dies by poison.

revolt catalyzed by injustice; female leadership through righteous vengeance.

Sima Qian, Shi Ji

• After Liu Bang dies, Lü Zhi immediately moves to secure power, becomes Empress Dowager directing the court.

• Removes rivals fast: forces execution of political enemies, wipes out families who threaten Lü control.

• Most notorious case: Concubine Qi — has her mutilated, blinded, limbs cut off, made into “human pig,” shows this to the young emperor to break his loyalty.

• Places Lü family members in high offices, installs them as kings and marquises across empire to build her own faction.

• Controls succession: young Emperor Hui (her son) kept powerless; after his death she installs puppet child rulers under her regency.

• Government under her is harsh but stable: empire functions, taxes and administration continue normally.

• Court lives in fear; Lü clan dominates every major position.

• After Lü Zhi dies, officials + Liu royal clan unite, purge the entire Lü family in violent sweep, restoring Liu lineage to throne.

female regent power, rule through fear, legitimacy struggles, violence as political instrument, family networks as political infrastructure.

Boatwright, Imperial Women of Rome

• julia domna born in Emesa (Syria), priestly family, marries Septimius Severus.

• Travels everywhere with Severus: Gaul → Syria → Egypt → East → Africa → Britain.

• Gets titles mater castrorum, then mother of senate, mother of fatherland → huge symbolic authority.

• Present with armies, in military camps, near war zones; shows Severan dynasty strength.

• In Britain with Severus + sons until Severus dies in 211.

• After Geta killed, stays close to Caracalla, manages petitions, letters, administration.

• Goes east again with Caracalla on long tour (214–216).

• Dies in Antioch after Caracalla assassinated (217).

imperial mother-power, public presence of elite women, political visibility, female authority tied to dynasty + military image.

theocritus, Idyll XVII

• Poem praises Ptolemy II and his sister-wife Arsinoë II.

• Arsinoë shown as divine-level queen, connected to the gods.

• Praised for piety, wealth, generosity to temples and subjects.

• Linked to military success and stability of the kingdom.

• Her presence strengthens Ptolemaic rule, legitimizes dynasty.

• Imagery: prosperity, fertility, cosmic harmony — queen as protective figure for Egypt.

Procopius, Secret History

• Extremely hostile portrait.

• Claims Theodora rose from prostitution to power through cunning.

• Presents her as calculating, ruthless, sexually manipulative.

• Describes brutal suppression of opponents; cruelty in private life.

• Yet also shows her as decisive political actor (e.g., during Nika revolt—implied background).

• Attacks Justinian as monstrous, demonic, destructive.

propaganda vs reality; anxieties about female power; leadership via fear + determination.

confucious analects

• ruler leads by virtue + moral example, not force; if he is upright, people straighten themselves

• good government = guiding people through ritual (li) so they develop shame + internal discipline

• if you rule by punishments, people avoid penalties but don’t become good

• importance of self-cultivation: leader fixes himself first, then others follow naturally

• “rectifying names” = making sure roles match reality; when ruler behaves like a true ruler, ministers like ministers, society stays ordered

• people mirror the ruler’s character: if he is moral, they act moral; if he is corrupt, they follow that

• emphasis on steady, stable leadership: ruler like the North Star, stays firm while others orient around him

scott, ancient worlds

• Frames Confucius in global context: philosophical response to political breakdown.

• Leadership requires harmonizing cosmos + society.

• Emphasizes role of ritual in stabilizing state.

Plato, Republic

• Cephalus: justice = telling truth + paying debts; Socrates shows this breaks down in extreme cases.

• Polemarchus: justice = help friends, harm enemies; Socrates argues we misjudge friends/enemies and harming people makes them worse → unjust.

• Thrasymachus: justice = advantage of the stronger; rulers make laws for themselves. Socrates counters that real crafts serve the good of the subject, so real rulers must serve the ruled.

• Socrates argues justice creates harmony in the soul, injustice creates conflict → weak, unstable person or city.

• Justice allows cooperation; injustice destroys groups from within.

• Leadership point: rulers shouldn’t rule for profit; good leadership aims at common benefit.

attack on self-serving power, justice as harmony, leadership as service.

Eusebius, Life of Constantine

• Constantine presented as chosen by God, receives divine signs and visions guiding him through civil wars (e.g., heavenly cross vision before battle).

• Sees victories as proof of God’s favor, contrasts himself with impious rivals who fall because they oppose the Christian God.

• Promotes Christian ethics across the empire: supports clergy, builds churches, encourages charity, pushes rulers to behave with mercy and moral restraint.

• Acts like a spiritual overseer of the empire — Eusebius calls him almost a “bishop of those outside the church,” blending religious and imperial roles.

• Suppresses pagan sacrifices and immoral festivals; removes idols; frames this as cleansing the empire from false worship.

• Constantly portrayed as the restorer of peace after chaos: ends persecutions, stabilizes provinces, reorders finances and administration under Christian morality.

• Legitimacy comes from providence, not heredity; God elevates him because of his piety and righteous conduct.

Procopius, Justinian

• Justinian shown as draining the empire: heavy taxes, property seizures, corrupt finances.

• Endless wars + disasters under him; Procopius says his rule worsens plague, famine, economic collapse.

• Calls him deceitful and two-faced, pretending kindness while plotting harm.

• Describes him as suspicious + insatiable, always inventing new taxes and purges.

• Portrays him as almost demonic, unnatural, destroying cities and populations.

• Empire becomes hollowed out, weakened, exhausted by his policies.

anti-imperial warning, dangers of absolute power, emperor as a force of ruin.