Historians, Orators, Statesmen, and Writers of Rome

Historical Thought

  • Historical thought uses the lessons of history to understand the present and to make decisions for the future.

  • We must use history as an analytical tool and making use of the lessons of history that our founders brought our constitution into being. 

  • The most instructive history was the history of the Roman world- The Republic and the Empire.

Lessons - Greece and Rome

  • Greece- Founders favored centralized gov.t over direct democracy. Too much power in the masses is not a good thing.

  • Rome- Our constitutions reflected the balanced constitution of Rome.

    • Sovereignty-(supreme power of authority)- 

    • Sovereignty of the people guided by the wisdom of the Senate

    • Powerful executive - Commander in chief (Consul)

No constitution would work w/o civic virtue and common good. Patriotism must vitalize every constitution

Four Elements of Classical History

  1. Moral dimension

  2. Importance of biography

  3. History as the story of freedom

  4. The idea that history is about great events and great leaders.

Polybius

A Greek who was the first to offer key insights into the development of the Roman state and discussed aspects of Roman society that Romans themselves hardly noticed.

  • Polybius believed that Roman political institutions were superior to Greek.

  • Even under Alexander the Great the Greeks failed to form a lasting empire. 

Why did Rome succeed?

  • The Roman Character- As seen in statesmanship, public spirit, and moderation towards defeated peoples.

  • He believed their constitution and mixed form of gov.t was also why successful.- Monarchy, popular elements, and aristocracy of the senate.

  • He also believed in Tyche- fate or fortune favored Rome in drawing the world, at that time, under their control. 

Problems and Lessons from the Historian´s Accounts

  • Problems:

    •  Livy failed to give the Etruscans and Greeks the credit they deserved in influencing Rome. He attributes it to the Roman people qualities.

    • Questionable if Rome truly mixed gov.´t.

    • Patricians and Plebeians not equals and with expanded rights the Plebeians still subservient to the power of the Patricians.

  • Lessons:

    • FF believed in the importance of virtue in a republic.

    • Also believed that vigilance needed to guard against ambition of individuals which is a threat to a Republic.

Suetonius

  • Most famous works his collection of biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 Roman emperors- Book known as Lives of The Twelve Caesars.

  • His writings provide historians with valuable and the only information on emperors.

  • focused on ancestry and early life to describe episodes that reveal the character of the future emperors.

  • He does not insert moralizing judgments of the emperors.

Livy

  • Not from Rome- Padua in Northern Italy. 

  • full-time historian.

  • He was criticized him for not verifying all his facts and some considered him a writer not an historian. 

  • He wrote 142 volumes of Roman history- From founding through reign of Emperor Augustus.- Most of these works lost. 

  • His works demonstrate great respect for Roman heroism. 

  • He would also have to cover the demise of Rome and the deterioration of its values.

Appian

  • Born in Alexandria.

  • Moved to Rome and became a citizen

    • Lawyer

    • Procurator- Financial agent of the gov.’t.

  • Wrote 24 books of Roman history in Greek called Romaica- most of the works lost. 

  • He admired Roman records and included more economic and social information than other historians.

  • He was a supporter of the importance of Alexandria and the virtues of the Romans.

Tacitus

  • Considered to be the greatest Roman historian. One of the most loved by Founding Fathers.

  • Born during reign of Nero and active through reign of Trajan and early years of Hadrian. 

  • Best known works Histories : Cover the history of the empire from Julio-Claudians to reign of Domitian.

  • Annals- Begin with death of Augustus and ends prior to the death of Nero.

  • Highly critical of emperors Tiberius, Nero and Domitian- Still works reveal allegiance and devotion to the empire and regrets for the loss of the Republic and decline of empire.


Cicero

  • Orator, Praetor, Consul, Lawyer, Political theorist and philosopher

  • Speeches, works of oratory, letters, and philosophy.

  • His works are among the most valuable sources of our knowledge of the Roman world.

  • Cicero believed education and virtue were most important.

Cato

  • Not aristocratic Roman family 

  • Orator, Praetor, military.

  • Influenced Stoic philosophy- Pursuit of truth and its ideals of public service

  • Defender  of traditional Roman constitution and the dominant role of the senate. 

  • More powerful in death- A symbol of traditional Roman liberty and opposition to tyranny.

Horace

  • Son of a freedman.

  • Educated in Rome

  • Went to Greece studied at the Academy.

  • Faithful supporter of Augustus.

  • Odes, Epistles, and Satires

  • Satires- dealt w/ Augustus’s attempts to deal w/ the issues of the Empire. He attacked social abuses in poems. He used mockery in poems not aimed at individuals but issues. 

Virgil

  • His province did not have Roman citizenship-His father a Latin and was a citizen of Rome.

  • Educated in Rome in Rhetoric but did not like the law.

  • Moved to Naples studied philosophy at an Epicurean School.

  • Eclogues- 10 poems on life and loves of a Shepherd and the turmoil of the civil war- Won accolades and was given a home on top of a hill in Rome.

  • Georgics- 4 poems describing life of countrymen and demonstrated a great love of living things.

  • Wrote the Aeneid