Chronology
of the period.
Culture in the Late Republic.
The Problem: This was a period that is characterized by political turmoil and
uncertainty, yet also by great cultural achievement. Is there a connection:
does political turmoil liberate creative energy?
- Introduction: links
to literary sources at end of this page
- All the writers of
the late republic, Cicero, Lucretius, Catullus lived in an age marked by
great civic uncertainty: civil war, confiscation of property, a constitutional
crisis, the collapse of the old order. Romans believed that the cause of
their disasters was moral decline. It was also a period of intensive cultural
growth for Rome: the writers of the two generations that lived in the last
seventy years BC were responsible for Rome's greatest intellectual achievement.
- Though Hellenic influences
were pervasive, the Romans had become sufficiently self-conscious of their
own potential and achievements to advance a distinctly Latin literature.
The forms owe much to Greek models, but the content and message are distinctly
Roman.
- Hellenic influences:
the Roman response was ambiguous (RC§185)
- Literacy and the administration
of the empire. Expressed in the textbooks and handbooks that make up much
of the literature of the period
- Education: RC§186
- Based on growing needs
of governmental bureaucracy.
- Cato and Varro . Both
wrote extensively on a variety of subjects appropriate for the education
and edification of the gentleman. Varro wrote 620 volumes. His Annales,
a chronological survey of history, provide the basis for our understanding
of the ancient world. Also wrote on the nature of the gods (as did others),
on agriculture in the form of sensible advice for the gentleman farmer (RC§166).
The latter is systematic and experimental in character with chapters on
soil, cultivation, animal husbandry, and bee keeping. Most interestingly,
he wrote a number of handbooks on senatorial procedures (RC§156)
designed to help new senators who, in the confusion of the times, had come
to power.
- High Culture: In general:
some, like Cicero, turned to political philosophy to find a solution for the
many problems facing Rome. Others, like Catullus, having become disenchanted
with politics and uncertain about the future of Rome, turned to cynicism,
despair and overindulgence. Still others turned to the philosophies of disengagement
to find spiritual peace in a world turned upside down. On art collection,
RC§188
- Cicero: we know more
about him than about any other figure until the invention of the printing
press.
- As a politician
- as homo novus
(that is he had no inherited clientele or consular ancestors).
- He was distinctly
pro-Italian, favored the equestrian order and sought the support of Pompey,
whose military achievement (Cicero believed) complemented his civil ones.
As his career advances, he became the foremost advocate of optimate ideas,
the defender of order and stability.
- He understood the
constitutional crisis facing Rome and, through his many treatises, sought
to restore the integrity of the constitution.
- As a man of letters:
defined the Latin language; made Greek philosophy accessible in Latin, critical
for the many educated Romans who did not learn Greek and of fundamental
importance to the Renaissance. Esp. noteworthy and influential was 'on moral
obligations':
- preservation of
life and property bring humans together; by working together, humans fulfill
their natural potential. Anything that contributes to this process is
a 'good'.
- or, to achieve anything
(good), human must cooperate: that is they must life together (in cities);
to cooperate means to fulfill obligations. By meeting obligations, we
find it easier to live together and find fulfillment as humans; hence,
fulfilling obligations is the highest good.
- the more one can
accrue obligation (i.e., place others under obligation) the more work
can be organized; the more that work can be organized, the greater the
achieved good. Hence, moral goodness equals the ability to place others
under obligation.
- status is a reflection
of one's contribution to society, namely your ability to obligate others.
The degree to which one can place others under obligation reflects one's
ability to allocate resources and defines one's authority.
- How to accrue obligation:
just dealing; not doing harm. Generosity.
- As the protection
of property and life is what brings men together, it follows that any
attack on either is morally 'bad'.
- Poetry:
- Very strongly influenced
by Hellenistic models. A mixture of academic and the very personal; love
poetry and the intensity of feelings that can still evoke in Catullus's
famous odi et amo:
- Role of poetry in
a society that does not have books.
- The role of the literary
salon.
- Catullus (from Verona).
Begins a political career; uses poetry to satirize Caesar and other politicians.
Affair with Lesbia (wife of a consul, witty, charming, amoral, promiscuous:
note what he says about her in 58 or try IX in the selection below). In the Greek tradition, it is women
who feel uncontrollable passion; with Catullus it is the man. Passionate
love has nothing to do with marriage(!!!). The more academic side is best
represented by poem 61 and both other poems not given in the collection;
- Lucretius: de rerum
natura (on the nature of things). Written in verse (as is common in pre-Socratic
Greek philosophy (Plato however banned Homer and poetry from his ideal society
of philosophers because poetry inflamed the passions). Develops the materialistic
(or atomistic) philosophy of Epicurus (opposed by Cicero because Epicurean
philosophy encouraged withdrawal from civic life). Religion is mere superstition;
divinity places virtually no role. Soul is mortal, nothing to fear in death
(esp. III)
Selections on Latin
Literature:
--Cicero,on the republic;
on rhetoric;
--Catullus.
Caution: the translator does not spare you of the sexuality!
--Lucretius Book
1
Art and Architecture
--Basilica Aemelia: reconstruction
and today
--Tabularium
--Capitoline: via
sacra and today;
--Largo Argentina: overview;
temples
--Sulla
--Pompeius: theater
in Rome; the Roman map
of the ancient city; Albergo Lunetta; reconstruction.
Map
and Plans
