Killing Romans: Legitimizing Violence in Cicero and Caesar

Roman history and literature;Gaius Julius Caesar;Marcus Tullius Cicero;Violence and Politics;Classical Studies;Humanities;Classical Studies

Stimson, JacquelineSchultz, Celia E ;

University of Michigan

关键词: Roman history and literature;    Gaius Julius Caesar;    Marcus Tullius Cicero;    Violence and Politics;    Classical Studies;    Humanities;    Classical Studies;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/137159/jpincus_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

In this dissertation, I examine Cicero and Caesar’s attitudes towards the legality of executing Roman citizens in the name of the state, with a particular focus on the senatus consultum ultimum (s.c.u.). I argue that their stance on this issue directly corresponded to their political ideology and conception of the Republican government. Moreover, I show that their positions were consistent over the course of their political careers—with Cicero supporting and Caesar condemning such acts of violence—but that they adapted their rhetoric to the changing political situation. The structure of my dissertation highlights this diachronic perspective. In Chapter 1, I explore Cicero’s justification of the s.c.u. in his political speeches of 63 BCE, the height of his career. I argue that his attitude fits his vision of the res publica as a mixed constitution. In Chapter 2, I illustrate that Cicero maintained the same defense of the s.c.u. in speeches from 52 and at the end of his career in 44-43, but his justifications and rhetoric shifted. In Chapter 3, I show that Caesar’s rhetorical strategy of suppressing violence in his account of the Gallic wars (58-52) was consistent with his general condemnation of decrees like the s.c.u. and the image he creates of himself as the ideal leader of Rome. I argue that his attitude aligned with his view of the res publica as the Roman people, whose rights must be protected above all. In Chapter 4, I examine his account of the civil war with Pompey (49-48), and show that his strategy of placing blame for Roman deaths on the Pompeians was integral to his political ideology and constructed image as a champion of the people. Chapter 5 concludes the Roman period and looks forward at the reception of these ideas in Machiavelli, Locke, and the Federalists.