Ceremony And Power: Reforming Politics in Rome Between Republic And Empire - Hardcover

Sumi, Geoffrey S.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0472115170 ISBN 13: 9780472115174

Verlag: The University of Michigan Press, 2005

Inhaltsangabe

In Ceremony and Power, Geoffrey Sumi is concerned with the relationship between political power and public ceremonial in the Roman Republic, with particular focus on the critical months following Caesar's assassination and later as Augustus became the first emperor of Rome. The book traces the use of a variety of public ceremonies, including assemblies of the people, triumphs, funerals, and games, as a means for politicians in this period of instability and transition to shape their public images and consolidate their power and prestige. Ultimately, Sumi shows that the will of the people, whether they were the electorate assembled at the comitia, the citizen body at the contio, the spectators at the theater, the crowd at the triumph, or mourners at a funeral, strongly influenced the decisions and actions of Roman aristocrats.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Geoffrey Sumi is Professor of Classics at Mount Holyoke College.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Ceremony and Power

Performing Politics in Rome between Republic and EmpireBy Geoffrey S. Sumi

THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN PRESS

Copyright © 2005University of Michigan
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-472-11517-4

Contents

Acknowledgments...................................................................................................................viiList of Abbreviations.............................................................................................................xiIntroduction Ceremonial Politics.................................................................................................11 Consensus and Conflict Typology of Roman Republican Ceremonial.................................................................162 Dictator Perpetuo Public Ceremonial under Caesar's Dictatorship................................................................473 Standing in Caesar's Shadow The Ides of March and the Performance of Public Oratory............................................744 Caesar ex machina Ceremony and Caesar's Memory.................................................................................975 The Arrival of Octavian and the Ascendancy of Antonius..........................................................................1216 Politics and Public Entertainment (July 44 BC)..................................................................................1427 Rivalry and Reconciliation Ceremony and Politics from Autumn 44 to the Formation of the Second Triumvirate.....................1598 The Performance of Politics in the Triumviral Period Opposition and Consolidation..............................................1869 The Princeps as Performer Creating Court Ceremony..............................................................................220Conclusion........................................................................................................................263Notes.............................................................................................................................269References........................................................................................................................329Index.............................................................................................................................347Plates............................................................................................................................361

Chapter One

Consensus and Conflict

A Typology of Roman Republican Ceremonial

* * *

Our discussion of the relationship between power and ceremonial in the late Roman Republic will begin with a framework or typology of ceremonial-an enumeration and general description of the kinds of events that form the focus of this study and their historical development. The purpose of this chapter is not to provide an exhaustive list but rather the principal categories of ceremonies that we will be discussing. These events were usually formal gatherings of the people at which the ownership and distribution of political power were demonstrated. They share characteristics of ceremony, as defined in the introduction, but each is distinctive. Contiones and triumphs, for instance, were ceremonies of quite different type-the one quotidian and routine, the other splendid and lavish, full of pageantry and spectacle, the ultimate accomplishment of a Roman aristocrat's career. The disruption of these events frequently became an objective of those intent on undermining the power that was at stake. At many of these ceremonies a tension was palpable between the power and prestige of an individual and the sovereignty of the people, between the celebration of the glory won in the name of Rome and the renown of individual achievements. Consequently, the discussion will focus on the role of ceremonial in creating political consensus and as a stage for social and political conflict. It is not enough to say that public ceremonial reflected the larger political context of which it was part; rather public ceremonial was itself political action.

Oratory before the People

Vergil's striking comparison of Neptune calming the seas to an orator standing before a raucous crowd (Aen. 1.142-56), commanding silence through his appearance and soothing an audience with his words, demonstrates the Roman belief in the power of oratory and its importance as a component of statesmanship. At the same time, the fact that the crowd was in need of calming shows that Vergil understood public oratory to be a place of conflict that an orator could resolve through his power, influence, and sometimes his mere presence. An orator's ability to incite or calm a crowd, persuade a jury to acquit his client, or convince an assembly to approve or reject legislation made him a formidable presence on the political scene in Rome. Part of the orator's power and prestige arose from the ceremonial nature of oratory: the formal dress and comportment of the orator, the raised platform from which he spoke, the crowd of spectators looking on, and the sense of oratory as performance. Yet there is evidence that the orator was required to defer to the people, who could pass judgment with shouts-or with silence.

In our discussion of oratory before the Roman people we will focus on two venues, the public meeting (contio) and judicial proceeding (quaestio). A contio was any gathering of the Roman populace or army for the purpose of hearing a speech delivered by a political or military leader. We will focus on two of the three basic types: the contio preceding the comitia tributa, in which legislation presented, discussed and debated in the contio was voted on; and the contio convened by a magistrate to inform the citizen body of an issue of public interest, such as the content, course, and outcome of debate in a meeting of the senate. All contiones had to be convened by a tribune of the plebs or a magistrate or promagistrate with imperium, and all speakers were summoned and introduced by the presiding magistrate, although the people could demand a speaker by acclamation. In some cases, a nonmagistrate (privatus) could address an assembly but only after being introduced by a tribune of the plebs.

The tension mentioned earlier, between the prestige of an individual aristocrat, in this case the presiding official or orator at a contio, and the sovereignty of the Roman people was often in evidence at these events, as we shall see. It is worth noting now that this tension was ceremonially acknowledged by the display of the fasces, the bundles of rods and axes that were carried by lictors on public occasions as emblems of a magistrate's coercive and punitive powers and were thought to have originated with the kings. The presence of a magistrate with imperium at a contio required a display of the fasces, but since these symbols of regal authority were anathema to the ideal of popular sovereignty under the Republic, they were ceremonially lowered before the people. This custom, ascribed to the great populist politician, P. Valerius Poplicola (Cic. Rep. 2.53; cf. 1.62), was a sign of deference to the power of the people, yet it also acknowledged the tension between the sovereignty of the people and the power and authority of a magistrate. This tension erupted...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: The University of Michigan Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2005
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0472115170
• ISBN 13: 9780472115174
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 360
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar