Literary Sources

Question 1

When was Diodorus Siculus writing, and where was he from?

Answer 1

Writing 1st c. BCE
Greek, from Sicily (hence the name)

Question 2

What did Diodorus Siculus write?

Answer 2

‘Biblioteca’: assemblage of works from various sources (entirely Greek)

Question 3

Did Diodorus visit Egypt?

Answer 3

Diodorus lived in the time of Julius Caesar and Augustus, and his own statements make it clear that he traveled in Egypt during 60–57 bc and spent several years in Rome.

Question 4

Who were Diodorus’ sources? Name 2:

Answer 4

Ephorus (for 480–340 bc) and Hieronymus of Cardia (for 323–302)
For Roman history he was heavily dependent on Polybius (to 146) and Posidonius.

Question 5

Why was Diodorus writing?

Answer 5

Diodoros aimed to write a universal history that covered not only the central role of Greece in the emergence of civilization but also the alternative claims of ostensibly older “barbarian” peoples.

Question 6

What does Diodorus say on the Egyptians?

Answer 6

Diodoros expressly states that peoples like the Egyptians claim civilizational priority and superiority but that Diodoros strongly disagrees with that view.

Question 7

Who is quoted in Strabo 17.1.12-13?

Answer 7

Polybius

Question 8

Who are the three races that Polybius discusses?

Answer 8

Egyptians, mercenaries, Alexandrians

Question 9

How does Polybius describe the Egyptians?

Answer 9

An acute and civilized race

Question 10

What are the issues with the later Ptolemaic period?

Answer 10

Dynastic struggles, many contenders to the throne.

Question 11

What was Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II’s nickname, and what did it mean?

Answer 11

Physcon. Fatty

Question 12

What did Eurgetes/Physcon do that lead to dynastic struggles?

Answer 12

Dates of his reign are patchy; marries first wife and then marries niece
Elevates Cleopatra III (niece) to co-regent which leads to a civil war, and after his death, his two wives are competing for their sons as rulers

Question 13

What does Plutarch say on Cleopatra in his ‘Antony’?

Answer 13

Essentially treating Cleopatra as a seductress, with Octavia as her antithesis: loyal, devoted, virtuous
Cleopatra abandoning Antony, and causing him to consistently lose battles
The non-Roman character is flighty, and dishonest

Question 14

How is Antony presented by Plutarch?

Answer 14

Bacchic revellers fleeing the city: Dionysus ‘abandoning’ Antony
Antony kills himself when he thinks Cleopatra is dead

Question 15

Who was Plutarch and when was he alive?

Answer 15

Greek writer and philosopher who lived between c. 45-50 CE and c. 120-125 CE

Question 16

What was Plutarch’s status and which emperors was he loyal to?

Answer 16

High status: Trajan granted him the rare honorary title of ornamenta consularia and Hadrian appointed him imperial procurator in Achaea

Question 17

When was Suetonius alive?

Answer 17

c. AD 69 – after AD 122

Question 18

Who was Suetonius?

Answer 18

Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire

Question 19

Which two emperors did Suetonius work under, and how was he favoured (or not)?

Answer 19

Under Trajan he served as secretary of studies (precise functions are uncertain) and director of Imperial archives. Under Hadrian, he became the emperor’s secretary. Hadrian later dismissed Suetonius for his alleged affair with the empress Vibia Sabina

Question 20

How does Cassius Dio describe the conflict between Antony and Octavian?

Answer 20

Orienting the narrative as if Antony was siding with Egypt against Rome: the military threat of Egypt is therefore revealed in the response to a general allying himself with an Egyptian ruler (setting the precedent for governorship of Egypt later as a Roman province under an equestrian, rather than senator)

Question 21

When did the limitations imposed on senators in Roman Egypt end?

Answer 21

This ended under Septimius Severus and his dynasty

Question 22

How did Dio’s background bias him when discussing Roman Egypt?

Answer 22

Dio’s senatorial background is a key influence on his writing: as a Romanised Greek member of the senatorial elite, Dio identified himself with the conservatism of this subculture, preferring to emulate views ascribed to Roman senators despite his Greek roots.

Question 23

What does Philo write about?

Answer 23

In Against Flaccus, Philo describes the situation of the Jews in Egypt, writing that they numbered not less than a million and inhabited two of the five districts in Alexandria. He recounts the abuses of the prefect Aulus Avilius Flaccus, who he says retaliated against the Jews when they refused to worship Caligula as a god.

Question 24

How did Philo adapt his writing to suit the political landscape?

Answer 24

Given this tense background, it may have been politically convenient for Philo to favor abstract monotheism instead of overt pro-Judeanism.

Question 25

Who was the Flaccus that Philo writes about?

Answer 25

Aulus Avilius Flaccus (died 39 CE) was a Roman eques who was appointed praefectus or **governor of Roman Egypt** from 33 CE to 38. His rule coincided with the riots against Alexandria's Jewish population in 38. According to some accounts, including Philo's, **Flaccus was responsible for cruelty against the Jews** during these events.

Question 26

What was Flaccus' background?

Answer 26

Flaccus grew up with the sons of Caesar Augustus's daughters and was friends with Tiberius.

Question 27

How did Flaccus die?

Answer 27

He was recalled to Andros and executed in 39 CE.

Question 28

What did Horace say about Cleopatra?

Answer 28

Slandering Cleopatra and her retinue of effeminate men, but praising her strength and manner in killing herself

Question 29

What was Horace's 'Odes'?

Answer 29

An ode of joy for Octavian's victory at Actium, the capture of Alexandria, and the death of Cleopatra (30 BC). The tone of triumph over the fallen queen is tempered by a tribute of admiration to her lofty pride and resolute courage.

Question 30

When was Horace alive and who was he?

Answer 30

Quintus Horatius Flaccus. 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC). The leading **Roman lyric poet** during the time of **Augustus**.

Question 31

Why was Horace biased towards Augustus and against Cleopatra?

Answer 31

His career coincided with Rome's momentous change from a republic to an empire. An officer in the republican army defeated at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, he was befriended by Octavian's right-hand man in civil affairs, Maecenas, and became a spokesman for the new regime.

Question 32

Why was Egypt ruled by equestians, and what does Tacitus say about this?

Answer 32

Egypt governed under equestrian class, rather than other provinces which were under the control of governors from the senatorial classes Tacitus explains this lower-class ruling as due to the threat posed by Egypt’s power under a senator

Question 33

Why was Egypt dangerous?

Answer 33

Egypt under the wrong hands would be very difficult to reclaim, and the region’s loss could lead to the starvation of Rome

Question 34

What example does Tacitus give of the concerns around the strength of Egypt?

Answer 34

When Germanicus tours in c. 19 CE and does some sightseeing in Egypt, behaving entirely un-Roman and dressing natively Germanicus is very popular at this time, and potentially a threat to Tiberius, who rebukes him for a) his dress and b) entering Egypt without the explicit permission of the Roman emperor (Annals, 2.61)

Question 35

Who was Ulpian and when was he writing?

Answer 35

Ulpian (c. **170 – 223** or 228) was a **Roman jurist** born in Tyre in Roman Syria (modern Lebanon).

Question 36

Where is Ulpian preserved?

Answer 36

Justinian compilers create the Digest, in which we find Ulpian, a 3rd c. source looking back to this period

Question 37

What was the 'ius gladii'?

Answer 37

Ius gladii = law of the sword, essentially, the power of life and death over Roman citizens

Question 38

How does Strabo write about Alexandria?

Answer 38

Strabo focusing on physical features of city, critical of Egyptian ethnicities, only complementary of the pieces of Alexandria that could be claimed as Greco-Roman

Question 39

What happened to the head of the Idios Logos post under Augustus?

Answer 39

Octavian made this an equestrian post

Question 40

What was the head of the Idios Logos, according to Strabo?

Answer 40

Strabo, 17.1.12: “**he who investigates ownerless property and property which ought to fall to Caesar**.” Oversight of ousiai? (“estates” or “possessions”) Limited jurisdiction

Question 41

What does Dio Chrysostom say on Alexandria?

Answer 41

Dio Chrysostom talking about the geographical advantages of Alexandria; how it dominated trade routes and has a monopoly on the immediate landscape, specifically sea trade

Question 42

When was Dio Chrysostom alive?

Answer 42

c. 40 – c. 115 AD

Question 43

Who was Dio Chrysostom?

Answer 43

A Greek orator, writer, philosopher and historian of the Roman Empire in the 1st century AD

Question 44

Which emperor did Dio Chrysostom clash with?

Answer 44

He became a critic of the Emperor **Domitian**, who banished him from Rome, Italy, and Bithynia in 82 for advising one of the Emperor's conspiring relatives

Question 45

Which emperor did Dio Chrysostom align himself with?

Answer 45

He was a friend of **Nerva**, and when Domitian was murdered in 96 AD, Dio used his influence with the army stationed on the frontier in favour of Nerva. Under Emperor Nerva's reign, his exile was ended, and he was able to return home to Prusa.

Question 46

When was Josephus alive?

Answer 46

c. AD 37 – c. 100

Question 47

Who was Josephus?

Answer 47

A Roman–Jewish historian and military leader. Best known for writing The Jewish War, he was born in Jerusalem—then part of the Roman province of Judea—to a father of priestly descent and a mother who claimed Hasmonean royal ancestry.

Question 48

How did Josephus gain favour with the Romans?

Answer 48

Josephus claimed the **Jewish messianic prophecies that initiated the First Jewish–Roman War made reference to Vespasian becoming Roman emperor**. In response, Vespasian decided to keep him as a slave and presumably interpreter.

Question 49

Which two literary sources wrote under Trajan and Hadrian, and which one was favoured by Hadrian, whereas the other one was not?

Answer 49

Plutarch & Suetonius. Hadrian appointed Plutarch imperial procurator in Achaea, whereas Hadrian later dismissed Suetonius for his alleged affair with the empress Vibia Sabina.