The Fall of the Republic Flashcards
(42 cards)
Plutarch
Was writing towards the end of 1st century AD 150 years after the events.
Famously said ‘I write lives not histories’.
Aimed to give us an insight into character and actions of leading Romans.
Cicero : General
Was a contemporary writer and only eye witness for most of period.
Letters and Speeches are highly valuable for information on this period, though many where edited by Atticus (his friend).
Atticus a friend of Cicero’s was not involved in politics meaning Cicero was able to freely write to him meaning this is a useful insight to his opinions.
Cicero : De Lege Agraria 63BC
Spoke against the Rullan Bill which had been proposed by the Tribune Rullus in 63BC.
Rules had proposed land redistribution, Cicero argued against it as it would damage the businesses of the elite.
Useful for understanding the issue with unemployment in Rome and land.
Cicero clearly supports the view of the Optimates.
Cicero : Letter 3 65BC
Was writing to his friend Atticus in 65BC and discussed his candidacy for the Consulship.
He mentions Catiline’s trial for extortion and hints at bribery of the court.
This is only Cicero’s view, this is before the Catilinarian Conspiracy.
Cicero : Letter 10 61BC
Before Cicero was exiled by Clodius for the execution of the plotters without a trial.
Clodius and Cicero are not enemies, Cicero was a witness against Clods at his trial.
Cicero states that Crassus had bribed the jury.
Clodius was acquitted 31 votes to 25.
The letter describes Pompeys use of bribery to get Afranius elected as Consul, Cicero is concerned.
Cicero : Letter 15 59BC
Cicero explains Clodius’ threats, he criticised the Triumvirs control as ‘infamous, disgraceful’ and that the people now dislike their control.
Cicero believes he has the support of the optimises against Clodius but is ‘certain that Rome is finished.
This is useful eye witness source to use when discussing the 1st triumvirate.
Cicero : Letter 16 59BC
Cicero says ‘The republic is finished’, He discusses Pompey’s position.
Optimates are his enemies ‘rascals’ not his friends, ‘He was a fallen star’.
He mentions Clodius’ hostility towards himself, this is very useful for Pompey’s position at this time.
Remember Cicero and Pompey’s alliance ad strong relationship which seem to be faltering at this stage.
Cicero : Letter 22 57BC
Cicero had returned from exile and is rebuilding his house.
Cicero says Clodius’ armed gang have attacked Cicero’s workmen at his house, set fire to his brothers house.
Clodius is terrorising Rome, chasing Cicero through the streets, and the Optimates aren’t to be seen.
Milo and his gang are opposing Clodius’ gang.
Cicero refers to the optimises as ‘sluggish nobility’.
It’s very useful for gang violence and the weakness of the senate but do remember Cicero and Clodius were rivals and Cicero was still sore that the optimises had not prevented his exile in 58BC.
Cicero : Letter 59 50BC
Within the rising tensions of Caesar and the Senate, Cicero is alarmed by the political situation.
He says most want to compromise with caesar but Cicero who wants peace will publicly support whatever Pompey says.
Useful when discussing the causes of the war.
Cicero : Letter 67 49BC
Cicero praises Caesar ‘how clever, alert, well prepared’.
the people are only interested in their land not the outcome of the war.
He laments the Optimates mistakes which have led to this and then criticises Pompey - ‘refused a;; peace terms, evacuated Rome’.
so this letter is very useful in understanding why Caesar was successful at this time but Cicero not being a military expert perhaps did not understand why Pompey fled.
He had no effective force in Italy and was better to leave for the east and raise forces there.
Pompey and Cicero allies so very useful that Cicero is criticising Pompey in this letter.
Cicero : Letter 113 44BC
Cicero says that his friend Matius said that if Caesar cold not ‘find a way out’ (of Rome’s problems) then no one can and Rome is finished.
This is a useful insight into the mess Rome was in and suggests Caesar attempted to fix it.
Cicero : Letter 114 44BC
Cicero writes that Caesar’s assassination ‘Was a fine dee, but had done!’
Cicero thought Antony should have been killed as well.
Cicero is unhappy with Antony who is introducing laws which Antony claims Caesar had planned (Roman citizenship for Sicilians).
He says Octavian cannot be a ‘good citizen’, Cicero says he doesn’t think much of the Consuls elect Hirtius and Pansa.
Cicero : Letter 118 44BC
Cicero explains the meeting with Brutus and Cassius.
Cicero says he though the conspirators missed opportunities to kill Antony, summon the sweat and win the people’s support.
He describes the conspirators as ‘I found the ship falling in pieces, or rather already in fragments. Not a sign of plan, logic, or system’.
A very useful source for why the liberators failed to restore the republic but it is in hindsight.
Cicero : The Catilinarian Orations 63BC
Cicero’s speeches against Caitlin, they are very useful as they give us his account of this event but remember that he published these 3 years after the event.
He is facing attacks from Clodius for executing the plotters without trial and he is aiming to justify his actions in order to avoid exile.
Remember that Caitlin is dead do we don’t have his view.
Cicero : Against Verres 70BC
Cicero was prosecuting Verres in 70BC and uses plenty of hyperbole to win the case.
His prosecution uses a lot of rumour and some may not be accurate. We do not have Verres’ account.
Cicero clearly has an agenda to win the case and advance his own career, however, it is a truly excellent source to learn about court cases in Rome, the bribery of the court and the weakness of the senate in dealing with this.
Only under pressure from Cicero do the Senatorial jury find Verres, one of their own, guilty.
As with his other speeches Cicero has written up this speech after the event and we know he edited them to make them better but the general substance is likely correct - make a link to Cicero’s Milo defence in which Cicero lost the case and according to Plutarch Milo, having read the later published speech whilst in exile, commented that if Cicero had only spoken that well in court he would “not now be enjoying the delicious red mullet of Massilia”.
Cicero : Pro Sestio 56BC
In this 56BC speech Cicero was defending his friend Sestius on a charge of violence against a prosecution brought by Clodius.
At this time Cicero and Clodius were arch enemies – due to the Bona Dea trial and Cicero’s exile.
Clearly Cicero is aiming to win the case but in the section we use he discusses the differences between optimates and populares – essentially optimates are the good men and populares are evil.
It seems he is attempting to draw Pompey away from the other triumvirs and so it would be to his advantage to polarize Roman politics and so he is not necessarily speaking the whole truth - Cicero identified as an optimate even if he was never fully accepted.
The definitions work for Clodius and Catiline but not Sulla (optimate who marched on Rome and proscriptions) nor Crassus or Pompey (Populares not in debt).
Cicero : The 2nd Philippic 44BC
This 44BC pamphlet was against Antony and deliberately aimed to blacken Antony’s reputation.
After the assassination of Caesar, Antony was acting like a dictator (without the title).
This pamphlet had a clear agenda to rally the senate and people against Antony.
Cicero gave 14 speeches/pamphlets over the course of a year. In this pamphlet Cicero accuses Antony of a number of crimes.
As with all Cicero’s letters and speeches it is an eyewitness account and very useful but it is one person’s account with a clear agenda against Antony and we don’t have Antony’s view.
Cicero really disliked Antony and this is Cicero’s last hurrah to save the republic.
Cicero : Commentarian Petitionis 65BC
In 65BC Quintus Cicero gave electioneering advice to his older brother Marcus (the main Cicero).
This pamphlet is really useful for understanding Roman elections - it is a private pamphlet from one brother to another and full of advice on how to win an election.
There doesn’t seem any ulterior motive. Quintus was a senator himself and so had been through and won elections but there were other methods used to gain success in election – bribery/violence/intimidation – not mentioned in the advice.
Sallust : Catilinarian Conspiracy
In this source Sallust outlines the plot, its supporters and reasons for it.
It’s a really useful source to use alongside Cicero’s account of the Cat Con. Sallust was born possibly 84BC and so was a contemporary of the plot.
He was very much of the belief that the republic collapsed due to a decline in morality and a lust for power and wealth by ambitious individuals – Catiline is a microcosm of these problems so this source is very useful for highlighting this.
Sallust also suggests Catiline was influenced by Sulla; we can question the accuracy of the letters from Catiline and Manlius which Sallust includes – he says these are exact copies but they may be literacy reconstructions (it is unclear).
Sallust : The Histories
In the extract we read Sallust mentions Pompey’s threat to march on Italy in 74BC if the senate don’t pay his troops and the tribune Macer’s speech to the people about how the optimates manipulate the people and how Pompey will restore the people’s rights.
Sallust will have been around at the time but young. It is very useful in understanding how Pompey used the tribunate and the army to gain power.
Sallust provides a very useful insight into what went wrong in Rome during this period
Sallust was a senator in the 50s and 40s and was writing in the 30s BC.
Suetonius
Suetonius is our source for later in the unit with some crossover with Plutarch which is great because you can cross reference sources and if they both say the same then that increases the value of both.
We use Suetonius for the reasons for the civil war (compare with Plutarch, Caesar and Cicero), Caesar’s reforms as dictator (more detailed than Plutarch), a little bit when Suetonius says Octavian seized the consulship in 43BC, the 42BC Battle of Philippi, the 41BC siege of Perusia and a comment on the 2nd Triumvirate.
Writing under the reign of Hadrian (began 117AD) he had access to the imperial archives as he was director of these archives.
He certainly had access to Augustus’ letters. He is a very valuable source as he was a serious scholar and his work contains extensive and careful research. He attempts to give a balanced account.
Caesar : The Civil War
This is Caesar’s own account of the reasons for the war and so very useful in understanding his view or the view he wished to be known but this is clearly propaganda in order to defend his actions – it was intended for widespread distribution.
Compare his points to Plutarch and Suetonius but remember these later sources would have used Caesar’s account in their research.
Caesar : Letter 68 49BC
This is a letter Caesar writes to his generals Oppius and Balbus on 5 March 49 BC.
In it he says he wants to reconcile with Pompey and show clemency and he blames the optimates for this war.
As this is a letter direct from Caesar it is incredibly useful in informing us of his motives.
Appian : The Civil Wars
Appian is the main source for any information concerning Octavian and the 2nd Triumvirate; we also use him for Sulla’s reforms.
He was writing 200 years after the events and believed the collapse of the republic was due to selfishness and the lust for power. He is free from any pressure to write positively about Octavian and is very useful for understanding Octavian’s actions.
He was a Greek eques with Roman citizenship.
He worked in Rome cAD120 as an advocatus fisci - an important official of the imperial treasury- and in cAD147 he was appointed to the office of procurator - probably in Egypt.
He likely gives an accurate account of Octavian and this period even though he believed the republic deserved to collapse to be replaced by Emperors.
He used earlier histories for his work on Octavian (such as Asinius Pollio born 75BC died AD4 – Pollio’s work is now lost; but we know Pollio sided with Caesar in the civil war, favoured Antony over Octavian but was neutral in the Oct/Antony civil war).
Example: ‘As Appian noted, Octavian promised rewards to his soldiers in order to persuade them to march on Rome in 43 BC clearly indicating the importance of the army to Octavian’s success as a politician.
Coming from Appian this is a useful source for understanding the reasons for Octavian’s success since Appian used earlier and more contemporary sources in his accounts, such as Pollio.
Whilst we can not be absolutely certain what is Appian’s view and what was Pollio’s and others; we do know he was well researched to give a useful account.’
