1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910777695903321

Autore

Pagan Victoria Emma <1965->

Titolo

Conspiracy narratives in Roman history / / Victoria Emma Pagán

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Austin : , : University of Texas Press, , 2004

ISBN

0-292-79718-4

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (viii, 197 pages)

Disciplina

937/.0072

Soggetti

Conspiracies - Rome - Historiography

Rome Historiography

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [135]-176) and indexes.

Nota di contenuto

Part I. Betrayed Conspiracies Sallust: The Catilinarian Conspiracy Livy: The Bacchanalian Affair Tacitus: The Pisonian Conspiracy Part II. Successful Conspiracies Josephus: The Assassination of Caligula Appian: The Assassination of Julius Caesar

Sommario/riassunto

"In this first book-length treatment of conspiracy in Roman history, Victoria Pagan examines the narrative strategies that five prominent historians used to disclose events that had been deliberately shrouded in secrecy and silence. She compares how Sallust, Livy, and Tacitus constructed their accounts of the betrayed Catilinarian, Bacchanalian, and Pisonian conspiracies. Her analysis reveals how a historical account of a secret event depends upon the transmittal of sensitive information from a private setting to the public sphere - and why women and slaves often proved to be ideal transmitters of secrets. Pagan then turns to Josephus's and Appian's accounts of the assassinations of Caligula and Julius Caesar to explore how the two historians maintained suspense throughout their narratives, despite readers' prior knowledge of the outcomes. Covering events from 186 B.C.E. to 65 C.E., this book explains the prevalence of conspiracy in the Roman literary imagination and confirms the importance of Josephus and Appian to the development of Roman historical thought."--BOOK JACKET.