Historiography at the End of the Republic: Provincial Perspectives on Roman Rule (Oxford Classical Monographs)

## Abstract This book starts at the end of Polybius' Histories, and investigates documentation of the Roman empire recorded by non-Romans. Intellectuals, being members of the social elite, controlled the wealth in a community and usually the political decision-making processes as well. After the destruction of Carthage and Corinth, Rome made the transition from military dominance to provincial administration and client states. This left local elites grasping for the remains of their political influence. The products of the intellectuals reflect the concerns of the day. Also the culture of intellectual exchange in place in the Mediterranean gave the local elite a means of communicating their anxieties and expectations. Historical texts offer the most explicit evidence of this trend. The texts of six contemporary historians of this period survive in enough detail to allow productive analysis: the author of 1 Maccabees, Posidonius, Diodorus Siculus, Pompeius Trogus, Nicolaus of Damascus, and Memnon of Heraclea. The book starts with a detailed analysis of the relationship between intellectuals and political authority. However, methodological difficulties are encountered because of the fragmentary nature of most of the surviving historical texts composed by non-Romans. Thus, the discussion continues by laying out an approach to the reliability of different forms of reliquiae. The remainder of the study looks at the political dimensions of the themes present in the contemporary history-writing of non-Romans, how narrative structures help to further the compositional objectives of each historian, and mythological and ethnographical characterizations of the Romans, their domestic affairs, and their involvement with the wider Mediterranean. The study also explores the portrayal of potential rivals for political dominion of the Mediterranean. The book shows that the historians are working not with models of endorsement or resistance, but instead with an eye to the pragmatic issues of harmonious co-existence. Rome is treated as an ultimate authority, intrinsically neither good nor bad. This study of six historians from the edges of the Roman world at the end of the Republic - the author of "I Maccabees", "Posidonius", "Diodorus Siculus", "Pompeius Trogus", "Nicolaus of Damascus", and "Memnon of Heraclea"--Combines discussion of their biographical details, the intellectual and elite culture in which they composed, and the methodological difficulties of interpreting fragmentary texts, with textual analysis of their representations of Rome. These authors show remarkable unity in their acceptance of Roman hegemony. Nevertheless, their interpretations of Roman rule assume political significance in the light of their intentions in writing and the audiences whom they addressed. They therefore provide a unique insight into the minds of the conquered peoples and the intellectual culture which allowed them to influence their conquerors

This study of six historians from the edges of the Roman world at the end of the Republic—the author of I Maccabees, Posidonius, Diodorus Siculus, Pompeius Trogus, Nicolaus of Damascus, and Memnon of Heraclea—combines discussion of their biographical details, the intellectual and elite culture in which they composed, and the methodological difficulties of interpreting fragmentary texts, with textual analysis of their representations of Rome. These authors show remarkable unity in their acceptance of Roman hegemony. Nevertheless, their interpretations of Roman rule assume political significance in the light of their intentions in writing and the audiences whom they addressed. They therefore provide a unique insight into the minds of the conquered peoples and the intellectual culture which allowed them to influence their conquerors.

This study of six historians from the edges of the Roman world at the end of the Republic - the author of I Maccabees, Posidonius, Diodorus Siculus, Pompeius Trogus, Nicolaus of Damascus, and Memnon of Heraclea - combines discussion of their biographical details, the intellectual and elite culture in which they composed, and the methodological difficulties of interpreting fragmentary texts, with textual analysis of their representations of Rome. These authors show remarkable unity in their acceptance of Roman hegemony. Nevertheless, their interpretations of Roman rule assume political significance in the light of their intentions in writing and the audiences whom they addressed. They therefore provide a unique insight into the minds of the conquered peoples and the intellectual culture which allowed them to influence their conquerors. Contents......Page 10 Note on Texts and Translations......Page 11 Abbreviations......Page 13 Introduction: Setting the Scene......Page 16 1. The Power of the Intellectual: Leading Thinkers, Thinking Leaders......Page 33 2. Theory and Method......Page 93 3. Constructing the Narrative: Authorial Objectives and the Use of Rome......Page 138 4. From the Outside Looking in: Roman Culture and Domestic Politics......Page 182 5. The Romans Abroad: Force, Diplomacy, and the Management of Empire......Page 246 6. Enemies of Rome? The Symbolic Alternatives......Page 298 Conclusion......Page 357 Appendix: Issues of Dating......Page 366 Bibliography......Page 373 Index Locorum......Page 392 C......Page 408 L......Page 409 S......Page 410 X......Page 411 Providing a study of six historians from the edges of the Roman world at the end of the Republic, this work combines discussion of their biographical details, the intellectual and elite culture in which they composed, and the methodological difficulties of interpreting fragmentary texts The cultural and political climate of the Late Republic was ripe for the emergence of politically powerful individuals from among the intellectually adept elite of the provinces.