Roman Frugality: Modes of Moderation from the Archaic Age to the Early Empire and Beyond (Cambridge Classical Studies)

"Roman Frugality offers the first-ever systematic analysis of the variants of individual and collective self-restraint that shaped ancient Rome throughout its history and had significant repercussions in post-classical times. In particular, it tries to do the complexity of a phenomenon justice that is situated at the interface of ethics and economics, self and society, the real and the imaginary, and touches upon thrift and sobriety in the material sphere, but also modes of moderation more generally, not least in the spheres of food and drink, sex and power. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach drawing on ancient history, philology, archaeology and the history of thought, the volume traces the role of frugal thought and practice within the evolving political culture and political economy of ancient Rome from the archaic age to the imperial period and concludes with a chapter that explores the reception of ancient ideas of self restraint in early modern times"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Half-title 3 Series information 4 Title page 5 Copyright information 6 Contents 7 List of Figures 9 List of Contributors 10 Acknowledgements 11 Note on Translations 13 List of Abbreviations 14 Introduction: Frugality in Theory and History 15 Roman Frugality: Stories of Decline and Fall 15 Roman Frugality Rethought 20 Husbandry 29 The Frugal Subaltern: Slaves, Freedmen, Wives 32 Political Culture and Political Economy 34 Frugality as Personal Style and Literary Theme 42 Towards a History of/Case Studies in Roman Frugality (and its Reception) 53 The Archaic Period 53 The Rome of the Nobility (I) 56 The Rome of the Nobility (II) 65 The Rome of the Nobility (III) 78 Early Empire 86 Outlook 100 Bibliography 123 Chapter 1 'Frugality', Economy and Society in Archaic Rome (Late Seventh to Early Fourth Century BCE) 141 Were the Archaic Romans Frugal? Two-Odd Centuries of Debate (in a Nutshell) 141 Hoc Plus ne Facito. Archaic Rome's Elites from Conspicuous Consumption to the Sumptuary Laws 145 Houses, Census, Res Mancipi and The Boundaries of the Desirable 149 Frugality of the Have-Nots: A Remedy Against Poverty 155 Conclusion: Rethinking the Boundaries of Frugality in Archaic Rome 163 Bibliography 165 Chapter 2 From Licinius Stolo to Tiberius Gracchus: Roman Frugality and the Limitation of Landholding 173 The Controversy 173 The Sources 177 The Licinian Law 185 From Licinius Stolo to Tiberius Gracchus 195 Bibliography 201 Chapter 3 Frugality as a Political Language in the Second Century BCE: The Strategies of Cato the Elder and Scipio Aemilianus 206 Bibliography 225 Chapter 4 Smallholding, Frugality and Market Economy in the Gracchan age 227 Introduction 227 Gracchan Ideology 228 Frugality and Sumptus 234 Modus and Confiscation 237 Frugality and Land Allotments 240 Bibliography 247 Chapter 5 Frugalitas, or: The Invention of a Roman Virtue 251 Introduction 251 The Slaves and the Nobilis: From the Homines Frugi of New Comedy to L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi 264 The Homines Frugi of New Comedy 264 Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi 268 Cicero 277 Cicero's Homines Frugi 277 Piso Frugi and the Verrines 283 Tusculan Disputations (and Pro Rege Deiotaro) 290 Further Developments: The Early Principate 307 Horace 309 Valerius Maximus 312 Seneca the Elder 315 Petronius 318 Seneca the Younger 324 Quintilian 340 Pliny the Younger 343 Conclusion 350 Bibliography 352 Chapter 6 Frugality, Building, and Heirlooms in an Age of Social Mobility 361 Two Electoral Surprises 363 Houses and Heirlooms 366 Social Mobility and Frugality in the Civil Wars and Under the Principate 373 Conclusion 380 Bibliography 381 Chapter 7 From Poverty to Prosperity: The Recalibration of Frugality 386 I 387 II 388 III 391 IV 394 V 397 VI 409 Bibliography 411 Index Locorum 414 General Index 423 Explores how the ancient Romans negotiated the interface of economics and ethics and handled needs and wants throughout their history. Focuses on the desirability of individual and collective self-restraint in the pursuit of wealth, physical pleasures (food, drink, sex) and power.