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The Other Greeks: Metaphors and Ironies of Hellenism in Livy's Fourth Decade

Freeble, Douglas
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1101928608

Abstract Details

2004, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Greek and Latin.
Already in the Praefatio of Livy’s work the metaphor of the importation of foreign influence is apparent. Livy chooses the annalistic narrative style as the most Roman form possible and a self -construction as an author who valorizes traditional Roman values. These authorial decisions on the modality of the narrative are intimately linked to tropology and the manufacturing of the metaphors and ironies that frame Livy’s text in books 31-45. Roman control in Thessaly is asserted by manufacturing communities in its image. These collapse miserably when the guiding Roman metaphors are questioned. The failure of Roman institutions is depicted as evidence of the restless nature of the Thessalians. A representative image of Thessaly is given in the character of Theoxena, a Thessalian exile who kills herself at a festival of Aeneas. Her story allows Romans to form an emotional bond with the Thessalians, although it maintains their essential alterity. The Galatian campaign of Manlius Vulso shows the dangers of Rome’s encounter with Hellenism. The Galatians are presented as Gallic-Greek hybrids who are no longer the great Gallic warriors of the past. Manlius defeats them, but the anecdotes of extortion and rape show that the Roman general is corrupted by his encounter with Asia. In the end, his methods are indistinguishable from those of his Galatian opponents. These themes are emphasized in the speech of the Commissioners against Manlius’ request for a triumph. The Bacchanalia shows Hellenism as a contamination that spreads through Italy and infects Rome. Throughout the narrative, Hellenism is depicted as a virus that threatens Rome. Its source is an ignoble Greek, and it eventually infects the Roman nobles. Eventually the consul reasserts Roman control in Italy through a bloody purge. The story shows the close connection of home and abroad or city and empire. Similar themes of infectious Hellenism are described in the story of Cato’s censorship and the discovery of Numa’s books on the Janiculum. These metaphors of Hellenism as an infectious hybridity culminate in the Macedonian ironies of book 40. The description of Perseus and Demetrius involves an implicit contrast to the rivalry of Romulus and Remus. Their antagonism is placed in a ritual context that invites comparison to Roman customs. The story conveys differences between Rome and Macedon, as if to dissolve the hybridities that threaten Roman purity. These are particularly shown as a threat to empire in the career of Marcus Philippus, whose deceptive foreign policy is depicted as embodying Hellenistic rather than Roman values. This reading shows the unity of Livy’s narrative of the Macedonian wars. Its theoretical use is shown in an examination of a Livy’s story about a lunar eclipse before the battle of Pydna and the defeat of Macedonia.
Erik Gunderson (Advisor)
Livy; Roman Historography; Ancient Historiography; Ethnography; Thessaly; Manlius; Gaul; Bacchanalia

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Freeble, D. (2004). The Other Greeks: Metaphors and Ironies of Hellenism in Livy's Fourth Decade [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1101928608

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Freeble, Douglas. The Other Greeks: Metaphors and Ironies of Hellenism in Livy's Fourth Decade. 2004. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1101928608.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Freeble, Douglas. "The Other Greeks: Metaphors and Ironies of Hellenism in Livy's Fourth Decade." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2004. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1101928608

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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