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Henry Blume Dissertation.pdf (2 MB)

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Fear, Anger, and Hatred in Livy's Account of the Struggle of the Orders

Blume, Henry Storm
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1500574650921183

Abstract Details

2017, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Greek and Latin.
This dissertation explores the way in which emotions affect the course of Roman politics in the first six books of Livy’s account of the history of Rome. The expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome, and the transition to the Republic fundamentally transformed the relationship between the two orders of Rome, the patricians and the plebeians. For the first time, the two orders existed without a ruler and mediator; in other words, the shape of the Republic compelled two different societal classes, whose interests often did not align, to work together for the common safety and prosperity of the city and its citizens. In the years that followed the death of Tarquinius Superbus, the two orders engaged in a struggle over libertas, “freedom,” and dignitas, “prestige,” with the plebeians striving to gain a greater amount of freedom and the patricians endeavoring to preserve their privlige. Historiographical analyses of the books of Livy that cover the so-called Struggle of the Orders (494 B.C. to 367 B.C.) primarily focus on exemplarity, the character of particular individuals, or abstract concepts such as libertas, dignitas, virtus, etc. These forms of analysis are all valid, and, indeed, find support in Livy’s own directives for reading his history. However, these analyses often have the effect of making Livy’s account of the Struggle of the Orders come across as lifeless, but neither politics nor Livy’s account of it in the early Republic is so. Understanding the role of emotion during this period allows us to make sense of both another layer of causation in the text and various mechanisms of social control, both effective and ineffective. This dissertation, then, seeks to think through how fear, anger, and hatred, affect, and were used to affect domestic politics in the first six books of Livy.
William Batstone (Advisor)
Dana Munteanu (Committee Member)
Nathan Rosenstein (Committee Member)
283 p.
Classical Studies
Rome; classical studies; Livy account of the history of Rome

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Blume, H. S. (2017). Fear, Anger, and Hatred in Livy's Account of the Struggle of the Orders [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1500574650921183

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Blume, Henry. Fear, Anger, and Hatred in Livy's Account of the Struggle of the Orders. 2017. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1500574650921183.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Blume, Henry. "Fear, Anger, and Hatred in Livy's Account of the Struggle of the Orders." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1500574650921183

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1500574650921183
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.