CLASSICS 219: THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Precept 2 : Arms and the Man

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Readings
• WARD, pp. 271-300
• L&R I, sec. 196, pp. 573-576; sec. 204-206, pp. 602-616
• Virgil, The Aeneid of Virgil, trans. A. Mandelbaum (Bantam, 1981) (or Vergil: either spelling is OK)

The Age of Augustus was a Golden Age for Latin literature, as prose (Livy) and poetry (Vergil, Horace, Propertius, Ovid) flourished in the new peace and under the patronage of the princeps himself and of his chief adviser, the knight Maecenas. The writers' response to the new social order is a very complex one. We have time to read only one work in full, but that is the greatest work of Latin literature, written in the 20s BC. NB: for Vergil, read L&R I, p. 16. Note any passages in the Aeneid that strike you as significant, be prepared to cite them to support your thoughts, and bring a text to precept if you can. Do any passages move you, emotionally or intellectually?

1. The Aeneid is about the tension between Rome's greatness and the human suffering that happens both despite and because of it. Rome's awesome destiny is constantly being predicted, especially by Jupiter in Book I, Anchises in VI, and on the shield in VIII. What is her mission, and what are the costs?
2. The Aeneid is about the tension between the old Homeric world of heroic social values and the new Roman values of the Augustan Age. What are the human virtues most valued in the society of the new Troy?
   More specifically, Aeneas shows neither charm nor intelligence: he always worries or prays. Define his character. What makes him tick? Is he heroic? Is he Augustus?
3. The Aeneid is about the tension between men and gods. What are the beliefs expressed, and what is the place of religion in this world?
4. L&R I, sec. 204 and 205 concern a major item in Augustus' moral reformation of the Roman state: social engineering. Be able to summarize for each what are the problems being attacked and what are the solutions. In each case, also: will the solutions work?

L&R I, sec. 206 (up to p. 616) addresses the other part of moral reform: religious revival. From this and from your other readings, try to summarize what Augustus' religious aims were. What did he himself believe in, and does it matter?

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Last Updated: 2004-04-23

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