Tacitus and the Wealth, Enrichment and Impoverishment of the Roman Upper Classes.
Boatwright, Mary Taliaferro
1980
Abstract
The dissertation offers a detailed study of the historian Tacitus' treatment of wealth, enrichment and impoverishment among the Roman upper classes. Tacitus' writings in this regard, examined chronologically, reveal a pronounced evolution, an evolution which contributes to our underst and ing of the historian's originality. The introductory chapter defines the problem presented by Tacitus' discussion of wealth and politics under the Principate--how to distinguish between tradition and innovation in his historical writings. The method here is examination in the individual works of Tacitus' thematic uses of financial affairs among the senatorial and equestrian classes in Rome. Chapter II investigates the theme of wealth in the Roman historical tradition before Tacitus. His predecessors, especially Sallust and Livy, portray the financial status and activities of the elite in indefinite terms of luxury and avarice, terms which became established early in the Romans' traditionally moral interpretation of history. Chapter III analyzes the theme of wealth in Tacitus' three early works. In the biography Agricola Tacitus presents financial information only to document Agricola's praiseworthy political and military career. In the ethnographical work Germania he introduces notices of Roman financial practices and attitudes as a way to stress native German integrity. In both, his use of financial reports and commentary is consistent with that of the earlier historiographical tradition. But in transferring such material to these specialized genres, Tacitus introduces a definite historical and ethical tone to the two works. In the Dialogus, Tacitus specifically uses financial information to bring out the social and political consequences of treason trials, as well as their moral implications. Chapter IV argues that the Historiae contains two approaches to the representation of wealth. In the history of the Civil War Tacitus reports only a general kind of financial information: we often hear of the leaders' "financial vices" of avarice and luxury. This approach is consonant with the Roman historical tradition. But in his extant history of the Flavian peace he provides more specific financial information, offering many details of the financial workings of delation, and these particulars serve to illustrate a historical interpretation that is social and political as well as moral. Chapter V demonstrates in the Annales the further development of this tendency detected in the Historiae. Tacitus' last work is richer in financial particulars than any of his previous writing. Here the information falls into three categories. First, Tacitus presents those monetary transactions that were customary to Republican politics. Second, he describes the different way in which wealth served politics in the Principate, as individuals tried to influence the Princeps and his court. Finally, Tacitus gives a great deal of financial information to support his interpretation of the ways in which the Principate corrupted the social relationships and moral condition of the Roman upper classes. But here too he employs financial details to single out and commend individuals for their moral, political, and social behavior. The concluding chapter offers a general evaluation of the changes in Tacitus' treatment of the theme of wealth. In his earliest writings, he employed financial notices in ways traditional to Roman historiography. In his later work, Tacitus exploits such information in increasing detail and variety, and uses it to interpret the social and political, as well as moral, history of peace under the Principate.Types
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