Trevor Mahy | Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (original) (raw)

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Book Chapters by Trevor Mahy

Community and Communication: Oratory and Politics in Republican Rome, 2013

Book Reviews by Trevor Mahy

Encyclopedia Entries by Trevor Mahy

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, 2012

Conference Presentations by Trevor Mahy

In this paper, I consider the ways in which Caesar, in his role as the author of his Commentarii,... more In this paper, I consider the ways in which Caesar, in his role as the author of his Commentarii, treats the presentation of speeches, not least of which his own, in these historiographical works. Caesar's Commentarii provide a relatively rare opportunity for the modern scholar to assess the presentation of oratory in historiographical works in which the author himself was not only a contemporary to, and participant in, the actions and events that he writes about, but who also delivered many of the speeches that he himself presents in the Commentarii. The only comparable extant work from the ancient world with such a unique combination of author, general, and orator is surely Xenophon's Anabasis.

Ἀντώνιός τε τὴν οἰκίαν ὠχύρου, τεκμαιρόμενος συνεπιβουλεύεσθαι τῷ Καίσαρι. καὶ Λέπιδος ὁ ἵππαρχος... more Ἀντώνιός τε τὴν οἰκίαν ὠχύρου, τεκμαιρόμενος συνεπιβουλεύεσθαι τῷ Καίσαρι. καὶ Λέπιδος ὁ ἵππαρχος ἐν ἀγορᾷ μὲν ὢν ἐπύθετο τοῦ γεγονότος, ἐς δὲ τὴν ἐν τῷ ποταμῷ νῆσον διαδραμών, ἔνθα ἦν αὐτῷ τέλος στρατιωτῶν, ἐς τὸ πεδίον αὐτοὺς μετεβίβαζεν ὡς ἑτοιμοτέρους ἕξων ἐς τὰ παραγγελλόμενα ὑπ᾽ Ἀντωνίου: Ἀντωνίῳ γὰρ ἐξίστατο, φίλῳ τε τοῦ Καίσαρος ὄντι μᾶλλον καὶ ὑπάτῳ. καὶ αὐτοῖς σκεπτομένοις ὁρμὴ μὲν ἦν ἀμύνειν τῷ Καίσαρι τοιάδε παθόντι, τὴν δὲ βουλὴν πρὸς τῶν ἀνδροφόνων ἐσομένην ἐδεδοίκεσαν καὶ τὸ μέλλον ἔτι περιεσκόπουν.

Talks by Trevor Mahy

I.a) Cicero, Brut. 262 tum Brutus: orationes quidem eius mihi uehementer probantur. compluris aut... more I.a) Cicero, Brut. 262 tum Brutus: orationes quidem eius mihi uehementer probantur. compluris autem legi; atque etiam commentarios quosdam scripsit rerum suarum. ualde quidem, inquam, probandos; nudi enim sunt, recti et uenusti, omni ornatu orationis tamquam ueste detracta. sed dum uoluit alios habere parata, unde sumerent qui uellent scribere historiam, neptis gratum fortasse fecit, qui uolent illa calamistris inurere: sanos quidem homines a scribendo deterruit; nihil est enim in historia pura et inlustri breuitate dulcius. I.b) Hirtius, B Gall. 8: Preface constat enim inter omnes nihil tam operose ab aliis esse perfectum, quod non horum elegantia commentariorum superetur. qui sunt editi ne scientia tantarum rerum scriptoribus deesset, adeoque probantur omnium iudicio, ut praerepta, non praebita facultas scriptoribus uideatur. cuius tamen rei maior nostra quam reliquorum est admiratio; ceteri enim quam bene atque emendate, nos etiam quam facile atque celeriter eos perfecerit scimus. erat autem in Caesare cum facultas atque elegantia summa scribendi, tum uerissima scientia suorum consiliorum explicandorum. I.c) Suetonius, Iul. 56 reliquit et rerum suarum commentarios Gallici ciuilisque belli Pompeiani. nam Alexandrini Africique et ispaniensis incertus auctor est: alii Oppium putant, alii Hirtium, qui etiam Gallici belli nouissimum imperfectumque librum suppleuerit. de commentariis Caesaris Cicero in eodem Bruto sic refert: 'commentarios scripsit ualde quidem probandos: nudi sunt, recti et uenusti, omni ornatu orationis tamquam ueste detracta; sed dum uoluit alios habere parata, unde sumerent qui uellent scribere historiam, ineptis gratum fortasse fecit, qui illa uolent calamistris inurere, sanos quidem homines a scribendo deterruit.' de isdem commentariis Hirtius ita praedicat: 'adeo probantur omnium iudicio, ut praerepta, non praebita facultas scriptoribus uideatur. <cuius tamen rei maior nostra quam reliquorum est admiratio; ceteri enim, quam bene atque emendate,> nos etiam, quam facile atque celeriter eos perscripserit, scimus.' Pollio Asinius parum diligenter parumque integra ueritate compositos putat, cum Caesar pleraque et quae per alios erant gesta temere crediderit et quae per se, uel consulto uel etiam memoria lapsus perperam ediderit; existimatque rescripturum et correcturum fuisse. Section II: Caesar's Reputation as an Orator Amongst Contemporaries II.a) Cicero, Brut. 252 Sed tamen, Brute, inquit Atticus, de Caesare et ipse ita iudico et de hoc huius generis acerrumo existimatore saepissume audio, illum omnium fere oratorum Latine loqui elegantissume; nec id solum domestica consuetudine ut dudum de Laeliorum et Muciorum familiis audiebamus, sed quamquam id quoque credo fuisse, tamen, ut esset perfecta illa bene loquendi laus, multis litteris et iis quidem reconditis et exquisitis summoque studio et diligentia est consecutus: II.b) Cicero, Brut. 261-262 Caesar autem rationem adhibens consuetudinem uitiosam et corruptam pura et incorrupta consuetudine emendat. Itaque cum ad hanc elegantiam uerborum Latinorum-quae, etiam si orator non sis et sis ingenuus ciuis Romanus, tamen necessaria est-adiungit illa oratoria ornamenta dicendi, tum uidetur tamquam tabulas

PhD Thesis by Trevor Mahy

In this thesis, I examine the nature and role of persuasion in Roman politics in the period immed... more In this thesis, I examine the nature and role of persuasion in Roman politics in the period immediately following the assassination of Caesar on the Ides of March 44 B.C. until the capture of the city of Rome by his heir Octavianus in August 43 B.C. The purpose of my thesis is to assess the extent to which persuasion played a critical role in political interactions and in the decision-making processes of those involved during this crucial period in Roman history. I do this by means of a careful discussion and analysis of a variety of different types of political interactions, both public and private. As regards the means of persuasion, I concentrate on the role and use of oratory in these political interactions. Consequently, my thesis owes much in terms of approach to the work of Millar (1998) and, more recently, Morstein-Marx (2004) on placing oratory at the centre of our understanding of how politics functioned in practice in the late Roman republic. Their studies, however, focus on the potential extent and significance of mass participation in the late Roman republican political system, and on the contio as the key locus of political interaction. In my thesis, I contribute to improving our new way of understanding late Roman republican politics by taking a broader approach that incorporates other types of political interactions in which oratory played a significant role. I also examine oratory as but one of a variety of means of persuasion in Roman political interactions. Finally, in analyzing politics and persuasion in the period immediately after Caesar’s assassination, I am examining not only a crucial period in Roman history, but one which is perhaps the best documented from the ancient world. The relative richness of contemporary evidence for this period calls out for the sort of close reading of sources and detailed analysis that I provide in my thesis that enables a better understanding of how politics actually played out in the late Roman republic.

Community and Communication: Oratory and Politics in Republican Rome, 2013

The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, 2012

In this paper, I consider the ways in which Caesar, in his role as the author of his Commentarii,... more In this paper, I consider the ways in which Caesar, in his role as the author of his Commentarii, treats the presentation of speeches, not least of which his own, in these historiographical works. Caesar's Commentarii provide a relatively rare opportunity for the modern scholar to assess the presentation of oratory in historiographical works in which the author himself was not only a contemporary to, and participant in, the actions and events that he writes about, but who also delivered many of the speeches that he himself presents in the Commentarii. The only comparable extant work from the ancient world with such a unique combination of author, general, and orator is surely Xenophon's Anabasis.

Ἀντώνιός τε τὴν οἰκίαν ὠχύρου, τεκμαιρόμενος συνεπιβουλεύεσθαι τῷ Καίσαρι. καὶ Λέπιδος ὁ ἵππαρχος... more Ἀντώνιός τε τὴν οἰκίαν ὠχύρου, τεκμαιρόμενος συνεπιβουλεύεσθαι τῷ Καίσαρι. καὶ Λέπιδος ὁ ἵππαρχος ἐν ἀγορᾷ μὲν ὢν ἐπύθετο τοῦ γεγονότος, ἐς δὲ τὴν ἐν τῷ ποταμῷ νῆσον διαδραμών, ἔνθα ἦν αὐτῷ τέλος στρατιωτῶν, ἐς τὸ πεδίον αὐτοὺς μετεβίβαζεν ὡς ἑτοιμοτέρους ἕξων ἐς τὰ παραγγελλόμενα ὑπ᾽ Ἀντωνίου: Ἀντωνίῳ γὰρ ἐξίστατο, φίλῳ τε τοῦ Καίσαρος ὄντι μᾶλλον καὶ ὑπάτῳ. καὶ αὐτοῖς σκεπτομένοις ὁρμὴ μὲν ἦν ἀμύνειν τῷ Καίσαρι τοιάδε παθόντι, τὴν δὲ βουλὴν πρὸς τῶν ἀνδροφόνων ἐσομένην ἐδεδοίκεσαν καὶ τὸ μέλλον ἔτι περιεσκόπουν.

I.a) Cicero, Brut. 262 tum Brutus: orationes quidem eius mihi uehementer probantur. compluris aut... more I.a) Cicero, Brut. 262 tum Brutus: orationes quidem eius mihi uehementer probantur. compluris autem legi; atque etiam commentarios quosdam scripsit rerum suarum. ualde quidem, inquam, probandos; nudi enim sunt, recti et uenusti, omni ornatu orationis tamquam ueste detracta. sed dum uoluit alios habere parata, unde sumerent qui uellent scribere historiam, neptis gratum fortasse fecit, qui uolent illa calamistris inurere: sanos quidem homines a scribendo deterruit; nihil est enim in historia pura et inlustri breuitate dulcius. I.b) Hirtius, B Gall. 8: Preface constat enim inter omnes nihil tam operose ab aliis esse perfectum, quod non horum elegantia commentariorum superetur. qui sunt editi ne scientia tantarum rerum scriptoribus deesset, adeoque probantur omnium iudicio, ut praerepta, non praebita facultas scriptoribus uideatur. cuius tamen rei maior nostra quam reliquorum est admiratio; ceteri enim quam bene atque emendate, nos etiam quam facile atque celeriter eos perfecerit scimus. erat autem in Caesare cum facultas atque elegantia summa scribendi, tum uerissima scientia suorum consiliorum explicandorum. I.c) Suetonius, Iul. 56 reliquit et rerum suarum commentarios Gallici ciuilisque belli Pompeiani. nam Alexandrini Africique et ispaniensis incertus auctor est: alii Oppium putant, alii Hirtium, qui etiam Gallici belli nouissimum imperfectumque librum suppleuerit. de commentariis Caesaris Cicero in eodem Bruto sic refert: 'commentarios scripsit ualde quidem probandos: nudi sunt, recti et uenusti, omni ornatu orationis tamquam ueste detracta; sed dum uoluit alios habere parata, unde sumerent qui uellent scribere historiam, ineptis gratum fortasse fecit, qui illa uolent calamistris inurere, sanos quidem homines a scribendo deterruit.' de isdem commentariis Hirtius ita praedicat: 'adeo probantur omnium iudicio, ut praerepta, non praebita facultas scriptoribus uideatur. <cuius tamen rei maior nostra quam reliquorum est admiratio; ceteri enim, quam bene atque emendate,> nos etiam, quam facile atque celeriter eos perscripserit, scimus.' Pollio Asinius parum diligenter parumque integra ueritate compositos putat, cum Caesar pleraque et quae per alios erant gesta temere crediderit et quae per se, uel consulto uel etiam memoria lapsus perperam ediderit; existimatque rescripturum et correcturum fuisse. Section II: Caesar's Reputation as an Orator Amongst Contemporaries II.a) Cicero, Brut. 252 Sed tamen, Brute, inquit Atticus, de Caesare et ipse ita iudico et de hoc huius generis acerrumo existimatore saepissume audio, illum omnium fere oratorum Latine loqui elegantissume; nec id solum domestica consuetudine ut dudum de Laeliorum et Muciorum familiis audiebamus, sed quamquam id quoque credo fuisse, tamen, ut esset perfecta illa bene loquendi laus, multis litteris et iis quidem reconditis et exquisitis summoque studio et diligentia est consecutus: II.b) Cicero, Brut. 261-262 Caesar autem rationem adhibens consuetudinem uitiosam et corruptam pura et incorrupta consuetudine emendat. Itaque cum ad hanc elegantiam uerborum Latinorum-quae, etiam si orator non sis et sis ingenuus ciuis Romanus, tamen necessaria est-adiungit illa oratoria ornamenta dicendi, tum uidetur tamquam tabulas

In this thesis, I examine the nature and role of persuasion in Roman politics in the period immed... more In this thesis, I examine the nature and role of persuasion in Roman politics in the period immediately following the assassination of Caesar on the Ides of March 44 B.C. until the capture of the city of Rome by his heir Octavianus in August 43 B.C. The purpose of my thesis is to assess the extent to which persuasion played a critical role in political interactions and in the decision-making processes of those involved during this crucial period in Roman history. I do this by means of a careful discussion and analysis of a variety of different types of political interactions, both public and private. As regards the means of persuasion, I concentrate on the role and use of oratory in these political interactions. Consequently, my thesis owes much in terms of approach to the work of Millar (1998) and, more recently, Morstein-Marx (2004) on placing oratory at the centre of our understanding of how politics functioned in practice in the late Roman republic. Their studies, however, focus on the potential extent and significance of mass participation in the late Roman republican political system, and on the contio as the key locus of political interaction. In my thesis, I contribute to improving our new way of understanding late Roman republican politics by taking a broader approach that incorporates other types of political interactions in which oratory played a significant role. I also examine oratory as but one of a variety of means of persuasion in Roman political interactions. Finally, in analyzing politics and persuasion in the period immediately after Caesar’s assassination, I am examining not only a crucial period in Roman history, but one which is perhaps the best documented from the ancient world. The relative richness of contemporary evidence for this period calls out for the sort of close reading of sources and detailed analysis that I provide in my thesis that enables a better understanding of how politics actually played out in the late Roman republic.