Christoph Pieper - Böcker

Exploring the reception of an influential phase in the life of the orator and politician Cicero, this volume focuses on the legacy of his public speeches and political writings that were made between 60-50 BCE. During this period, Cicero experienced multiple challenges in his public career, which he countered by setting up an elaborate self-fashioning programme. His aim was to reinvent himself as republican statesman and a political philosopher. It is this body of Cicero’s work that has been discussed, (re)interpreted and evaluated by countless later readers.The contributions in this volume examine specific moments, such as Pro Caelio and Pro Milone, that have been crucial to his later image as a politician and writer. They focus on the profound interplay between Cicero's strategic political choices and the interpretations of writers and scholars spanning from antiquity to the early modern period. Together, they meticulously construct the canonical image of Cicero – an eminent literary figure, a formidable philosopher and the unrivalled orator of ancient Rome. As a result, the reader gains a deeper understanding of Cicero’s enduring influence from antiquity, through the renaissance and right up until the 21st century.

This volume contributes to the ongoing scholarly debate regarding the reception of Cicero. It focuses on one particular moment in Cicero’s life, the period from the death of Caesar up to Cicero’s own death. These final years have shaped Cicero’s reception in an special way, as they have condensed and enlarged themes that his life stands for: on the positive side his fight for freedom and the republic against mighty opponents (for which he would finally be killed); on the other hand his inconsistency in terms of political alliances and tendency to overestimate his own influence. For that reason, many later readers viewed the final months of Cicero's life as his swan song, and as representing the essence of his life as a whole.The fixed scope of this volume facilitates an analysis of the underlying debates about the historical character Cicero and his textual legacy (speeches, letters and philosophical works) through the ages, stretching from antiquity itself to the present day. Major themes negotiated in this volume are the influence of Cicero’s regular attempts to anticipate his later reception; the question of whether or not Cicero showed consistency in his behaviour; his debatable heroism with regard to republican freedom; and the interaction between philosophy, rhetoric and politics.

The ‘classical tradition’ is no invention of modernity. Already in ancient Greece and Rome, the privileging of the ancient played a role in social and cultural discourses of every period. A collaboration between scholars in diverse areas of classical studies, this volume addresses literary and material evidence for ancient notions of valuing (or disvaluing) the deep past from approximately the fifth century BCE until the second century CE. It examines how specific communities used notions of antiquity to define themselves or others, which models from the past proved most desirable, what literary or exegetic modes they employed, and how temporal systems for ascribing value intersected with the organization of space, the production of narrative, or the application of aesthetic criteria.

Competition is everywhere in antiquity. It took many forms: the upper class competed with their peers and with historical and mythological predecessors; artists of all kinds emulated generic models and past masterpieces; philosophers and their schools vied with one another to give the best interpretation of the world; architects and doctors tried to outdo their fellow craftsmen. Discord and conflict resulted, but so did innovation, social cohesion, and political stability. In Hesiod's view Eris was not one entity but two, the one a “grievous goddess,” the other an “aid to men.” Eris vs. Aemulatio examines the functioning and effect of competition in ancient society, in both its productive and destructive aspects.