Conclusion

The conclusion emphasizes how the historians discussed throughout the book responded intellectually to one another and established a sort of dialogue among themselves. The investigation of the development of Roman historiography in an integrated manner aims at a more vital and comprehensive approach to Roman cultural and intellectual history

Virtus and Historical Writing

This chapter briefly discusses the nature of historical writing in Rome, including its complex relationship with rhetoric and didactic purposes, and challenges some current views on these points. The central questions of this study are addressed: a) why was virtus so important to the Roman historians? and b) what role does political change play in the (re)definition of the concept of virtus and also in the development of its expression in practice? It also discusses how and why the Roman historians, who saw historiography as an account of the life and mores [cf. Livy, Praef. 9] of the Roman people through time, made morality a valid category for explaining their past, and why, therefore, the analysis of the concept of virtus through their narratives is a sound way of approaching Roman historical writing.

Virtus in Sallust

Chapter 2 argues that through his historical works, Sallust emerges both as the advocate of an understanding of virtus that expanded the sense he had inherited of what it meant to be a good Roman and as the promoter of the idea of the contestability of virtus in the ideological struggles of the late republic. It also gives an assessment of Sallust’s profound influence on the moral language of Roman historiography and his analysis of political decline in relation to virtus. The section deals with virtus in both the prologues and discusses how the thematic variations between the two relate to the different historical narratives. Finally, through a close analysis of the corruption of logos in the text, it explores how Sallust’s creation of a ‘vocabulary of decline’ and the devaluation of language illustrate the moving boundaries of the moral and political behaviour of the main historical characters.

Virtus in Livy

Chapter 3 discusses how the categories set up in his preface – vita et mores – played a key role throughout the narrative of the history of Rome in his Ab Urbe Condita. The numerous uses of virtus in relation to martial bravery in Livy’s accounts of the wars, the link between virtus and the history of the gradual acquisition of libertas by the Roman people, and the ways in which virtus is put at risk are addressed here to explain Livy’s interpretation of the concept. Parallels and references to Augustus’ virtus-language or virtus-image are given to place Livy within the broader picture of his time.

Virtus in Tacitus

In chapter 5 Tacitus’ historical writings are divided into three units: 1) the Agricola and the Germania, 2) the Histories, and 3) the Annals, not to refer to successive stages in the evolution of his understanding of virtus, but to stress the repeated insistence by which he delineates the expressions of virtus in three diferent periods of Roman history. By identifying what was essential to Roman virtus and what was superfluous and susceptible to change, Tacitus illustrates how, even though a certain degree of political freedom was lost, there were some Romans who could exercise a more ‘personal’ freedom which led to new manifestations of virtus. Tacitus’ perception of the nature of political change is one of the main themes used throughout the chapter to plot the barriers that virtus had to overcome in the new world of the principate.

Virtus in Velleius

Chapter 4 shows how through his Historiae, Velleius sought to highlight the fact that the principate had come not just to re-establish peace and order, but to restore something very important to the Romans: virtus. The examination of men of virtus during the republic was used by the author both to emphasise his standpoint of continuity and to prepare the reader for his distinctive interpretation of Roman history. The analysis of the emperor Tiberius in Velleius’ work serves as a case study to illustrate his positive interpretation of virtus in which political ideology and Velleius’ own version of historical reality blend together.

The Concept of Virtus

Chapter 1 presents the concept of virtus in terms of its etymology and usage. It also provides comparisons with its Greek parallels andreia and arete, and a brief assessment of the influence of Greek philosophy on Roman thought, Stoicism in particular, regarding virtus. The two main meanings of virtus are explained through the concepts of virilis-virtus (courage) and humana-virtus (virtue) and show the particular connections between virtus and Roman politics. Cicero holds a particularly important place in this chapter, as the creator of a nomenclature and vocabulary that offer an adequate rationalization of the concept of virtus.