In his discussion of Roman military institutions Polybius described how the desire for fame might inspire Roman soldiers to heroic feats of bravery, including single combat: (6.54.3–4)τ⋯ δ⋯ μέγιστον, οἱ νέοι παρορμ⋯νται πρ⋯ς τ⋯ π⋯ν ὑπομένειν ὑπ⋯ρ τ⋯ν κοιν⋯ν πραγμάτων χάριν το⋯ τυχεῖν τ⋯ς συνακολουθούσης τοῖς ⋯γαθοῖς τ⋯ν ⋯νδρ⋯ν εὐκλείας. πίστιν δ' ἔχει τ⋯ λεγόμενον ⋯κ τούτων. πολλο⋯ μ⋯ν γ⋯ρ ⋯μονο-μάχησαν ⋯κουσίως Ῥωμαίων ὑπ⋯ρ τ⋯ς τ⋯ν ὅλων κρίσεως κτλ. Modern scholars, however, have taken little notice of this remark and some have tried to belittle the importance of single combat at Rome. Thus G. Dumézil alleged that the Romans fought few single combats and that this was significant for their outlook upon war, while R. Bloch described the duels in the seventh book of Livy as ‘un mode de combat absolument étranger à la tradition romaine, mail auquel les Romains ont été contraints par les habitudes et par les défis des Celtes’. W. V. Harris is the only scholar to have understood the importance of monomachy in the Roman Republic, but even he has not assembled all the evidence necessary for an accurate assessment of the phenomenon. This essay is intended to provide a full treatment and thus to make some contribution in a limited but interesting area to our understanding of Roman attitudes to warfare. I have included a list and discussion of all instances of single combat from the Roman Republic which I have discovered and have argued that the custom continued from prehistoric times at least to 45 b.c.
This paper examines what may be said about the style of Latin historians who were contemporary with the elder Seneca. Most space is devoted to Velleius Paterculus, but also discussed are L. Arruntius, Pompeius Trogus, Cremutius Cordus, Bruttedius Niger, and Aufidius Bassus. There is discussion of the periodic and pointed styles, of poetical language, of the use of clausulae, and of imitation of Sallust and Livy. 'Er [Velleius] will nicht mit Livius verglichen sein (man kann eben nicht Heterogenes vergleichen), sondern mit Nepos einerseits und Florus anderseits: jener schreibt wie ein puer für pueri, dieser wie ein insanus für insani: den Velleius liest man gern von Anfang bis zu Ende, nicht als Menschen oder als Historiker, aber als Schriftsteller, der in der Manier selten kindisch oder absurd wird.' 1 1 Dr C.L. Whitton and Professor A.J. Woodman Norden (1915) 1. 303. I thank Professor M.C. Scappaticcio for the kind invitation to speak at the conference on the elder Seneca's Histories: since the style in which Seneca composed that work remains unknown, these thoughts on the styles used by his contemporaries were offered as a substitute. I thank also Professor A.J. Woodman for improving an earlier draft of this essay.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.