Virtual Epic: Counterfactuals, Sideshadowing, and the Poetics of Contingency in the Pvnica

Cowan, Robert

doi:10.1163/9789004217119_015

Cited by 42 publications

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“…Aen . 9.756-61 (quoting from 759), with Schenk (1984) 201-6; Nesselrath (1992) 75-6; Suerbaum (1998) 356; Goldberg (1995) 156; Cowan (2010) 337-8.…”

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Sideshadowing Actium: Counterfactual History in Lollius’Naumachia(Horace,Epistles1.18)

Cowan¹

2018

Antichthon

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Among the personal hobbies which Horace recommends his young friend Lollius conduct at a discreet distance from his potens amicus is the re-enactment of the battle of Actium, which should only be undertaken in the privacy of his father’s estate. Critics have noted that the potential offence in this seemingly affirmative celebration of the ‘miracle of Actium’ lies in the casting of Lollius’ brother as his opponent, thus acknowledging the civil nature of the battle which was at least downplayed, if not elided, in official discourse. They have overlooked, however, the further subversive element in Horace’s reference to ‘whichever of the two (alterutrum)’ Victory crowns. This presents the counterfactual possibility, both in the Epistle and in the naumachia which serves as a parallel mimesis, that Antony might have won the battle of Actium. This instance of ‘sideshadowing’ demands to be set in a number of contexts, such as the use of counterfactuals in historiographical depictions of battles and the phenomenon whereby some public naumachiae had outcomes contrary to that of the historical battle they were re-enacting. In particular, the very possibility of an Antonian victory renders the Augustan principate contingent, in opposition to the providential, teleological inevitability with which it, and especially its foundational battle, were depicted elsewhere in Augustan poetry. Such an interpretation is supported by Lucan’s allusion to this passage in his Dyrrachium episode, the only other non-Lucretian instance of alterutrum in extant Latin poetry.

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“…Aen . 9.756-61 (quoting from 759), with Schenk (1984) 201-6; Nesselrath (1992) 75-6; Suerbaum (1998) 356; Goldberg (1995) 156; Cowan (2010) 337-8.…”

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confidence: 99%

“…6.301-13, on which, see esp. Nesselrath (1992) 102-3; Roller (2001) 32-3; Tesoriero (2004) 210–12; D’Alessandro Behr (2007) 83–4; Cowan (2010) 331-3.…”

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Sideshadowing Actium: Counterfactual History in Lollius’Naumachia(Horace,Epistles1.18)

Cowan¹

2018

Antichthon

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Reading Roman Pride

Baraz¹

2020

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Pride is pervasive in Roman texts, as an emotion and a political and social concept implicated in ideas of power. This study examines the Roman discourse of pride from two distinct complementary perspectives. The first is based on scripts, mini-stories told to illustrate what pride is, how it arises and develops, and where it fits within the Roman emotional landscape. The second is semantic, and draws attention to differences between terms within the pride field. The peculiar feature of Roman pride that emerges is that it appears exclusively as a negative emotion, attributed externally and condemned, up to the Augustan period. This previously unnoticed lack of expression of positive pride in republican discourse is a result of the way the Roman republican elite articulates its values as anti-monarchical and is committed, within the governing class, to power-sharing and a kind of equality. The book explores this uniquely Roman articulation of pride attributed to people, places, and institutions and traces the partial rehabilitation of pride that begins in the texts of the Augustan poets at a time of great political change. Reading for pride produces innovative readings of texts that range from Plautus to Ausonius, with a major focus on Cicero, Livy, Vergil, and other Augustan poets.

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Baraz

2020

Reading Roman Pride

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Virtual Epic: Counterfactuals, Sideshadowing, and the Poetics of Contingency in the Pvnica

Cited by 42 publications

References 0 publications

Sideshadowing Actium: Counterfactual History in Lollius’Naumachia(Horace,Epistles1.18)

Sideshadowing Actium: Counterfactual History in Lollius’Naumachia(Horace,Epistles1.18)

Reading Roman Pride

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