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The late antique afterlife of Roman exemplarity : The case of Scipio Nasica in Livy, Ab urbe condita 29 and Augustine, De civitate Dei 1.30-2.5
Krauss, Katherine
Krauss, Katherine
Author
Abstract
This article calls for a new understanding of the relationship between classicizing and Christian discourses of exemplarity through a close reading of the figure of Scipio Nasica in Livy, Ab urbe condita Book 29 and Augustine, De ciuitate Dei Books 1–2. Nasica, whose selection as a uir optimus by the Senate in 204 B.C.E. has puzzled modern scholars, was a source of historiographical difficulty for Livy that prompted him to reflect upon exemplarity, mythmaking and the tenuous relationship between past and present. For Augustine, on the other hand, Nasica was a pagan, and thus imperfect, realization of Christian pietas and restraint from luxurious behaviour. Although differing in their interpretations of the Republican exemplum, both Livy and Augustine point to the complexities inherent in invocations of paradigmatic Roman maiores. The close study of Scipio Nasica thus reveals the classicizing precedent lingering behind the supposedly ‘Christian’ rejections of pre-Christian Roman culture in the De ciuitate Dei.
Keywords
Livy, Augustine, Scipio Nasica, Magna Mater, exemplarity
Date
2021
Type
Journal article
Journal
Classical Quarterly
Book
Volume
71
Issue
2
Page Range
676-687
Article Number
ACU Department
Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry
Faculty of Theology and Philosophy
Faculty of Theology and Philosophy
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Open Access Status
License
All rights reserved
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Controlled