Fragmentary Greek Historiography in Rome. Cicero and Nepos (50s-40s BC)

Rodríguez Horrillo, Miguel Ángel (Universidad de Zaragoza)

Resumen: This paper examines the knowledge of Cicero’s generation about Greek fragmentary historiography. The rather scanty evidence is examined thoroughly paying special attention to the chronology of the different passages which refer to such historiography, in order to understand the stages of assimilation of the Greek genre displayed by Cicero and Nepos. The analysis of this evidence leads us to conclude that, while Cicero’s knowledge of historiography was indirect and unsystematic in many respects, Nepos actually read the majority of authors that Cicero seems, as late as the second half of the 40s, to have known only second hand. Furthermore, of the fourteen fragments as such cited by Cicero, nine are found in works composed between the years 45-44 B.C., precisely the years of Cicero’s and Nepos’ correspondence. With this fact in mind, we should no longer grant a Ciceronian theory of historiography the weight it has usually been given,
while, in questions of direct knowledge of Greek historiography, the biographer should be considered superior to Cicero

Idioma: Inglés

Año: 2024

Publicado en: Athenaeum 112, 2 (2024), 365-390
ISSN: 0004-6574

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA-FEDER/H17-23R

Tipo y forma: Article (PostPrint)

Área (Departamento): Área Filología Griega (Dpto. Ciencias de la Antigüed.)