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JOURNAL
OF POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY
May
157 179
Man
and
the
Possibility
of
False
195
James C. Leake
Tacitus'
Teaching and
the
Decline
of
Liberty
at
Rome (Chapters 3 to 7)
309 323
Richard Burrow
Kenneth L. Gras Grasso
Credulity
and
Curiosity
in A Tale of a Tub
and
Pluralism,
the
Public Good
the Problem of
Morrisey
373
Morrisey
Self by
Stanley
Corngold
interpretation
Volume 15
JL
numbers
2*3
Editor-in-Chief
Hilail Gildin
Editors
Charles E. Butterworth
Howard B.White
Hilail
Robert Horwitz
(d.1974)
Consulting
Editors
Joseph
Arnaldo Momigliano
Associate Editors
Michael Blaustein
Coby
Colmo
Edward J. Erler
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Goldberg
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Morris
-
Grant B. Gerald
John A.
James W
Will
Morrisey
Charles T. Rubin
Leslie Rubin
Wettergreen
Bradford P Wilson
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Catherine Zuckert
Manuscript Editor
Laurette G. Hupman
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Annual
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individual
student of
(3-year
issues
interpretation a year.
for
correspondence
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College, Flushing,
Authors submitting
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for
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follow
and
Copyright 1987
Interpretation
Contents
K. L. Yeager
David Bolotin
Man
and
157
of
The Theaetetus
the
Possibility
False Opinion
179
James C. Leake
Tacitus'
Teaching
and
and
the Decline of
Liberty
a
at
Rome (Chapters 3 to
Richard Burrow Kenneth L. Grasso
7)
in A Tale of Tub
195
309
Credulity
Pluralism,
Curiosity
On the Wisdom
of
Nathan
Morrisey
Book Review
Will
Morrisey
The Fate of the Self: German Writers French Theory by Stanley Corngold
and
373
Man
and
K. L. Yeager
Boston College
"Indeed
not
only this, O
Simmias,"
Socrates, "but
also the
first
hypotheses,
you go
even
if they
are certain to
you,
be
examined more
clearly; and if
think,
you will
follow the
human
being
to understand; and
further."
Phaedo,
relates
107b
day
of
death
and
and
the conversation
on
Socrates
Phaedo
vides
his
companions
almost
supposedly took place between that day. The arguments contained in the
which
are
focused
wholly
on the soul.
The first
part of
the
dialogue
pro
three
major arguments of
supplies a
description
Socrates'
for the
causes of what
exists, is
generated,
and perishes.
In
some
is
dialogue,
the
Apology
should
of Socrates; it
given
be
said
to be
arguments
by
are a response to
his
companion
demands that he
provide a
his
apparent
willingness
to separate himself
second
from
go
them
One
might
reasonably
expect
this
apology to
deeper
first apology which was made publicly to the whole mass of the Athe citizens. When Socrates was called upon to justify his activities before his
citizens
fellow
he defended himself
seriously
care of
by
arguing that he
was
educating them. He
speaks to those
about
Athenians to take
who
Phaedo, Socrates
to the Athenian
he
gave
populace
to pay
at
tention to virtue, to
learning
and
is expressly political in the manner, for in the Laws. It is a strange, esoteric dialogue all about the
which
interaction between
not
body
of
and soul
vovq, or mind).
It does
regim
the
soul
is
vast
in its implications
indeed it is hard to
imagine that
out
to these
thoroughly
body
mind.
Both
discourse
are
ultimately
concerned with
issues
Pure philosophy is concerned with such matters in a disinterested way; political theory becomes involved in debate about politically causation because it is concerned with justice and therefore with freedom. The
of causation and of order. concept of
freedom,
as we
158
Interpretation
and
choosing
effected).
(i.e.,
causing)
and
and
something
being
harm,
(i.e., being
Justice
law
issues only if freedom of choice really exists, the to obey law or not to obey. An innate body-soul lect in human beings)
choice
to harm or not to
(including
for
all cultural
dichotomy is
and
the
precondition
dividual responsibility
self-control
versus
determinism.
Justice,
freedom,
of political
theory. No political debate goes far without mention of such matters. for example, could a society justify either punishing or rewarding its citi How, zens if there is no certainty as to whether freedom of choice belongs to the indi
vidual or not?
Reflection ical
on
the
soul
which all
lasting
end of
the
Republic, Socrates
that everything discussed therein would become more clear once the true nature
of the soul
has been
to
more
adequately
examined.
fulfilling
Of all the dialogues, the Phaedo inquiry into the nature any
of
For this
reason
inquiry
into the
nature of
great
junction
where
(including
the
study
nature)
their conflicts.
meets
the
ancient
Greek
alliance
between
religion
ground
and transforms
levels, in
various ways.
will argue
Plato tries
to show
of
vovg (the
faculty
of reason and
conscious
decision) is
part of a continuum.
caused
It is
is it
by
some outside
force. An implication is
no
of
Plato's
realm
of
sig
interest.
about causation
Philosophic discourse
of the society's
necessarily trespasses
on
the
territory
ruling nokig and its gods is the dramatic context of the dialogue. However, the conflict is resolved through various measures, including the forging of an alliance be
tween philosophy and the god, Apollo.
gods.
Indeed,
This
active social
engineering
Being
than a
whole, the
Phaedo
and
contains
very
immortality
have had
a
its judgment
death. These
myths
profound and
continuing influence
the
litical facets
paper.
of
Phaedo,
this one
human
After
all
it is
not possible
to discuss
of
it is
shown to ac
tually be
myth
through an analysis
Plato's
philosophical arguments.
Man
and
159
tightly
ordered
appearances
to
made an
which
his
companions
find
question of
how the
death. He
offers
major proofs
that the
recol
death,
and
will refer
to as "the nature
argument,"
"the
lection
argument,"
"the
the
section."
noncomposite soul
most
Socrates begins
ment and
with
basic hypothesis
about soul
in the
then advances
upward
through more and more complex ones in the the noncomposite soul section, in
argument.
in
parts of
response
to
the
incompleteness in first
to
and
each
preceding
In the center,
forming
link be
tween the
sented
last
parts of
by
Socrates'
two primary
proof
interlocutors, Simmias
and
Cebes)
which stand
in
Socrates'
opposition
These
counterar
guments address
whether soul
is something formed
by body
or whether
instead
body
is formed
by
soul.
In
answer
finally
gives an autobiographical
together"
account of
his
for
causes and
his
new
"mingled
method of part of
inquiry
the
a method which
point
the dia
some of
retreat
from
earlier conclusions
culminates
in
an acknowledged myth
(cf. nob)
the individual's
journey
whole
after
death.
Nonetheless,
attempt at
manner.1
the
in
a certain
There
are
two
motivations or
objectives, that
pull
the dialogue in
which
various
directions
and move
it
is
more
answers
beings to believe that they will somehow survive death. This is what his compan a proof that his and their souls ions initially demand of Socrates (cf. 69e-70b)
will exist after
death least
and
on
it is the
requirement
the
myths seek
to satisfy, and
the
arguments at
Phaedo,
this
requirement
nature of
the soul.
is the motivating force behind the vast inquiry into the In addition, Socrates carries on a more hidden dialogue with
is
obscured
This underlying
attempt
because the dialogue does rely on Pythagorean and Or having proven that the individual soul must always
accept
Unfortunately commentators
they stop
therefore,
inconsistent
merely
wrong.
They
are
ophers."
Clarendon Press,
and
See, for instance, Plato's Phaedo, ed. by John Bumet with introduction and notes (Oxford: 191 1), pp. liv-lv, and Plato's Phaedo, trans, by R. Hackforth with introduction pp. 3-6. commentary (Cambridge, England: University Press, 1972),
160
Interpretation
who
is
not
Socrates brings up
more
with
at crucial points
current, the
The dialogue
the generation, ex
isting,
which
and
perishing
place
of
is necessary in
asks
The
philosopher
to
understand
the processes
take
in the whole,
of which we
human beings
part
has to be
explained.
having
sion.
(Novg, I
will
leave
untranslated
in this paper,
of
it has
such a
range of meanings
mind, the
with
faculty
of
reason,
thought,
of conscious
deci
con
At
98b -99b
scious choice of
vovg is described by Socrates as acting the best.) Discussions in the dialogue's first half vovg in ordering
of
involving
will
eventually
the role of
ear
lead up to the
vovg
the whole
decay. It is the
lier
questioning to
reach
this
peak.
Only
seems
because the
earlier arguments
have been
this issue be
raised and
the answer
be
attempted. ex
Anaxagoras
isting independently
principle.2
from
all other
things, is the
to
ordering
ob
In the
middle of responds
Cebes'
jections), Socrates
finds it
and
directly
and
Anaxagoras'
untenable on various
freedom
as
coming to
be
levels. Within the Phaedo, Socrates analyzes form advancing from within the beings rather than as from without,
as
something imposed
the
or given
in
Anaxagoras'
dialogue
shows
by
salutary
myths
that
reinterpret our
relationship
rooted
Part
of
they
are
pearance of
being
in
dialogue
in
as a whole
is built
from
to
bodily
body, i.e.,
be
vovg philosophy can exist vovg does not depend upon bodily form.
analytic part of a
individual
soul can
to
bodily
focuses
form
on
as a given
fun
damental datum
vovg comes into
of experience
and therefore
is interconnected with,
Plato's
and yet
in
some aspects
overestimate
philosophical empiricism
in the
tary
and
See Simplicius Phys. Fr. 12, 164,24 and 156,13 or The PreSocratic Philosophers, commen translations by G. S. Kirk and J. E. Raven (Cambridge, England: University Press, 1957),
pp. 372-73-
Man
Phaedo
and
161
and
his parsimony in making hypotheses concerning causation. Yet at it is very different from
times.
No
perception
is discounted merely
the natural whole.
nature argument even when all
"soul."
eye.
No fundamental human
during
which order
Plato (cum
Socrates)
starts with
hypothesis in the
potential
off.
This
he
calls
Addi
the
recollection argument
only in
response
incompleteness in
arguments are
inextricably
bound together. In the extremely complex recollection argument, a series of new hypotheses are considered including the hypothesis that the nonliving world
aims, despite
all
appearances,
not at
beauty
and good
belonging
argument projects
experiences of
living,
thinking beings back into the nonliving world. Although at first glance this appears to be an illusory projection of our own will (to suggest that what is
nonliving
aims at
anything
at
beauty
and
philosophical reasons
why it is necessary
analysis avoid
and consistent
for Plato to
the
hypothesis.
Not only does Plato's positing vovg
the opposite,
as a
separate, original
(i.e.,
god-like)
causal
force,
it
also avoids
which
is the
mechanistic
At the opposite extreme, vovg becomes something that pops into be suddenly in a chance way. Bypassing the political and metaphysical prob lems of each of these opposing approaches, Plato hypothesizes that there is a complex of powers (which he calls "soul") always existent in the world. Thus
approach.
ing
vovg, when
it
comes to exist
in
not
pop into
existence
in
an
arbitrary, and
come of other
ultimately inexplicable,
powers and
natural out
innate
aims,
strivings,
the
natural whole.
On the
the hand, utilizing vovg as an independent ultimate cause is also avoided Anaxagoras-type usage of vovg that Plato argues does not mesh with our human
experience of what
vovg is
and redefines
vovg into
nonexistence.
where
Plato's
Apology
of Socrates leaves
off.
The Apol
after
of Socrates closes with a short description of what the soul may experience death if, as is said, the soul changes from this habitation and goes to another (Cf.
place.
Apology
Socrates'
to his
companions
they
too
demand
"apology"
an
of
ous one.
Socrates
asserts
body after
have been
pure
purely"
Socrates
The
in the
prison of
the
body temporarily
human be Socrates
ings
are
162
Interpretation be distressed
at
should not
the
prospect of
This
be very quickly
abandoned
in the
will
new
but this
again.
the individual
souls
in Hades
be
returned
Socrates'
tenets are
strikes out rule of
although its apology remains an important point of reference, Socrates the which follow arguments the apology, not proven. In the divine mention of in the opposite direction. He leaves behind any
human
affairs
gument, the
nature
souls
he
had just described in the apology were richly human (cf. for example, 66b-67b, 64a-b), the soul discussed in the first argument is not recognizably human. The one in the second main argument, the recollection argument, is not a
social or political soul.
68a- e or
Only in
the last
argument
directly
Soul becomes
and
inextricably
nature
linked to the
and
problem of
of generation
.
decay
in the
argument,
said
it
remains so
95d-96a,
io6c-d).
Soul is
regeneration of
makes certain
living
beings is
hypotheses
about soul
by looking
other
by
analyz
ing
The
"generations"
or processes recollection
that the
appear never
argument,
on
hand, looks
the
From the
perspective of what we
know
of
functioning
of our own
there
that always
belong
to
Only
perceptions of
of external
likenesses
and
specifically how it is that the soul "comes into outer phenomena are discussed openly perceptions deficiencies in objects such as sticks and stones. The
existence of
the human soul's inner desires and deficiencies is merely alluded to.
no
Furthermore,
mate objects
distinction is
made
between
our
human type
of souls and
inani
in that they too are said to aim and to fall short. The recollection ar with its concentration upon the soul's perception of the world external to gument,
it, is
own
intermediate step between the nature argument, where none of our activities and functions are directly discussed, and the third argument.
an noncomposite soul section are the soul's
souls'
Only
the
in the
inner
peceptions
detailed
soul's various
desires,
rule
itself
by
itself. As the
animate and
aspects of the
power oriented
life,
while also
being which is receptive and moves toward greater perception holding within itself the past through recollection, and finally as a be
as a
ing
itself
and
becomes kind
occupied with
remolding itself. At
exerts a
each
step it
freedom
of one
or another and
it
forming
and re
forming
noncomposite
soul
section, the
Man
soul's
and
163
to
internal
"collect itself
together,"
and
to
escape the
things
which are
bodily
appear as the
highest freedom.
difficulties
It
body
is
like beings
was
together after
death, i.e.,
people
what
Neither
benevolently. Cebes
in the
following
way:
Many
soul scatters at
death
and
is
no
where; if it does
and prudence which ment ment
exist collected
together itself
then there is
respond
reason
for hope.
as
follow
to the
difficulty
it
by itself, and if it has some power (Cf. 69e-70b.) The three arguments is set forth by Cebes. The first argu
after
deals in the
abstract with
death. The
next argu
with
the
matter of
We turn
the
first
part of what
Socrates
refers to
as an actual examination
concern us about
argument perfect
is based
not
(or
"maimed"
cf. 7ie).
fore, it
constitutes a radical
apology
section.
Socrates
by
living
hav
ing ing
Hades, conjuring up
an
image
of
individual
souls
to the
living
unsuited to
proving that any individual soul exists after death. Socrates argues that if all generated beings come to be from their
opposites
generated
being
must
repay
to have the
same
thing
not come
stop coming to be (72b). From to be in this state Socrates will surmise some
thing
he
about the
makes
necessary structure of things. An underlying assumption which is that the material of generation is limited, able to be used up. "And if become compounded, but
would not separate
together'"
all should
happen
as
In the final
(72c).
the liv
should un
ing
things presently
to
be from
other
living
things, if
all the
living
are no means
by
be is
spent
up into death
less the
exists
process of
"coming
to life
(avaBtojoxeo^ai,
from
what
cf.
7ie-72a, 72d)
living
again
nonliving.
164
Interpretation
if all
should
die off,
which partake of
life,
and when
the
dead
would
remain
in that
same
form
not altogether
alive? For if the living things should necessary that all at last be dead and not even one things here], come to be from the others (seemingly Socrates refers to the other living but the living things should die, do any means exist by which all would not be spent up
of
the nature
hypothetical
the
since
it
rests
hypothetical time
the
all
At
generation of
belonging
to the
be
again of
the
living
generation of
opposite, the
nonliving.3
The last
illustration
of
important analogy be again. Here Socrates into life coming dying the sleeping Endymion (the lover of the moon, who was
Endymion, Socrates
all came
says,
and
would
be idle talk
be
nowhere
if
to be asleep
would no
longer
since
Potential
must
imply
never actu
alized
it
would no
longer be
potential
Endym
or
ion then
would
be
"nowhere"
in the
no
sense
that
what
his
potential
for wakefulness,
longer
exists.
us about soul?
How
shall
we compare
falling
soundly from
living
level
I
3.
within particular
individuals)
with
the processes
being
to another. If the
"nonliving"
living
did
not come to
be from
what
as
is dead
uses
"dead"
use
the terms
and
interchangeably in my discussion
it becomes
shifts
because
"the
Plato
nonli
synonymous with
of
in
from speaking
individual,
generated
beings to speaking
He really only gives arguments why certain types of And the fact that Plato is able to argue convincingly that the processes
that it is no longer necessary to suppose the individual souls exist continuity of individual soul after death, then there is no basis upon which to distinguish the dead from the nonliving. What is dead? For something to be (in the way the superficial argument for the immortality of the soul requires) there must be an individual soul-related
after
death. If there is
no
"dead"
continuity
with what
the specific
where should
being
Plato
die
was while
living. The
nonindividuation of
death becomes
argues
up into
again
death"
(clg
to
reft-
and
if the
to life
(to
avajiiwoxeothu)
It is
Plato is
discussing
life
and
death
living
come to
soul comes
no place
no element to separate
it
out and
continue
dead"
having
their deaths.
(Additionally,
it
there is no
handy Greek
equivalent
for "the
nonliving
if Plato had
wished to use
certainly
there is no
&(a>ov.)
Man
and
and
165
no means
if the
living
die,
there are
by
be
the
"spent
up"
whole taken
Socrates hypothesizes
to
some point
whole when
die;
this
hypothesis is necessary
life
his
The
of an
must exist
just
as the
potential
for
waking exists in the sleeping individual. The functioning whole is such that living beings can again be generated.
In
what
which
of the
nonliving
natural
way then is soul to be understood given has had anything to say specifically about soul itself,
Socrates'
discussion,
least
none of
at
not about
the
souls we
know
as our own?
The in
must exist
is
not alive.
If the
finally
have
souls of the
without
dead
exist,"
as
Socrates concludes,
what can
be
finally
going outside the sphere of these arguments to be a potential for wakefulness which exists in
"asleep"
is dead,
or
life"
in the terms
said
of the analogy.
What
exists
before
soul
can
be
to be
potential sense
experience
the things of
which we
life,
such as
of self ,
etc.,
experience)
without
speaking idle
nonsense
because the
living
into
being
again.
Beyond this
potential
nature argument.
for life, no other qualities are ascribed to soul within the Socrates no longer claims the souls exist in Hades. They do not
Potential for life,
or
exist
what
in
soul,
difficult to say that soul "exists had hoped Socrates would prove, for what exists as potential does
is dead. It is
somew
Cebes in the
same
way
as what
is
actual.
Cebes again, is
soul, this
What
to
between this
ungenerated
potential
for life
shown
Cebes
now
brings up the
for
recollection.
He is
concerned
that it be
shown with
and right
some
link
be
as our own.
Cebes
the
mentions as proof
knowledge
through
fact they
are able to
be
made conscious
questioning and answering, and therefore they must have been there originally all along. There is a difficulty in this proof (which remains throughout the rest of the
recollection unknown
to
being.
Socrates
more
at a much process of
basic level
than the
questioning
answering
166
Interpretation
with
belonging
the
to
living
of
beings.
perceived ollection
in the is
past
we also
"receive in
form"
mind
something
caused
by
by
unlike
things. The
Socrates'
is merely
al
beloved
boy
upon
seeing is
lyre
or cloak which
are
unlike,
we seem what
when we eros
strong
to
emotional
investment in
(However,
is
not supposed
belong
to
the soul according to the apology section, at least not any nonphilosophical,
pure
im
desires.)
recollection argument preserves
Socrates'
gument
which
between the
before
"coming into
and the
living souls
have
come
analysis of recollec
tion, Socrates treats inanimate things (sticks, an instance of something dead, but once living, and stones, an instance of something we think of as always and com pletely nonliving) as though they too must aim and strive at something and yet fall short of what they "eagerly (cf. 74d-75b). Thus in this way Socrates
desire"
does
not
divide
us off
recollection
argument,
stones
and
sticks
experience
striving
the
intentionality
to show
usually ascribed to the living alone. As and as he finally will suggest (cf. 74e-76d), it
"knowledges"
riences or
count of
suddenly
or
come
into
being
birth. We
how
In the
having
how
described
itself"
what
he
means
by
of
"recollection,"
Socrates
gives an account of
we come to
have knowledge
Our ability to conceive of "the equal appears to be pos sible only because we have certain innate capacities, such as an inborn ability to perceive likeness and, at the same time, or lack (cf. 74a). Eros, or de deficiency
equal
"the
itself."
sire, is the
positive aspect of
the perception
of
lack.
Socrates'
account of
know
includes the sensation of aiming at something, reaching and grasping at something beyond us, in with the other things known and perceived. Socrates says that if someone should see the sensible equals and think that they aim to be
ing
like "the
itself,"
equal
he
must
itself"
equal
we must
in
some previous
"prudence"
argument
to prove that
have had
middle of
equal seen
as
to aim.
at which
stones) are
they
might appear
really aim at the equal itself, even though to us to become more like as they decompose or disperse. That the
cannot
nonliving
something
other
than complete
likeness is impetus
the
crucial to the
proof
Socrates has
be
must come
necessary the
existence of
which would
decay; therefore,
impetus
Man
from
of
and
167
within
new
the
his
"method"
regenerating being itself. Socrates seems to be following the path which is described later in the dialogue at 97b-io6d. He is
moving up through one hypothesis to the next until he reaches one which is sufficient. He seems to be exploring a possible explanation of the continual gene
sis of ple pages
living
such
beings
vovg,
as
this
function in
Anaxagoras'
analysis perfect
(cf.
159
all would
If the nonliving progressed toward become monoform; but this is something which the
and 160 above). never able
likeness,
nature argument
hypothesizes is
to
happen,
since
if it did
to be gener
have been
up into death. Socrates quietly substi that which is aimed at (75c-d, 76d-e).
spent
Whereas the
is
restated
cantly amended each time (cf. 7ie, 72a, 72d, 77c), the lacks an official conclusion. Socrates asks if it is true that
are always
recollection argument
if the
and
things
which we
talking
about such as
beauty
and good
exist,
if
we refer all
the
being
ours we
we perceive
to this or
by
discover existing before, means of this, then is it so that born in this human form
(plural)
here
exist
before
we are
(cf.
76d-e).
The
suggestion
seems to
reference
toward
beauty
tion
in
ists before
in the
birth
"soul."
Otherwise the
potential
beauty can we really properly call what being which was referred to as
for life) lacks any
would real
nature argument
(the
likeness to the
souls
which we
know
as our own
during
life. The
and
vain."
Since Simmias
affirmative,
would mean
immediately
Socrates'
answers
in the
all manner of
difficulties
By
and then
changing to
aiming or reference toward beauty and good (a form of knowing which Socrates calls prudence at one point) prove that our own individual souls exist? It to; the
seems not
knowing
is
be
subconscious or
aiming of soul before it comes into life unconscious, like the knowledge in us which Cebes
and
not conscious
seems to spoke of
to begin
with which
before it is brought
reference
answering.
personal or conscious
gives no account of
how
and
why
such
things are forgotten at birth. Such an account is necessary if these things were
Simmias
no proof that
nature
argument,
is necessary
already shown that the soul (soul in individual souls, in the final amendment at 77c-d) must al-
insisting having
168
Interpretation
if the
ways exist
living
are
to
come
to be again
nature argu
regeneration and
not shown
and
why the
living
that
be,
or even
separations
between things
.
things
come
opposites
The
recollection
argument,
taking
qualities which
belong
belong
Soul's directedness toward something be yond it, its sensation of lack, together with its involvement with form (with im in the past) might explain in ages like but not precisely like what it has
the nature argument.
"known"
greater
detail how
soul
is
before it
comes
does
not go outside of
beauty
must which
is
be the
knowledge, including
of soul even when
self-knowledge,
it
exists
in the
various
conclusions of
the recollection ar
the nature argument and attempted to fill up the incompleteness in that argument
possible
by
considering the
souls, our
These
is
Involvement
form is something
the
levels in the
regeneration of own
living
are a
which are
way that
not
like, but
conscious
apprehension of
form is
solely
According
is necessary for the coming to be of the living; as such it is a change, of metamorphosis, in fact. If, as the recollection argument in
soul of the
timates, the
nonliving
world
is
moved and
is
a source of
becoming
lack
a
or
deficiency,
have
kinship to
one another.
With its
analysis of soul's
innate receptivity to form and soul's innate sensation of deficiency, the recollec tion argument has taken us further down a path toward an explanation of genera
tion and
soul of
decay
but it has
also
lead
us
pure,
disembodied
the apology.
The
recollection argument
new
issues,
of
new questions.
How,
precisely, does
soul aim
homogeneity
Pursuit
(the
soul
toward greater
require a
knowledge, including
of
self-knowledge?
discussion
with
the
interrelationship
and
between
being
shown to
be
involved
form
and
potential)
body. Directed
by
Man
ongoing
and
169
of an
investigation,
of soul.
inquiry
did for
into the
"collect-
edness"
The
not prove
that our
own souls
Cebes'
exist,
each still
"gathered
Socrates'
together"
after
death (a third
and
requirement
in
initial
objection to
apology,
70a-
b)
is there
the
any
soul
proof
body,
quite
opposite
Socrates to
show
in
is
death, Socrates
says that
they
require a charm
to
charm
away their
posite and charm
fear
of
is
noncom
therefore
to disperse at death is of
a questionable
character,
being
linked
with myth
(ii4d)
(Adyoi) (61b).
argument, Simmias source,
suggests
At the
end of
put
the
recollection
ing
been
together
from
some other
might
simply disband
not proceed
by
together
after
death,
Simmias intimates he might; instead he and for this reason unlikely to disperse. He
as
previous
up
dichotomy
with
which
is
alien
to the two
arguments, but
which
is
of
compati
ble
the apology
section.
The
world
being
invisible,
anoetic,
composite.
Socrates
egory
of
the
noncomposite
form
being. However,
he describes the
such a
activities of various
including Subtly
is
philosophic
souls, in
way that
the human
soul appears
being
the philo
subtly, he
undercuts
his
own
individual
to disperse.
The
making the division between the two separate forms of being is many layers of hypotheses, but the supporting argu themselves are not fleshed out. After positing that ;/ anything happens to
process of
be noncomposite, then that thing, // anything, ought not undergo dispersion (78b-c), Socrates turns, not directly to soul, but to what is apprehended by the soul. The equal itself and the beautiful itself are said to be taken hold of only by
the reasoning of the intellect
(79a);
is
now
denied
by
akin
the soul
is
said
to
be
them. On the
cloaks,4
other
hand,
which
beautiful,
are claimed
to be constantly
(78e-79a). Soc
members of a species
4.
cloak,
lyre, horses,
and
human beings,
things,
(73d-74a,
The lyre
of soul
that Simmias and Cebes will later use, but the horses draw our at
with
tention to
another
dialogue,
the
Phaedrus,
of soul.
powers, or
desires,
of the composite
human
soul are
and a charioteer.
170
called
Interpretation
and
the
by the same name man or horse being itself has with itself as it exists
present changeable groups.
and
likeness
through time.
changeless
The
visible,
being
and
the
form
fit
into both
ble
and
The
changing, so too
passions,
etc.
argument about
information
the
being by the
into
percep
senses,
including
presumably
79c).
hearing,
is
one of
senses
that grasps
what
is invisible (cf.
devastating argument against the dichotomy is given by Socrates Immediately after positing the changelessness of soul and the things perceived by soul and right before formally severing the connection between
The
most
himself.
soul's points
reasoning
Socrates
overturns
his
own argument.
He
out, gratuitously it
visible and
changing things and the invisible, changeless things is based in human nature (79b It is the senses themselves, telling us what is visible and what is not,
-c).
body- soul dichotomy the very supply the information that yields the senses now and in the apology section under attack. The validity of the argument (which deprecates sense perception) and the value of sense perception stand or
which
within
irony
there is of course an
what
is the
then, how
much
in the
dichotomy is
is
cor
rect, how
it is false? Sense
perception
by
lect's interpretation
wrong.
body
and soul
adds
two important
new characteristics.
These
characteristics
when soul
and
body
are
together,
the
not
if they
were
its ruling and compre hending capacity, soul is said to be like the divine, since what is divine guides that which is bodily and mortal (cf. 79e-8oa). Soul, alone by itself, is not
master while
is
body
is
Because
of
claimed
to be divine, only soul in conjunction with body. How important then is the divine and guiding aspect of
soul?
This is
an
issue
linking
In this
of
the first part of the noncomposite soul argument with the last part. The
discussions
of
the
is described
as a
interrelationship between body and soul. being that changes according to the direction
Underneath the
question of whether soul another more section
and passions.
is
composite and
sue
changing or noncomposite and changeless the freedom of soul. The noncomposite soul freedom
on a new
basic is
lem
level,
the level
most
interesting
dealt
with certain
innate
for
change
belonging
to soul,
neither of
had anything to say about change in form in the kind of soul that is specifically human. When human beings talk about freedom and virtue they are speaking
Man
and
-171
about the
possibility
able to
(do^a,
gSe-
99a) (itself
what
change)
about what
is best,
as opposed to change
initiated
by
is
bodily
in form. The
plication of
realm
into the
political
of
body
of
one part
human beings. Prior to making the distinction between soul and there is no possibility of discussion ruling, the other obeying
and choice of action.
of
freedom
Likewise,
put
of
course, there is
the
discovery
determinism or,
into
more ancient
erything happens by necessity, in the form of chance. If the import of the nature and recollection arguments has been accepted, the issue of determinism is more or less moot. The whole thrust of the philosophic
analysis
an
understanding It has
of soul as a source of
In these two
has
been
shown
or potentials.
been involved
nature argu
with change of
form
at some
life,
a potential
is
in
an unconscious or
"sleep
powers
al
state.
In the
have innate
linked the
of perception of
likeness
and
deficiency,
and
along
with
this a directedness
beauty. The
recollection argument
soul of as our
with
the
conscious and
directed type
of soul we
know
At the
conclusion of
the
recollection argument
it
powers of
recollection argument
to the
transforming potency
soul
At
nature of the
human
is to be
fully
-
The
noncomposite
"soulform"
setting forth a "body dichotomy. Now that the body-soul separation has been maneu
soul
section
began
form"
by
vered
into
place
this distinction
being
for
political
dis
course,
ment of
and of course
for philosophy
altogether
turns to an analysis of
The
second
half
the
is
immensely complex in its description of the body and of the soul's attempt to free itself
in the
account
have
a prominent role
(cf.
8od, 81 a, 82b-c)
reminiscent of
where
himself has
yet
would set us
from the
body
lovers of learning say that "the god (67a). This is despite the fact no proof
been
given
intervening
The
arguments
have
noncomposite soul ar
is
bodily
in form insofar
as
they
the
divine
ruling in
nature
(79c
the
However,
place of
gods.
At 84a philosophy,
said to set us
bringing
in
of
phi-
172
Interpretation
with great
seems to way that philosophy practi important be in alliance with the ruling gods. Preservation of this link is whole basis of cally speaking, since philosophy, love of wisdom, becomes the consist in not be morality here. The orderliness and courage of the philosopher (83c- 84a). The phi ing moved by loves and desires other than love of wisdom
losophy, is done
subtlety
and
in
such a
losopher's
virtue
has been
elevated
called
virtue
(69b).
is
persona of
its
own
(cf. in
being
of
love in the
souls of
and
realm
is degraded
less
subtle
downgrading
several sentences
political sphere
is dissolved:
into the
Those
who
have
preferred
injustice
and
tyranny
and
rapacity
those
enter
race of
wolves and
hawks
said
and
Of course, is
kites; or where else can we say Cebes, into the ones of such sort.
also own care? certainly.
Therefore, he
what most
said,
according to
like its
It is clear, he said,
Accordingly
who
the
most
happy
place are
those
have
virtue, which
they
jus
tice,
having
become
such
philosophy
and
vovgl
How
Because these
some such as of
likely
into
bees
or of wasps or of
ants, or even
into
the same
human
race
again,
be from
them.
Probably
It is
not
(82a-b).
Even
some
insects
practice
If
is
understood
to
be
free,
divide
living ity of
and
soul
from
another and
with
According
vovg
are what
distinguishes
from the
Philosophy
The
seems
call of
is
in the
nature of soul.
inquiry
it
of
inquiry
is
referred
to as "wisdom
(ooq)ia),
which
they
aim
investigation
nature"5
yet
philosophy itself qua species of love, an How does it come into being? What is its
importance
sta
tus? How does this most complex love connect with, or flow out of, the more ba
sic
loves in the
soul?
These
5. Xocpia when it appears here at 96a is particularly striking since the noun by itself occurs rarely in the Phaedo. In fact I think this is the only place it appears in the dialogue.
Man
and
173
truest
nature
innermost,
is inclined toward
knowledge.
crucial
First, it is
the
and
freedom
last
in terms is
of what
is
"bodyform."
As to the
posi
it
escapes
bodily
this is not discussed in any detail. The positive aspect, the goal,
of always existent causes of
is
presented
generation and
decay,
knowledge
which
incidentally
not of
leads to
discovery
of
the
deathlessness
As
of soul
was mentioned
body
soul
here. In the first, the one heaviest in references to the gods, the is highly responsible for its bodily form. Each soul in its next life
form corresponding to its desires and concerns (8od-82c). A picture is drawn of how the world might appear if, at some point, the individual soul its
aims and concerns chose
soul
through the
its
own species
form. In the
is
responsible
for
much
changing and invisible things felt in the soul (cf. 82c, 82e-83e). Freedom from these invisible but body-related perceptions is achieved
wisdom.
As
presented
by Socrates,
it
when
to come
and
upon
the
soul
suddenly,
taking
possession of
philosophy it is wholly
evi
bound
fastened in the
body."
body
(82d-e). Yet
as
dence
accumulates
prephilosophic soul
is
not
really
so
"wholly
this soul,
exhorting
and
reasoning
it,
beliefs,
pendent
nurture,
and even
rhetoric, (cf.
a
82d-84b), it
soul
seems
to be already
inde is
philosophy begins to
speak to
a soul engaged
Philosophy
as
merely
political
not as
free
he had thought. It
many"
qualities
in
regard
of wisdom
key
elements
in the
soul's es
cape,
or
pain are
sense perception
to deceive seems
deceptiveness. However, the ability of more to be a route through which our percep
be
attacked.
The
greatest evil of
when
is
believing
and
that
is true
it is
it is in this way that the human soul is put into bondage "opinions."6 (Cf. 83c -d.) forced to share the body's
the noncomposite soul argument, the status of
greatest evil a
by
the
body
accord
6. After
with
Xoyoc. becomes
a central
issue. In
this, the
human
being
can suffer
is
changed
174
Interpretation
asks
Socrates
ing"
soul of each
ones
human be
the
(83c). Although
Cebes
answers
causes
measure of
belief,
in,
things such as
and
honor,
must
salvation, foreknowledge
and so on.
fear
of
death, beauty
be
nobility
of
soul,
justice,
All
such things
seemingly
consigned
ceptive and
uncertain, since
they
exist outside of
the
realm of
monoform"
pure,
and
(83c)
is
quite
Despite
Socrates'
reiteration of
the rigid
body
-soul
dichotomy
non-
his
analysis
has disclosed
when
along
a continuum of
freedom. Even
enslaved
the soul
body
in his
it is
not
absolutely
but
willing
partner.
"very
much an assistant
wholly tied to
to
bodily
pleasure and
without reference
to its relationship to
is
bodily
a
114c).
soul
At the high
the noncomposite
of
reached
point:
Philosophy, love
freedom from body. But the position that philosophy is precarious, both philosophically and politically. Philosophy ex tends the original realization, primary to all human beings, that sense perception
offers the soul the greatest
now occupies can
be deceptive, to human
much pleasure or
opinions
regarding
them "ex
ceedingly human
fear or
desire"
grief or
(83b). The
noncomposite soul
The
analysis
philosophy solidifying doubt in regard to all could be a formula for what is now called relativ
once all a
ism,
which
human
be
sus of
ceptible to questioning.
wisdom can
However,
if
all
basis is
also
delineated
upon which
love
soul are
dubious.
weaknesses.
soul
be
valuable
in itself; truth
be
attainable.
fact,
most
hu
beings
seem
to have a natural need for truth, at some level. Few are able to
something and aim at it once they sense that that objective is in some way false. Truth may be impossible for human beings to attain (cf. 66e, 85c-d, 91b).
value
Truth's
in the
Alterna
detrimental
be
truth,
in
found in
61b),
and
other
in the Phaedo
the philosopher
Man
divine
and
has been
posited.
The
as
existence of
of changeless
is
quite problematic
itself,
has been
In the
all
the
diverse
strains of the
first
part
discus issue
Everything by philosophy.
around the
Philosophy's
truth
mitted
involve knowledge
the
of generation and
decay
and the
inquiry
is openly ad becomes
concentrated on
body
-soul
apology
PHILOSOPHY'S REALM
For
a short
dialogue,
.
the
momentum comes
di
rectly from Simmias and Cebes. They insist on unraveling the Penelope-like fab ric that Socrates has just woven for the soul (cf 84a-b) his nurture of belief in
the monoform, changeless nature
native model of causal
of
the individual
soul.
Each
suggests an alter
interrelationship
body,
Simmias'
between
body
a
and soul.
In
Cebes'
im
age,
and
soul
is the
weaver of
individual
die (86e-88b). In
of
image,
soul
is like
harmony
soon
instrument
the
as
as
the
body
be
demiurge(s)
reopened a number of
had
living
the
without recourse
to
any
sort of separate
presenta
tion of the
body
-soul
dichotomy
in the
way to
playful
account
Some ruling and invisible demiurge(s) is now available to for the ordering in the whole available not just as a mythic tool or an actual philosophical explanation. Socrates describes but as conjecture,
new answers.
"attack"
this philosophic
against
his
arguments replaced
in
grand
95a-b), for philosophy and truth have of value might be played out.
every
Socrates
possible and
pauses
to
make clear
that
if
what
Simmias
of
says
is true,
virtue of
is
not
92e-94a).
Aspects
the arguments
of
Simmias
the
Cebes
Anaxagoras,
definitive
expression
body-soul division. As
decay
and origin of
living
be
ings,
cal
Anaxagoras
posited
vovg, which,
he said,
in
existed
originally
things
as a
separate,
all-alike, all-knowing
whole.7
or
determining
to be
force that
produced
Later vovg
came
mixed
with some
Virtue
and choice
become just
as problematic on
Simplicius, Fr.
Simplicius Phys. Fragment 12, 164,24 and 156,13 or Kirk and Raven, pp. 372-73. Also, 17, Phys. 163,20, wherein Anaxagoras denies that qualitative change takes
176
Interpretation
Simmias'
Anaxagoras'
account as on
for
liv
ing
by having
of
more or
less
of
it.
Socrates'
Anaxagoras'
conception
vovg is
similar
soul
in many
argument
respects
to monoform,
description
in the
exist
noncomposite
soul
as
changeless, able to
course of
in
complete separation
his discussion
Anaxagoras'
of
whole, Socrates
by
vovg (autobiographical
what
vovg
is,
he
finally
reduced
it to
physical causation. of
But vovg is
an
individual
deciding
It is
not
force,
simply
conscious
choice
the best
in the
context of a
political, nonunitary
98b-99c).
having
a certain
bodily
form (cf.
unitary force. For there to be choice, the soul noncomposite, by itself, apart from any bodily form.
cannot
be monoform,
Philosophizing
(cf. 96a-b,
97b).
philosopher gropes
along many
ways
or possible routes of
inquiry,
and
Socrates himself
of
finally
chose a composite
first the
minimal
hypothesis that
what
way is
bodily
ond
in form
decay
(cf. 96a-97b),
and sec
the
failure,
quate explanation
To him "it
of
seemed
beings"
the
which
intermediary
means
by
the
Socrates has
what
pointed out
grasp the truth. But this is a specifically human way of knowing in the recollection argument: When a human being
perishing is merely combining and separating of always exis Raven). See also Simpl. Phys. Fr. 14, 157,7, or P- 374 m Kirk and
place
is
369 in Kirk
and
Raven.
8. There is
This is because
some
what
ambiguity "the
be
by
vof'c.
best"
the best is that according to which vovg would arrange things. Socrates first expected vovg
range and establish each
thing
as would
particular
amends
this
to
would arrange
Socrates'
in
common
statement
after
own choice of
is itself shown to be in
for
together"
regard
is that
causes
they fail
to think of
"the
good and
necessity
holds
(99c). The
particular
qualification that
vovg
should order
things according to
Socrates
says
he
could not
find
he then
by
vof'cas
ing
no
is
added
by
this beyond what the nature argument had already shown to be necessary for the con
tinual generation of new beings. The nature argument assumed the material of generation is
limited;
back its
individual if
good
is
able
being eventually
is
not
must give
substance
generation
is to
Novg as
an
ordering
principle
necessity
which
impinges
being and
is the
the regenerat
ing
whole.
Thus, vovg
since
would no
is usually
economic constraints.
ble to philosophy
through
9.
At any rate, knowledge of this separate, unitary, ordering voOgis not accessi it can neither be taught and thus learned nor can it be discovered for oneself
suggests
inquiry
another matter.
Aoyog I
leave
of
untranslated since, as
in the
the
Greeks
with
allowed
Xoyog to re
can mean
tain such
complexity
meaning
human
facility
language. It
Man
and
177
knows, he
Socrates
of
(Xoyog)
of what
not
directly
which are
beings in Xoyoi is
no more of a
images than is to study this truth in visible activities and their products study (99e- 100a). Both Xoyoi and egya are evidence of the projective nature of iegya)
soul
hypothesized
always
with
to exist in the
nature
and
recollection
arguments.
images has
a vast range
from the
nonconscious
bio
reproductive
level
of representation
images in memory, to the con "beauty itself by itself and good level
at which
others"
the
(100b)
and good
the
vovg
operates. can
These only
and
particular
images
beauty
as a
not
and
exist
99d-iooa).10
"eclipsed"
(cf.
appear
to us
to be
In
Xoyog,
to
soul attains
its highest
way
for it
world
ror."
itself in
a conscious
and
it
sees
of
in
a mir and
Knowledge
of the natural
whole,
body
soul, leads to
self-knowledge:
Socrates began
investigation
of nature
of
as projective
force,
level
as the
form
of
life (io6d).
Philosophy
catches soul
soul
struggling to
order are
grasp "itself
by
itself."
the human
just words,
ovxa, and
In the
statement
immediately
beings.
above, ra ngayuoTo) of which the truth is sought are the visible and gener
ally
perceptible 10.
Examining
in
to suffer
of
looking
at the
image
must
of
the
eclipsed sun
water or what
says
he decided he
be
care
ful
not
Likewise
be blinded if he looked
sun
eclipse stand
for
as an
only the corona, a phenomenon produced by the sun. They are not able to see what is causing this phenomenon. When people try to understand the beings through the senses alone, then, like those who look at the corona and are blinded, their souls are blinded.
eclipsed
is
they
see
They
The
too
are able
sun represent?
to see only the outermost phenomena and not what caused them. What does the Not the Xoyoi or the ioya, since they are likened to images of the eclipse of the sun.
sun seems
eclipse of the
to
represent
Anaxagoras'
different
nature
than
Anaxagoras')
as
that
as
the potential
it
seeks to
fulfill.
1 1
The
sonal core
the selfsame
have
some
To
is
gather or collect
is
including
the gathering
it to form into
particular generated
ability of soul (which occurs at many levels) beings, it is at the same time what ensures that the
one
boundaries
separation
of each
being
its
tries to discover a
soul
in
from
all
attachments
extending
outside
itself,
there seems to
be nothing there.
178 The
Interpretation
suggest
arguments
power.
having
collecting
and recol
lecting
what
It
preserves at
both
of
ward
has been. Beyond this, soul is always reaching in a certain direction, to life, toward intensification of its perceptions and toward consciousness and
self-consciousness.
finally
Soul's
natu
the
smaller
human
To
be evolutionary is to be both historical and transhistorical holds and incorporates something of the past forms in itself
that it moves beyond these boundaries.
historical in that it
and
transhistorical in
mean
in the
context of a more
history,
of
or more
the structure
which
fixer
both
"historical"
is
frequently
show
used
in
Nietz
sche-style manner
historical horizon
with
the power to
how
history
is both
freedom.
limit in
so
far
as
freedom
and structure
History is only naturally a producer of are always found together. The Phaedo
shows soul to
be evolutionary
and transhistorical
by disclosing
soul's permanent
and
are
bounded
by
their species
forms
out of this.
Human beings, in
addition are
bounded
and po
freedoms
The many
the
natural
its
search
for
conscious
knowledge
order.
The freedom
of
soul,
being invisible,
to assert that
Ethically
Phaedo,
ultimate order of soul
speaking
what
does it
mean
soul
is
evolutionary?
The
which on
Platonic
the
political statements.
Politics
joined
the
whole
is
shown
by
by
reaching in the direction of vovg. (Novg seems to be that which Socrates means is in itself beautiful and good.) In the Phaedo, Plato collapses the political
and natural spheres chasm
rated of
to
reveal a whole
between
natural
history
and mankind's
value-satu
whole, only philosophy (in its first wider signification, including all forms inquiry) is the natural path for human beings to follow. Throughout the dia
logue Socrates insists that philosophy provides the only real foundation for hu man activity, and his arguments attempt to show that this is so. A
modern political theorist might
be tempted to
complain
and
in Plato's Republic
Laws,
this
magnifi
is
historical
impossible. Except that in this case Phaedo: Human knowledge advances, always
also quite
wandering along a path that combines some mixture of belief in the controlling god(s) discovered by vovg, and technology, a debased form of philosophy.
The Theaetetus
and
the
Possibility
of
False Opinion
David Bolotin
St. John's College, Santa Fe
The
section of
the
Theaetetus*
that begins
concerned
Theaetetus'
with
suggestion
that
the
be knowledge is Socrates
instead,
almost
entirely,
with
will
later
Theaetetus'
refute
suggestion about
knowledge is
by
reminding him
of
eye-
awareness of the
meantime, however, he and Theaetetus engage, unsuccessfully, in repeated at tempts to discover how false opinion is possible. When he finally abandons these
attempts, Socrates
chides them
both for
having
turned aside
from the
search
for
knowledge to investigate something else. And indeed, from view, the search for false opinion had emerged as a diversion from
quiry (200c8-d2; kind
of return
Theaetetus'
point of
that main
in
cf. i87dio-n).
presented
the
search
for false
do
opinion as a
and an attempt to
well what
had been
inadequately before. Later on he hints more fully why they needed this re turn, by acting quite ashamed at the bizarre statements they would be forced to
agree with unless
it became
clear
how false
He
won't even
tell Theaetetus what these statements are until the danger of their
having
of
to agree to them
is
past.
Yet despite
Socrates'
his
air
mystery,
which suffice
to blunt
mind.
Theaetetus'
guess
with
what statements
he has in
be forced to agree,
that there is no false opinion, or that every opinion is true for the one holds it. Socrates had already hinted, in fact, that their refutation of this unqualified Protagoreanism had left something to be desired. After completing
Protagoras,
who
it, he
his
that
turned to a
refutation of
is
stable.
And
yet
and
conclusion
to this further
argument was
that
they
were rid of
Protagoras,
they didn't yet have to agree with him that every man is a measure of all things (i83b7-c4; cf. i79aio-c2). But why should Protagoras have cropped up
again after
this new
argument?
should
agree with
him,
unless
he
sees some
good reasons
for
Socrates'
including Protagoras,
must agree
is false
opin
arguments appear
What Socrates claimed, in convincing to Theodorus, they leave room for doubt. in the first place, was that even Protagoras had to agree that there is falsehood
particular, the falsehood of his own doctrine that all
*
opinions are
true
since
The text
of
the Theaetetus
1 80
most people
and
their
belief
must
is true for
true
most people
remains
true
for
deny
And
have
that
accepted
while
so on.
failure to
he
seriousness as
it does to his
i69c8-d2;
Socrates'
being
convinced
that
argument
is de
(i68c9-e3
men,
at
and
The
some
second part of
Protagoras is his
claim
that
least in
questions
regarding the
future,
are acknowledged
by every
own
Protagoras'
one to art of
be
wiser
including
believe,
to take
forensic rhetoric,
example, that the
others'
predictions over
chief
But
even
if
everyone should
beneficial, in
cf.
just
a name
(I77d2-e2; 17835-8;
would
show,
indeed, how seriously we are concerned about our fates, but not that our belief and our hopes are well-founded. And our reliance on skilled men's predictions,
though it helps confirm our trust that we perceive the same world, and a world
with some
fixity, is
trust. A Protagorean
most says
part, as
if sanity
and com
nothing
things.
These difficulties in
admission
refutation of
Protagoras
help
still unfinished.
The
argument,
moreover,
old one as
leads to this admission, is not so sharply distinguished from the it first appears. For the hypothesis that all is changing, and that noth
presented as
ing
is stable, though it is
Theaetetus'
is knowledge, is more than that. For as Socrates shows, this hypothesis is self-destructive; it undermines the possibility of true or meaningful speech. But it
ception
isn't hard to
might come
speech
is
never
true
ions
are
view of
denial
false
opinion.
Accord Pro
such
ingly, Socrates is
to treat the
tagoras (i83b7-c7). Yet couldn't a Protagorean still object that to dismiss teachings as his on the grounds that
selves ss a
they
speech, is to
beg
the question?
arguments have assumed, more or nonself-contradictory truth? All of less explicitly, the soundness of our ordinary belief that both true opinions and false ones exist by nature (cf. 18765-8). Perhaps, however, the self-contradic-
Socrates'
toriness
with
of
denying false
the
inadequacy
of
of our
langusge,
Perhaps
to the
the falseness
Protagoras'
claim.
such
absurdities as
his
langusge
will sllow us
The Theaetetus
and
the
Possibility
of False Opinion
-181
they
truth,
compel
him to
wonder
how fslse
opinion
For if there
were no
or
if
equally true, it
would
hardly
main
make sense to
The
one
difficulty
3nd
both to know
be searching for knowledge. in accounting for false opinion is that it seems to require not know the same thing (cf. Meno 8od5-e5). Socrates
shows that to believe, falsely, that one thing is another is to believe that some thing one knows is either something else one knows or something one doesn't know, or else it is to believe that something one doesn't know is either something
else one
doesn't know
believe
names
without
having
(cf. I47b2~3) knows. Yet Theaetetus had already claimed, much this was impossible, and Socrates goes along
i88a7-c8).
or something one knows. And unless it's possible to in which esse we couldn't even use any knowledge false opinion 3lwsys implies th3t one not know whst one earlier
with
believe
falsely
knows,
this
being
a case of not
knowing knowing
knows (i9ia8-bio ). He
or rather with
tablet"
explains
this paradox
by
having
the imprint of a
ception stamped on
of
falsely
is
that a stranger,
knowing him, in
this sense,
knows. We
as
for
of
another,
long
both
them. But this account, which requires some present perception as an element of
false opinion, fails to explain how we can make mistakes in pure arithmetic. When we add incorrectly, we seem to suppose that some number we know, or right answer, is some other number that we give, and so we both know and don't know the
the
again presented with this alternative: either there
possible regards also
know,
or
the answer we
same numbers.
no
Theaetetus is
or else
is
false opinion,
instead
of
it is
for
someone not to
know
what
a new account of
some
thing it is
soul,
to know. He
calls
it the "possession
possession
knowledge"
in
one's
and at
he distinguishes this
hand. Thus,
know the
right
answer, or the
when we
number we
mistakenly
the
add
five
and seven
to make eleven, we
number
in us, like two birds in an aviary, the knowledge we're looking for, namely that of twelve, isn't at hand when we want it, but we capture instead the knowledge of eleven. And by this account, there can be false opinion, even in
pure arithmetic, without our not
possess
knowing
even
what we
know,
since we never
don't
the knowledge
we
possess,
we want
it (I99a4-c7).
object,
One
could
however,
hardly
does
more
182
than to
Interpretation
paper over
the
difficulty
with names.
rectly is surely a kind of ignorance about them. We hold false opinions about Socrates' numbers we know because we somehow also don't know them. And
attempt to restrict
where
the term
"knowing"
knowledge"
to the "possession
of
some
in the
soul
doesn't
alter
this situation.
Indeed, his
earlier restriction of
the
term
"knowing"
to
had been
another
having memory imprint of a former perception (or thought) such verbal artifice. To fail to recognize an acquaintance, for
a
about
and not to
an
know him. And every false opinion, whether instance of not knowing what one knows
.
it involves perception, is
But
result
rather a
of
much
the same
as
by
different
He
objects
false
soul,
opinion and
the
sought
for from
within one's
the substitu
something
by claiming that this would make one's very knowl responsible for being ignorant of it. Theaetetus, who is not
knowledge
and
ready to
consider that
ignorance
of
something
might
coexist, tries
to escape this
knowledge,
who are
may be
difficulty by flying
ignorance,
as well as those of
are responsible
But he then
ignorant, and who make mistakes, believe falsely that their ignorance is knowledge, and so the original dilemma soon shows itself again. To believe that one's ignorance is knowledge is to know, and not to know, both ignorance and knowledge, for even though one knows them both well enough to distinguish
them in general, one fails to distinguish them correctly in this particular
case.
To
believe something falsely, then, and to believe that one's ignorance is knowl edge, is not to know what one knows, and if this should prove to be impossible,
then perhaps
Protagoras
wasn't
mistaken
to
deny
be false
(19832-4;
knows"
i99di-2;
200aii-b5).
"Either there is
no
false opinion,
or
it is
possible
not to
know
what one
opinion
(196C7-8). Our ordinary experience, or apparent experience, of false would appear to rule out the first alternative, and yet the second one
seems self-contradictory.
of
Moreover,
when
course
Socrates
What
even added
won't
to the
both"
difficulty by
replying, "But
I'm
afraid
allow
was
a strange response.
would
have
expected or
both alternatives,
always an opinion exists
that
least
one.
For
since a
false
opinion
is
instance
is to
of not grant
knowing
knows,
to acknowledge that
of not
false
instances
knowing
to
what one
we re
knows,
which
the second.
Similarly,
what one
knows
requires that we
deny
as well
false
opinion.
If
we reject
we must choose
The Theaetetus
first. The
and the
Possibility
of False Opinion
183
argument won't allow us to choose neither of them. But why does Socrates suggest, instead, that the argument won't permit both alternatives? In particular, if we admit the second alternative, or the possibility in general of not
knowing
what one
knows, why
first
false
opinion?
Why
should
it tell
us not
since it would merely that false opinion hasn't been shown to be impossible belong, if it exists, to a class whose possibility in general has been admitted
but
our
also
by
kind
of
logical
necessity? opinion
To be sure,
an obvious
false
a
is
fact, if it is
the only
fact,
emerges
by
any
ne
Couldn't there be
and
in
which
knowing
beings
they know, without their ever holding false opinions? Couldn't they have partial knowledge, for example, of some sub ject, like mathematics, which they would both know and not know, in a sense,
to
not what and which
know,
indeed do
know,
they
could
learn
about,
one number
any falsity b3-4)? Socrates apparently believes that such a impossible as the only instance of not knowing what
and without
wonder why. ment
for another,
without their ever mistaking in any of their opinions (144 case is impossible, or at least one
knows,
and we must
see
judg
for the
argument as a whole.
False
opinion will
necessarily exist, according to this stronger suggestion, if it is possible not to know what one knows. Socrates is not, then, treating this possibility merely as a but also as a kind of cause, for it though it is that condition of false opinion
entails that
stand
false
opinion must
necessarily have
a
exist.
And if
to
under
knowing
what one
knows,
it
as en
would
by
firmer trust in his very experience that understanding why false opinion must necessarily
exist.
he
would also
And he
would then
be
truly free
Protagoras'
of
notice this
subtlety in to,
Socrates'
response
to
him,
indeed he
could
hardly
have been
expected
at
least
not without
reading
write.
conversation
help
Eucleides to
And for the time being, Socrates apparently thought it unwise to insist upon this hint. Instead, he then offered his suggestion about knowledge being in us as in an a suggestion, as we have seen, which led back to the difficulty that aviary Theaetetus had already understood, namely, that false opinion cannot exist un trust in his ex less it is possible not to know what one knows. Now
Theaetetus'
perience of vent
him from
false opinion, together with their earlier refutation of Protagoras, pre denying that false opinion exists. On the other hand, his youthful
sense"
concern
for truth
protects
know, though this seems self-contradictory to belief in false opinion. While he won't deny the his retain order to in him, merely will he say that we can know what we don't neither existence of false opinion,
that we can not know what we
184
Interpretation
or
know,
even
possible,
a
without
understanding
not show
Yet this very perplexity may prove more lution, for reasons that I can perhaps make
lemma
myself.
way out of his perplexity. fruitful to him than to be shown its reso
him
clearer after
trying
to resolve the di
Let
Theaetetus has
given
it up,
and
try
to understand how
stand
it is
possible not
to know
allows
what one
knows,
and
then to under
not
only
dialogue
examines perception
for, but might even make necessary, begin, however, with a certain detour. Since at considerable length, it is helpful, and gives
food for reflection, to take perception as an example of knowledge and ask how we can fail to perceive what we perceive. This procedure might, indeed, appear
objectionable at
first,
Theaetetus'
since
suggestion
that perception
is knowledge
to the
has been
question
refuted.
But
although perception
is
"What is
knowledge?,"
it
can still
be
a sort of
knowledge
and
thus serve
as an example of
gives several
is thing, arguing knowledge, he surprises us by saying that he too had said that it was (i82e7-i83ai; cf. 152C5-6). It's true that he later contends that there is no
this.
one claim that perception
For
Theaetetus'
knowledge,
hard
or
"touching
involves
soft
of
knowledge", in
perception
such absurdities as
that
knowledge
the
being of what is
is utterly distinct from the awareness, through the sense of touch, of their hardness or softness, as if their being could simply be separated from their being hard or soft (l86a2-b9). Later, we will consider rea
Socrates'
is
for suggesting such an impossible separation of perception from knowl edge. But for now, it suffices to note that such separateness is unnecessary for his
sons
over-
all conclusion
that the two are not identical. A further hint that Socrates
re
gards perception as a
of
kind is
of
knowledge is
contained
in his is
provisional account
tablet"
knowledge Socrates
know"
in the "wax
also a
of our
souls. edge.
For this
kind
we
of
knowl
and
his
awareness of this
fact
when
he
says
that
"forget
don't
only those perceptions whose imprints are rubbed away, but also those that can't be imprinted in our memory-tablets. For how can we forget what we never knew (I9id9-ei; i88a2-4; cf. Philebus 33d2-34ai)? In other
not
words, to
edge was
know
have
memory
knowl
already
rather
in the
perceptions
to say whether we can perceive without himself (19265-7). And this is also why he affirming never repeats, in his later elaboration, the second of the three cases where false opinion had seemed possible, namely the case where one believes that something one is something else one "doesn't know, but (I92c9-di; I93b9-i94b2). He doesn't repeat this case because it doesn't exist, because
Theaetetus
so
knowing,
than
"knows"
perceives"
The Theaetetus
and
the
Possibility
of False Opinion
185
awareness of what
be;
it, how
confused, is
Socrates'
kind
of
knowledge. It
should no
that
for
Therefore,
stand
that there is knowledge only eye-witnesses can have (20ib7-c2). to see how we can not know what we know, it will help if we under
how
we can
fail to
To
understand this
possibility, it is useful,
by
way
of
contrast, to look
at
the
dialogue's
quasi-Protagorean account of
perception, according
to which not to
is impossible.
By
of no
this account, a
perception
is
kind
feeling
that
exists
perception exists
with
its object, just as the object of a these pairs is utterly particular, and
There is
derlying
from
each perception of
its
object.
perceiving being, other than or un And neither is there any other being, apart way
at one
or
such
pairs, that
time,
or
to one
can
act of
percep
tion,
and more or
less
differently
at
another,
to
another.
We
or at least nothing with other than the object as it then exists for the momen any stability, or no being tary us, for us to fail to perceive. In contrast with this view, if we can fail to per
ceive what we
perceive, the
is in
experience, or
to be
It is indeed
for
us
to fail to perceive
what we
perceive,
because
spective.
we perceive
the beings
around
limited
do
awareness.
perspective might be, it allows for only a for example, but only its near side, and we building, can fail to perceive what we perceive, we stone. If we
because
each appearance of a
being
is only
being.
This
how
we can not
know
what we
know. If
perceiving is knowing, we could know the being that we perceive, insofar as it is its appearance to us, without knowing it exhaustively. Yet perception, though it
may
well
be knowledge, is
or
not all
there
is to knowledge,
what we
requiring,
issuing in,
know. It
be helpful,
then,
try
to explain how
knowledge
And if we be better
ignorance
of
the same
thing
can coexist
in
it.
can
do this in the
true opinion, we
then
prepared
to account for
false
clarify our understanding of perception, since percep from know it experience, never exists in isolation, but already tion, Even in our most elementary perceptions, as in opinion. implies the presence of
Moreover,
as
we will also
we
the
perception of
white,
we are aware of
it
as
something white,
or as a
being
that
appears white
(compare i86dio-i87a9
with i88e5-i89C5).
But it is the
power other
being
as a
being,
or as
something
186
than
Interpretation
Perception
and apart
mere white.
could
be
such a
thing,
called
would
it is
even
hard to
see
how
be
white
(i84di-ei;
to opinion,
what we answer
i86a9-b6;
Sophist
264bi-3). we can
Let
me turn
then,
and
to the question of
how, in opinion,
fail to
know To
know.
again to contrast the opposing claim that Protagoras. Perhaps Protagoras neglected, or perhaps he re perception
Socrates
attributes to
fused,
to distinguish
from
opinion.
But
at all
events, that
most ex
which we
presented also
(15865-6;
i6id3;
According
to this claim,
and
bitter to him
for him it is so, while it appears to be, and is, the opposite to one who is healthy. And not only do both of these men hold true opinions, but neither of them can be
made other
wiser, at least
he
Each
of
them, in
words, knows all there is to know about his food, presumably on the grounds that the bitter food exists only for the sick man, who believes it to be bit ter, while the healthy man's pleasant-tasting food exists only for him. On this
view, the same food couldn't
and so neither of 3lso
have the
power to taste
of such a
ignorant
of what
he knows. On the
same
other
hand,
be igno
he knows if the
food is
of such 3 nsture as to
what we
taste
different
the sub
to
different
of at
men.
More generally, if
true opinions
as
we can
know,
jects
what
least
show
some
must not
what
they
seem to
be,
or
they
themselves
being, in
is
And this
also
in
various
ways, and
necessarily
all of
same
itself to
another as
knows, or truly believes, to be white being hard, or as being heavy, while still be
our
ing
fail, in
only
opinions, to know
what we
know,
this
is
because those
opinions reveal
be thus
limitedly
if we
exsmine more
and
in
character
Opinions
oneself, and
they have
the
same
form
as
believe something
about the
thing (cf.
some stone
is believed
subject,
cate, is that it
feature (or
festures) in
beings,
3
festure in terms
of which
it belongs to
3 cert3in clsss.
To believe thst
is white, for exsmple, is to believe thst it possesses, slong with other bod ies, the character of whiteness. Our thought of it as white has not distinguished it from those other bodies. And if further opinions can distinguish that subject from the other members of its class, this must be through other predicstes, or in terms
of other
festures that it
possesses.
But that it
possesses certain
features
means,
The Theaetetus
smong
other
and
the
Possibility
of False Opinion
with
187
things,
that it is not
identical
those features.
Accordingly,
there must be more to the subject than can be thought as any predicate. Now to
see
this more clearly, let us consider in particular those primary opinions that
the very being of a subject, ss distinct from its other 3ctions or attributes. To believe about a tree, for example, that it is a tree is to think of it only insofar
state as
it belongs to
a certain class
have
similar characteristic
features. For it to be
a tree
along is to
with other
beings that
istics that it
of which
possesses as a member of
it
as a
tree,
it belongs to its class, and which we have in mind when we think about sre no more than important aspects of the particular tree. Even in this
must
be
more
ss
There
must
be
more
themselves, if
to
we can
they
are
by
their
be
longing
sre
being
(cf. 203b2-5;
thought to
207d3-2o8a8).
And
so even
are.
they
they
be,
or
thsn
what
they
other
Every including
subject of
presupposed
in our very nsmes of the subjects ss the kinds of beings they sre. This limitstion to our opinions is one that Socrates doesn't shrink from ac
asks
knowledging. For he
"Secondly,
ignorant
of
to believe this
Theaetetus, as if in passing, the following [to be] other, and the other this, how is this
with
question:
is
everything?"
Socrates
sandwiches
this
odd
ignorant,
and
it is in
response
ig
norance, together
with
those of
knowledge, in
There, however,
of some
there
being
in
ignorant
of everything,
but only
and
things.
reveals of
This
Theaetetus
never seems
to notice,
Socrates'
thst
all our
thinking, knowledge
ignorance
the
same
beings
must go together.
it is
about
Already in grasping a being enough to know that being, let alone in any further thoughts or predications
this."
suppose
And
supposition
it
must somehow
may be, however much a being may be what it is it is be this, if it is somehow known There is
sn unsvoidsble recslcitrsnce of s recslcitrsnce that
things to their
as
is
not so much
"unreason
ableness"
it is
limit to
reason.
what we
know
is
or
all,
of
their
predicates.
Yet the
their
do
know,
tion,
case of particular
beings, is only
perception
appearances
to our
percep
being,
as well as our
inner
awareness of our
188
own
Interpretation
feelings. And
even or
since all opinions are
thoughts and
ultimately
opinions about
particular
or
beings
of
if
their immediate
classes
them,
relationships
among them,
or
images
them that in
we can
treat perception
in this
beings
which cannot
be
grasped as
their common
already
contended
that sense-perception,
perceives
be from
some par
ticular perspective,
only limited
aspects of
body,
neath.
reveals
And
as
at
limitation, if only because a body, as least when it is still, and conceals what is be
or
"perception"
it
suffices or
to note that in
every least in
feelings,
Yet
thinking
feeling
is
of
is other,
at
object.
primary
awareness
the object,
and we are
only
somewhat aware of
only be overcome, if at all, by still somewhat mysterious, act of it the of still as object another, regarding awareness. We may indeed come to know the character of these acts as of any others, and be sufficiently aware of them to know that they are somewhat dark to tion, moreover, in
our awareness of that act could
us, but
they
remain somewhat
dark for
all that.
Our
self-
beings,
can never
of
be
exhaustive.
The
subjects of our
of
accompanied
by
grasp ignorance.
them,
and our
knowledge
them
is
in terms
than
of
know them
they
sre
while also
being
other
we are
being,
that false opinion is also possible, at least in the sense that it need not yet
be
Now to further understand the possibility of false opinion, we should note that the possession of even one characteristic implies the possession of more than one. A being that is a tree, for example, is
ruled out as self-contradictory.
being. It is
also similar
same as
to other trees
and
and
dissimilar to
whatever
is
tree,
while
being
the
itself
number of
characteristics, in
our
very its
For
a number
to be odd is
incompatible, for
example,
simultaneously be sitting; and what is at rest cannot be in motion, at least not in the same simultaneously respects. Now with these considerations in mind, let us consider how false opin ion might exist. To do so, we may take, as an example of it, own ex
Socrates'
being
five
When
does this, his mistake is not to suppose, as Socrates pretends, that twelve is eleven (i96b4-6). The subject of his false opinion is not twelve, but rather "five and and these numbers are not what merely they are thought to be when we think of them as five and as seven. have more characteristics than They that. And in particular, they have the characteristic, when added together, of beseven,"
The Theaetetus
and
the
Possibility
be ignorant
of False Opinion
characteristic
and
189
with
ing
twelve, just
as
twelve
units
is incompatible
We
can
five
seven, then,
even though we
know them, if
we
are also
twelve. And
we can
be ignorant
to know
of the character of
being
eleven,
even though we
know it
well enough
it, if
we
five
have this
opinion even
character.
It is thus
not
inconceivable that
someone could
we can we
though we
know their
though
know
by
their predicates,
knowledge
of them csn
thus coexist
ignorance.
progress, now, in showing how false opinion is first showing how it is possible, and even to an ex by tent unavoidable, to fail to know what one knows. And it has then suggested how there might be false or mistaken opinions. But even though the argument has
argument
The
made some
possible.
helped to
explain also
the possibility of
us to
not
yet
shown,
exist.
as
Socrates has
led
expect, that
necessarily
After
all, it isn't clear that there have to be mistakes, just because there
though
might
be. And
thing is
knowledge may be unavoidably limited, a limited knowledge of some not necessarily false opinion about it, st lesst not evidently. It is still not
knowing
beings
couldn't
be
such
flawless knowers
or
avoid
there are
all false opinion. Though this couldn't happen, of humans, why couldn't it happen at some other time? however, suggests that if knowledge is necessarily limited, opinion
opinion.
For
opinion can
be
false, in
as we
sense,
even without
being
mistaken, that
with
is,
attributing to a
acter, in
being
something incompatible
opinion about
its
that
actual characteristics.
For
anything its
states class.
its
subject
has
some char
opinion
however
much
its
subject also
and so
it is
may be what it is thought to be, that subject not, what has been thought about it. And this is
opinions about
the
being
of
things,
or about
they
are as
distinct from
not
what attributes
they have. A
particular
tree, to take
charac
our earlier
example, is
belong
to its
ter as a tree.
is to think that
as what
that it is also not, or to think that it is the same this means, in other words, that the true
opinion
about
it is
also
false (cf.
i89d4-i90d2; Sophist
262C5-263d5). opinions
Indeed,
being
of
things,
or
those true
implied in the
also
we name
beings,
an
are not
false. And
even
if this
falsity
it
may be
to
overcome, to
means
be something, it
such.
first
being
recognized as
emerges as a
kind
of
and not
fact.
190
Interpretation
of not
The possibility
cause, and
not
Socrates'
knowing
what one
knows has
now emerged as a
true
has merely a condition, of false demand that it explain why false opinion must exist. It might fulfilled seem, then, that we have transformed the status of false opinion from that of a
opinion, and so the argument
"fact"
at
that,
one whose
necessity.
very existence is even But this isn't entirely true. For our
argument
opinion
has
assumed exist
from the
beginning knowing
false
does
is
what compelled us
to ac
knows,
than,
and
thus to suggest
must exist
being. Accordingly, to use this last suggestion to show that false opinion is to argue in a circle, and it would be ridiculous to suppose that we
with
have dispensed
prise,
the need
should
hardly
come as a sur
however,
is
For the
existence of
false
opinion
by
any argument,
opinion
intends
to
uncover much we
presupposition.
learn
about what
false
is
and
why it exists,
knowledge
can
be completely independent of trust in its existence as a fact. Facts, in gen can never be fully explained, they can never be fully understood as eral, being
never
necessary,
"highest"
by
any
possible
knowledge
of their causes.
Even knowledge
of the
the existence
of
of some mere
facts,
such as
the fact
do is to deepen
and
escaping the need for these assumptions, clarify the knowledge that is already present in
or
them,
by
presuppositions,
are
not
self-
they
(cf. Phaedo
ioid3-e3).
We know
exists
because
we understand
knows,
and we understand
fslse
opinion exists.
This
sccount
nation of
hss been only s very limited, though necessarily limited, expla false opinion. Yet if it has helped at all, and if, as I have suggested,
didn't say
Socrates had something like it in mind, there remains the question of why he so more explicitly himself. Why, after leading Theaetetus into the im
this question, it
passe we've
perplexed.
been discussing, didn't he show him the way out? Now to answer helps to begin by looking more closely at why Theaetetus was so For in fact, his trouble is not simply with the apparent contradiction in
knowing
knows."
what one
He is
have
various
who sees.
senses,
and
he doesn't hesitate to
closed,
he doesn't
the other,
does
he
His
an
refusal
knowing,
implicit belief that knowledge is so high and pure a thing that only perfect knowledge is really knowledge (cf. i88ai-b2; Phaedrus 247d6-e2). He not only believes, in other words, that there is a perfect or a
knowledge,
complete
The Theaetetus
and
the
Possibility
of False Opinion
-191
of all
taint of
gen
this,
that
and
he
would
deny
that
he's
learning
some
geometry,
which means
he does, if asked. After all, he says that he knows it, but imperfectly
(145C7-9;
calls
And
yet
it impossible
to know
what one
he betrays his hidden belief not only when he knows, but also when he speaks of the What he
agrees or
to there,
Socrates'
only partly
at
to
have
an
account of
it,
one must
one never
know
its parts,
or
elements,
and each of
them so
perfectly that
fails to
who
recognize
it,
wherever
it
might appear. of of
Accord
even
ing
is
other
these parts,
in
if
someone misspells
TAe-o-do-rus
or even
only 7e-o-do-rus, he
no mat
know how to
spell
the name
The-ae-te-tus,
yet
words, such a one doesn't correctly he happens to spell it. In know how to spell it (207dlo-2o8a5). The only genuine knowledge, for Theaetetus, is perfect knowledge, and it is this view of knowledge thst lesds him ter how
Theaetetus'
to
deny
fail to know
what one
knows.
belief in the purity of genuine knowledge helps to explain, more weakness for the Protagorean doctrine. For his belief implies that what his over, something really is, or the thing itself, is completely hidden from us, no matter how
much we
Theaetetus'
learn
about
it,
unless we
know it
perfectly.
Consequently, despite
never quite
his
awareness of
knowing
something
that
about all
kinds
of
things, he is
painful suspicion
assuages this
pain,
after
he doesn't really know anything at all. Now a fashion, with his claim that there are no be
thoughts or
at
ings,
apart
from
feelings,
to
suggests, in fact,
i52eio).
first hearing, that we can have a kind of knowledge untouched by any ignorance (cf. I5ie6least
a
deep kinship
between
Theaetetus'
lofty
dream
of
knowledge in its purity and Protagorean relativism. And it is this kinship that Socrates plays upon when he leads Theaetetus to the impasse that there is no false
opinion unless one can not account of
know
what one
knows. perplexity now allows us to him the way out. For if even necessary, not to know
and are other
Theaetetus'
This fuller
the source of
understand better why Socrates didn't try to Socrates had simply told him that it is possible, what one
show and
subjects of opinion
both are,
than,
being, Theaetetus
perfect
might well
have
agreed
too eas
only
real
knowledge is
instead
by
doesn't have to be
knowledge,
in order to be knowledge, Theaetetus would have thought that he already knew that. Even when his own responses in the dialogue have betrayed that he doesn't
know it
well enough
or
that
he doesn't
"really"
know it,
ss
was about
to
192
write
Interpretation
Socrates
couldn't use these words as
would still
they were just slips of the tongue. It is practically impossible they themselves unconsciously believe, especially when those beliefs offend both common sense and public opinion. Socrates, like a good mid wife, knows better than to try to force his way out of this difficulty, and he cares
have
supposed
that
to tell others
what
too
much
for Theaetetus to
of
pretend
that
it doesn't
exist.
and
Instead
trying
the
false
knowledge, only really knowledge, Socrates leads him to Rather than attack his hidden belief,
opinion, that
perfect
or a where
he
might
Socrates'
approach
is to
in him
actually acquire, in their present inquiry, the kind of knowledge he believes in (cf. 202di-5). Thus, he suggests that the knowable as
the hope that he
might
pects of the
beings
around us can
be
grasped
in
merely
perceptible
features. And
belief
when
Theaetetus
itself,"
belief
is,
or rather used
to
be, his
body
or
for saying so, even though his by calling him "beautiful, and not is visibly ugly. Socrates wants Theaetetus to hope, then, that his pure soul,
which and of
ugly"
things
come to
essence of
without
the senses at
or
all,
any
bodily
imperfection
the
part of
the knower
the known
(i85d7-i86e8; 189C5-7; cf. 17635-17738). But hope, Socrates also tskes away any safety net by promoting
that
while
feeding
this
Theaetetus'
illusion
only
such
perfect
Theaetetus'
knowledge is really knowledge st all. For when knowledge is are shown to be faulty, incom
clesr, he trests them as if
who must
plete,
or perhaps
just
insufficiently
children,
wind-eggs,
or stillborn
be completely
nor
rejected.
ample, he
(s)
perception,
(3)
(a) knowledge,
true opinion is
or
(a) knowledge,
if something that
with
ignorance,
simply
not
gestions are
contrast
knowledge. He invites Theaetetus to think that his fruitful sug not even "worthy of (209d4-2iobio; cf. i87b9-c2; but
and consider
By
while
15OC3 and I5ie6). promoting in Theaetetus the hope for a perfect knowledge of knowledge, supporting his belief that only this is reslly knowledge of it, Socrates lesds
201C4-CI4,
him towsrds
this
he doesn't know anything about knowledge at all. Yet feeling, which is a belief in which no one can have much trust (cf. 187C2; Socrates' 210C3), might turn out to be a fruitful one. For earlier arguments have
feeling
thst
already foreclosed the Protagorean escape, or pseudo-escspe, from this perplex ity. And yet the srgument hss 3lso forced Thesetetus to see, if only he will, thst his acknowledged belief in the of not whst one
impossibility
knowing
knows,
which
concealed
equivalent to the
The Theaetetus
and the
Possibility
of False Opinion
193
his situation, then, he might notice that his belief, which he also doesn't believe, that he's completely ignorant about knowledge comes from the same illusion
about come
it
ss
does his
weskness
for
Protsgorss'
denisl
of
fslse
opinion.
He
might
nonethe snd
less
to
also
knows,
and
opinion.
He
might come
to
know,
know thst he knows, thst it is equally faulty to identify knowledge knowledge ss it is to try to circumscribe it ss being mere opinion. He
to
know, in
other
words,
snd
to know thst he
knows,
thst
being
is
neither
wholly
neither
than, nor wholly the same as, just its bsck side nor just its front
other might more
it
ss
being,
thst it is
well
enough, he
truly begin
succeed.
to
philosophize. will
no evidence within
com
be
sble
him to
He
can
hardly
do
more
what
he does
here,
and
except, perhaps,
what
he does lster
when
1986
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Tacitus'
Teaching
The Thesis of
and
the Decline
of
Liberty
at
Rome
CONTENTS
I (in Vol.
15, No. 1)
Prefsce Introduction
Why
I.
1
Read Tacitus?
Tscitus'
Msnner
Intent
of
Writing
in
a
The Problem
Tacitus'
of
Writing
Tyranny
2. 3. 4.
Tacitus'
Rhetoric
Methodology
Assessment
Prefaces
of the
II.
Tscitus'
Roman Republic
1.
Tacitus'
and
its Limits
of the
Assessment
of the
Doctrine
Mixed Constitution
// (in this
issue)
of
the Principate:
Tiberius'
Rule
and
his Chsrscter
Cause
of
Tyranny
IV
The Scope
1. The Limits
2. Is there
a
snd
of
Limits
Moral, Nstursl
Teaching
Tyrant
of
and
Divine Law
Law:
or
Tacitus'
Moderation
Divine
of
Overpowering Depravity
2. Seneca
and
Burrus, Tutors
and the
and
Ministers
of
of
Nero
the Senate
3. Paetus Thrasea
Decline
of
Liberty in
VI.
1
.
Philosophy
and
the
Causes
the Corruption of
Oratory
Oratory
196
Interpretation
of
"Poetry"
Aper
and
and
the
Oratory
Superiority
of
Ancient
Upbringing
and
Thorough
6.
of
Eloquence
Wisdom
VII. Epilogue
Selected
Bibliography
Tiberius Begins
to
Rule
the
We have already
significsnt effect of
commented on
fall
of
thst
liticsl
power
in the hands
of
Caesar,
then of
Augustus,
subsequently
of their
successors.
However, Augustus
was
from offending the republicsn sensibilities of the Romans ss from kingdom.1 The his despotic power to designste his regime by the odious n3me of regime he established has been well characterized by Gibbon as "an absolute
lowed
3S much
commo
by
the
forms
of a
The policy he
tenacious
snd
his
duplicity,
enjoined
by
prudence:
darkness,
and
army.3
con
cealed
humbly
professed
themselves the
sccount-
able ministers of
they dictated
obeyed."2
In the last
I
.
depended
upon
"This title
highest
rank
so that
he
should not
have to
other
king or dictator,
cf. 1.2.1.
by
some
authorities"
(in 56.2),
Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, ed. J. B. Bury, 3 vols. (New York: Heritage, 1946), 1:53. Consider also Arnaldo Momigliano, Claudius: The Emperor and his
2.
Achievement,
diction
of the
organization
Clarendon,
1934),
p. 25:
"It
Augustan policy to desire to preserve the [the Republic], and at the same time to be
form
of national
convinced
modified."
purposes,
at
his
command
not alter
his authority unless the anny was, for the fact that the legal basis of the
by
the Senate
whom an
and im-
People
the
of
Rome. In the
course of
history
it
came about
perator was a
will upon
the
Senate (which
implied formal
action
consent
extra-
of
People)
the
succession
was
not
constitutional,
tus
and
clearly
not contemplated
by
et
such
was
system."
Populusque
Romanus,"
in S. A. Cook
10:161.
Tacitus'
Teaching
We have
regime
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
197
of such a of
argued that
Tacitus
necessity
under
degeneracy
those
times.
inferior regime, but the Romans were no longer fit for selfgovernment. We have yet to see how he understood it. To do so requires that we examine rather closely his presentation of its actual functioning. This we intend
was an
It
to
do, beginning
in
a royal or a
with
the Principate
of
Tiberius. It
will
readily be
understood
that
depends
he be
tyrannical
Caesar.4
This is
key
problems of such a
government.
This
from the
We
under
account of
Tacitus
selected to exhibit
his judgment
of the
of
power and
Tiberius
years.
who
successfully held
we are
But
interested,
above
of of
makes
the study
Tiberius
rather
so
fascinating
is that he is
a more
potiri, 1.5.4).
power
became
his
free to
reveal
itself fully. It is
he
almost as
if he
were given
the
"ring
for
of
mentioned when
asked
Socrates he
whether
it is
good
own sake to
what
be just. For
as
purposes, it
would
he liked
showed
long
as
intelligently.5
We
are
interested in seeing
circumstances to
what
he
himself to be
those circum
stances
cretly
4.
der'
aspire.6
p. 191 :
"If in
a given situation
'the
republican constitutional or
has completely broken down, and there is no reasonable foreseeable future, the establishment of permanent absolute
therefore it is
prospect of
rule
its
cannot, as such, be
justly blamed;
to the manner
the establishment of tyranny. Just blame could attach only which that permanent absolute rule that is truly necessary is established and exer tyrannical as well as royal
Tiberius'
Caesars."
Perhaps before
it
beginning
to
study
who was
character and
his
art of rule,
it
would
be
useful
to
underline what
meant
No few
one
has
forcefully
than
Seneca,
ning
of
Nero,
in
years to
hold
Tiberius'
place.
At the begin
his treatise De dementia, Seneca held up a mirror to his royal pupil: "Have I, of all mortals, pleased the gods and am I chosen, that I should serve on earth in the office of the gods? I am the arbi
ter of
what
life
and
fortune
wishes
death to the tribes; in my hand is placed what lot and civil status each man to be given to each mortal she announces through my mouth; from
for gladness;
no part
which
should
have;
our response
from
which
anywhere, except with my will and favor is my peace restrains will be drawn at my nod; to be banished, to which liberty is to be given,
whose
heads the
right."
splendour of
kings
fall
is my
utterance
by
Lucius Seneca, De
1928).
dementia,
spokesman greatest
1.2, Moral
Essays, 3
vols.
Loeb Classical
Library
(London:
Heinemann,
and
6. Socrates hints
had it
said
at
this grim truth in a myth near the end of the Republic. "He said that when the
man who
this the
came
forward
tyranny,
and,
due to his
folly
it
at
quately: and
escaped
notice
that
considered
everything ade eating his own children and other evils were fated to be a part of his leisure, he beat his breast and lamented the choice, not abiding
and
without
having
considered
198
Interpretation
a
early
portions
particularly significant reason that Tacitus of his study of the Principate on the
chose to
reign
of
Tiberius. It
was
during
this time
(14-37
founded
by
Augustus took
pate endured.
on the
form
of abasement
long
as the
Princi
remaining sary
partisans of republican
Augustus devoted his life to overcoming opposition from the last liberty. This success was the absolutely neces
prerequisite
for
to come. It
was a
herculean
accomplishment of
ambiguous worth.
that
lifetime's task:
After Brutus
and
Cassius
were
killed,
there
were no
longer any
armies
owing
alle
[publica arma],
and
Lepidus
was stripped as
Pompey was overthrown in Sicily, and Antony killed, there was no one but Cae
faction. Then [Augustus]
set aside the
[Augustus] left
the leader
the Julian
and
name of
[claiming to be]
cian
while
authority for protecting the populace, gradually he began to strengthen himself, he allured the soldiers with gifts, the people with the corn-dole, and all by the
[from the
civil
sweetness of respite
wars]; then
of
[gradually
strengthening himself], he
took to
himself
the
duties
of the
Senate,
laws,
or
while no
one resisted
him,
battle-line
through
proscriptions.
As for the
were
the
more
they
lifted
honors;
as
they
profited
from
with
order,
they
preferred what was safe and present to what was old and provinces reject that state of affairs since
of
filled
danger.
[previ
at the
ous] authority
the
Senate
and people
[the
Republic]
[the
civil wars
arising from] the rivalry of powerful men, the avarice of the magistrates, and the use less protection of the laws which were overthrown by force, ambition, and finally money (1.2).
Such
was
allegiance to the
Republic,
new order.
means
which
of order after a
consuming civil war. But Tacitus did not elaborate an account of the reign of Augustus. He chose to begin his intensive study with the reign of Tiberius. We suspect that he accorded a peculiar importance to that reign. We believe that that
importance
was
the
Tiberius, especially in
change of emperors
cans.
following. Tacitus thought that it was from the policy of the last years, that the Romans took on the servile charac coming reigns,
ruled
regardless of the
bad. Augustus
defeated
republi new
or-
Some
even
by
the spokesman's
rather
Tacitus,
having lived in an or in his former life, participating in virtue by habit, without philosophy. And it may be said, not the least number of those who were caught in such circumstances came from heaven, be cause they were unpracticed in The Republic of Plato, trans. Allan Bloom, 6i9b-d, cf.
come
anything
than himself. He
those
who
had
from heaven,
derly
regime
labors."
1. 13.2-3.
Tacitus'
Teaching
and
199
peculiar
der they
It
Tiberius'
was
the effect of
of
and character
republicans
character of
men and
tential
nowhere
by
Gib
hint
Tacitus'
of
intention.
prepared
differently
sians].
weight of their
they for
long
The
ancestors.
education of
and
Helvidius
and
Thrasea,
of
Pliny,
the same
as that of
most
Cicero. From Grecian philosophy they had imbibed the justest and liberal notions of the dignity of human nature and the origin of civil society. The
Cato
history
ous
of their own
them to revere a
free,
successful crimes of
Caesar
Augustus;
and
in
they
adored with
flattery. As had
once
senators,
they
were admitted
into the
authority
to the
vilest purposes of
This tradition
obstacle problem
and education of
the
leading
Romans
was
Tacitus
addresses
of
That
reign
reign
is
a crucial turning-point
consolidated
history
of
during
this
tyranny
itself by
most
Romans
but destroyed in
outstanding
It is for this
acter of
Tiberius,
to
understand
biguous
accomplishment of
Caesar
and
Tiberius there
pated, the
Rome;
subsequent
history
of
the Empire
intrigues Rome
and are
from the
accept
enumeration of political
factors that
their
Henceforth
men
to
the
decisions
taken
by
master
in
Rome
without
will
to govern themselves.
Already
establish
in the
reign
Tiberius
cities
in the
embassies
from
shrines quests
begging asking dedicated to the reigning emperor or his ancestor. In the increasing re for temples and the spread of eastern religion we see the beginning of a
misfortune or
in
leave to
temples and
in
common
for the
solution
other-worldly hopes rather than to their own efforts of their problems. Tacitus indicates the beginnings of
reign of
Tiberius; it
was
to increase in importance
an end
with
Rome nearly
conquered
and
Augustus
Rome, but it
1:63.
remained
in the first century B.C. Caesar for Tiberius to extirpate the last
7.
Gibbon, Decline
Fall,
200
Interpretation
dying liberty
Romans.
(vestigia
morientis
even
the
We
must
cions of
that, however much the unfortunate fears and suspi Tiberius did to hasten the annihilation of the old Roman character, hasten to
add
holding
Augustus did
not resist
him solely responsible. The Romans who survived his baleful influence with all the spirit of their
ancestors.
This, too, is
a matter of
deep
of
concern
to Tacitus. We have
already
for
which republican
liberty
deeply
die,
rooted
the
old
is simply
not possible. of
If it
were
merely the
crushed the
Augustus
and
Tiberius that
Romans,
they
liberty
be
favorable
circumstances.
study the policy of Tiberius, the leading Romans be of their willing instruments of despotism they sought out the First Citizen to accuse of treason, or they prostrated themselves before him in
as we will see when we
"enemies"
But
came
servile adulation.
This
in
some
already
present
before the
and
death
of
his
reign
Augustus; it preceded Tiberius, but he did not put a stop to it, it came to predominate. Hypocrisy, flattery, and malignant
a
during
accusation
became
way of life to the leading Romans. It was not his policy alone that caused this, but his policy helped to foster and fix the corruption of the world's last political class. At times even he seemed to regret it:
Those times
of were so malignant and
degraded
with adulation
that not
the
consulars, a
rose
those who
and
many ordinary
in
rivalry
to one another to
deliver loathsome
as often as
It has
been
to
remembered
that
Tiberius,
Senate-house,
was accustomed
say in this
manner
servitud
prone to
Indeed,
even
he
liberty
from those
We
must
be
selves responsible
for "the
what
they became,
Tacitus
speaks of
(iv.
.2).
Per
sums
it
remained
then,
we should
briefly
de
Tiberius. He
carefully husbanded to pay the vast establishment of mer cenary armies on which the peace depended and provide money to help the victims of disasters such as earthquakes. The lavish games and shows to which
were
trator.
Finances
the
Romans had
by
tere First
Tacitus'
Teaching
problem
and
the
Decline of Liberty
it became
at
Rome
201
in the
reign of
Nero,
where were
a serious
world was
at peace.
There
during
in North Africa,
Tiberius'
Gaul,
and
Thrace
Tiberius by and Parthia to their own internal policy leaving Germany contentions and occasionally fomenting them. The single war fought against the Germans in the early part of the reign was abandoned by the cautious and suspi
vigilant commanders.
Augustus'
less effectively
of
local
cious
Tiberius,
Tacitus devotes
and
a portion of the
first book to
a sedition
in the but
armies of
Illyria
Germany;
of
but
no political
ambition.8
It is generally true
Such
the period
we
study Cae
(as
opposed
Historiae)
was
the
legacy
of
remained as
long
as that
family
held
power.
of
We begin
called after
study
of
death.9
politics with
the Senate he
Augustus'
There Tacitus,
while
revealing
surface
formalities
begin
and
for
what
they
were,
ning.
Tiberius
Consuls, "as if in
the
edict
the old
Republic,
ir in
resolute
[ambiguus]
to
swearing
loyalty
to him. The
by
which
he
called
the Senators
sense."
Tacitus
contrasts
his hesitation
command
with
he had
al
ready
all
might reveal
hypocrisy
Tiberius was not merely seeking they in the face of possible present and future consolidate it to he was power, seeking legitimacy.10 To receive power at them was rivals. What he needed to forestall
were empty.
But
were
so
empty,
after all?
the request
8. The
would see
of
the
Senate
would give
one exception
he
decisive
to
make
them
forget this
they
ruling house might tempt the armies to ruled, from Tiberius to Nero.
9.
dynasty
(1.6),
we as
We do
not consider
the
murder of
novi principatus
we are convinced
claim
he was, for
whom
take
depending
on credible erat.
at
the guilt of
Livia,
Sallustius
to divulge the
arcana about
imperii,
and seems
day
believing
actually done. I am glad to acknowl unpublished paper, "Political Succession in the by Professor David not a few other insights of this essay to his acute analysis. See also Albert
their ruling
family
Annals,"
Pappano,
10.
"Agrippa
Postumus,"
Classical
Philology
See
also
36(1940:43-44.
Bolotin, "Political
Succession."
University Press,
what right
1965),
p. 2.
"The
central question
in
political succession
is
By
does the
successor
202
Interpretation
sees
Tacitus
that
much rested on
received
by the Senate.
The "chief
adopted
cause"
of
heir,
"in
whose
allies, astonishing
power
his unduly modest hand were so many legions, boundless auxiliaries of the the people, should prefer to have commanding favor
was
behavior
among
[imperium]
could
rather
than to wait
for
it"
(1.7.6).
all
he
to
did
the
Senate,
a more
and
duping the
to
support
him, he
he
would present
Germanicus'
formidable deterrent to
potential ambition
than
he
would
Tiberius'
This
power.
fear, then,
It
was
the "chief to
of
seemed urgent
make certain of
his
quest of
the Senate
was crucial
to
establish
Tiberius
legitimate heir
of
Augustus
that he
"It
was
his
concession
to
public opinion
[famae],
by
the
republic rather
by
the uxorial
[of his
mother
Livia]
and
the
[Augustus, his
ion"
(1.7.7). The
word we
opin
was not
by
his
country.
Tiberius
his
"image"
is, but
its
value
for
ruling.
acquiescence
publican mask of
was a
for
of
one
long
doing
he
could to continue as
to
as
far
he
was
able, but he
lesser
of
his
This
made a
difference in the
character
his rule,
regardless of
his
wish.
Tacitus tells
when
us that
and
did
not
fear
conspiracies
This judgment
of
Augustus
reflects
his
own
estimate of
preeminence and
the veneration
in
which
he knew he
was
held
by
others as well as
assessment of
others
held
him in
1 1
.
awe
could afford
to be aloof
from
fearing
them."
eca, De
Consider his magnanimous treatment of the attempted conspirator, Cinna, as reported in Sen dementia, 1.9: "Cinna, though I found you in the camp of the enemy, not made, but bom. my deadly foe, I saved you, I allowed you to keep the whole of your father's estate. To-day you are so
prosperous, so rich that your conquerors envy you, the conquered. When you sought
gave
holy
office, I
it to you, passing over many whose fathers had fought under me. Though such is the service that What is your purpose in this? Is it that you your I have done you, you have determined to kill me
. . .
self
prince?
except
On my word, the Roman people are hard put to it if nothing stands in the me. You cannot guard your own house; just lately the influence of a mere
you in a private suit; plainly, nothing can be easier for you than to take action Caesar! Tell me, if I alone block your hopes, will Paulus and Fabius Maximus and the Cossi the Servilii and the great line of nobles, who are not representatives of empty names, but add dis
will
Cinna,
a second
life;
the
first time
of
enemy,
From this
day
let there be
beginning
between us; let us put to the test which one of us acts in better faith I in granting you your life, or you in owing it to me. He found Cinna most friendly and loyal, and became his sole heir No one plotted against him
friendship
.
further.'
Tacitus'
Teaching
and the
Decline of Liberty
chose
at
Rome
203
in the
trib-
When [Marcus
unician
colleague
be in
uncertainty.
praved
hopes
of others could
be repressed. At the
own greatness
same time
ing
character of
Nero
and
in his
[magnitudine]
is different. He did
not
"trust in
greatness."
he did
not
trust his
hopes"
thy,
and
he did
not
repressed.
If this is
potential
so
it is easy to
on
understand
suspicion of
the first
of
why he was especially on the lookout for his power. Tacitus therefore reports the
another motive
was recognized
[voluntates]
crime, he
of
the
into
stored
it
away"
the Senate to
repress
Germanicus
and the
armies, he
sim
ulated reveal
hesitation
induce his
secret enemies at
home to
themselves.12
of
will and
fu
Augustus,
the
his intent. He
to rule.
was still
feigning
reluctance
in
order
to elicit the
Senate's
request
And he variously discoursed of the greatness of the Empire, and of his want of confidence in himself [sua modestia). [He said] that the mind of the divine Augustus
was alone capable of so great a charge; that
participation
for himself,
experience
having
been
called
was
by
him to
a of
by
how difficult
the burden
ruling
men,
and
how
to fortune.
Therefore, in
labors (1.
1 1
city
supported
by
so
they
would more
easily carry
1)."
ties of the
The
speech
is
magnificent
in its
appeal
to the
of
in its ideal
of
veneration
equal
1 2
Augustus, for the herculean capacity service for the common good; but when we examine its
and
its
republican
purpose we must
prepared
Tacitus
reports
he rarely
moralizes on
it. We too
must
be
to open our
hearts
tain
politics.
even more
is
required:
"Cer
blame.
Tacitus
for
them,
nature.
How did
a ruler survive
by deep ing
counsels and
Syme, Tacitus,
1:429.
We think it is
possible and
Syme is right in think leam from terrible and tragic things endorsing them or praising them. that it was there is much to leam from the tyrannical arts and nature of Tiberius Caesar. But to say
without
not a
tragedy
or that
more
Tacitus
"praised"
Tiberius
seems
to us
not a
little
misleading.
than an ordinary
humanity
is
at work
in the discussion
of
our learning all that Tacitus has to teach. over-hasty judgments could present an obstacle to displayed in such a speech as this in mind when he wrote, the qualities have had 13. Tacitus must in "Tiberius understood the art [artem] by which he weighed his words; sometimes [they were] strong
their meaning,
sometimes obscure
[ambiguus] by design
[consulto]"
(xm.3.2).
204
conclude
Interpretation
it is
magnificent perfidy. much
Tiberius had
an ulterior motive
in making this
he
paid
was not
taken
in
by
or naivete
he judges: (1.11.2).
the
[fidei]"
"In
such an oration
there
was more of
dignity than
of
credibility
The Senate is
reign.14
presented
Tiberius
could
generally already servile, have had his request and gone away.
as
at the outset of
Why
hide
.2).
then did he
continue
to dissemble?
"By
they
were
should
deep
within,
ambiguity
(1.
1 1
The Senators
utterly bewildered. They dared not show that they understood him. They burst into complaints, tears, entreaties. Tiberius continued to delay, did not ac
cept
the charge,
with
and
be
them, but it
deadly
game.
Tiberius'
ventured
to take
reluctance
seriously, Tiberius
taken aback, momentarily silenced, then angered. His anger was exacer
bated
by
episode serves
to
introduce
Julio-
we see
Claudians feared
on the
opposition.
There
throne of the
Caesars,
it,
given
dynasty
whom
To its
venerable
founder the
moment of
lay dying,
the old
his heir
he
could not
trust. He knew
Tiberius'
nature and
he
had
sized
up
dangerous:
reflected upon who, though
while unequal
In
conversations, Augustus
place,
would
Lepidus
was
primary equally be able [to attain it] and desired [it]. He said that Marcus capable, but that he would disdain it [aspernantem]. [He said] Gallus
not, or who,
Asinius eagerly longed for it, but was not up to it. Lucius Arruntius [he said] was not unworthy and if the opportunity were given, that he would dare. There is agreement
about the recorded
writers
except
were afterwards
13.2-3).
This is
gained
one of
those
inexhaustible
his
[the innermost
14.
passages from which Tacitus deservedly has for penetrating and revealing the arcana imperii power] How much is revealed of the insecurity and
.
persons
Syme, Tacitus,
We acknowledge that he
was one
impor
tant
factor.
15.
Certain
critics
have
"soon,'
can mean as is in Michael Grant, trans., Tacitus. The Annals of Imperial Rome (Baltimore: Penguin, 1956), p. 38; and Alfred Church and William Brodribb, trans., The Complete Works of Tacitus (New York: Modern Library, 1942), p. 13. As is generally the case, higher standards of literacy are maintained by the Oxford translation, The Works of Tacitus 2 vols (London: Bell, 1888), 1:13.
clear at vi.51.1 and vi.51.2.
Tacitus It is also
with
mistranslated
Tacitus'
Teaching
limits
of absolute rule new ruler
and
at
Rome
205
old!
in this
by the
We
see
the
perspective which is by necessary for ruling in Rome where the Principate is not yet securely established. He must learn to be suspicious, but Augustus does not teach his heir to be indiscriminate predecessor
initiated
his
into the
in his
mistrust.
Perhaps that
was
the deepest
teaching
to
Tiberius,
whom
he knew
was prone
to mistrust.
How
secret
deep is the knowledge of ambitious minds that enables him to size up the
of
desire
these potential
of
rivals; how
may
well
holding
power!
The les
the experienced
old ruler
have been
misunderstood.
Augustus
Tiberius of only three men, two who might try something, one in whose interest something might be tried. In Tiberius the perspective of suspicion re mains, but it is no longer governed by the experience and judgment of Augustus.
warned
Tacitus
presents
him it
as
indiscriminately
suspected
speak up.
With
reason
he
suspecting all those who ventured to Gallus (1.12.4), he had been warned about his
suspicion
Arruntius, but
Tacitus
sion
was
further than
necessary?
a mere pas
Augustus becomes
Mamercus Scaurus
grazed
his
sus
animum]"
picious mind
13.4).
yet
was
in
absolutely
must
they
to
frightened him. We
the
come
indiscriminate
extensions of the
law
of
he
was responsible.
We
must
keep
Augustus in
"not
mind at all
pected
Arruntius
because he
unworthy"
was
of
But Augustus
was
inspire him, "if the opportunity were given, to held in awe and he knew it. In Tiberius, Tacitus dis
cerns a
worth.
tendency
discrimination,
"Tiberius felt
trusted
acter
rich,
resolute
[promptum],
by
outstanding
char
[artibus],
reputation"
(1.13.1). The
core of
this suspicion
is envy based on a secret comparison between the ruler and his victim, and the tragic truth is that such a comparison and such a passion necessarily govern when
small men
rule.16
We have
remarked
such circumstances
ination between potentially dangerous virtue such as that of Arruntius, and dangerous virtue such as that of Lepidus to be made. (Why Lepidus survived
be
a question
will
for Tacitus, which we will take up in Chapter V.) Yet these dangers were merely latent at the outset. Tiberius had yet to discover what he was capa ble of. And we must hasten to add he was capable of good as well as of evil
.
16.
Consider the
words of
the
wise man
be killed
by
Tigranes'
father,
not
out of envy:
die, he
addressed me and
for he does
I hold to
all
do this
out
"And yet, O Cyrus, such a gentleman was he that when he was about to said, 'Do not be angry, O Tigranes, with your father because he kills me; of ill-will to you, but out of ignorance. The errors men make by ignorance,
be
Xenophon, Cyropaedia,
in. 1.38.
206
2.
Interpretation
The
impartiality
severely
as
of
the historian is
judged,
above
all,
by
his fairness in
pre
senting his
cized as aged
characters.
In
criti
that of
First
Citizen.18
It is thought that Tacitus willfully dispar Some have maintained that he vented his
all
he
himself
seen of
suffered under
Others,
more
ingeniously, have
Tacitus'
in Hadrian's
complicated
personality the
actual model
for
portrait
Tiberius.20
We do
Tacitus
appears capable of of
having
"explanations,"
for to
us,
about
judicious reading
the
sources and
Certainly, experience of politics in his own times will have helped to form that judgment, but we believe one remains truer to the phenomenon in saying that the
judgment
of a
Tacitus is
a power produced
experience.
by
the
interplay
in his
endowments and
us.
his broad
The
education of
with us
Yet he in
attempted
Do
we not en
gage
rather never
than
in idle
and
in trying to learn from what he wrote for us narrow-minded speculations on its source, which we can
to study
Tacitus'
know?
more profitable
We think it is
veracity.
Tiberius before
doubting
his
Many
of
the doubts could have been overcome had their authors fol
principle of
lowed
ius'
an
elementary
says that
Tiber
interpretations
of
Tacitean
ruler.
Tiberius, for
we
will
see,
was not
Tacitus
would not
subject
if he had
suppressed this.
It
was one of of
the
facts
of
Tiberius'
policy.
For
reasons
his
17.
inferior
Frank Marsh is
account of
at the
head
of
this school
in the
that, in his
under the
constantly led him to give a false colouring to the facts, we need to seek some explanation of this bias. It is probable that he derived it in the first place from the tradition of the aristocratic society in which he lived. The impression which he received in these circles was strengthened and confirmed by his general conception of the history of the empire and his personal experiences. It was inevitable
by
of
that as he
victim of stained
looked back
evil."
upon
tyranny
Domitian
should
darken
all
his
views.
One
tyranny impresses one's imagination more than several years during which the emperor ab from Frank Marsh, The Reign of Tiberius (London: Oxford University Press, 1 931),
Ibid.
pp. 10-11.
Ibid.
Syme, Tacitus, 1:217-52. Kurt von Fritz, "Tacitus, Agricola, Domitian, and the Problem of the p. 77. Cf. D. M. Pippidi, Amour de Tibere (Rome: L'Erma di Bretschneider, 1965), pp. 36, 40. An important exception to now-prevalent high-handed treatment of Tacitus is M. P. Charlesworth, who gives a
21
Principate,"
balanced
al., ed.,
and respectful
treatment
of
Tacitus'
evidence
esp.
"Tiberius,"
in S. A. Cook
et
Tacitus'
Teaching
difficult
situation
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
207
in
which
that placed
him, Tiberius
his
of
subjects and
consequently
more se
Tacitus knows this, but he also knows that it is not the whole story. Tiberius did have certain virtues, and Tacitus does not suppress them. The careful reader
will see
by
be
Ti
Tacitus is
derstanding
studied.
discrepancy
"image"
between the
scientific un
then
becomes
a problem to
As instances
cite the
of
berius
we
his
1.75, his
his clemency, though admittedly rare; and 11.88. 1, his magnanimity. But these insights are of momentary interest in comparison with the great passage
reign toward the summing up the first nine years of beginning of Book IV. We consider quotation in full justified, for, in his own name, Tacitus gives a magnificent
Tiberius'
of
Tiberius. Here
we
find the
world so
key long
to why,
despite
all
his
other
and so quietly.
his
own
security he
as the
was a compe
tent, nay
a good ruler.
is
more com
Tacitus locates
decisive
turn
ing
point
in
Tiberius'
rule
the death of
Drusus, his
To begin,
ators.
public affairs and the greatest ones of private men were managed chief men were allowed to used to repress
by the
Sen
ad of
The
discourse
used
[disserere]
assign
into
ulation, he
himself. He
to
honors
to
nobility [spe
[claritudinem] in
were
war, and
illustrious
civil accomplishments, so
was agreed
that no others
better. Their
display
the
was
left to the
of the
In addition, [to
display]
[potestas]
ple were
lesser
The laws
authority [bono
peo of
of treason
[quaestio majestatis]
was excepted.
The
indeed distressed
by
but this
was through no
fault
Citizen; nay rather, he opposed the infertility of the lands or the storms of the much as he was able, by great expenditure [impendio] and diligence. He took
aroused
by new exactions
The lands
and that
they
should endure
the old
and
burdens
the avarice or
cruelty
of the magistrates. of
Whippings
were
of
bodies
Caesar
slaves were
If ever
unassuming [modesta], his household was in the hands of few freedmen. he disputed with private men, he allowed it to be tried in the forum and accord
arrangements
ing
he
retained, though
manner
and often
were changed
for the
worse
by
(iv.6-7. 1).
Tacitus'
With the
count of
22.
own ac
Tiberius'
first
like the
ri-
accolade of a
benevolent despot.
Tacite,
1:284,
8.
208
Interpretation
remains
Ultimate authority
display"
in the hands
of the
First Citizen
(only
the "ostenta
good ends.
tious
was
for
The laws
chosen
ter"
were well
honors
and
to represent the
"It
was agreed
that
no others were
bet
those
years we of
find
summary of the day-by-day political ac somewhat different emphasis. There, the persecu
scientific
tions
under
the law
interpreters have
undermined
en
the entirely liberty and security of the leading subjects of the Principate. However he may have praised the good administration of other matters, this law was for Tacitus
tirely
misinterpreted
law,
which
reign.
Modern
apologists
fail
to see
how
this law
nious attempts
in perverting the politics of the time hence, many inge to show that the law wasn't so bad as Tacitus affirms, that he ex
was
aggerates
was
innocent
of
its
excesses.
The
assumption
than
Tacitus
him
not suppress
commendable accom
plishments.
He merely
of
in
perspective as of subordinate
importance
to
highest
goal of politics
is
law
which
is directed
received
it
cannot escape
Tacitus'
censure,
does his
law is
deserve to be
admired.23
Let
us
turn to
assessment of this
Tiberius'
to such
enigma of
character,
which
3.
as a
Cause of Tyranny
why he One opin
Tacitus
continued
Tiberius'
contemporaries as to
important
offices
for very
long
periods.
ion that
"it
partially to
better"
Tacitus'
contradict
was agreed
that
no others were
than those
Tiberius
him. "He
virtues,
the
yet
he hated
vices:
men
(1.80.2). If he chose the best men, one won ders why it is said that he feared them. But on deeper reflection perhaps the sec ond opinion is also true. For Tiberius did not dare to govern without the vague
worst
he feared
dishonor"
public
23.
There is
beautiful discussion
of
by Montesquieu
entitled
of the
Monarch."
"The
make
morals
[mceurs]
liberty
souls
the
laws; he
have subjects; if he loves base souls he will have slaves. Does he wish to know the great art of ruling: let him draw to himself honor and virtue which he calls personal merit Let him not fear in the least those rivals whom one calls the men of merit; he is their equal from the moment that he loves Montesquieu, De T esprit des lois, xui.27.
will
...
beasts
of men and of
beasts
make men.
If he loves free
he
them."
Tacitus'
Teaching
and severe nent men.
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
209
law of treason which seemed to be especially directed at these emi Perhaps Tiberius genuinely cared for good government but also feared that those he promoted to office were secretly hostile to him. He was capable but
his
accomplishments
did
not render
him
so venerable as
Augustus
and
further
Augustus'
presence.
perceptions of
with
have
his
resolve
law. The
is in Tiberius. He did
would secure
cent measures
his
power.
Therefore
cyni
he turned to tyrannical
cal opinions of
The
latter is
reflected
in the
Tiberius held
by
his his
How
else could
they
regard
the
originator of such a
law,
whatever
other accomplishments?
ate was
already
corrupted and
debilitated
by
the fortune
of
the Caesars
the
policy
of
Augustus,
itself
Tyranny
consolidated
and
liberty
was
long
as
this
law.24
He
pardoned
this
man or
overlook
the most
For he did
whether
not remove
know
he
be
pardoned or
have his
case
was so vague as
to
present a
threat to everyone,
for
virtue and
independence.25
Tiberius'
It is
reason
Tacitus
report
the
opinions of
the Romans on
opinions are an
important
history,
and
crucial
the law.
context of otherwise republican sentiments
which
Tiberius', in
he
refuses to
faith [fidem] in
treason"
his
civic mind
restored
[reduxeraf]
the law of
(1.72.2). Tacitus here, it is generally agreed, refers to the Lex Julia of Augustus. The actual terms of this law are lost, but events show that it extended the charge
of treasonable violation of
majesty to
Julius,
of members of
his
family.26
include, as well as abuse of the divinity of Citizen, and sometimes even slander Under the Republic the treason law (Perduellio) had
the First
from the
earliest
times
comprehended
magistrates.
24.
Sulla
passed
any deed committed against the City or its the Lex Cornelia which was applicable to such abuses
and
under
Tiberius (Middletown:
passim.
University Press,
1950),
1'
p.
88.
that the government
[lese majeste] should be vague, Montesquieu, De esprit des lois, xn.7. degenerates into 26. C. W. Chilton, "The Roman Law of Treason under the Early
"It is
enough
despotism."
Principate,"
Journal of Roman
Studies,
450955):73-81-
210
of
Interpretation
leaving his province without permission and the loyalty of troops, illegal detention of making tampering and perhaps a governor's not prisoners, leaving his province on time. But Au application of the law to his family and extension of the charge to include
private
war,
with
gustus'
speech
so
easy to allege,
and so
was
difficult to disprove
were
fraught
with peril
crease of
exile, but from the early years of Tiberius, the the punishment to death. Examples of such arbitrary in
are rare
in the
reign of
per
strong that
cases of
treason
We
of
how
much
the suspicious
nature of
were
with."27
malignant zeal
abjectness of punished
The
treason, or iniquity treason with threats to the First Citizen himself. Such was
chief and was
that it
identified
the law
somehow reasonable of
necessary considering that the regime had its vagueness: not only deeds but even idle
effects of
changed.28
The defect
The
It
this on society
were
far-reaching,
Montesquieu
explains so well:
was not
that
which
only actions that fell under this law, but words, signs, is said in the outpouring [epanchement] of the heart
cannot
and even
thoughts: for
which conversation
produces
no more
be
regarded
but
as thoughts.
Therefore there
no more
was
liberty
banquets,
no more confidence of
between relations,
loyalty in
the prince
having
as an
communicated
itself every
friendship
was regarded as a
trap, frankness
imprudence,
happiness
virtue as an of earlier
The
aside of
was
"made
fierce"
to
bring
by
his
anonymous poems
mother"
(1.72.4) is
"innuendo";
rather
it
serves to emphasize
that
rea
Tiberius
was governed
by private passions
revenge,
in this
crucial
case,
as well as
by
sons of state.
Anger,
law
of
fear
are as much
put
the
causes of the
it, "the
statesman yielded
continually
Prudence was necessary as a means to get the law of treason accepted as Tiberius desired it. Tiberius, when asked by a praetor if the trials for treason should be restored, replied, "the laws must be (1.72.3). Tacitus reports
enforced"
of
they
were
27. 28.
stain
Ibid.,
"I do
one ought
wish
to
least; but I
be
will
despo
tism,
treason,
29.
innocence."
more fitting on these occasions than an Montesquieu, De V esprit des lois, xii.12.
accusation of
Montesquieu, Considerations
XIV.
sur
les
causes
de la
grandeur
des Romains
et
de leur deca
dence,
30.
Montesquieu, ibid.
Tacitus'
Teaching
a prostitute
and the
Decline of Liberty
have
at
Rome
-211
such charges as to
"treasonously"
introduced
of
into the
solemnities of
are
Augustus
of
or to
have
sold
his
gardens.
How depraved
the minds
the
themselves
the law to
Senate became in enforcing the law. Perhaps no artfulness was necessary to have the precedents es tablished. But Tacitus assigns the to responsibility to Tiberius and attributes his behavior in doing so. Thus he recounts even the cases which did not is early sue in condemnation or where the accused was guilty, "that it may be known from what beginnings, by how much art of Tiberius the most grave ruin crept in, then was repressed, and at last blazed forth and corrupted all (1.73. 1). The art of Tiberius consists in his occasional attempts to moderate the zeal of the
servile the
"art"
things"
bring
such charges!
We
how
he
was all
ecrable
means
persecutions.31
attempted to gain the reputation of mercy, the time responsible for giving them the opportunity for their ex Furneaux says that the Roman law had other less vicious
libels.32
A truly
merciful
First
Citizen law.
have
used
these
more
discriminating
The third
case mentioned
by Tacitus,
of
the prosecution of
increases
way to
and
our
understanding
honor
thereby
Romans honored
fortunes in this
way.
For
and
they
were often
Senatorial
prosecution,
the goods of the accused were divided among them. These were the
"accusers"
infamous
class:
was
despicable
[He] entered a form of life which the miseries of the times and the shamelessness [audaciae] of men made common afterwards. For [though he was] poor, unknown,
and restless,
he
crept
into
the
he
caused
danger to
each most
cruelty of the First Citizen by secret informations; then illustrious man. Having attained influence [potentiam]
erty,
hatred among all men, he gave the example that riches follow from pov feared [follows] from contempts, and he brought ruin upon others and being upon himself (1.74. 1-2). finally
with one and
To
help
absolve
and
upon
decent
.
Tiberius from the responsibility of having unleashed this plague innocent men, it is sometimes said that the Romans needed defonder
of
it"
was
of all
his
other
extended not
all
only to libels
but
re
or
involving
life;
and the
his
family
is disregarded in
practice.
It
should
be
Roman law
dealing
with either
treasonable acts
and that
the law of
prudent
probably from its more sweeping character, was one to hold in Henry Furneaux, ed. The Annals of
reserve."
212
Interpretation
prosecutor.33
The testimony of men of lower latores because they had no public could appreciate their elo Romans the show that moral standards is brought in to abused. It is quence without considering the merits of the cases in which it was
sometimes said
Tacitus'
accusers.
But this is to
make
point.
The
is
all-important.
Perhaps Trajan
unscrupulous
The
system was
dangerously
Tiberius
open
to abuse
by
which made
it
all
it. Delation
who
lation
and
under
Trajan,
of
began his
reign
by
the
expulsion of
delator es
Domitian.34
We have
chosen
to
examine the
interplay
of politi
Tiberius
and
the delatores as
they
are exhibited
in
interesting
later
Drusus,
the
first
(a.d. (a.d.
ones of
and
Cremutius Cordus
question
at all.
He
it
suited
his
pur
did
not
man of noble
birth
dare openly to try his enemy (11. 40. 3). Libo Drusus was a young whose vanity was greater than his sense. He was encouraged
"friend,"
by
The foolish
was
youth and
did
not get so
far
as to plot
sum of
consultations
with
soothsayers,
and
interpreters
was a
fool,
not
to
thought
and
"friend"
did
not call
Libo
and reprimand
far
more
dangerous
Cinna.35
charge,"
"By
no means
despising
he
allowed
Libo
to continue
more
his plotting, or rather consulting. Perhaps he wanted to see if anyone formidable would join him. (This is the claim scholars favorable to Tiber
that Libo
presented a real
threat.)36
ius
exaggerate
Yet it
seems
doubtful that
33.
5:135;
34.
under the
Empire, 8
vols.
the
words of
Pliny
your attention
forum
army-camps. on
You
in
founded
so
.
laws
to perish
through the
abuse
nity
we enjoyed of
looking
fitting
for
Ships
were
.
hastily
.
produced, and
us
they
were crowded on
board
hazard
to
watch
and on
the very
water's edge
thanks to
in his unfailing mercy had preferred to entrust vengeance over men on earth to the gods Then indeed we knew how times had changed; the real criminals were nailed to the very which had been the cross of many an innocent man; the islands where senators were exiled were
with
crowded
the informers
and
'
all
time
Plinius Secundus.
Panegyricus, in Letters
1969), xxxiv, xxxv.
35. 36.
Panegyricus,
2 vols.
Loeb Classical
Library
(London: Heinemann,
See
note 11.
pp.
13-14;
p. 58.
Tacitus'
Teaching
anyone with matter who
and
the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
-213
any sense would conspire against Tiberius for the sake of a Libo, no his ancestors were nor how closely related he was to the Caesars.
Tiberius
went
with
banquets,
der
at
but
to play cat
to
[Libo's]
of
speeches and
deeds, [Tiberius]
for the
know
[them]"
Tiberius
allowed
Libo to
carry behavior
the mere
on
in hopes
of
getting
more evidence
sake of
the
Senate,
we see
that
they
were
willing to
convict on
testimony
of
intent to
commit
the crime.
made certain
there were
witnesses
Anyway, the original informer had already before he laid his information before Tiberius.
At this point, however, Tiberius had done nothing worse than to conduct himself in a manner unbefitting a decent ruler. Strictly speaking, of course, he is respon
sible
for the
excesses of
the informers
who
framed Libo.
together to consult about "a
adopted a mask of
A trial
ity. We
was
in
order and
the Senate
was called
matter."
impartial
it
a mask
because, by
tantamount to
servile was
being
intervened,
so
to
credit of
that
during
these early
years
he did
intervene to
moderate
the servility
arbitrary.37
the
were
The dreadful
could
these
be
seen
find
to de
and
though
they
alleged
different pretexts, it
out
was
from
prosecution
brought
Libo
with
says
they
were
"stupid
and
empty, if
you
accepted
[worthy]
to be
pitied"
conspired against
to be tortured
as witnesses.
turning
the
testimony
of slaves
from
being
The
admitted
in
their
masters were
being
tried on a
capital charge.
have
so
rudely disparaged
the crime,
Tacitus'
judgment have
not recognized
that
in
cases of
conspiracy
witnesses.38
or
court of allege
they
points
they
in
support of
Cicero
which
37
whereas
he
permitted
Augustus,
the
concern of
the
38.
slaves of
those who
him
would
be
sold
to
the
public so
they
could give a
against
their master.
One
ought
to
which
leads to the
discovery
of a great crime.
can not
Thus in
they
can
be
witnesses.
Vindex
gave
information
of
the conspiracy
214
Interpretation
gods,
what can
O,
ye
be done
Our
ancestors
did
not
think
it
right
that slaves
could not
should
be
thing
to
do,
and more
op
Cicero
goes on
of corruption
in this his
sort of pro
ceeding, for it
enemy.
was well
It may
to
only too natural that the be that Augustus, too, "was disposed to
considerations,"40
master as an
subordinate the
law had
on occasion
practical
proves
that
Tacitus is
right in the
protected
spirit of what
he
says: under
Principate,
stituted
for it in
way that
rendered
insecure.41
After this, Libo committed suicide; later Tiberius swore that he would have asked for his life, though guilty, if he had not hastened to a voluntary death. As suming for the
ate the moment
that we
can
question
allowed who
Libo to be
put on
trial at all.
He
taking
of worth
revenge on
him,
as we see
and
her adulterer,
he
ordered
killed. But
put
Libo
taking
seriously?
Tiberius
gests
revenge.
sug
ever
something him. It
In the
absence of real
conspiracies,
Tiberius,
an
promised an
unmitigated,
investigation
inves
with such
principles
threaten even
innocent
was
by
intent
of
this trial
to
disconcert Such
was
and
to endanger Tiberius.
his tyrannical
in favor
of
Tarquin; but he
had his
just to
give
lib
erty to him
who
his country; but one did not give it to him so he Montesquieu, De esprit des lois, xu.15. Rogers, who
/'
of this distinction. Criminal Trials, pp. 16-17. Marcus Cicero, Pro Milone, xxii, in The Orations of Marcus Tullius Cicero, trans. C. Yonge, 4 vols. (London: Bohn, 1852), vol. 3.
40.
41
.
p. 17.
at Pro Deiolaro 1.3 supports Tacitus even more explicitly: "For though, according to the usage of our ancestors, it is not lawful to examine a slave as a witness against his master, not even by torture in which mode of examination pain might perhaps, elicit the truth from a man even against his will a slave has arisen, who, without any compulsion, accuses him against whom he might not legally say a word even on the The passage cited by Rogers at Pant. orat. 34 speaks of an exception to the law of examining slaves against their masters, it is true. But it is vague and not sufficiently clear that it should be allowed to stand against the distinction.
to
by Rogers
rack."
Therefore, in
teaching
of
Tacitus
should
be left
as vindicated.
Tiberius introduced
tyrannical
usage
them merely to inform the court of an the exception granted even by the ancient law.
and
Rogers'
allowing slaves to be tortured as witnesses. Had he used intended conspiracy, he would have acted within the scope of
by
Admitting
their
testimony
Tacitus is perfectly justified in calling him a "cunning man and discoverer of new attacks on Tacitus similarly dissolve under close scrutiny. See note 42, infra.
All
of
Tacitus'
Teaching
delible
old
and the
Decline of Liberty
Roman society,
at
Rome
-215
and
deleterious
effect on
to recover
its
independence.
a
As
der."
reward, Libo's
goods were
were of
Senatorial
"out
of
the
usual or
This
would not
opposed
had to be
paid.
The law
engine of
tyranny it
was
be
coming if the accusers had not been induced by extravagant rewards. This is not the least of the sinister revelations about Tiberius that are brought to light by this
trial.
Furthermore,
various servile
Senators heaped
execrations on
the memory of
names of their
Libo in
lic"
flattery
of
and the
illustrious
depraved
authors
"that it
evil
might
in the
when
repub
later,
Tacitus
was writing.
This trial
set a
during
the early
years of
his reign,
Tiberius does
trials are
not seem
needed
occasional. and
its
effect
in
dispiriting
not ever
worrying the
decent
But Tiberius
often
proceedings
thing he
do, however, is
punish
cannot
conclude
was
that though he
saw
the
law, he
necessary.
willing to risk that injustice because he felt the law was useful or In a.d. 21, Clutorius Priscus, in the absence of Tiberius, was put to
death
an
on a treason charge
by
the
Senate,
have
on
wrote
might
if he died. One
and punish
or
occasioned some
inquest
ment of
but
when
complaisantly
his
reproached
them
in the
The immediate
accustomed
punishment of
Priscus Tiberius
in the Senate
with
he he
praised
the
the First
Citizen, however
He
proposed
expressed speaker
piety of those avenging injuries of disapproval of such hasty punish for moderation] but he did
not
ments of words.
praised
Lepidus [the
blame
Agrippa [who
the
of his avengers in so sordid a case as this. Tiberius actually praised the this even in There is no question that early period he would have done away with
law. The appalling degeneration of the atmosphere of political discourse in the Senate during those times can be deduced from the speech of Marcus Lepidus, a decent and moderate man. He wished to have Priscus pardoned but he felt under
such a
the necessity of
heaping
execrations on
him to
accommodate
the
Senate, before
mind and
he
could even
sentence:
Conscript Fathers, if
the ears of men,
suffice
neither
the
prison nor
to
punish
him (111.50.
1).
216 Lepidus
though
Interpretation
goes on
to distinguish between
what
is empty
and what
is criminal,
and
he clearly feels that no punishment is deserved, he proposes that Priscus be exiled and his estate confiscated, "as if he were sentenced under the Lex
Majestatis"
indirectly
the
censures
the
increasingly
is
common
arbitrary
and
illegal
applications of of
in
such cases.
But here
we see
how,
ap
under
the pressure
and
flattery,
considered most
eager
propriate,
exile,
to gratify the
with
was
First Citizen
the ultimate
showing their affection in zealously punishing his vengeance. The Senate voted against Lepidus and Priscus
"enemy"
by
"im
for writing a poem. mediately deprived of While one cannot absolve Tiberius of all responsibility der the frightful necessity to flatter
palled at
life"
since
he
put
them
un
by keeping
the
law,
one
is
amazed and
ap
of
favor
one so severe
for
so slight a
mark of
then existed
save
is the
Lepidus (cf.
To try to
the foolish
and pitiful
Priscus he
was compelled
abjectly
of
too. Otherwise he
would no
arraigned next as an
enemy
the
First Citizen for abetting so great a criminal. Things changed after the death of Drusus,
Tiberius'
only
and after
son.
The restraining
of
influence
of a
father's love
and
hope
was
removed,
replaced
the death
Drusus is very
the worsening
of
heir. The adolescent children of Germanicus, who was then Drusus, also dead, became the recognized heirs (iv. 8.4-5). Sejanus made himself indis fears of these boys, their mother Agrippina encouraging and their In fact, he himself had designs on the state that could only be realized if they were taken out of the way (iv.3. 1). When the boys were
pensable
by
Tiberius'
"supporters."
praised
by
and
Sejanus
saw
his
chance.
were
He
complained
who called
distracted
of
as
if in
civil
those
Agrippina,
they
were
op
increase; there was no other remedy for the growing discord they than that one or another of those most forward should be overthrown. For this
posed,
purpose the
was
law
of
hand,
Tiberius'
and
distracted heart
the treason
counsel.
state as a
of
use of
deliberate policy
was one of
intense
and resulted
in
Silius
was chosen
because he
the most
illustrious
men to
have been
sons and
associated with
Germanicus,
and might
be
expected to
years
thereby
governed
huge
the
armies, had
triumphal honors in
Germany,
and
had
conquered
Sacrovir,
dangerous
rebel of
Gaul. Tacitus
underlines the
fact that
intended: "The
more
(iv.18.1). The
reason
that
he,
among the
Tacitus'
Teaching
of
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
-217
"partisans"
standing in his
the
family of Germanicus,
was chosen
is further
specified
contemporaries'
conjectures:
Many believed he had augmented his offense by his own lack of moderation, immoder ately boasting that his soldiery had remained in allegiance, though others sank to sedi tions. [He boasted] that the Empire would not have remained for Tiberius if there had
been
a
desire for
change
in these legions
as well.
ished
by
The
private resentment
only
so
much
his stunning aphorisms on human nature: "For benefits are far gladly received when they seem to be able to be repaid; where they This is not so much a revelation exceed, hatred is returned for
gratitude."
Tiberius
and men
was no
guilty of extortion, but that is irrelevant; the whole case was treated under the law of treason, and when Silius committed suicide his money was sought in
excess of what
was
net of
terror
drawn
tighter.42
During
causes
(23-37
a.d.) there
were
three distinct
beyond the
Tiberius for
of
which
One
was
honors had
Sejanus
no
access not
him,
and
preference
[voluntas]
Such
of
was
(iv.68.2). Tiberius
allowed
Sejanus to foment
always
accusations
nearly
led to
after
conviction.
Sejanus'
Then there
were
the
state
by
in
Tiberius
31 a.d.
with
power
By
the plotting
Surviving
Of these
Sejanus
Tacitus'
and cry.
In his
review of
R.
Rogers'
Criminal Legislation
Tacitus'
Tiberius,
C. W. Chilton develops
revision of
assessment of
the law of
kinds
ties
of treason
high treason
no more viz.
which
he
calls
by
Perduellio,
and
and
Majestas,
which
often amounted to
were
than
slander of
the Princeps or
confiscation
his
family
and that
prescribed,
exile
death (with
of
property
damnatio
for
Tiberius'
Perduellio,
adminis for Majestas. If Rogers is right, the evil reputation attaching to After a close survey of the tration of this law is unjust and Tacitus was both malicious and penalties laid down by relevant laws he concludes: "There can be no reasonable doubt that the only
ignorant.'
ignis'
de
majestate of
Caesar
and
Augustus
were
'interdictio
acquae et
therefore,
which was
legally
the
same
for
all cases.
The
death,
later
Tiberius'
later years,
was an aggravation of
this penalty
arbitrarily imposed by the sovereign court developments and to vindicate the rule of law
the Principate the trend of Roman criminal
Rogers is trying to
From the
law, especially
defendant
seen under
is towards
trariness,
ments.
wider
discrimination between
of
one
Tiberius
clear
in the
jurists."
Treason,"
of
Journal of
218 only
with
Interpretation few
speeches survive.
whose
Finally,
there
were
the trials
and
of people connected
Agrippina,
her
hated
as a threat.
Here he
acted to
have
no evidence
thing. Still
name as granddaughter of
Augustus
and widow of
Germanicus
categories
latter two
the trial of
it
we see
political atmosphere
during by
the years
(23-31
the out
of
a.d.)
when
Sejanus
was
in the
ascendant.
The
set:
atrocious character of
Tacitus
Brutus
at
Cremutius Cordus
"new
and
then first
heard
published
histories in
which
he had
praised
and called
of the
Romans."
Caesar,
adoptive
father
of
As they were the tyrannicides who had assas Augustus and his predecessor in establishing
a charge of
the
new
state, two
clients of
Sejanus brought
treason against
Tiberius'
Cordus.
was sponsor of
grim counte
in the Senate
on
Cordus'
were understood
to be
(perniciabili)
of
to the accused.
politics.
Resolved
core of
death, he
made a magnificent
indictment
the new
and
The
speech
is
a comparison
between Tiberius
criticism.
Caesars in their
of
toleration of
direct
and
implied
This
in those days
regime, the
words are
the words
pertain to praised
by noting that his held to blame, so far innocent is he of any harm in deed. Further, even for which he is charged are not covered under the law, for they do not
the First Citizen or his mother. He is merely charged
with
having
Brutus
blames the
who
have been
praised
is tyrannical
who allows
The decisive
existed
is the
character of the
praised
before, Livy
resent
Pompey, Caesar's
great
ian,"
enemy,
it that he
called
Livy
obstruct their
friendship"
and or
honors
Brutus
and
Cassius,
so
far
was
he from
malice
Marcus
oration,
Cicero, in
as
which
did Caesar the Dictator reply to that book of he equaled Cato with heaven, than in an answering
else
judges"
though
before
of
which was
worthy
not
the
dignity
of
(iv.34.4). Caesar thought that the answer, his government, was an answer in reasoned brutality. But
the
discourse,
Augustus
opposed,
pseudo-
legal
or violent
magnanimity
of an
or a
Caesar,
politically him
by
Tiberius. One
virtue. as
Perhaps, being
not years.
less
And,
Cordus does
fail to
out,
some of
Cordus
concludes
by
virtue
is beyond the
power of
Tacitus'
Teaching
and
at
Rome
-219
any tyrant to suppress; and, though he nevertheless reminds him that there are
that
word
before Tiberius, he
standards above
his
will
by
as as
striving
his fate is
he
records.
"Posterity
Brutus"
weighs out
the worth
[decus]
of
each,
be
lacking
if the
condemnation assaults
[me]
committed
suicide, and
(iv.35.3). He
of scorn
for the
petti
unworthy
men of
power, both
must
be
remained
hidden
of
and
[later]
published.
even
one can
scorn the
stupidity
those
believe that
extinguished.
For in
stead,
increases,
nor
or those who
selves and
cruelty,
produced
Hostility
Tacitus
to
as
record of it laid up in the histories is denounced by The laughter he indulges in is bitter, for the barbarism. tantamount to
the
prerogative of zen of
half-savage foreign
all
potentates
is
now exercised
by
the First
Citi
his education,
the
and the
tradition,
the instruments
of
rebarbarization of
Tiberius'
Tacitus
virtue and
now
mind
in its
attitude toward
fame worthily attained by virtue. The glory Tiberius tried to deny Brutus was offered to him on a grander scale. He turned it down. This leads Tacitus to wonder about the First Citizen's attitude toward his own Cassius
and virtue.
Delegates
to Tiberius
spoke
of
Further Spain
asked
the Senate
whether
they
and
his
mother
a privilege
he had
allowed
in condemning honors, and having thought that he ought to respond to those by whose rumor he was charged with (iv.37.1). Tiberius often having stooped to the desire for display strive for the true glory to desire of the spurned flattery. However bereft he was
to forbid
this, "otherwise
resolute
[ambitionem]"
of
being
decency
is
not
to
claim
false
attestation of
virtues
he did
fear
Moreover,
as
Tacitus remarks, it is
not
difficult to
know
pelled
freely
more
given and
that which
is
com
by
or
interesting
ambition
is
revealed
by
Ti
berius'
speech.
political men
He is really devoid of that higher to create and found a new order that
Tiberius'
that moves
the best
memory
after their
death. However
a
respectable
claim
may be, it
create or
reveals a pedes
trian
heart,
heart
not moved
by
its
own
mortality to
grasp something
could not con not
eternal.
Perhaps this is
the deepest
revelation about
why Tiberius
son.
he lost his
He did
have
his
220 him
Interpretation
men,
above all
they
were removed.
His merely
respectable claim
fails to im
of self-sufficiency.
The
respectable
humility
com
mortality that Tiberius emphasizes should not blind place called upon him for far more. We do not forget here
parisons other.
us to the
Cordus'
implicit
between Tiberius
a part of
on
the
one
hand
and
Caesar
and
Augustus
on
the
Tiberius'
Here is
honors:
enough
myself
to be
and
mortal and
I hold it
to
fulfill
the
func
They
am
believe that I
posterity to will attribute enough and more than enough to my memory if they worthy of my ancestors, watchful over your affairs, constant in
call you
witness and
to
wish
dangers,
and not
fearful
of
offending
on
behalf
of
the
republic
(iv.38.1).
Perhaps it is only fair to recognize that Tiberius was decent in not claiming di vine honors he knew he did not deserve. He freely admits that Augustus was
worthy of them (iv.37.3). Tacitus reports the conjectures
nize of
those
who used
the
mind of
Some
said
modesty, because he
mark of a
his worth;
were
it
the
they
by
First
deserving
be
divine honors if he
exerted
himself in the
cause of vir
refusal strive to
was
but the
unwilling to
"By
the contempt of
reputation
were
condemned"
most severe
interpreters
adduce
effect of
character of
Augustus. "He
was
Their
is that nothing not even deification for the men best endowed by nature
of mortals
be
It
[mortalium] desire
the highest
is First Citizens
virtues
have the
greatest opportunities
by
which
these
do
not seem to
be
credulous
men;
they do
not
come gods
mortals"
of
as gods
say that virtuous men can be if they act well: it is "the best capacity
whose undoubted
We have
Tiberius his
into
the shade
worse.
by
his defects,
even
during
Citizen
ruler.
the best
period of
rule.
Later he became
An
adequate explana
tion of this
of
degeneration
look
First
Rome. This is
just any
man we are
We have
out
brought
so
gradually
merely suspicious,
was a radical
finally joining
were
lust to his
cruelty?
dependence on
him
bad because
as a small man
was exposed
to envy
Tacitus'
Teaching
and
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
what
fear
of
he did
he
by the
have
love
glory;
nor was
men,
a
independent
sort
higher
he
could
endured
his eminence;
as
it
was, he looked to
others
for
support and
Only
is
when
they
he truly
liberated,
secretly feared their personal opinions. and liberation for such a man
a monster as a ruler.
a catastrophe.
Outstanding
his
as a
subordinate, he became
The
periods of
long
as
he
different. [It was] an illustrious [time] in his life in commands under Augustus. [It
virtues
Drusus
Germanicus
survived
[he did
not
possess]
as
long as
It is this judgment
the best
Tiberius'
of
aroused
the doubts
and
indignation
of even
commentators.43
to the benevolence of
government
in the
beginning
whole
Book IV be Tiberius
life
of
and when
he judges that
decent
what
ask
rule
in the Empire
the
law
and
feared in
The
if
can a man
"good"
have
virtues who
does
not
have
vir
terrifying
all
but the
wicked?
If the
1),
highest task
how
The
is to
the best
men
(consider
111.65.
favorable
First Citizen
of
this
was
in the deficiencies
was incapable of restraining itself in a he burst forth into crimes and dishonorable deeds were removed and
once,
fear
he followed his
men can ever and
[ingenio]"
own nature
restraint, acter,
such as
few
know, destroyed
state.
the Emperor
char
republican
and with
it the Senate
the Roman
abject, unwilling to
of
assert
In succeeding reigns, the Senate remained servile and itself for good, unable to resist the worst importunities
must share
dependent Romans
recall
whom
he did
not correct
but
allowed reign
to degen
that Tacitus
was moved
to
attribute
the
to the "an
mysteri
Roman
state."
sums
up the
forces
was
It
an
to rule, especially
since
he had been
to conclude
Yet it
would
be
rash
that absolute
and
The
cases of
fascinating and so
43.
1:420;
222
Interpretation
because it
reveals
significant
how
even a
more-than-ordinary
man
is
corrupted
by
too
great a position.
Rome
never recovered.
Teaching
sources of
of Moderation
corruption
Rome's
in the
past and we
that there
were
irreversible difficulties
we
deeply
it
Republic itself.
Subsequently
looked
at
Rome
under
the difficult
circumstances
to
which
by
that
corrup
Caesar
and
effect of
dent
and servile.
policy in further discouraging and rendering these men depen The evil was recognized by some members of that order, and
Tiberius how
a reform.
We have
Tacitus'
seen
pre
old were
the
causes of corruption.
to investigate
limits
be
expected
from
reform. an
The
teaching
with a
of
the limits of
what
possibly
be done
by
legislation is
important
teaching
of
as
any thinker. It is especially crucial when he deals does Tacitus. After the discussion of why modera
Tacitus'
teaching
and
on
for the
eration
is possible,
to the
teaching
about mod
for his
answer
in the
whole of nature.
gence.
men
Sumptuary laws are laws restraining They were employed during the
hoped the
a
expenditure
for luxuries
and self-indul
best days
could
of
corruption of the
Empire
be dealt
by
their
revival.
There is
cess over
distinction between necessary and unnecessary expenditure. The ex the necessary results from an attempt to gain pleasure or honor and at
and
tention
which
by display,
of
is forbidden
by
such
laws.
They
and
is
moderation
is
an
impor
tant part
with
tain
virtue, food, dress, Still, sumptuary laws, like all laws regulating character, demand a cer sacrifice of liberty, and careful watching of the citizens, one by the other.
in
furniture is incompatible
it.
Ancient statesmen,
ous character are
living
in
in the
as
citizens
cities, like the early Roman Republic, were because they thought that a self-sufficient, virtu justified it. Yet, as we will see from Tacitus, there
small
limits to these
withhold
to all good
laws,
and
in
it may be
dent to
be
to a regulation which
inefficacious legitimate
on account of
of
deeply
ingrained habits
regards moral we will see
of
indulgence. Such
was
the character
the Empire.
Tacitus
legisla
that his
object of public
concern, but
Tacitus'
Teaching
deep
concern
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
223
for morality is
moderated
by
an awareness of the
limits
of all
legislation.
We
are
interested in the
For
we are
positive attitude
moral
laws in
principle.
heirs
of a modern
such
leg
of
and right
dispute the
limits
are united
in their
opposition
to all interference
it. Thus
the
or virtuous citizens
by
moral regulation.
policy by the goal of producing noble Yet both contemporary left and right are
commercial
that
modern
liberal
ideal
political order
by
reason of
the prevalence
or
short of of
the
the mere
"consumer,"
the "spineless
conformist"
man."
The
ab
education,
which
is the
core of moral
regulation, may
we
not
be
to this
deep
Then
problem.
do
well
to famil
iarize
ourselves with
in favor
of our
liberal
easy-goingness.
the
great premodern
alternative,
and
to
moderate
its rigor
One
made
of
the last
modern
investigations
of the principles of
society that
was
in full
awareness of
work
is ultimately
defense
of
liberalism, but
whole range of
an argued
defense,
cieties.
which, with
human
so
For Montesquieu,
modern
tive alternative to
liberalism,
based
on
participatory
virtue.
When he first
makes
is led to think he
who
the
ancients.
The Greek
nize
statesmen
[politiques],
lived in the
popular government,
virtue.
did
not
recog
'
.
any
other
force that
could sustain
Those
,
of
today only
speak
to us of
manufactures , of commerce , of
finances
of
riches
the
and even of
luxury
Montesquieu
seems
for
moral reasons
to be
repelled
by
commercial emphasis
of the doctrines of modern liberalism. This is apparently corroborated the things he says in Book VII, which is devoted to sumptuary laws.
by
some of
In
proportion as
luxury establishes
itself in
the glory of their nothing but what is necessary, desire only corrupted by luxury has many other desires. Soon soul But a own. their and fatherland, As soon as the Romans were cor it becomes an enemy of the laws that annoy it through a general impulse, all the immense When, became desires their rupted,
interest. Those
who need
world
inclined to
voluptuousness, what
did
become?2
virtue
Here Montesquieu
reasons.
seems
to be a
not
proponent of virtue
for
However,
equality
this
and
is
the whole
story.
He distinguishes between
is
good
lic,
I
where
hence sumptuary
111.3.
regulation
for society
2.
224
of the
Interpretation
citizens,
and
aristocracy
where
he denies that
concerned control.
is he to
help
so
self-
moderation:
Badly
nobles there
and yet
they
them;
He
comes near to
approving
force the
nobles
to spend on
luxu
ries, in
the making
of which the
be
employed.
For the
same reason
inequality
of wealth and
humanity
Montesquieu
opposes
monarchies.4
whether
Montesquieu is
so
favorably
disposed toward
unfavorably disposed toward commerce and even luxury as he ap in the first statement. In fact, his most important teaching is the superior
vehe of
ity
of
the liberal regime of Great Britain. Its commerce puts prosperity within the
reach of
ment
many and it allows civil freedom to all. Montesquieu praises the dynamism of the British character because it contributes to the power
more natural
the
to man.
Since
sire
all
the
passions are
free there [in Great Britain], hatred, envy, jealousy, the de oneself would appear in their full extent; and if
be like
a man cut
down
by
sickness,
who
has
not
Since
each
individual
who
is
always
independent
often
would
. .
follow his
his fantasies very much, one would change party laws of friendship.5
and often
in
In the
absence of moral
man
is
naturally free and virtue is, according to Montesquieu, an artificial imposition which is merely for the good of the Virtue, in the old regimes, was a ne of not the health of the soul: "The ancient Greeks, who were over state, cessity
state.6
come should
by
be
government
"Singular"
virtue,
made singular
institutions
to
inspire
it."7
here
Egoism is States
of are
to man, for
rightly
vii. 3.
they
understand
themselves rightly is to
Ibid.,
4.
Montesquieu
approves the
beautiful
good
solution
found
to this problem
by
which
were without
Greek There
republics
had
admirable
institutions in
this regard.
The rich
race 5.
men employed
their money on
festivals,
on choruses of
course, and
on onerous magistratures.
Ibid.,
vn.3.
iv. 6.
Tacitus'
Teaching
approximation of were social. security.
and the
Decline of Liberty
which existed
at
Rome
225
men
the independence
It is especially important for Montesquieu that governments Most states, however, mistake their end, and instead of limited
provide govern
goal
ment,
which
with
its
protections
for
personal
security,
establish some
fantastic
distorts their
Moral
regulation violates
personal
security and privacy. This is the liberal argument against virtue. Virtue health of the soul but mere restraint. Its beauty, however great it may appear, is a deceptive beauty which perverts mankind, who is born for freedom.
is
not the
Sumptuary laws
name of eration
limit
man's natural
desires in the
virtue, but that virtue is a delusive ideal created by men's minds. Mod or self-restraint is but one among many choices a man can make, no more
and when
it,
man's
freedom
Freedom
and
independence is it
perverted.
Thus Montesquieu, is
enlightened politics.
who accepts
compelled
to
abandon
fully
particularly rich development of the case for and legislation which we have only been able to sketch. He claims sumptuary to understand why it was necessary in the ancient republics and he pays homage
Montesquieu
provides a
against
to its
that
moral regulation of
kind is
in
a government which
rightly understands
with
But inasmuch
modern ate
there
is
widespread
dissatisfaction
the kind of
that
liberal
commercial regimes
have produced,
such
we think
it is
not
inappropri
to state
briefly
its limits
discussed
We thus become
the fundamental
seems to
alternatives. moderation
Tacitus
hold that
is
good
for
man.
of
virtue chosen
for its
own sake
is happier
and
bodily
plea
Moderation is the
and can
healthy
mind which
is
without
base
or
illusory
diversions
practice of
the
other virtues
for
means virtue
is
more
choiceworthy than
the honors
or riches
that may follow from it. If this is so, it is reasonable to limit an ostentatious display of those external goods which
mind
distort the
from
a moderate
autonomy
and
devotion to
virtue.
Therefore sumptuary laws They forbid one from tempting others to immoderation. But good laws are limited in their power. They work best where the population has good morals and where
are good.
they do
not counteract
deeply
wrote
deeply
corrupted society.
Riches flowed
in from the
habits
display
be too
would
in
debauchery
to
circumstances, Tacitus is
weak
reluctant
They
will
to
combat
be
severe and
harmful,
is
clear
from
what
had
occurred with
226
moral
Interpretation
legislation (in. 28. 3). But
more than
Montesquieu,8
Tacitus
regards
this as
a misfortune
moderation.
who are no
not
think of
longer self-sufficient, virtuous, and capable of the benefits of luxury and commerce, for he is
mind of corrupt men.
the state of
The
of of
the center
year 22 a.d.
one
"decent"
of against
period.
lest there be
things on
who
"severity
luxury,
which
had broken
out
tremendously in
here
whether
all
which were
money is
wasted"
(m.52.1). It is
not clear
those
feared
hence feared
punish se
they
feared that
taken to repress
luxury
would
be
detrimental
to
liberty. There was, in any case, widespread indignation at the luxury, and it feared (by more moderate men?) that this would cause Tiberius to overreact.
was
For he
moral were
himself
of notable
frugality,
to
indignation. "The
preparations
for the
belly
and
for
debauchery,
which
discussed publicly [vulgati] in continual speeches, had caused anxiety lest a First Citizen of ancient parsimony would turn his attention [to them] harshly
[durius]."
The
aediles was
brought
a complaint
established
sumptuary law
ignored
and
that
prices continued
the problem to the First Citizen. He recognized that something was seriously wrong, but his response is very statesmanlike. Perhaps ter caused
he had in
mind
the disas
about the
by
Augustus'
moral program.
harmful
effect of
But Tiberius
had
himself,
desires
were capable of
being repressed,
passed would
[not] carry
of
more of ruin
[damni] into
and
dishonorable it demand
was to
try
be
attained
shame and
infamy
illustrious
men
Luxury
was accepted
among respectable people in high Roman society. To have been revolting, for their vice had had the sanction of
generations. addressed
for
Though there
the Senate in
were old a
allowed to
lapse. Tiberius
letter:
If before
[referring
Senate]
these zealous
what
[strenui]
have
I do
not
know but
would
lest they
longer
able to cope
(m.53.2).
of
He
gives a vivid
description
It is
of the widespread
luxuriousness
Roman life in
8. Montesquieu too is
perial
England is
im
Rome. Certain
virtues are
necessary to
a commercial society.
Tacitus'
Teaching
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
227
that
here denominate
luxury
enced men of
the unwisdom of
trying
they
have
come
to love so well.
For
what should
undertake to prohibit
first
and cut
back to
ancient custom
[moremy1.
weight of promis
The infinite
spaces of
the
villas?
The
The
[plate]? The
miracles of
bronze [statues]
and of paintings?
The
[vanities]
proper to women
sake of
by
which our
hostile
nations
for the
Where
and
is
so
widespread, the
endeavor
frugality
politic a
self-sufficiency
to attempt
would require
remaking the
citizens.
Tiberius is too
ruler
this, for it
would require
assuming extraordinary life that, before the birth of improper even by as cold and
powers
in the
modern tyr
tyrannical a
man as
Tiberius.
one cannot repress the sicknesses of the
But indeed
oped,
and
body,
be
long
devel
harsh
measures.
The mind,
is
at once corrupted
sick and
ardent,
cannot
allayed with
lighter
remedies
than the
desires
with which
it burns
(ui.54.1).10
An
have to allay the mind and quench its desires. But ardent, like old and long developed diseases. The
is obviously is
meant
"corrupted"
by by
calling the
pire where
there are
no more enemies
But
what
mind
of
9.
The
careless reader of
at such pains
Rousseau is liable to
overturn.
away
said
with
that Tacitus is
to
It
cannot
be
from
being
misunderstood.
What
seen
more
back to
life,
you would
have
the
face
of this
by
arm,
conquests.
'Gods!
you would
have said,
has become
of
those
roofs of straw
hearths
splendour
has
Roman
simplicity?
What is
this strange
language? What
what
What do these statues, paintings, edifices signify? Madmen, of nations, have made yourselves the slaves of frivolous men
and actors that you
have
You,
the masters
have
vanquished?
Is it to
en
blood? The
rich architects, painters, sculptors, player? Romans, hasten to overthrow spoils of Carthage are become the prey of a flute drive out those slaves who subjugate those bum paintings; these amphitheaters; break those marbles;
whose
have
Greece
and
Asia
with your
you, and
funereal
Let
other
hands glorify
to
themselves
by
vain
talents; the
sole
who
there.'"
is to
the
world and
Yet
Rousseau,
such
uselessness of
is
not without
knowledge
one ought
or men
Truly
he is
not.
that
when a man
is dead
The
moderation of
Rousseau
Raynal, Discours sur les sciences et les arts, in (Euvres Completes, 4 (Paris: Gallimard, 1964), 111:14-15, 33Pleiade Bibliotheque de la
a
L'Abbe
"Corruptus
simul
et
corrupter,
aeger
et
flagrans
animus
haud
levioribus
remediis
libininibus
228
Interpretation
ostentation.
the problem. The mind comes to depend upon luxuries and them over and makes them its own with a
measureless
It takes
more
difficult
There is
to
no
deal
with
body,
which
limits.
the
limit to
what
Tiberius does
"infinite
mind.
spaces."
There is truly
are
the sick
immoderate
To
attempt a reform
by
laws
simply
not
work,
for
laws,
the
and
they
ignored. parsimony
once
He touches
So why
was
on
reasons
for
which
flourished:
himself [sibi
were not
frugality
Because
moderabatur], because
same temptations we
the citizens
of one
city, and
indeed there
the
[irritamenta]
(ill. 54. 3).
Italy.
By
foreign
victories
learned to
consume
foreign [property];
by [victories]
in the
civil
wars, [we
learned
to consume]
our own
The decisive
cause seems to
be the decline
of the
rule. was
Rome that
citizens
Roman It
by
the
City
irreducible to
to a
In that city
while
by frugality
ruled
such conditions as
belonging
city
where all
knew
one
spirit
flourished;
did
this was
conditions was
in
which public
threatened
by other cit
ies. Even
Rome
only
Italy
Italy
one
feated
enemies and the mentality of civil war where one never knows how long may live led to a habit of squandering. These are deep causes, rooted in his torical change. One might try to turn them around by strict laws, but Tiberius
thinks that
would
be futile
and
leaves
a moral prob
lem to be
not
solved
by
individuals. But
contemporaries, he does
hesitate to
call
luxury
be
"The
remainder
[i.e. the
moral
problem]
must
mind; let
shame change us
rich"
ter, let necessity change the poor, let satiety change the ingly, he does not mention education or philosophy. He latter
weak was
must
force,
and the
At this
Tacitus inserts one of those rare investigations he makes in his Perhaps he thinks that we, as moral men, would despair if nothing be done to arrest the growth of immorality than what Tiberius had
to
According
Tacitus,
the
luxury
of the
with
in the century from the Battle of Actium (33 b.c) until Galba became First Citizen (69 a.d.). Then it gradually declined. Tacitus dis
profuse expenditure
this change. First, noble families entertained on a lavish among the plebeians, allies, and subject kings, which brought them reputation and influence. For this was still permitted in the early
of
cusses
four
"causes"
scale to
gain
clients
Tacitus'
Teaching
days
of
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
But
also
229
it became dan
the Empire.
By doing
this
they became
poorer.
gerous
to
be illustrious
and powerful:
"After the cruelty [of rulers had ordered] of reputation became [a cause] of destruction, the oth
wiser"
[who survived]
grew
of the new
Roman
re
gime was an
tion.
inducement to parsimony and the abandonment of public ostenta Secondly, new men from the Italian colonies and the provinces were
into the Senate frugal
ways
admitted
by
They
brought
up.
with
them and re
tained the
in
which
But
above
introduced
the ruler
old
the Emperor
He
was
[cultu]
and
of
life
[victu]"
makes a
famous
generalization.
Hence
First Citizen
and
and
love
than punishments
The love
of emulation arouses
is
as
Only
way the mind's infinite desires is it possible to stifle it seems reasonable that Tacitus should conclude that
are more powerful than punishments and
fear,
of
which
merely
the yielding
to, but do
this effect
ancient
not
in it
Tiberius'
time, for he
was
of
parsimony"
(m.52.1). But
whereas
as we
seems
hated for
other
reasons,
have already seen, Tiberius was widely that Vespasian was popular and people
greater
power of
morality is
in dark times.
concludes with a
Tacitus
in
all
things,
including
fourth possibility that there may be morals, as in the seasons. He encourages his
and
"cycles"
(orbes)
bet
contempora
ries
to strive to be worthy
to
accomplish noble
deeds. "Nor
ter among
[our]
ancestors,
for
our age
too has
produced
worthy]
contests
worthy to be imitated
to
cheer
by
posterity.
remain"
in
noble
things
the idea
his fellow
despair if
they
were
thought that the decayed morality of the Principate and its severe regime
fated to
continue
forever. He
deftly
exhorts them
to strive to be worthy of
Tiberius'
their
of
ancestors.
Thus,
He
while
accepting
admonition
being
merely defeatist
or
his
fellow
Vespasian, but he
goes
beyond it. He
als
even
may flourish in these later times when mor Seneca or of himself in this connection. The
of refinement
in satisfying the
ity,
in
such a time.
chitecture of the
Principate
are
incomparably
of
the Republic.
230
Interpretation
of certain capabilities of the mind
ages.
may
also
be developed fur
the problem of
The
analysis of
tyranny is carried to a far greater degree of refinement in Tacitus than in Plato. One might also say that the possibility of a self-sufficient political virtue is more
fully
in for
developed in the
writings of
of
the
Greeks honors
who
lived
more
fortunate
have
ages
(see
our
were no
or supports
political virtue
in the depraved
Tacitus'
the Principate.
Now
we
seen
broad
of
human
possibili
ties ranging
infinite
in
longings his
of
deep humanity
moderation and
bly
cured politically.
themselves
good, but politically naive, is simply to root out evil. Tacitus teaches that this impulse must be resisted. But he never forgets the difference between corruption
and an
health,
and
he has
a greater
variety
of measures to
deal
with corruption
than
ward.
politician.
He
in
love
of emulation
is
more powerful
of
than
fear"
punishments
and
shows a rich
knowledge
is
always
the limits
of
law
thereby instructs
in the
moderation which
of political
necessary for
an ele
understanding
things.
2.
Is There
Divine
or
Tacitus
was sensitive
to the
longing
reflected
in the
world.
morality Therefore he
somehow
encouraged them
by
moral
decline
The
of
Rome
was not
versed.
longing
is the belief
of moral men
just
and
question,
and
according deserve. Classical philosophy was also concerned with this though seeking a natural basis for justice in place of the di
and
benevolent
vine, the ancient wise men wondered whether nature supported morality, some
how allowing
raises
better
Tacitus
concerned
life desirable. We
will see
Tacitus is
understate
al
his
wisdom
leads him to
in
it.
dogmatist the
nature remains
a question.
Yet there
are certain
things that
can
be
said.
Tacitus is led to the question of the ordering of the world by the prevalence of astrology in his time. This in itself is significant as it shows how much the sim plicity (m. 26. 3-4) of the earliest times had been corrupted. Astrology is essen tially decayed piety. The pious man is moral, for he sees the good in obedience
Tacitus'
Teaching
to the divine
gods are
phasis
and
the
Decline of Liberty
important to be
will
at
Rome
He
231
assumes that the
most
good.
just
is
on obeying.
Astrology
presupposes
lute
or
break down
simple moral
belief in the
and
its
orientation
is fun
damentally
what
amoral or corrupt.
is
For the believer in astrology assumes he knows it for himself. He does not seek to know what he should
do to become worthy of happiness, but whether the influences of the stars will grant him that happiness. Astrology is essentially vulgar, for it is indifferent to
virtue and stood as
its devotees
seek
happiness in
vulgar goods.
These
coming to men through fate, not through their own Tiberius believed in astrology, and by the "knowledge of the he
was able
effort.12
art of
the Chal
deans"
would one
day
his
come
to the Empire
prophesied
in
exile at
Rhodes,
to
him
with
like
skill
by Thrasyllus;
most
in
intimate friends. It
be
able
someone's
future from
his
here (cf.
written
iv.58).
Thus, it
fulfilled, as in the two cases re inferred, fate governs the affairs of men and
fate is
in the
Astrology
constitutes a claim
cosmos, a
claim which
has
sinister
implications for
here:
virtue.
This is
what
leads Tacitus to
raise
the
cosmological question
But from
tain
whether
by
fate
[necessitate],
It is to be
to
wonder.
by
chance
[forte]
(vi.22.1).
"heard"
remarked
This
seems
astrology, as
some
have
of
claimed.13
The
he
was
led to is scientific,
an antithesis con
sisting
able.
two
extremes.
human
by
immutable necessity,
nature
Tacitus is here
know-
controlled as a whole
by
force
extrinsic
to
man and
or are
they
He
ancients"
the
for
it in
terms
directly following
mentions
from the
answers are
different. He
"strive to
what
excel
in
their
[respective] way
of
This
confirms
is implied in the
turn to
philosophy:
philosophy itself is
question.
way
of
life
to the fundamental
The
answers of
191
the
Kegan Paul, E. Vernon Arnold, Roman Stoicism (London; Routledge & Libo Drusus, who We have already seen in Chap. Ill how Tacitus treated 12 "gullible for empty deans whether the Empire would be his. He called him
1),
p. 5.
consulted the
Chal
inani-
imposture"
(faciiem
bus,
11.27).
Cf. Hist.
1.22. 1:30.
13.
232
Interpretation
to the question what way
of
life is in
accordance with
nature,
or what
answers
of various
by
those
convinced
by
the founder
of
Indeed
excel
you will
find the
[aemulantur] in
is is
men,
The in
opinion
adopted
[sapientissimos] of the ancients and those who strive to [respective] way of life [sectam] differing. [insitam] by many that neither our beginnings, nor our end, nor
wisest
sum
a matter of care to
among the
good and
joyful
ones
among those
Tacitus does
these
men
(probably
the Epicure
ans) drew from their doctrine, but it would seem to be discrediting to political virtue. For if the gods are indifferent and there is no other power to guarantee that
the good should not suffer,
how
can
they be
sure
that
they have
chosen a correct
way
of
not
by by
They
scientifically,
was
life in
chance.
Tacitus indicates
which
he introduces this
opinion
must
be taken
seriously.
But
is, by
At
view
not
drawing
out
the consequences
fully, he
IS
also
by
pernicious or
greater
view.
It is
significant
that this
does
not seem
the
founders
of
Stoics, notoriously denied that external happiness. This may mean that Tacitus did not regard Stoicism as among the "wisest of the Yet he leaves out
the
who
ancients.
dom"
Plato's teaching too, although he elsewhere calls him "most excellent in wis (vi.6.2). One must remember that Tacitus is emphatically political in his
even
orientation
and
the
Stoics
favorably
disposed to
in
prudence
(reason
same tradition
and regarded
found its
culmination
this as somehow
prefera
view
ble to
14.
view given
in
opposition to the
Epicurean
"Ac
multis
insitam
non
finem,
non
ideo
creberrime
tristia in
bonos, laeta
Lucretius'
minds of
esse."
particularly clear statement of the problem by Montesquieu: "I believe that the sect of Epicurus, which was introduced to Rome near the end of the Republic, contributed very much to spoil the heart and the spirit of the Romans. The Greeks had been infatuated with it before them; ac cordingly they were corrupted earlier. Polybius tells us that in his time, the oaths of a Greek could not be trusted, while a Roman was, so to speak, enchained In addition to the fact that reli by them
.
15.
There is
gion
of men, there was this in particular among the Romans, that they mingled a certain religious sentiment to the love they had for their fa therland. This city, founded under the best auspices, this and their this Romulus, their of
is
always the
best
have
the morals
itol,
king
god,
Cap
eternal as
at one
time made
an
impression
on
Romans that
et
one would
have
x.
wished
they
would
have
preserved."
Causes de la
gran
de leur
decadence,
Tacitus'
Teaching
seems closest
and
the
Decline of Liberty
the Ethics.
at
Rome
233
to Aristotle's
teaching in
According
life,
and our
that choice.
Happiness
consists
possibility of happiness follows largely from in nobility of character and includes the prudent
On the contrary others think that fate indeed [i.e. instead of chance] is in accord things [i.e. things go in accordance with fate], but not from the wandering stars.
True
with
[fate] is in
it,
there
naturalium causarum].
[principia] and linkage of natural causes [nexus Nevertheless, they leave us a choice of life. When you have
Nor
are the
chosen
is
bad
multitude seem
[vulgus]
are
happy [beatos]
[miserrimos] many very riches, if the former [the happy ones] endure their severe fortune with constancy [constanter] and the latter [the very miserable] use their prosperity without deliberation [or inconsiderately, inconsulte] (vi.22.2).
to
be harassed
by
misfortunes,
and that
are
miserable
although
they
possess great
former, in
effect
denying
efficacy to the
gods
in
affairs.
However,
such a
all govern
to
They
remain closer
because they
tion
The
virtue
they
men
by
name
the difference
in their
cosmological as
sumption.
a cosmos
Constantia is necessary to bear the severe fortune which is possible in indifferent to individuals. The emphasis is on enduring, or bearing up.
or
The benevolent
virtuous will
just
gods
do
not govern.
There is instead
external affairs.
be harassed
by
misfortunes
in
Still,
character
to
govern
their lives
by
one
Yet it
indifferent;
may be harassed
by misfortunes, but to be truly happy one must have external goods and use them the opposite pole from astrology prudently (not inconsulte). This doctrine is at
because it denies that the
multitude
knows
what
is
good.
Whereas those
who
honor,
regard a
the highest
to it. It would
in
political virtue
is the
greatest good
according to them.
Tacitus
finally
presents a
third
position which
is the
in
not
Since there
are
many
other evidences
belief in the gods, but belief in astrol in his work that belief in the gods was
was not considered
it
incompatible
with
fate,
knowable
cannot
by
be
art.
However [the
idea]
removed
[eximitur] from
most mortals
that
prophecy beginning of each [person] that which is to come falsified by the event, through the dishonesty of the prophet who speaks he knows not is corrupted of which our [age] what. Thus [they believe that] the credibility of an art
and the ancient age
is destined; but
at times a
One thing
phy.
seems
Some
men
removed by philoso reasonably clear, superstition cannot be converted to the reasoned opinions of the wisest men, be may
234
Interpretation
is
weak when
but
reason
it
comes
multitude.
"cannot be
not
removed."
Tacitus
reports
rationalization of prophecies
fulfilled. It is
not
or even
They point
to
"shining
silent on
of our
He is
ment
fulfilled. We do
not
that he therefore believed this rationalization, but it is to have a care for not only
what
part of
history
believe.
the wise
think, but
many
If we
wish
to know
what
Tacitus thought
about
cosmological
support, it
seems advisable
lives
of some
with
bad
We
begin
his judgment
the result of
Tiberius'
be
may seem the highest good to those who are aware of the implications that justice or virtue is choiceworthy for its own sake. Such men would prefer to steal or defraud others of worldly goods and power even in cases where the pur
suit of
Tyranny of denying
with
for
them is
goods
tyranny because in becoming a tyrant one gains possession of all the and power in the political community. This is thought to lead to complete
In
addition to the means
satisfaction or self-sufficiency.
of
to complete satisfaction
of
single-
bodily lusts,
rule.
handed
Moreover, he
not good
the
impunity
at
which
is denied to
Therefore, tyranny is
for its
own
life,
as
if justice is
brings,
it
tyranny is
of
inasmuch
in those
or
other goods:
wealth, power,
tyranny
injustice is
preferable to the
just
as
life is
maintained as a thesis
by
no character
in the
writings of
Tacitus
so
far
am aware. we will
However, it is
maintained as a choice
by
innumerable bad
men.
As
show,
Tiberius
and
his
The
the success of the tyrannical career is then of the utmost importance in responding to these longings. If Tiberius was miserable, then one must seek elsewhere in nature for satisfaction. If the tyrannic life is it creates a
evaluation of
miserable,
presumption
must
in favor
of
a presumption
be investigated
as well.
6. This thesis is
362b-
maintained
in its
public,
c.
"First he [the
unjust
man]
in
marriage
from
whatever station
he
wants and
revealing form by Glaucon in Plato's Re in the city because he seems to be just. Then he takes gives in marriage to whomever he wants; he contracts
besides benefiting himself in all this, he gains be So then, when he enters contests, both private and pub lic, he wins and gets the better 6f his enemies. In getting the better, he is wealthy and does good to friends and harm to enemies. To the gods he makes sacrifices and sets up votive offerings, adequate and magnificent, and cares for the gods and those human beings he wants to care for far better than the just
wants, and,
cause
and
has
he
he has
doing injustice.
man."
Tacitus'
Teaching
In light
and the
Decline of Liberty
why
at
Rome
235
a candid statement
by
Ti
berius
of whether
he
was
happy
is
There
was such a
statement,
as most revealing.
It
provokes
quotation of
most
Plato,
tyranny
retreat on
clearly and most comprehensively. Tiberius Capri to prevent the Senate from completing a his
criminal
letter it in
an
prosecution
undertaken of one of
friends,
a notorious
delator. From
secret.
the
Tiberius'
For in
calls
of
its
beginning
what
(insigne):
Conscript Fathers,
i).17
If I know I
what
or
how I
should write, or
me worse than
let the
destroy
perceive myself to
be perishing
daily
(vi.6.
This is decisive
proof
in his Republic
and
men.18
degree [as to
perish
daily] had
Nor
shameful
deeds into
punishments.
[man] in
et
[praestantissimus sapientiae]
accustomed to affirm
mangling19
tyrants
[mentes tyrannorum] were laid open, be able to be seen. As the body might be torn to
and stabs
[laniatus
ictus]
would
mind
may the
with
his
solitudes
and
lust, and evil deliberations. Certainly neither his for protected Tiberius, but instead he himself confessed the torments
cruelty,
his breast
his
own punishments
(vi.6.1-2).
The
sense
deeds
not
in the
toughness
low-minded
sense
selfishness
they have done to others. Their is too great for that. These crimes become
longings
of
punishments
17. 18.
in the
deaeque
that
they
"Di
me
sentio,
si mind a passage
524c
also
had in
from Cicero,
Plato's
than that of
ruling.
less
to him who
has
On the contrary, when I have begun to recall true reason, I find nothing more use attained it unjustly. For to whom are torments, anxieties, daily and nightly fears,
and
and a
life full
of
intrigues
dangers
what
useful?
'Many
are
hostile
and traitors to a
kingdom, few
well
disposed,'
says
Accius. And to
kingdom? To that
more enemies
which,
you
and Pe-
lops,
of
was obtained
by right.
be
slave
How many
do
think that
oppressed
itself,
and compelled a
ruling the
wounds?
to him? What
of use to
do
you
who, with an army city not only free, but even think he has in his mind, what
king has,
Whose life
will
could
be
him,
is
take it away,
are
be held in the
useful,
which
full
of shame and
baseness,
though
nothing is useful which is not noble 19. Lewis and Short's Latin Dictionary wrongly tropical sense to laniatus, translating it as "anguish,
the
as minds of tyrants are tormented
more adequate:
to
be
to be persuaded that
honestum]."
figurative
or
remorse."
This
cannot
be. Tacitus
charges that
not
by conscience.
usual,
"wounds
and
Works of Tacitus,
1:215.
236
an
Interpretation
mind
unhealthy
for
Cruelty, lust,
not
and evil
delibera
they do
be to
bring
self-sufficiency;
they
only
man.
give
birth to
tortures. Tacitus
confuse the
does
not
think that
tyrants
have
a conscience,
more open
for that
would
tyrant
with
the moral
which
He is
to the possibility of
thoroughgoing self-seeking
is
so tough as
to be
altogether
heedless
of
the
consequences of
others.
proof
is
conviction, for
from morality and failed utterly. This in the decisive case may be connected with the fact that
altogether
"soul"
Tacitus
"mind"
the term
(anima) but
(animus) in
the
di
rectly
would
of
immortality
the
be necessary to
affirm
assume
Does he thereby indicate that for him it the cosmology of Plato's myths and personal im
soul.
never speaks
morality to
explains
in his
own name of
di he
vine punishments
out
to
wicked
Therefore, unlike wholly in terms of natural or nondivine punishments in the afterlife to re Plato, he does not rely on conscience or fear of strain political men from wickedness. This may be more a mark of the difference
in the
societies
to which the two men addressed their teachings than a mark of the
own
difference in their
pose religious
belief
more
Before raising the question of how Tacitus thought nature provided for the happiness of good men, I would like to cast a glance at a passage to which he
turns
immediately
In this
after
his
Tiberius'
secret.
The
context
is the
great
number of
illustrious Senators
passage a
in the
Tiberius'
wickednesses of
reign.
brash
and
bad
ence with
Sejanus,
the
powerful and
justify
stroy
were
himself
Sejanus'
after
plots
with
had been
Tiberius began to de
all
those associated
on
him, indiscriminately,
was
regardless of whether
they
de
in
of
fense,
with of
we see
drawn to
Tacitus'
influence it
and power
the
minion of
Tiberius,
men
regardless of
clearest revelation
gives
the
motives
that led
of
work and
insight
the
many
power or made
of choice whose
folly
he has just
of
revealed.
I I
was a saw
friend
Sejanus,
and
after
attained
it, I
his father ruling the Praetorian cohorts, after wards undertaking the duties of the city and the army at once. His relatives and associ ates were increased in honors; on the other hand, those to whom he was hostile were
as colleague of
him
harassed
20.
by
fear
For it
was not
we
There
are
the philosophic
"souls"
"soul"
in
Tacitus'
extant works.
in the
context of
of the soul
a character refers
to the
of the
a religious ceremony.
Tacitus'
Teaching
but the
and
the
Decline of Liberty
Claudian
and
at
Rome
which
237
he had
occupied
cultivated,
member of
the
Julian house
your
by
Caesar,
have
the colleague of
consulship, undertaking
your and
duties in the
republic.
It is
to judge him
for
what causes.
The
gods
determination
the
highest things;
to us the
near
glory
of obedience
is left. We
whom
which are
held
whom
[by
you, we see
him]
to
greatest power of
helping
of
and
harming
deny
one
the
First Citizen
are
hidden,
and
it is illegal if
dangerous to
would
he is preparing anything
did
he
succeed
(vi.8.
1-4).
dependent
Such it.
desire
they do
the
what
is
nec
essary to
cess,
attain
They
are corrupted
by
opinions, but
they
suc
are such as
to be eminently
and
corruptible. put
The
longing
for
riches,
that
honor is here
crimes
should
were committed
by
starkly, for the man seems oblivious of the Sejanus and in his name. The letter of Tiberius
and admirations of
be
an answer
to the hopes
this
or
opportunist.
But I do base
Tacitus had
much expectation
that
he
likely to be
soul.
changed
can
Little
reading it. This is what it means to be be done for such a man in a regime like
by
Tiberius'
Under better
government opinion.
would
be
repressed
by
good
laws
and more
decent
public
Better
discovering
Tacitus
be held up for his admiration. He might live without desires. It is worthwhile to cast a glance at him, for his in those
times.
too
common
Does this
give us an
indication
of
why
wrote?
counteract
opinion on
the impressionable
young?
Now
we can return
to
as
We have
seen
that he
far
to
hold,
with
Plato,
that
bad men,
worst, the
ty
rants,
are
naturally
miserable.
But
opinion,
which
Tacitus took
by
benevolent Tacitus
ment
and
just
gods.
We have
chosen
the
case of
Lucius Arruntius,
which
We think it is
a natural comple as
to the Tiberian
that
in
so
for Tacitus. We have already mentioned Lucius Arruntius. There was some dispute as to whether Augustus had warned Tiberius of him on his deathbed. Some said Au
gustus characterized given that
him
as
"worthy
of
the
Empire,
and
he
would
it]."
Tiberius
suspected
repu
"rich,
(1
.
resolute,
1
marked
by
outstanding
remarked
by Augustus
and
as a
po-
238
tential
Interpretation
his
character.
He
to
regarded
Arruntius
rant of
as an altogether
a potential conspirator
become ty
refer
own name
speaks of
his
pure or
tissimis artibus,
ence and reign of cessful
vi.7.1).21
His
estimate
is is
corroborated
holy by an
character (sanc-
important
to
attainment of
eloquence"
(xi.6.2). This
reference
by
defender
of
justice in the
Claudius. Arruntius
politics.
he had been
of
in
He
Proconsul
Spain,
though
Tiberius,
for
reasons of
his own,
for ten
years
From the
point of view of
the
innumerable
Tiberius'
investigating, his fate is the most fear and fury, which are
pure or
detailed in
more
totelian"
holy Arruntius,
than most men, deserved to be happy. He presents a test case for that "Aris doctrine which, we saw, Tacitus took so seriously. If he could be happy
would
have
good grounds
that
na
na
deeply
interested in Arruntius is
from
but
fact
that
he
reports
his
case
in
much
of most others.
We hear
Arruntius'
own
occasion
his
whole
life
a rare
important
in
Tacitus'
Arruntius
and
two
accused of of
the First
Citizen,
up
an all
was
charge was
trumped
by Macro,
Praetorian bored
and
Guard,
har
a notorious
animosity
against
was
then ill
dying,
delay
had ordered), in hopes of surviving Tiberius. Arruntius resolved reasons he gave his friends, who "were persuading hesitation and
He
replied
for
lived
long
enough,
and that
he
repented
[decora] to all. He said that he had [paenitendum] of nothing except that he had
old
endured an
age, since he
was
hateful to
Sejanus for
(vi.48.1).
long time,
and now
to
Macro,
by
was
intolerant
[flagitiorum]
On the basis
of
this, it
would seem
difficult to
maintain
"happy,
though harassed
yet
proper,"
hated
by
his life by "the many precisely because he lived virtuously or piously, he was marked and the powerful men who did not do so. Is his language that of religion
governed
by
misfortunes."
Arruntius
paenitendum, culpa,
Arruntius'
decora, flagitia? It
belief
and
seems so.
Surely
he did
not suffer
from
21.
character and
An important
resemble that of the pious general, Nicias, in Man (Chicago: Rand McNally, 1964), pp. 208-209. is the untimely death of the noble, but simple, Germanicus, u. 71-72.
Thucydides'
Tacitus'
Teaching
the inward
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
239
in that limited
of
lacerations it
can
desires,
and
sense, perhaps
be
that he
was
his
anx
ious
or
uneasy
old age.
whom
He
was always
threat or
iniquity
from
the powerful
should
by
he
was
finally
brought to
opinion
contemplate suicide.
says
Perhaps it
accept
be in
said
that the
"Aristotelian"
Tacitus
he hesitated to
is too
paradoxical or
"philosophic"; it
from
external
his
destiny
Tacitus
abstraction
conditions, especially
of
political conditions.
sees
from
that
the
a pure
man,
or rather an
persecution not
in
was always
was
hateful to
the powerful,
by
his
intolerant
crimes."
of shameful
It
seems
to be only
that
virtue
is the health
It
are
Arruntius
speaks of
man
his fortune soberly, even bleakly. Suicide seems to him like him who cannot tolerate vice, and who wishes to
live
nobly.
Of be
course
during
the
few days
would
until
the
funeral
avoided.
But how
[suprema] of the First Citizen [he] can threatening [master] be avoided? When
Tiberius
ruling, things
affairs,
by
the
force
of
would
and
Gaius Caesar
undertake
better measures, he
[he]
who was
ignorant
of all who
brought up
to
on the worst?
chosen as
his leader,
was chosen
with
overthrow
Sejanus,
since
republic
death] he fled the things done and those threatened. the manner of a prophet [vatis] he opened his veins (vi.48.2).
Tacitus judges that he "used death
ple.
well."
crimes as well.
bitter
servitude and
Saying
these things in
This is
a pitiful and
terrifying
exam
It is tragic to
brought to
conviction
such a pass
by
Tacitus
is the
in his
most
choiceworthy
even under
these dread
work
disheartening sobering and we are moved by Our deepest hopes are somehow disappointed by a case like that of Arruntius. Yet Arruntius is not the noblest of heroes, and his speech is not
deeply
it to
sense of melancholy.
Tacitus'
Tacitus'
last
word on
men
in
a world of
dangerous
politics.
Our
next
chapter will
be
is
do to
see
ameliorate
the
political situation.
From
Arruntius,
we
that there
are severe
limits to
what
they
do,
but
limited in
tus
Arruntius
who maintained
meant
himself
aloof
from
by
calling him
sanctissimus ,
it may
not
ultimately.23
23.
mained
There is
Tacitus
at
remarks
faithful to the
Soranus
by Nero: "Nonetheless,
the same
240 The
Interpretation
Arruntius'
word chosen
by
Tacitus to
pious
mark
the purity of
character re
minds us of will
the opinion of
men, denied
by
the
Epicureans,
virtuous.
Arruntius
evil,
seems to or
actively
combat
have thought something like look out for himself. He was simply
good.
considered
it
sufficient
to be
Tacitus
presents
the Epi
opinion as a view
worthy
of
being
take
taken seriously.
Yet
many
men
in
Tacitus'
gods would
will of
care of
They deeply
cords
the
the gods
and viewed
Tacitus
regards this
belief
he
re
faithfully. The
major events
greatest
concentration of
is in the Nero
The
that were
murders of
Nero's stepbrother,
and
Britannicus
Nero's
ted
creatures
commit
by
followed
these
by
thought it
Tacitus
reports own
beliefs
the
Consider his
Frequent
account of
woman gave
birth to
her husband
was struck
dead
by
lightning.
the fourteen
regions of
the city
were struck
Suddenly the sun was darkened by lightning from heaven All of which
.
far
the
care of
Nero
continued
his sovereignty
and
his
crimes
for many
years afterwards
(xiv. 12.2).
While it
cannot
be
said
that Tacitus thought the gods look out for the good as
virtuous are not
clearly as the wicked are punished by nature, it may be that the as helpless as the holy but aloof Arruntius. We now turn to
of
of
Tacitus'
investigation
the virtuous
investigations already
on
we can
say that
to rely
other vir
1.
Depravity
came
During
to the
the latter part of the reign of Tiberius, and thereafter until Nerva the
Empire,
tyranny
of
the
Caesars
was
were a
day
bore the
noble example of
Cassius Asclepiodotus,
of all
who was
greatness of
riches
among the Bithynians. He did not desert the shown him when flourishing. He was stripped
declining Soranus,
evil
same
loyalty
he had
the
exile,
[revealing]
equanimity
24.
[aequalitate]
of
(xvi. 33.1).
xm. 17,
and xvi.13.
Tacitus'
Teaching
ruled,
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
241 Seneca
and
few
years of respite
the
first
Nero,
when
Burrus
Vespasian's reign, and the brief time of Titus but the Julio-Claudians and the Flavians were and Rome suffered generally tyrants, untold indignities from their cruelty and jealousy for three-quarters of a century.
justly
part of
As
we
learn from
Tacitus,
flattery
or
complicity in the
could corrupt all
crimes of
be
rash
to think the
Caesars
the
us to
independence
be
As
long
as man and
sun
last,
generated.
With
quiet
steady
in the face
of
that depravity. We
now
turn,
unqualified willingness
to
learn,
they shining
learn how
examples of us
the strength of human virtue that encourage us, but Tacitus allows
we
much
caution,
disguise,
For
even compromise
is
made
necessary
a
by
the strength of
universal
tyranny.
where evil
is
so
strong, it is
lesson in
political
for nothing could be more conducive to failure and despair than to much. It is to prove oneself unworldly to expect the simple triumph
the good.
One learns to
accept the
difficulties
one
and corruptions of
human
nature
as revealed
is
them
by
the example of those who upheld the cause of virtue and civilization so
nobly.
In the
spirit of unrivaled
sobriety Tacitus
reign of
death
of one such
Tiberius'
is
no
less
obvi
his lack
of
illusions
about
the
precariousness of
Lucius Piso, the high priest, died by fate, [a thing] rare in such a lofty position [claritudine]. [He was] never willingly the author of any servile motion, and as
as
often
attacked
[ingrueret him,
he]
wisely
moderated
[it
sapienter
moderans]
What
ates
we wish
to
understand more
fully
is how
one
wisely
or
prudently
moder
"attacking"
necessity.
For it is
clear
The
need
de
cent men
in high
places.
The
question
could
be
evaded and
measures
Tacitus dismisses
with
draw from
1.
politics under a
are
We
will
try
to show
in the
"Subjects
are
less
often
undeservedly
kings
them
only
impertinent counsels,
have
but they are the cause that that excess of power becomes harmless. Wherefore some Nero or Caligula known to him, namely, courtiers,
and such
who are possessed of
reigning,
no men can
undeservedly
but
such as are
as are remarkable
for
some eminent
they only
242
Interpretation
his last word, for he
and placed a
this is not
limit
on
possibility
regards
from
in
politics.
But he
in
statesmen of
public arena
them
not
to abandon the
Philosophers
can
They
the
help
of a
problem
easily despaired
combat
He intends in his
of
way to
this tendency.
Furthermore,
required of
one of
the problems
and
much
diffused
to philosophize
rigorously. Such
the
the majority
philosophy had become dogmatic. Those who wished litical life were all too ready to endorse the principles of some sect and simply profess them in a narrow and sectarian way. For this reason, too, we will see that Tacitus is very reserved in his presentation of the philosophic alternative. He does not wish to contribute to the further vulgarization of a noble alternative. In Chapter VI
we will
investigate his
presentation of
life. To
do
so we will
less
public
Dialogus de
oratoribus.
chooses
to
remain within
the political
horizon.
There he is
He
explains
tion of an
his teaching on political virtue more fully in outstanding Senator in the time of Tiberius.
.
another characteriza
I find
a serious
[gravem]
and wise
into
those
Nev
he
was not
lacking
and
in
[temperament!]
either, since
he flourished
be
un
authority
influence
Tiberius. Thence I
am compelled to
[dubitare]
whether
the
inclination
of
there is some
void
by fate and the lot of being born, as other things, or whether [room] for our own counsels, and it is permitted to follow a course de of ambition and dangers, between rash obstinacy [abruptam contumaciam] and
[deforme obsequium] (iv.20.2-3).
whether one who uses
servile obedience
It is
a question
that influence
by
it is
a matter of mysterious
fate that
with
this when we come to explore the preeminence of Seneca and Paetus Thrasea
which
more
detail. We
will see
there, especially in
the case of
what
Thrasea,
enjoy. a
independent
he desires to
deservedly punished.
will
Who
out of
soever
therefore in
monarchy
or
lead
what
he
that reigns,
of
he is
ambitious
poten
the more
Citizen,
Sterling
Appleton-Century-
Crofts, 1949),
p. 119.
Tacitus'
Teaching
sible.
and
the
Decline of Liberty
on affairs
at
Rome
one
243
relations with
Willy-nilly, having
real
influence
drew
into
at
least
open to
may
pursue a course
"devoid
dangers"
of ambition and
would
and
directed
at
This, he
of
suggests,
nacy.
be
a mean
between
The
limitations
of those
the
ruler so as
would
be independent
limi
resisting them to
accepts this
whatever extent
is
possible.
Tacitus is
and
without
illusions. Thus he
little; it is better
than nothing,
base
nothing is all retirement would accomplish by leaving the ruler to his own courses. Tacitus condemns servile obedience, as we have often seen. But
also
here he
implicitly
course
condemns rash
wonders
or abrupt
effective.
The
Tacitus
about
nature of
the one
in
by
a man of con
This
by
just
anyone.
The
obstacles presented
by
securely in the hands of absolute and cruel men. The Senate, from which
was servile and mies were was
tyrants.
They
were
mostly weak,
resistance,
one might
have
expected some
acquiescent,
and
its
powerlessness.
The
ar
ignorant
virtually universal. There was no one refuge. Revolution was unthinkable, for the
the
frivolous
atmosphere of
City
no
longer
provided
the
moral
maintenance of
free
republican
are the
dispiriting
in the His
ages
time of
which
undertook
amelioration. men
meditation whose
has been
a powerful
instrument
for
in later
lot
was cast
not
be
timely
reminder
to us, as the
tyranny
could appear
Prudence is the
would not of
Tacitus'
essence of
teaching.
The best
it
be is the
action of a certain
priest
whom we
the
have already mentioned). The end came early in the reign of Tiberius:
the
his tolerating
Exclaiming loudly
of orators
against
bribery
of
the
forum,
threatening
and
accusations, Lucius
Piso
asserted
that
he
would
live in
some
hidden
and
was upset
(11.34. i).
"headstrong"
Tacitus
with
and
(ferox). One
the age, but
can sympathize
his impatience
his
speech
did
never
forgot his
the cause of a
false
to
anticipate
by
-2).
He
caused
his
244
own
Interpretation
death
by
his
simple nobility,
devoid
interested in
a more complicated
type of
prudence.
Tacitus is
most
one who
is
dent,
We take up
our account
in Book XIII,
are
the
reign of
reign of
Caius
to
lost,
and what re
mains
for the
Claudius is too
fragmentary
interpret.
2.
Seneca
and
Burrus, Tutors
roles
and
Seneca's
Burrus'
and
in the
court of
for
truly
fascinating
Nero's tutor
and
minister, Burrus
Both
were appointed
by
Nero's mother,
Agrippina,
last
wife of
the First
dangerous
has been
gan
Claudius'
woman.
Citizen, Claudius (xn.8.2; 42.1). She was an ambitious incestuous marriage to her caused his death,
greatest single mistake
called
"the
by
first century
Roman."2
She be
per and
by
suaded
daughter, Octavia; she then marrying her son, Nero, to Claudius to disinherit his own son, Britannicus, in favor of hers,
she poisoned opens
Claudius'
finally
him, intending
his
account of
to assume power
herself, in
the name of
Nero. Tacitus
by recounting to, or against the will of, her son. Him could have ruled, and through him, the Empire. But when she laid her plans, had not reckoned on the potent independence of Seneca and Burrus. She
they
were
"Nero's
reign"
in Book XIII
thought
she
had
promoted them.
Seneca
she recalled
he had unjustly suffered for eight years at the instance of her pre decessor, Messalina. But they acknowledged higher obligations than gratitude to an unscrupulous benefactor. It would not be the first time that a base soul failed
exile
from the
higher
one.
[Seneca
what
and
Burrus]
[teachers,
rectores]
of the
imperial youth,
and
in the sharing of power, they were of the same mind [concordes]. [Each held influence] through a different art, [yet] they were equally powerful, Burrus
rare
is
through
and
friendship
[honesta comitate]
They aided
of the
they
might
the
more
pleasures
easily restrain the slippery youth were he to despise virtue (xin.2. 1).
First
times.3
His
pre
ferred
2.
method of
teaching is
virtue
Bolotin, "Political
In his
Succession,"
3.
great edition of
against
the
charge of
Quintilian that he
too little
diligent in
philosophia parum
diligens,
not
insectator
of
fuit."
investigate morality
as a problem.
He took it for
simply good,
and
stemming from Socrates. But by the same token, may it not be a strength in a statesman? Here is judgment: "But Quintilian charges that in philosophy he was too little diligent. What is this? Or in what part of philosophy
Lipsius'
the tradition
Tacitus'
Teaching
and
and the
Decline of Liberty
to
at
Rome
245
which
it is lulled
by its
nat
opinion."
we
Such teaching presupposes a certain charac learn that his task with Nero called for more Seneca became his tutor
when
talents as
Nero
was young.
he
It
was as yet
pursue a path
aspirations.
he became First Citizen in 54 a.d. at seventeen (xn.58.1, cf. uncertain, even doubtful (see xm.2.3) whether he would of virtue. Seneca could not then depend upon appeal to his nobler
was
It
[him]
pleasures were
control over
Nero
even
by "conceding
political
virtue."
talents
chosen
him to be
and not merely to educate him to be a sage. She intended him to important ally in her own struggle for power, something he could not have been were he inexperienced in the ways of court politics. She procured a revoca
Nero's tutor
be
an
tion of
such a
childhood of
Nero
the guidance of
of
they
might use
his
counsels
ruling"
(xii.8.2). Seneca
indeed wily,
race
and
he
was
long
more
The happiness
of
the human
also
depended
on
on
Seneca
and
maintaining
had designs
her hands
were
already
steeped
in blood. To
and
keep
falling
to
her
was of supreme
im
portance.
"Both [Seneca
of
[ferociam]
tion"
Agrippina,
who
Burrus] burn[ed]
which
with all
the desires of
wicked
savagery domina
deprive her
Nero gladly acquiesced, was to humor of all real influence. She was to Nero a
should
I think he
speaks?
I do
not
natural?
There
books
in that
the
part named
the
they
challenge or
the very Aristotelian works. Then is it moral philosophy? What trifling [charges]! This holds sovereignty [regnum] among all. But I think that the intent of Quintilian was this, that he did not inquire too deeply or penetrate into the inner part of philosophy. He was content with this external, popular, and so to speak, healing [medicante] type. I confess this; and our own Seneca himself often
conquer claims this claims
to be his meaning
and
his goal,
all
rather
to
pursue what
is
useful
than what
is
subtle.
He
it
and
approve.
Would that
2d ed.
the
philosophers
had done
so!"
Seneca, Opera
omnia quae ex
tant,
ed.
Justus Lipsius,
alone we
p. x.
4.
Lipsius
follows: "There
are
him. This
his
equal
has scarcely a neighbor. And these maxims are sharp, shrewd, penetrating, One little book, one letter of his will supply what is sufficient for forming
one gives
is chief,
useful.
himself to be
healed."
Lipsius, Manuductionis
ad
life,
or
Annaeo Senecae
aliisque scriptoribus
Plantiniana,
1604),
p.
lowing
"The
passage
may
also
point of view of
teaching
to the
templative philosophy,
doctrine,
when one
fixes the
system,
is
doing
contemplative or universal
dogmatic
But if,
descending from
from these
truths,
duties, for
example of a
father,
of a
husband,
one
of a master toward
his slaves,
one
is
not
doing
anything but
The
fur
dogmas,
the
other
the
particular
precepts,
circum-
246
The
Interpretation
success of
on
Nero. For it
exert
was
only
by controlling
ac
and
Burrus
new
were able
to
Nero,
this
prince,
upon
whom
fortune
by
willing to be ruled by Seneca. Tacitus tells us that it was the first of the First Citizens of Rome who was in need
other.
the eloquence of an
Seneca
composed
of
Nero's
was a
speeches
was not
of
the youth
Nero, it
determined
preference which
"Even in his boyhood, Nero had turned his lively mind [vividum animum] toward other [pursuits]: he engraved [silver], he painted, he practiced singing or the racing of horses; and sometimes in composing poems he showed that princi
early: ples of
learning
less
were present
in
him"
of
Nero
were all
more or
private pursuits.
and
craftsman.
His tastes
even
The young Nero was a sort of learned amateur nature did not incline him to politics or company. Ora
tory
was
highest
indifference to it is indicative
opinions of
of an a
repute in the ruling circles. Nero's indifference to human opinions, especially and a
honorableness. In
and
Roman
diction to
moment
horse-racing
made
it
and
Burrus
easier.
Nero
was
indifferent to
politics so
he pliantly
to rule.
and
regency.
It is to their everlasting
and
credit
during
of sent
throughout the
reign or
Burrus that the melancholy series the arbitrary murders and banishments of
of treason
trials
Claudius'
are ab
were
from these
years
and
XIV
It is true there
crimes
Nero, but
examine
minders
them, they do not dishonor Seneca and Burrus. of the limits of Nero's nature as it developed.
They
serve as grim re
At the
beginning
of
through Nero and to Nero himself through the speech he wrote for him to
nounce on that occasion.
Moreover
pleted, he
the
when
Claudius]
were com
[Nero]
and
Senate-House.
fathers
Having begun speaking of the authority of soldiers, he called to mind his counsels and examples
itself to reason; the
seduce the
a precept which
stances of men
must seize man
addresses
tends to practice
convince and one
strike the
imagination,
of
heart,
forms to
touch
The
philosophy
more than
Seneca is
wished
teaching
dogmas. Thus
him
he
instructing
them,
constricting his doctrine, sometimes relaxing this too severe discipline according to the his disciples, and not fearing to be accused of inexactitude provided that he could find ready access to minds and inspire them to Stoic Constant Martha, Les Moralistes sous Empire romain, philosophes et poetes, 6th ed. (Paris: Hachette, 1894), pp. 12-13.
virtue."
I'
Tacitus'
Teaching
in
and
the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
247
of
undertaking to
rule the
Empire in
civil wars or
nor
an outstanding manner. [He said] that his youth domestic quarrels. [He said] that he brought no ha
treds, form
cent
no
injuries,
desire
of revenge
[to
power with
him]. Then he
announced the
Principate to come, especially shunning those things concerning which re indignation [still] was flaming. For he would not constitute himself judge of all
of the
affairs so
that the
influence
of a
few
accusers open
being
to
ambition
house. [He said] there should be nothing bribable or in his house, that his household and the republic should be separate.
should
keep
its
ancient of the
duties, Italy
consuls,
and
inces
they
[the provinces]
mies entrusted
access to the
Senate,
and that
he
would
From
what remains of
Claudius,
we gather
that Seneca was repudiating the policy of that depraved reign, above all. It
is
that
policy to
tion
which was
Tacitus
refers as
flaming."
[still]
Claudius had
"those things concerning which recent indigna usurped the judicial power from the prae
accused under
previ
of Tiberius, ously had been tried in the Senate. There was, as we saw in the reign at least a legal process permitting them to defend themselves before the sentence,
inevitably
to convict. The
during
Claudius, if
One
by
reading the
was tried
for
treason privately
by
the
First Citizen Claudius, in the presence only of his accusers, and Messalina, beautiful gardens was the real cause wife, whose desire for of the charge. Though Valerius drew tears from Messalina by his defense, she
Claudius'
Valerius'
him to
escape
her implacable
her
soft
husband to
convict.
of
Nero
repudiate.
were
to be no treason trials
during
his
ascendancy.
Seneca
next mentions
the
problem of
bribery
and ambition.
He
refers
to the
excesses of pire.
the freedmen of
and
Claudius,
Callistus
who ruled
him,
and through
him,
the Em
among themselves and with Messalina Pallas, Narcissus, Claudius. Their motives seem to have Citizen First the of to determine the policy avarice and petty ambition. Seneca proclaims that in been entirely private freedmen ex-slaves of the First Citizen will not rule Nero's reign the base
vied
the
Empire,
an affront that
more
resented
in
Claudius'
time. Like
wise, though
Claudius'
indirectly, he
by
him
when
This too is to
stop.
Seneca
offers
to
restore
to the Senate
its
ancient
duties. He
means
that the
be independent to legislate as it sees (xm.5.1). This is the touchstone of good laws subsequently passed by the Senate benevolent monarch under law. Seneca's policy: the First Citizen will rule as a
Senate
will
fit. Tacitus
gives examples of
248
There
Interpretation
will
be
proceeding from his uncontrolled the highest. He wished to bring back decent
we will see
that there
terrific
limits to
what even
the best
in the highest
position could
do
in that
corrupt age.
Seneca
well
proclaiming the restoration of the Republic that the Romans were no longer competent for that
was not
freedom. The
and
they
must
remain
civil war.
But
armies, any
liberty
decisive. We
will
see,
as we
follow the
course of
ultimately Senate
continued
and as
its
the
Empire, law,
as
long
as
Seneca
was
in
charge
they
remained
in the background
at the
Senate. But
men
when
power and
Nero
re
in the Senate
who rejoiced
in it
gained
the
hand. What
in
good
during
But
eight-year
ascendancy
For
tone
was undone
who ruled.
a month when
Seneca
now suffice
restored significance
in the
rest of
which
liberty
to govern well as
long
as
it
could.
and Burrus began to be firmly in control, trouble on the borders by an incursion of the Parthians into Armenia, a Roman kingdom. Worry was widespread in governmental circles, but the crisis was put on the way of settlement by the appointment of Corbulo, the outstanding general of the day. "The Senators were happy beyond their accustomed adulation be as was caused
client-
Just
Seneca
cause
['Nero']
set
Domitius Corbulo in
charge of
seemed
not
virtues"
(xm.8.
i).
single-handedly extirpate an inveterate Senatorial habit of adulation. There were limits to his power outside the Court as well as in it. We will examine this
problem
further
other
when we come
On the
phere
hand,
Nero
Seneca to
ruler.
create an atmos
in
which
would
be
proud to
be
an
honorable
When he forbade
recog him highly,
his
colleague
in the consulship to
of
swear allegiance to
him
nize
Senators
"that his
Claudius'
mind,
elevated with
ones"
(xm.
1 1
i).
He graciously
pardoned an adulterer of
wife,
orations which
what noble
Seneca
by
testify
at
[precepts] he taught,
insensitive
to vaunt
his
genius"
(xn.11.2). Seneca, in
all
least,
was not
to political
honor,
ing
big
question
decent
must
someday
nothing
would restrain
Tacitus'
Teaching
honor. How
weak
weakness we
and
the
Decline of Liberty
man and what
at
Rome
could
249
that could be in a
seen
disasters
have already
in the
case of
Tiberius.
to
being, Nero
Seneca
and
in his
to the
public
manner could
he hold
Empire,
side of
Another
Nero is
revealed
if
we
thing, keep free of his mother. his private life. In public he was
But in
private
gentle,
and seemed
to
revere virtue.
Nero
was
indolent
luxurious,
as their
Nero's friend
the expense
ships
had
pleasure and of
luxury
object,
they
were made at
would
of
the
influence
Agrippina, his
mother.
She feared he
listen to his
friends He
rather than
repudiated
chaste,
"by
some
fate,
or
because
with
what was
forbidden
in
attractive"
(xm.12.2),
Burrus did
not oppose
and
fell in love
the
this, "for it
was
prohibited."
They
charge seems
was
illustrious women, if this desire were have been reproached for allowing this deviation, but the
crimes against
naive and unaware of endowed with unfaithful
to be politically
of
the
stakes
involved. Nero
to do what he
and
Rome,
to his
Seneca
Burrus
more
might
obey them in
of
important
matters and
the
destiny
a
the
world.5
analysis
older
friends
woman
Nero's
new
friendships, for
little
one"
[muliercula] filled up the desires of the First Citizen without any injury of any (xm. 1 2. 2). It could seem that Nero's desires were simple and even petty,
his
apolitical character the
was
and
defect
of a small soul.
Agrippina
woman
demarche,
Nero his
and she
was
not
any
resistance.
The
attention
that
Nero
male
paid
reproached
new
love,
"with fe
intransigence"
(muliebriter)
and with
ill-considered
rage she
lost
what remained of
his
obedience.
Her behavior is
a model of
and
to behave
the policy
5.
they
Her first
course
having failed,
is
One
of
the few
studies of
Seneca's
politics
between
modern work
prudence.
It
essay written by Diderot known to me, it breathes the spirit of Tacitean vindication of the career of Seneca from the calum
a curious and excellent
nies
his memory
by
Apropos
of the
introduc
per
tion of
Acte, he
says:
"This
circumstance of
the
life
of
Seneca is
not
I have
minister would ceived that whatever part the philosopher, the educator, and the
have taken, he
that
would
not nor
have
escaped
the censure of
malignity.
As for
myself, who
do
virtuous,
better instructed,
to
Burrus. I les
both the
care
sur
best to do,
give
them lessons in
prudence."
de Claude
ce
de Neron
et
les
de Seneque,
pour servir
introduction a la lecture de
philosophe,
in
13342.
250
and
Interpretation
and
what
first
youth and
highest
in
fortune
her
might seek
(xm.
13.2).
nothing
quest she
for
power.
But incest
last der
turned to threats.
She
of
so
she provoked
state
crime, the
mur
his
Britannicus.6
In the
hearing
of
Nero, Agrippina
threat
ened to confess
her
crimes
openly
and
and show of
Claudius]
was
worthy
Britannicus to the army as "the true father" assuming the Empire of his
at
Nero
upset"
"deeply
stop
(turbatus)
by
her
at nothing.
That deed
at times
shown conse
of
"Pondering
ferocity [violentiam]
the deed was
and
at times
the
Britannicus,"
then
informed
done.
its
accomplishment are
described
brilliantly
dramatically by
the
Tacitus,
even
shock of
Agrippina
in it the
precedent
for
matricide.
the estates of his victim among his friends. Sen Burrus may have been among those who were obliged to receive this unwelcome bounty. Let us assume they were. They certainly did not lay down
eca and
had
now shown
himself
capable of
crime,
they have been reproached. But perhaps they stayed on precisely because Nero was what he was. He was not such as to rule justly if left to his own
also
for this
might
do to
everyone
he suspected,
in the
manner of
eca and
Burrus
remain near
necessary that Sen him to dissuade him from further suspicion and bru
not more than ever
tality?
By
it
was
too late to
receiving his gifts, if they did, they only pretended to accept the crime forestall, but in fact, they held themselves in readiness to pre
Burrus may have been among those who held that the existence of Britannicus, the legitimate heir to the throne, was a factor which could one day lead to civil war. "Many men pardoned [him] hold
vent others
and
ing
brothers
were an ancient
[matter
of
record]
and
that
kingdom
be
shared
[insociable] (xm.17.1).
Nero
they
well
were
among those
who pardoned
nonetheless.
Seneca
and
Burrus
were
the
"sharing"
(societate, xm.2.1)
of power.
a rival.
have known that ordinary mortals like Nero could only regard As Tacitus says, the sharing of power is rare among men.
seems to us
Actually, it
was
by
the sequel. In Book XIII there are still none of the treason trials that so disfigure
the reign of Tiberius and none of the
arbitrary
murders and
that
Claudius
6. The
7.
a plot
case.
allowed.7
The immediate
Tacitus denotes
were committed
Britannicus is
still the
crimes that
as
"the first
Principate,"
immediately followed,
There is
one
by Agrippina
(xm.
i).
(xm.47). Seneca
of Cornelius Sulla, whom Nero wrongly suspected of Burrus may have been unable to overcome deeply held suspicions in this
cases were
they
successful?
Tacitus'
Teaching
ordinary
and good counsel on
and
the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
251
administration of justice
in the Empire, and a war prosecuted with vigor the Parthian frontier. Nero's suspicions of his mother,
conspiracy,
are
falsely
charged with
another
being
at
the same sort. What more can one ask of these men?
nature of politics
which can never
to be
inherently
unreasonable,
all?
be
solved once
for
How
justly
depended
ruling the fears and absurd caprices of such a one as the child Nero! He certainly did not deserve to rule, but considering that he had been recognized, there was no reasonable question of replacing him. Tacitus is very reserved about
on
conspiracy.
prudent
Seneca
with
and
Burrus
regarded that as a
terrible
dangers. Tacitus de
and that
bloody
for the
succession
in his Historiae,
is indeed
Nero died
without an
heir.
the demands of
possessed
The
next
family
by
Poppaea, Nero's
sec
ond mistress.
a noble
everything [noble]
except
mind"
(xm.45.2),
her enemy and rival, his mother. The prize was the Empire. For Agrippina op posed his divorce from his wife, Octavia, and Poppaea aspired to become em
press,
which she could not
do
until
suggesting the crime was political ambition. Nero agreed to it. But one might re mark here how unlike the crafty and political Tiberius the young Nero was. Tiberius killed
out of suspicion and a
wanted
desire to
consolidate
power; Nero's
motive
to gratify and
after
keep
Poppaea to
and
serve
his
the
hardened
of
by
long
sure
tenure of power, he
not even
would allow
nothing to stand
in the way
that plea
his
mother's
of the crime on
his
own
too, for Agrippina was domineering and insisted on carrying her unscrupulous quest for influence even to the point of attempting to entice Nero to incest, as we have seen. "Nero delayed no longer the long-meditated crime, for his boldness had
with grown
deep
with
more each
day
love for
Poppaea"
(xiv.i.i). Tacitus
repeats
and concludes:
No
one
forbade
with
penetrated
[the
mind of
Nero,
they
of of
were]
the tears
for
of
all
his mother,
and no one
her
harden to the
.3).
Here Tacitus
seems
to
imply
a criticism of
Seneca
should
and
Burrus,
what
who
did
a
not
would go.
Perhaps they
could
better
Poppaea. But
they know
and there
nature was
he
In
feted her
for her
embarkation on a
to
collapse and
252
Interpretation
complex and
-6).
The intrigue is
with
Agrippina, however, escaped fascinating (xiv. 3 a slight wound and swam ashore. Only at this point were Seneca and Burrus
plot.
For Nero
was
terrified to the
point of
despair
when
he
She
dangerous than
ever
tell
what expedient
her
anger would
inspire?
Then [Nero was] lifeless [exanimis] with fright and swore she would be present at any moment hastening for revenge. Either she would arm the slaves or fire the soldiers or break through to the Senate
wound and and
people, charging
[him]
with
her
unless
her
murdered
friends. What
refuge was
there
for him
[this],
Burrus
and
Seneca
could
Accordingly they
whether
Tacitus
says
it is
uncertain
they
were as yet
(ignaros). It
seems
,
likely to
me,
considering
not
that surely it is
pose
of
they,
above
all, he
refers
to in xiv. 1
saying that
they did
op
Poppaea's tirades
son would
her
Agrippina for they did not believe "that the hatred harden to the point of her If they knew of the plot be
against
death."
forehand, they
might
were
have been
able to
undoubtedly not consulted, for had they been asked, they dissuade Nero from a crime that would debase him still At this later point,
further (see
xiv. 13.2).
however, Tacitus
suggests, it may
counsel of
Seneca
and
Burrus,
there was a
long
silence of
should
far,
that unless
Agrippina
What
went
long
be
silence?
both Agrippina
would
worsened
his
mother's
death. Tacitus in
the
ignorant
soldiers revered
part
be
able to
incite
some of
Did the
hang
What
if there
Agrippina triumphed?
that
incestuous
were
Nero had
gone too
far
to stop now.
pina was
completed, the
agreed
by Agrip
they
were
quarrel.
too great.
They reluctantly
was
Nero from
involving
so
the intent of
more
Seneca's
question to
long
silence],
Seneca, hitherto
suspect that
forward,
that he
looked
Burrus
anx
iously,
der be
(xiv. 7. 3). We
ought to
be
sponded,
soldiers and
possibly
initiating
civil war.
He
house
of the
Caesars
and
they were mindful of Germanicus that they would dare nothing dreadful [atrox] against a descendant of his. Let Anicetus complete what he had promised (xiv. 7.4).
since
Tacitus'
Teaching
of
and
Anicetus,
nally
the prefect
the
fleet,
arranged
confusion or
resistance,
Seneca
and
Burrus
maintained order
rest of
deed
It
marked a
turning
in Nero's life
and
in their
ascendancy.
For thereafter he
paid a
harder to
control. was
Though there
was no civil
war,
they had
heavy
And Rome
to pay too.
Actually
for they
received
Nero in ovation,
Tacitus
Thus, haughty,
his mother, (xiv.
13.2).
Capitoline; he
his
gave
himself [so
as
desires,
which
reverence
for
badly
repressed
Tacitus
in the
old
Tiberius
unrestrained when
he lost his
mother
(vi.51.3). It is
as
if,
even
in the
worst of
reverence
political,
and
his lack
of
included
seen
inordinate lusts.
to leave the
and
We have
It
that Nero
by
in the
capable
hands
of
Seneca
sought
Burrus.
that this
that Nero to
rule
to politicize
his
for
pleasure.
Seneca
and
Burrus
continued
the Empire
for three
the death of
increasing
ders
and years
difficulty.
During
most of
the Senate
continued
to
be
during
these
Nero's
emancipation showed
corrupting
the
Ro
lavish
gladiatorial
citals,
and
horse-racing
the
nobles
contests
(xiv.
16, 20-21,
47).
Nero himself
and
per
formed,
infamy,
he
enticed or
commanded
in his disgrace.
four-horse
chariot
He had less
He
an
inveterate desire to
race a
in the
abominable
[foedum]
to be
eagerness
manner of
the
games.
repressed.
When this
by
Seneca
and
Burrus, they
con
[desire] lest he
where
should
be
victor
in both. A
Vatican
he
could race
Roman
him
with
is desirous
of pleasure and
happy if
Moreover,
[foedasset] others, are now] dead by [descendants] who could be bought from neediness. Though [they their ancestors. And owed to is fate, I will not record them by name, for I think this
furthermore, [I do
the sake
not name
they thought, but was bring satiety his shame [pudor], though made public, did alleviated if he defiled be would an enticement. He thought his dishonor [dedecus] mount the stage, families to noble of descendants so he induced the
as
them] because
the crime
is his
not
who
has
given
money for
1-
of transgression rather
3).
254
Interpretation
master-corrupter, but as
we
Nero
was a
have
seen
already eminently heighten the disease. Good men from fear; the
Donations
mans were
corrupt.8
The
effect of
Nero's
emancipation was
to
were
forced to
Nero's
gifts
voluptuous enjoyed
it:
in
the vo
luptuous for
morals
glory.
Thence
crimes and
dishonor increased,
long
debauchery than
much
those
hardly
training,
among
less
can
of moral
purity be
preserved
contests of vices
anything
The kind
pacity
of
of people
and
Seneca
Their
Burrus
drawn to Nero's Court may easily be imagined. The inca for which they should not be blamed to impart
finally
began to have
serious
impli
in the
ambi
in itself
a reproach
lacking
as
dangerous
men of
ignoble
try
Nero to
destroy
years
the power
of
Seneca
and
Burrus,
In 62
Agrippina
once
went on.
a.d.
Seneca
come.
Burrus
crucial
and
The
figure in these
Tigellinus,
with
a man of
lewdness
and
shamefulness,
thereby friendly
the law
of
Nero. Through
son-in-law, Capito
Cossutianus,
the death of
Burrus, possibly by
(xiv. 51),
and
his
replacement as prefect of
by
Tigellinus
and an
ineffectual
behind
new power
Nero.
the Julio-Claudians better than any his politics, Caligula by his extravagances. Claudius by his weakness, and Nero by his cruelty were less lethal to the republic in spilling the blood of the most il lustrious families in great waves, than in corrupting those whom they spared. Nero undoubtedly rav ished great men from the state by his murders; but by corruption he peopled it with men without char acter. His predecessors had begun the ruin of morals, he completed it. If one concurs in the truth of
one.
8. Diderot has
by
ferocious, have
in time; the
13:382.
yet
been
as
culpable, as despicable as
entire nation endures of
he! The
spite the
massacre of
individuals
can
be
repaired
evil
done to the
de
Tituses,
Trajans,
of
Marcus
Aureliuses,
9.
Essai, inOZuvres,
Diderot's
explanation of
why Seneca and Burrus did not retire after the force here: "But it was advantageous to remain there for the
no more good
murder of
Agrippina
Agrippina
there
for
a man
firm, just,
charged with an
immense detail
bring help,
virtues?
all a
his authority, his lights, his courage, his benevolence to sorrow, to stop or forestall difficulties, to halt depredations, to
by
inept
and elevate
to posts
men
distinguished for
of
boundary
who
hands
the
of
women,
kept
out of gratitude;
he is
an educator who
has become
Seneca himself
me,
says:
of
'Providence has
placed me
in this
of
post; I will
presence
hatred
Poppaea,
intrigues
the
freedmen,
they
the
importunity
my
wish to strangle
it is in the
palace that
me.'"
will strangle
in (Euvres, 13:370-71.
Essai,
Tacitus'
Teaching
Now Seneca had
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
255
long
been
envied
by
nothing for his virtue or his competence as a ruler. Such men had always sought to undermine him with Nero. Undoubtedly there were many of them. Tacitus re
counted over
in
his adversary
the
help
of
characteristic
At that time, Seneca triumphed his friends, and with Nero as his ally. It is of his accuser was mild, not vengeful, and lim
xm. 42-43.
ited strictly to what he deserved. But four years later, as we have seen, the situa tion had changed. There was no longer the threat of Agrippina which frightened
Nero
and made
confident.
portance.
him rely on Seneca and Burrus. Nero was older and more Burrus was dead and replaced by a scoundrel in an office of utmost im
self-
Seneca began to carry more weight. Nero gave signs of avoiding their former in timacy (xiv. 53.1). Though the charges were immaterial, they were all addressed
to Nero's vanity. There
ers
was no claim
accus
knew that
was
have been
great
to
Nero,
Seneca He
too
wealth
with
tablishment that
"magnificence"
maintaining an es (magnificentia).
for he arrogating to himself all the glory of eloquence impugned. was speeches. His motive in still had to write Nero's writing poetry "He wrote poems [carmind] more often after Nero had come to love
was charged with
them"
was also
deprecated Nero's
Whether Nero
charge,
effect at
pleasures voice:
in
horse-racing
must
and singing.
that
doomed.
really
political or
not, he
certainly
vain and
the
following
an
enforced
by
repetition and
implying
fail to have
last:
there be nothing splendid in the republic which was not believed to him [Seneca]? The childhood of Nero was certainly over, and the
To
be discovered
by
cast off
by
splendid
[amplis]
teachers
in his
ancestors
was
then
twenty-five.]
were
These
to
revealed to
him
by
"those
who
had any
care
for
what was
(honesti
cura).
avoid
was at an
end, for it
been through
he had Nero's
flourished. Nero
awe and
based
on
maintained
for is
fourteen
But
said
at
last
what
Tacitus
said of
Agrippina
when she
fell from
affairs
grace could
be
with no
less truth
of
him.
"Nothing
of
human
by
its
own
(xm.19.1).10
by
his
worldly
adroitness alone.
Rather than
10.
serve as
first
victim
or
his
second
if he
was
the one
nixae."
"Nihil
rerum mortalium
256
Interpretation
Burrus
to
so
no good
who poisoned
from the
grasp.
power
he had
long
had
and
now slipped
from his
He
sought an
interview
with
the First
Citizen
delivered
other
a curious and
fascinating
gives us an controlled
speech which
Tacitus
reports. arcana
imperii,
the
secret art
by
which
he had
Nero
long. One
secret
to admire and be
infinitely
worth; yet
here
and
held in
kind
of
half-conscious
accomplished
The
rhetorical problem
he
solves
in the
a
speech
is to
present
his
as a request
for
be
protected thereafter
by
Nero's
consciousness
that it is he
bestowed it
Nero
and
that
it depends
on
him. At the
same
Especially
and
since
was
surely Nero's
present
whom
not unaware
that Seneca
for
decency
a
virtue, a reference to
reproach.
have been
one
dangerous
Seneca
must
his fall
owed
as a request
for
last
great
pupil
to
he
all,
and of whom
he had
also
utter and
devo
Seneca
Burrus
for
political
guidance, his
self-knowledge was so
rudimentary that he
could rec
dependent
on
his
own.
speech
benefit is
said to
have
originated with
Seneca
was
the
honors
Noth
ing
and
is
Seneca's
here, Seneca
Nero, he
he does
permits
himself a
reference to
moderation,
to
without which
honors
not
are worthless.
Seneca
was used
tempering flattery
begin
at
ject, he hints
desist from stinging Nero. Though he the true case in which he is the superior:
now to
so
appears most ab
many honors
and such
riches
on me
lack nothing
except moderation
[moderatio]
He
important
comrades of services.
allowed to retire
in
return
for surpassing
and
Nero's testiness
compare
when
to
exemplars,
[adapted]
not
to my
Agrippa, he hastens to add: "I employ great (xiv. 53. 3). Seneca, who fortune, but to
yours"
to
make a
philosophic
ophy
which was
the core
of
his life:
Tacitus'
Teaching
What
else
and
at
Rome
257
have I been
in the shadows,
It is
a great reward
to them
because I have
have been
present at the
But
you
overwhelmed me with
immense
riches
(xiv. 53.4-5).
immensely
enemies
wealthy from the munificence from the time of Suillius (xm.42.4) with
of an
him. He
was an ambitious
hypocrite. He his
praised
Stoic
self-
sufficiency
ness made
and claimed
indifference to
the richest
wealth while
rapacious acquisitive
escaped
him
one of
men
of
these
part
simple-minded accusers
is that Seneca's
reception of
was an
integral
his policy in handling Nero. For he knew well the maxim Tacitus expressed in reference to Tiberius: "Benefits are only so far gladly received when they seem to be able to be repaid; where they much exceed, hatred is returned for
of
(iv.18.3)."
gratitude
Whatever he
said
to
Nero, he knew
Empire,
would
and should
present
Seneca's policy, therefore, was to deceive be returned for Nero into thinking that he coveted the honors and riches he gave him. Thus Nero seemed to be the great benefactor, and Seneca knew that we have a tendency to love those
says
who are
gratitude."
indebted to
us.
Seneca
says
this in
his
speech
to
Nero, but he
it
so
escaped
his detractors
immense is it I,
But
you
overwhelmed me with
riches,
so
much
that I
myself,
who was
born
knight
and
in
a provincial
place, who
the
chief men of
newness shine
among
nade
the
those
who parade a
Does it in
long [train] of honors? Where is that mind lay out such gardens as I have, and prome
such spaces of estates? comes
through these
Does it
abound
in
such widespread
[capital
out
to
mind
that
ought
Seneca
envy. until
admitted
Of course, he did
ceased
Nero
to think
he
needed
the
Court, he
it is
offers
to restore
worth
point
truth
of
little
to him:
to poverty, but
shall recover
will
not, myself,
reduce myself
by
by
whose splendor
am oppressed,
for my
the time
which
is
set aside
for
the care of
gardens or villas
Seneca
to
meant
unexpressed
have
continued
postpone
done
so
1 1
"Nam beneficia
antevenere, pro
gratia odium
258
Interpretation
Yet in this
connection one should note
effectively.
that
even
were productive
philosophically
wealth.
Seneca
he
ruled.
Nero
affected
trying
to
entice
Seneca
by
But
even
Nero
feared Seneca
and
the public
opprobrium
ment.
Yet he knew he
must
be rid
of
him,
and
that must accompany his retire he hated him. To his speech "he
kisses for he
was made
by
nature,
and exercised
flatteries"
deceived
and
immediately
come.
retired
from
active participation
Though the
be
recognized
in speech, it
by
had
of
thanks, which is the end of every speech with a ruler. But he changed the his former power, he forbade the gathering of well-wishers he avoided being
,
City
as though
his health
were
in
an unfavorable
he
were
detained
at
home
was
by
the studies of
wisdom
This
gime
retirement of of
Seneca
the new
re
is indicative
exercised.
quently
Tigellinus
alone
day,
be
and
wicked arts
through which
he
was
influential
would
more
gratifying if he bound
the
First Citizen
by
the
sharing
of crimes
(xiv.57.1).
Accordingly, having found out that Nero most feared two illustrious nobles, Sulla and Plautus, he persuaded Nero to kill them. Nero listened and allowed it. There was no pretense of a trial. As in so many cases that were to follow, it was a
matter of assassins sent
retirement of a
Seneca onward,
series of arbi
the reign of
Nero
under the
Tigellinus is but
long
trary
murders of and
the
illustrious, judicial
and
assassinations of the
innocent, luxurious
take then
banquets,
his
filthy
evil
Seneca had recourse, let him from these abominable acts and
judge. Seneca
eight survived of
for three
years. which
During
ad
books
In
Naturales Quaestiones,
was accused of
commit
Lipsius
rival Aristotle's. He
Lucilium
during
these last
65
himself,
One Though
and was
forced to
he struggled,
Nero
and
Agrippina.
appointed tutor
by her,
him
he
never
let unthinking
gratitude get
as an accomplice and
tool
for her
crimes.
sistance to
her
several years.
Tacitus'
Teaching
difficult to
understand
sis of a concern
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
259
Nero
on
Seneca's
Stoic
the ba
for the
common
good,
even after
Nero
revealed that
he
was not
reign.
His treatise to Nero, De demen There he tries to inspire Nero with a noble and
Nero
gave
in sparing and benefiting his subjects. Perhaps in his early promise of decency. Yet Seneca had to struggle with all the cor
rupting influences of flatterers and opportunists to which Nero was exposed at the Court. One cannot fault him for trying his best, but there are limits to the power
of one man
to
influence
another.
If Seneca tried to
make
Nero
as good as possi
ble, it
seen while
was wise
finally
in
he
remained
influences
on
as
retire when
step-brother and
mother?
the
untiring quest to rule. Seneca must have thought they would not be repeated and must have seen that they presented no immediate threat that Nero would demand
to rule the entire
such crimes
Empire
by
prevent
the recurrence
of
by
remaining
at
threats of politics to
which
he
would no
doubt
Nero's
plans
be
forehand. But the crime, however abominable in itself, did not present a threat of more widespread degeneration. For the time being the world was spared that by Nero's relatively
alone,
would would nurture
apolitical character. under
The
come
his fears
and encourage
Seneca
stood
chose to prevent
by
those who
judge
by remaining by appearances.
was compelled
his
side and
it is this that is
charge that
misunder
Likewise the
Seneca
ruled
But before condemning him one should be responsible enough to account look at why he did so. The massive evidence of his writings and of his rule shows that he acted out of benevolence and devotion to the common
Tacitus'
good of
the
entire world
pended on
matricide,
he
in
order to
wanted
forestall
worse effects.
Seneca
But he
He
his justice to be
successful.
He
innocent
or
simple,
and
the
nature of politics often requires that one combat evil under able circumstances. cue
difficult
or unfavor
Those times
were
particularly
corrupt.
from him. It
do. It is the
could
limited in what he really independent. One man was of Seneca's greatness that he did so much so long.
260
Interpretation
and the
3.
Paetus Thrasea
at
the outset
be
restored
tury
longer
the
of
the firm
character requisite
to the
family
liberty graciously Nor had they any political power to confront the armies loyal of the Caesars. Was the loss of character an effect of the loss
so regulations were made at the
not
Seneca
of power?
Some decent
beginning
of
the reign
of a vigorous po
litical life
even
during
had,
in the early years of Tiberius. When he does, for once, dispute, he calls it a "mere image [or phantom, imago]
(xm.28.1). The
recount a genuine of
the
Republic"
in the
policies
initiated
This
by
situation was
utterly
good.
degrading
It
as
long
hold
as
Seneca
initiated the
policies of
was not an
could not
unjust or
degrading
would not
initiate them
on
as
long
Seneca
by
Seneca. Should he
fall,
Nero
influence
Senate from returning to the degraded adulations that had characterized it during the earlier reigns of inferior First Citizens Tiberius, Gaius, Claudius. This was
a real
limit
of
Seneca's
power.
Single-handedly
laws
he
healthy
po
or
judgments to
subjects, but he
no
hint that he
for
a moment considered
That
was
impossible
under
the circumstances.
But Seneca
to the widespread
panied and good
only decent and courageous man who opposed himself degeneration of those times. His work at the Court was accom
to a limited extent
briefly
completed
by
the
influence
eca, is one
with
Thrasea, like Sen extraordinary heros in Tacitus. Like Seneca, his name is also associated Stoic philosophy. Tacitus speaks almost exclusively of his deeds. We won
an
of
in the Senate
the
by
real
der to
what extent
they
were
influenced
by
his
philosophy.
From his
career we
learn that
even
some room
accompanied
voted to
by
philosophy sufficiently
Court. But
as
his
character.
We have
ated
Senate in the
Nero
policies
initi
by
to
the
time went on
matters
Seneca
was compelled
to concede some
came to
thing
Nero, especially in
pertaining
to pleasure.
be
Tacitus'
Teaching
and
261
festivals
which
further
corrupted
the
idle Romans.
But it is
what
of
Empire,
to be
imitated;
the
ruler
admires, the
subjects
have
tendency
to desire too.
Following
Nero's policy in
tors
allowed
Rome,
extended
he
insignificant
position
had it
not
been
opposed
by Thrasea,
who
thus
provoked
from those
of
whose character on
it
was
op is the
in
first entry
Thrasea
of
vestigation,
learn how
thoughtful
man responded
by the
impotence
and
Thrasea
assailed
opposed
by
"his
detractors"
(obtrectatoribus)
important
independent
of
the
matter at
tempted to undermine
saw that
and already made him enemies. had hand, They at already him by drawing those implications into the open. They
stood
for
was
well
known,
in his
act was an
intention
of
habituating the
Senate to take
a stand
inde in
pendent of
moral easy-goingness of
the times
a small
principle could
be
applied
to
greater matters
did
not escape
Nero's
courtiers.
Thrasea
to
get a safe
hearing
those
for his
Would he then
enemies
them or would
they
at
of
in
private?
His
to
hoped
by drawing
the implications
principles
immediately,
make
his policy
him to in
so
si
They
dreaded the
restoration of
liberty
to the Senate.
Here,
as
many
have seen, the principles of despotism are maintained not by the despot himself, alone, but by that crowd of followers who hope to flourish by his
other cases we
favor.12
They
complained:
such
.
.
insignificant
matters
if he believed
in
need of excel
Was
Empire equally
lent,
as though not
the
government of
them?
(xui.42.2-3)
recalls
Thrasea does
ate
Nero. He merely
the Sen
with
to a
desire to He
who
enemies charge a
him
the
danger
dares to
stand
up for it
makes
the easy-going
men of
his time
may be denied them. Thrasea hate him in fear that their influence had taken a bold first step. It might habituate less daring Senators to think inde which could not fail to impress them. It pendently. It was an example of
and pleasures
decency
restoring to the Senate, and thereby the Court of Nero where Seneca of decency. It thus implied independence of to some extent on the sly, behind Nero's back. In the sense, practiced
was a start at
goodness,
12.
Perhaps it
would
be
more precise n.
was
mutually that
of
the court
iers
Cf.
8.
262
then, that he
policy
was
recognition of
To his friends
not
him the
reason
replied
that it was
in ignorance
of the present
he
corrected should
decisions
of this
sort, but
that
it
become
public
[open,
the
to even the
insignificant (xm.49.4).
Tacitus does
Thrasea
won or
of view perhaps
had
spokesman, that
the
wild acts of
the series
tyrants
who
had
ruled
Rome for in
a quarter of a
century, decent
right.13
public was
maintaining the
One may easily underestimate the dire effects of so long a period of despo tism. Thrasea was attempting something so rudimentary that we, as citizens of liberal democracy, may not even be able to appreciate it. He was trying to restore
a public recognition of the
difference between
to a world that
had
been
subjected
to
for
at
least
twenty-five years
during
the only
men who
flourished
or gained
On the basis
to
home it
may be affirmed that the overpowering decent citizens and depoliticize them
is to discourage
and a
profoundly.14
It
was a
difficult task,
dangerous one, for the man who practiced it made enemies on every side among those who flourished in the established corruption. Tacitus is impressed nonethe
less
with
of
not
cerns to
impress
in
moral-
13.
Arnaldo Momigliano's
seems
assessment of
in
Italy during
the period of
Fascism Paetus
to present a modern parallel to the effect of Thrasea. "Croce saw himself as a Thrasea
a
or a
Boethius in
of men,
time of
tyranny
admit
and
barbarism. He
Fascism to
come not
but from
mysterious
Providence. Though
the
Fascists
compelled
him to
resigned attitude
toward the
world remained
history
as the
history
of
lib
erty was essentially fatalistic: it relied on Providence. Thus Croce was not able to indicate a way out of Fascism. If he had been, Mussolini would not have allowed him to speak. But the liberty Croce
spoke about was not selves on the
just
a philosophic notion. of
It
was the
liberty
our
forefathers had
won
for
them
a
battlefields
a constant reproach
to
Fascism,
had lost
freedom
and
honesty of thought,
representative
especially in
matters of re re
ligion,
spect
for
his
speech
the Risorgimento.
moving because he might as easily have become a Fascist. He was the living link with When Nazism came to add its own brutality, his protests became more radical, his
remark that
the
word
Aryan
was
in danger
of
becoming
synonymous with
years agree
its very nature the precise importance of Croce in the !925-39 is very difficult to assess, but anyone who lived in Italy in those years will probably that Croce prevented Fascism from becoming a respectable ideology in the eyes of educated
been forgotten.
By
Italians."
(1866-
Thrasea's
situation
is that
of
the citizens
1952),"
Tacitus'
Teaching
will
and the
Decline of Liberty
if
someone
at
Rome
263
it. But
since prob
ity.
Willy-nilly it
we now turn.
be
acknowledged
dares to
exhibit
exhibition must
be
managed adroitly.
To this
Thrasea
Seneca,
if he did
and
Flatterers
legion,
often repressed
by
in
dominated,
basest
of
and
place
fear. When Nero killed his mother, flattery or fear pre of reproach he was greeted with servile adulations. The
expressions
deserves
wonder
[miro]
the the
City decreeing day of the murder an annual holiday since They decreed a golden statue, and that
one another
rivaled
in
They
made
Agrippina'
reve
accursed.
Tacitus looks
with wonder or
horror
on
this
perversion of
is then
In
more wonderful
favor
Thrasea,
or
who repudiated
Thrasea'
these proceedings
by publicly
favor it
must
be
said
walking out of the Senate. that he felt the same horror as Tacitus
matricide.
any
good man at
and
His
passion,
though
he
condemns
of
high
spirit
(cf. xiv.48.3,
of the
increpito),
could
who
passion
for justice
by thinking
of
how it
be
expressed
But the
depravity
of
Senate
on that
day
was
and, heedless
display
of
his disapproval. he
was
This
Nero
could not
fail to resent,
whole cause not
and which
in
a position
to repay in
such a
No
as to
harm the
Thrasea
stood
for.
his
had
course or
less provoking silence he rally wavering Senators to his cause. The practiced would have been more prudent. Tacitus underlines this, formerly
act severely.
This is
Tacitus
and
his
characters.
I think it is
a mark of
with
his
affection
for Thrasea
the degree to
which
he identifies himself
means,
not ends.
Thrasea's
The
disagreement is
was so revolted
one of
by
the
proceedings of
Thrasea's defect may have been that he that day that he could not control himself.
fault:
to let
earlier adulations pass with silence or a
danger to himself,
beginning
of
liberty
to
others
(xiv.
12. 1).
Tacitus is especially severe with him because so We have seen that Tacitus approved of his policy
tiously. But to
repudiate
much rested on of
his
career.
restoring
standards cau
the Senate's
sanction
forget
and never
openly on that day was a thing let Nero forget. For his decency was a
of
Thrasea
264
men
Interpretation
no good end.
like him to
ity
he
expects
every
by
his heroes prudently to govern their could be done for Rome, and thence for
as
themselves.15
The
public
good, insofar
it
could
be
said
to exist,
depended
in the
and
on
such men
living
to set
an example and
lead
midst
of their sufferings.
Besides,
still were
by Seneca,
not
Nero's Tacitus
transgressions were
counsels of
limited. These in
order. ever
times were
times in which
despair
Actually,
in
order.
A very different political situation developed in the years after the murder of Agrippina in 59 a.d. Nero grew bolder, and in time the ambitious scoundrels of the Court grew more importunate for power. Seneca and Burrus declined and
Tigellinus became
signalize and
favored. As
solidify his
influence,
Nero
by during the
lapse
Seneca
recited
predominated.
certain
was accused of surd case was ous sign yet not so much
having
lewd
verses about
Nero
at a
Antistius, banquet,
was
the praetor,
and the ab
most seri
as a state crime.
This
the
declining. Tacitus
as an occasion of
says that
Tigellinus
sought
who
Antistius
Emperor,16
intended to
those
who
pardon
him,
once condemned.
The
had
degradation
deeply. The glory of the Emperor was at the ex Senate, and the law was such as to threaten all
under
continued
influence,
as
someone
it was, it became necessary for the Great Courtier. If Nero could be shown
this
indignity,
would
the position
spared
of
Seneca
be
be
effects of similar
might
importunities in
future. At least
or
some
good
be
banish
be
spared the
necessity
giving its
sanction.
no such
determining
why Thrasea
"Let those
men
leam,
whose custom
it is to
admire what
is
not permitted
[subversive,
illicita],
tion, if industry and vigor are present, can ascend lustrious through an extreme death, ambitious, but to no good of the republic (Agr. 42.4). This is said by Tacitus in the context of an evaluation of the prudence of Agricola, the general who extended the Roman
16.
of rule and
first citizens, and that allegiance and modera to that height of praise where many have grown il
justly
ruled
Britain
during
the
reign of
Domitian,
Imperatori. This is
one of
the rare places in Tacitus (xiv. 48. 2) where that title is used instead
First Citizen (Princeps), which was more in accord with the republican fiction of the constitution. n. 1 Is this a further indication of the degeneracy of the regime that it dispensed with
.
to the Republic?
Tacitus'
Teaching
and
the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
265
opposing him. Perhaps if he were firmly opposed by the Senate, he would turn from this new course. Thus the fate of the political life of the whole Empire for
years
on of
that day. He hoped he might preserve decent government and halt the the regime.
decay
much
not speak
for the
repeal of
the law
to attempt at once. He spoke against only the death penalty, which had been de
manded out of complaisance
by the consul-designate.
The
penalty
sure
established
by
resisted pres
that
its severity, it might be a signal to Nero to desist from law altogether. What Thrasea sought was very limited, but it was
to extend
of what
the use of
enough
to
it
Senate.18
[to the
motion of
put
to
death
"by
custom,"
ancestral
and not
according to the
most
with much
honorable [commendation] of Caesar, and that though judged guilty, the accused did
not
bitterly reproaching Antistius, said deserve to suffer just anything, for this
[punishment]
bound
was
to be determined
by
no necessity.
under an outstanding First Citizen and by a Senate [He said] that the hangman and noose were long since abol were established
ished
and
that punishments
by
the
laws, according
judges
to
which
[laws]
punishments might
be
pronounced without
cruelty
of
(xiv.48.3-4).
Notice that he
man who
reproached"
"bitterly
law,
and
Antistius. He
was
angry
at the
folly
of
this
had
given occasion
of rule of
to the Court to
reestablish tyranny.
It
the principle
not
this silly
man.
Tacitus
says that
indirectly good law, that he fought to protect, "the liberty of Thrasea broke the slavery of
exceptions
others"
(xiv. 49. 1)
few
they
went over
to his
sentiment.
Seneca's
good government
early initiatives of Thrasea had given to decent men. One need only note how differently the Senate voted on a similar motion by Manius Lepidus during the reign of Tiberius to see that the efforts of these men had not been entirely in
vain.19
But
as we
have said, it
was not
to
be
a permanent
influence.
vacillated
Nero
was
being
between
shame and (xiv.49.2), he assented to the milder procured in accordance with the law. Nero was forced to
anger"
sentence shame
Thrasea had
the
by
Senate!
not
letter,
the
Senate did
course
its
resolution.
Tacitus
that Thrasea
persevered
in his
"by his
to ruin
accustomed
firmness
of mind and
in
his glory
should not go
[intercideret]."
Tacitus did
n. 42.
not think
it
only
altruistic public
duty
that caused
17.
18.
not remind of
the
speech of
Euryptolemus,
who
along
with
Socrates
attempted
to
Athenian
from picking up
the corpses of
from trying the generals en masse after they those who died at Arginusae? Xenophon, Hellenika,
mob
were prevented
1.7. 14-35.
19. hi. 49-5 1. See also Rene Waltz, Vie de Seneque (Paris: Perrin, 1909), Seneca. only modern study I know of the politics of
p. 383.
This is the
266
Interpretation
act so well.
Thrasea to
tion
own
glory
with public-spirited ac
for the
common good.
with
his capacity
and elevation
the private mo
tive is one
the public
motive. not
From this
cannot
we come
insensitive to fame.
They
Tiberius
or
the
Principate,
of which
Tacitus
is
so well
were
of public recognition of
private.
virtue,
such men
This helps
Tacitus'
make
history
so
rich
He tells
us not
only
what went on
and corrupted
by fear,
but
and
(in
conviviis et
they
of standards
in their
world.
To
some
extent, the
public realm
by
history itself attempts to rectify the old wrongs of the presenting an account of those evil days in which the wrongs
power are recognized as wrongs and
done
by
those in
the
good
deeds that
went
they deserve.
attempts
But in harshness
virtue
to strengthen good
men
to endure the
maxim
of
teaching is
austere.
The
that
is its
nevertheless
true. The
hardest
it.20
success and
have always been somewhat contemptuous of the worldly honor that accompany virtue but are not a fitting recompense for Tacitus wishes to harden men to bear up under the harshness of the regime.
of noble men
He
wishes
to
make
them
independent,
be
self-sufficient.
In
such a
world, one
must not
surprised
if one is
called upon
to suppress the
display
openly
of one's
better instincts
right while seeming to ac The party of decency is too weak to practice virtue Thus Tacitus even reproaches Paetus Thrasea for walk
and preserve a sense of
ing
out of the
Senate
when
it
praised
Nero's
matricide.
Thrasea unnecessarily
en
dangered the
whole cause.
Better
not to
draw
less
eclat.
I think it is,
than
above
all, in the
of
career of
Seneca
Tacitus'
Thrasea,
and
severity in a better
to Nero
position
he
paid
was
that
he had to
which appeared
disgraceful. He
of
remained
despite the
family. He
then and
20.
to condone Nero's revolting games and poetry recitals. He money from Nero, for which he did not fail to be censured afterwards. We have explained why this was necessary and how little
seemed
statement
and
Consider Aristotle's
cially
concerned with
honors
dishonors,
since
in the Ethica Nicomachea: "The great souled and he will be moderately pleased by
he is but receiving Yet he will
what
man great
is
espe
honors
offered
by gentlemen [ojiovdaiarv]
be
adequate
honor
would not
for
perfect virtue.
accept
better to
him"
is his own, or less than his own. For it since they do not have anything
give
(i224a6-io).
Tacitus'
Teaching
Seneca
was moved
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
well
267
he has lost his
by
reputation
among
this
moral
Was it
some
awareness of
heavy
Nero's
(xm. 1
.2)?
by
It
is the
mark of
his true
men of
greatness that
he
accepted
to be so despised.
practice of
But if even
virtue under
been
cowed
into
letting
be
could and
have
if only
shown that
they
could
have been
such a
lonely
enterprise.
was not
ineffective. There
was
in fact
an
time, but after Thrasea's courageous rebuff, two before Nero dared to bring the case before the august assembly
storm clouds of
(xv.35). As the
world,
even
Nero's
depravity
were
gathering
over
the Roman
Thrasea
years of a
continued to
reign.
be
an
during
he
Nero's
Tacitus
length
a speech
made
decree
forbidding
governors
had
the gover
turn pro
nors
to favor local
them
by
in
of
cured
honor
at
home
when
tice
by
decree
for the
Seneca
this prac
credits
relinquished power
to Nero and
Tigellinus in 62
a.d.
retired
from
a public
life
whose
decline
he
could
no
longer hope to
independent-minded
tance. Nero
opposition.
This
the measure of
murdered other
illustrious
men one
by
bloody in the sequel to a conspiracy which was Among the victims of Nero's vengeance was Thrasea,
volved. even
betrayed to him in
who
65
had
not
been in
We
wish now
continued
to
be influential
so
and
heroic
must
die: "After
many illustrious
men were
butchered,
at
last Nero
conceived
extinguish virtue
Tacitus draws
what was
to the
burning passion [concupivit] to (xvi. 21. 1). by killing Thrasea real motives and Nero's between disparity
the
Paetus"
publicly defensible
once as
even
Thrasea twice,
they
were
then, for he gives the list of charges against presented to Nero by Thrasea's enemy, Capito
Cossutianus,
important
and once as
they
were argued
in
open court.
The
private motives so
repeated
in
public.
Nero
was annoyed
that
Thrasea had
not showed
Senate
when
Agrippina
he had
by
eager attendance at
heart),
that
that
he
had
for Antistius
Nero's will,
and
he had
268
Interpretation
himself from the
adulations and
absented
funeral
of
Nero's
second
deress, Poppaea. Capito Cossutianus, son-in-law of Tigellinus, "did not allow says Tacitus, for he too had been opposed and pros these things to be
forgotten,"
ecuted
by
Thrasea. The
other
charge,
and the
only
one
that
was considered
de
fensible in public, was that Thrasea had now absented himself from public func tions for three years. Silence and retirement were interpreted as sedition by this
malicious proach
company,
re
his friends
and rela no
by
troops.
was
held dear
by
many.
Nero's tyranny
weighed more
heavily
the
than
ever upon
day:
which
This
was not
well-known sorrow of
Senate,
to
it
was accustomed
by
frequency dangers; but as they saw the hands and weapons of the soldiers, a new and deeper fear [penetrated the Senators]. At the same time the revered appearance
of
of
with
his "close
friends"
(proximos)
he
should attempt
at
to face: how
he
was a question
end and at
was
insensitive
neither to what
his
he
They
said that
they
were certain of
would
[only]
some
which
his constancy [constantia] [They said] that he he would increase his glory. [They said] that
.
last
facing
voices as
from
divinity [numine] beyond human [voices] Nero might even be touched by the wonderful deed itself [ipso miraculo]; if he should rather insist on cmelty, certainly the
memory
those
of a noble end would
cowardice of
who perished
in
silence
of
reasoning
we see again
how
heavily
pub
weighed on certain
high-spirited
men.
still
Thrasea's
order that
rant.
virtue and
thereby
of virtue simply.
his
virtue all
may have
share a
for
a public recognition of
Despite
opposition,
they
kind
continue to
of noble
Even after so They simplicity instances to the many contrary they continue to hope that Nero will be touched. Perhaps it was because he understood this hope and simplicity that Thrasea had striven so earnestly to restore a public dimension to virtue. ality
of virtue.
or optimism.
Tacitus'
Teaching
Those friends
of
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
269
who opposed
his
situation.
He
would
be
Thrasea's making a defense pointed out the perils bitterly reviled if he entered the Senate. Some
might even
Even the
good would
stoop to blows under the influence of fear and inveterate malice. be exposed to the degrading necessity of signifying their
Thrasea. It
shame
was a
repudiation of
"vain
hope"
by
for his
atrocious crimes
(inrita spe) that Nero would be One should rather fear further to
men are without
his cruelty
against
illusions
tion to
its
they did not despair in their counsel of resigna Perhaps stronger than their friends, they find virtue is
addition some public
dimension
of recogni
they
care
is
restricted
be indifferent to worldly
company large.
of
success.
long
since
joined the
not
eternal
the
philosophers whose
by
in
the world at
Still, they
in his
too speak
of glory:
of
Pure
and unstained
honor, he
glory
those
whose
footsteps
and studies
It is surely Socrates whose life and death is here referred to. He was the bright exemplar of Thrasea's life and his consolation in death. This is the stunning se
cret of
mentions
philosophy
and philosophers
that it was
homage to their nobility in important decisive for the lives of the heroes. The
Thrasea
or a
moments and
steadfastness and no
bility
which
of
the
careers of a
Seneca
by
a pursuit
Tacitus only barely lets us glimpse. He may have thought that philosophy cannot be talked about like political deeds. It can only be practiced. This is the deepest limit he imposed upon himself when writing the Annates.
The decision
was no
against
of course, a
foregone
conclusion.
There
longer
anyone of
stature
to
speak
for
tal,
nor would
so much
youth
had the
deteriorated
"ardent"
since
Seneca
retired.
(flagrans),
as
ticus
Arulenus,
his
who,
by
desire for
praise
offered
his
veto
nobility
completed
his life,
and
he
desert
way
of
practiced
for
so
Arulenus'
years.
magistracy
but beginning,
what
and
was entire.
He
himself beforehand,
way he
in
such a
Tacitus
calls elsewhere
"the
wisdom."22
awaited
the
verdict
in his
garden.
It is
remarkable
that he did
not
duxerit,
eorum gloria
22.
"Quod
est
difficillimum
ex
sapientia,
(Agr.
4).
270 have to
Interpretation
wait alone.
of
illustrious
braved
They
and
dared to
expose
themselves be
they
admired
held life
preserved at
of
the cost
of
decent
men
abandoning someone in private was a consolation for their Yet Thrasea held himself
fortune too dear if they must be like Thrasea to suffer alone. This
sadness
in
having
well-
public world.
aloof
from his
attended most
he
engaged
in
soul and
as
he
was able,
he
by his
constancy
by the
subject
to which he
word of
those who had attended him, saying they should not endanger them any longer. He dissuaded his noble wife who wanted to die with him: she should live for the sake of their daughter. Finally, he was found nearer joy than
missed all
selves
grief
by
the quaestor, for he had learned that his noble son-in-law Helvidius was
only banished from Italy rather than condemned to die. Withdrawing into his bedroom with only Helvidius and Demetrius, he allowed the veins of his arms to
a scene which
as
Tacitus
and
sprinkling it
upon
nearer,
and
young man, and may the gods avert the omen; when it is advantageous to make the mind firm
35-1)-
Jupiter, the Liberator. Look, however, you are born in such times
constancy"
with examples of
(xvi.
even
in his last
moment mindful
under
and
decent
men to
bear up nobly
heavy
lot they
of
He
carrying
eca's
out
the tyrant's orders (as was in fact the case with the harbinger
xv.61.3).
Sen
death,
He accordingly
of
exhorts
him to
fortify
off at
his
mind with ex
amples of constancy.
Unfortunately
do
not
the manuscript
the Annates
breaks
this point
and we
words
difference
23.
malignity
of
succeeding
are the
last two
years of
Nero's
Chry-
Seneca
compares this man with the greatest sages. "I shall not remind you of
Socrates,
because envy does not stand in the way of praise of the ancients. A little before I mentioned Demetrius, whom it seems to me, the nature of things brought forth in our times, that it might show that he is not able to be corrupted by us nor we by him. He is a man of precise wisdom, though he denies it, of firm constancy in things which he sets before
sippus,
and other great
Zeno,
himself,
not
of
words, but
with
that true eloquence that teaches the most powerful things, not gracefully or in affected the mind of genius its themes as impulse inspired it. For this reason I do
following
doubt that
24.
faculty
of
speaking
lack
an example or a
(De
beneficiis,
vu.8).
zeal armed
loss;
certain that in those first times, when our religion began to gain authority with the laws, many against all sorts of Pagan books, by which the learned suffer an exceeding great disorder that I conceive did more prejudice to letters than all the flames of the of
"It is
barbarians;
Tacitus'
Teaching
reign and nates
and
the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
271
An
his
miserable
Tacitus'
theme and
such
not
are
born in
times
when
firm
constancy."
with examples of
It is
cause
consistently through these for despair, Tacitus does not teach despair
remarkable
that
years when
there
was so much
or succumb to
petty tyrants who rule the world. Instead, these books present a kind of paean to the heroes who are capable of opposing tyranny "with voices beyond human
voices,
as
from
divinity."
some
Their
not
virtue
is
constancy:
bearing up in a danger
and suc
ous, hostile
world.
While he does
independent
worthy
cence sal
this
of
opposition
aroused.25
The
mood with
which one
leaves Tacitus
is
so vulnerable
first reading is sadness at a world in which inno and justice so often betrayed. One fears that in the univer
on
Empire there is
Cornelius Tacitus is furnished
But
on
reflection, that
sadness
is
express order
all
very good testimony; for though the Emperor Tacitus, his kinsman, had by the libraries in the world with his work, nevertheless one entire copy could
desired to abolish it for only five or six idle clauses that Works of Michael de Montaigne, trans. W. Hazlitt, 4 vols. (Boston:
belief."
2:425.
25.
There is
little
work of
Tacitus
whose
theme
is the
same as
that we have
been
it
investigating
exemplary
in this
chapter.
It is the
biography of Agricola,
of
Britain
few
years
later
under
Domitian,
did
and ruled
with
justice. Agricola
to understate his tain
all
that was
humanly possible
leading
courtiers.
The
major
lesson
of
lic
Agricola died
(Agr.
he
returned
Some
said
he
was poisoned
43.2).
of virtue.
beautiful
statement of
his
own
love
eulogy for his father-in-law is his most In it we see how integral a part of the com
"If there is any
place
he
considered
his
own work:
for the
shades
the pious,
if,
as
rest peacefully, and may you call us, your laments to the contemplation of your virtues, which it is not right [fas] to mourn or lament. womanly Rather let us honor you with admiration, and immortal praises, and if our nature is fit for it, with imi tation [of your life] This is true honor and this is piety of each most near relative. This would I teach your daughter and your wife, to so revere the memory of her father, of her husband, that she ponders
[Agricola,]
all
his deeds
herself,
and that
they
of
embrace
figure
of
his
mind more
than that of his body. [It is not] that I think that images
molded of marble or
bronze
mortal.
should
be forbid
of
den, but
mind
that as the
face
images
The form
the
is
eternal
[forma
hold
and express
it
through a
of
foreign
of
to express
it in
What
we
have loved
Agricola,
nity
as and
what we
have admired,
in the
be
minds of men
[animis], in
the eter
ages, in
reports of affairs
[history, fama
and unknown.
me]"
rerum];
for
oblivion
those who
are without
glory
Agricola
will
a survivor as
work provides then the eternal recog (Agr. 46. 1-4)handed down to posterity [by through his power are they fated to nition deserved by the exalted characters who acted so well. Only him virtue is secured the immortality survive. He is the answer to the prayer of the good, for through it deserves. Tacitus gives the palm to the glory that comes to immortal works of the mind in prefer passage: "Triumphal honors ence to that which comes from the deed. Consider the following striking reputation [fama] with posterity, his of part moderate that a but is were decreed to Pomponius,
Tacitus'
among
whom
the glory of
his
poems
[carmina] is
(xu.28.2).
272
Interpretation
by
admiration
for those
who,
even
fruitless through he
competence and
in death
one need
or
ruin,
remain exemplars of
Tacitus teaches
by any
its
own
intrinsic beauty. If
be,
one
learns to do
without the
From the
and
Seneca
Thrasea,
for
a
the
risks
limits
of political action
in
time of wide
depraved
prince. men
time, especially
under
Seneca,
work a
fundamental
and
lasting change
at
in the
system
government,
It is thus
is
Tacitus, too,
he did
must
have wondered,
question.
raise
this
Perhaps he did
own
not
after
his
fashion
and after a
long
and
honorable
public career.
Perhaps he thought it
dangerous to discuss this possibility because others think it ignoble to withdraw. Potential philosophers, philosopher-historians, and poets can best take care of
themselves if their reasoning is not exposed to the
choice and own
view of all men. men
For their
Tacitus'
may
imply
a critique of
thus be even
disquieting,
not
in any society in
will need which
time, but to
men whose
will
Tacitus
immortality. A handle
Tacitus'
is dynamite
writer will
not searched
question
is
in fact handled
though
with
Dialogus de
oratoribus.
Tacitus
words of a
of the prin
wonder whether
the
discussion there
the
in his
education.
Because
it treats the
with
question of
the best
may suggest that the Dialogus is But this theme is treated by such respectable figures
we and
life,
Tacitus'
in
such a circumspect
fashion that
the
Tacitus'
most
indirect
or cautious work.
Tacitus'
Teaching
begins
and the
Decline of Liberty
that is not linked
at
Rome
273
critique of
The
work
with a question
with
the radical
posed
politics until
to Tacitus fre
commander1
quently
by
an eminent political
man, the
consul of 102
a.d., army
hardly
The
suspect of un
question gives
longings
the
desire to
withdraw
from
politics.
hint
of a radical critique of
a possible critique of
"our"
the Principate.
Tacitus why
age
lacks
great
speakers,
when
Rome in widely
earlier centuries
He thereby
remarks a
decline in
what was
regarded as the noblest political art and even the noblest art
simply (Dial.
conversation
6.3,
7.2).
This, if true,
would seem to
be
a significant
blot
on
the Principate! In
stead of
he heard
response to the
youth."
Tacitus
swer
to
Justus'
question.
very carefully the time in which to suggest a comprehensive an His dialogue is set at a moment of political and moral
single-handedly provoked by a certain Curiatus Maternus, who in a corrupt despotism knowingly runs the risk of publicly reciting a tragedy on the theme of Cato, that is, of moral rectitude and resolute virtue. It is "said to have offended
crisis
powerful."
This Maternus
expected and
is
prepared
to accept.
conversations were
City
con
cerning
obliged aroused
this
(Dial.
2.1).
In
certain
circles,
the
poet
knew,
one
felt
against
his
argument.
One is
reminded of
the furor
by
address.
on
Perhaps
a more apt
comparison would
be
Berlin
performance of a
drama
Goethe
during by
Hitler's
Reich,
nus'
which
had
repudiated all
the
humanity
while
and
for.
On the
day
after
the
City
Mater
Tacitus'
audacity,
nied
by
in oratory paid Maternus a visit, accompa Tacitus. These two men, Manius Aper and disciple,
masters
Julius Secundus,
and
were respectable
men,
richly
endowed
by
highly
successful
in the forensic
and
judicial oratory
was, in the
to honor and
forum"
Tacitus
calls them
"the
(Dial.
2.1).
while still a
"mere
of
youth"
1.2), he
the
At the
beginning
nobility
the
dialogue, Tacitus
But
of orators.
orators, it
the
seems
to
be
speaking that he
admires
than
they
act.
listen assiduously to both [Aper and Secundus], not only in the law-courts, but even at home as well as in public; I zealously attended them with a marvelous de sire for studies and a certain youthful ardor, that I might thoroughly overhear even
used to
According to Syme,
he
"Fabius
occupies a
high
that
perhaps
occupied a post on
Trajan's
staff
He suggests among the marshals of Tacitus," in the Dacian campaign. "The Friend of
rank
Trajan."
pp.
113,
116.
274
Interpretation
disputations
and
the secrets
of
their
private
discourse (Dial.
By
the end
of
the
dialogue, Tacitus
42.2).
will
have found
political
cause to
modify
or
limit this
for
oratory
and even
the political
way
of
life (Dial.
under
the
This, we think, even more than the decline of oratory Roman Principate, is the most comprehensive and deepest theme of the
the disparagement
of political most
Dialogus; (cf.
philosophy, Dial. 41). It is also the that he had learned and was moved,
oratory from the point of view of deeply hidden, for Tacitus indicates saying a word to betray what he important character of the Dia
without
learned. Tacitus is in
a certain sense
the most
logus,
of
and
its
secret
intent is to
situation of
human beings
noblest or
and the
first
emergence
way
of
life is
conveys of
the most
way
political
life does
not
lack defenders.
2.
the
Case for
Oratory
The three find Maternus in his study holding the Cato he had recited the day before. Secundus opens the conversation. It appears that his intent in coming is
to warn Maternus that he has run a grave risk and ought to think of the survival of
his
himself. He
(Agr.
advises
deleting the
frank
passages even
if that
are
means
cruel and
hostile to
virtue"
.4);
thus, in
safety,
the
friends
Secundus
must
think Maternus is
a sort of simpleton to
have
so
ing
and
only
about
are there
reasonably loses
becomes entirely
speaks
consumed
by
the
concern
for
higher
nobler purpose?
To
limit
devotion? Be that
as
it may,
Secundus
first:
of
Maternus, do
the conversations
the
ill-willed [malignorum] not frighten you at all, [offensas] of your Catol Or have you removed
that you
might send
to distorted
interpretation,
certainly
not
better,
(Dial. 3.2)
Maternus
the
"ill-
or
his Cato
or
both may be
we see
ruined
by
the "distorted
interpretation"
of
willed."
From
posed
an earlier
passage,
that
Secundus
them
and
Aper
are themselves ex
to attacks from
"many
the
ill-will"
with
(maligne, Dial.
(cf. Agr.
1.1).
2.1).
Such is
perhaps
lot
But they
defending
is
more
themselves in the
courts.
Maternus is
only
difficult. Secundus
advises
Tacitus'
Teaching
and the
Decline of Liberty
revise
at
Rome
275
to
Secundus
calls
inter
probably the
precise point of
tion of revising.
Offering
to
the
book, he
ventures to
say, "You
Maternus has
heard"
owed
(Dial.
3.3).
In
just exactly
have
is he from
being terrified by
recitation"2
Maternus has already determined the subject of his out anything, Thyestes will say it in the next
next tragedy:
(Dial.
At this
of
point
Aper intervenes
and
by
Secun
dus
has
had been
noble ment:
before he took up poetry. Aper accuses him of abandoning for a frivolous pursuit. He makes this charge not without resent oratory "You waste all your time, previously about Medea, now behold, on a Thy
an orator
estes!"
(Dial.
3.4).
These
"fables,"
are
fit for
children.
He is derisive
where was
Secundus
naive.
was
only
compassionate.
According
to Aper he
is
perverse.
remains question
calm, though he
to Aper that
worried
if they had
not often
your
before, "I
would
have been
[perturbarer] by
severity"
(Dial.
4.1).
not choose
Although this controversy between them is old, Matemus to let the charge pass unanswered. For, while Secundus had
merely reminded him that he had enemies, Aper's charge threatens to lose him his friends. One pities a simpleton even for the misfortunes he has brought upon
himself, but
his
dus
error
one
blames
someone who
willfully
persists
in
being
perverse once
pointed out
to him.
Maternus
as a
attempts and
to
use
the occasion
for his
advantage of
conducts
himself
and
with
serious
here
for Maternus
for Aper
as well:
will concern
question of what
human being:
politics or
will es because, oratory or poetry. We say tablish, the ability to speak well is what is most needful for a successful politi cal career (Dial. 6.3). Considering its seriousness, and the commitment or pas sion with which it is defended at least on one side (see Dial. 1 1 1), this is not a politics rather
than oratory,
Aper
pronounce public
judgment.
Secundus is certainly
and so
reluctant
to
undertake
Actually,
the
mature
Tacitus is
no
see, he
judgment is
Secundus
2.
never
openly
the two discritique
Maternus'
This
Cato.
is
deeper
3.
and more
unanswerable
poetry (Dial.
5.1-2).
276
Interpretation
putants, Aper
where
formally
proffers
his charge,
as
if in
a court.
He loves the
world
he
pursues
He is
concerned
his brilliant career, but he is concerned to justify that career. to show reasonably that what he loves is good, that it deserves to
to
be loved. ble.
According
those
him, oratory is
do
so ought
not
only
most advantageous
but
most no
Hence,
who can
one's private
his opportunity,
unless
and this
is why Maternus is
being
"charged"
he is morally depraved.
.
I will accuse a judge of this legal controversy [litis] has been found [arguam] Maternus himself alone before all, because, though he was born for manly and oratorical eloquence (by which one is able to acquire and watch over friendships,
Since
gain
partisans, and
which
make oneself
the
master of
provinces) he has
study,
than
splendid
nothing in our City can be thought up more fruitful toward profit, or more for acquiring rank, or more noble for the fame of the City, or more illustrious
noted
toward
being
by
is
The
assumption on which
the charge
is based is that it is
good
to seek
all
the
so adept at winning.
praises and
of the
City,
one's own
fame in the
whole
Empire
among
all nations!
One
ought
to happiness. Happiness
and
for Aper
oneself.
consists
in
si
wealth, rank,
honor,
for
For he
lently
drops the
obligation to
City
in his
elaboration.
of
The first
part of
oratory (Dial.
5.5-
the chief is
to
fame,
and
fourthly
The first
to worldly
the
all,
wealth.
We
will mention
important
points
Aper
in his
section
is
based
is
on an axiom:
"All
deeds
be directed toward
what
useful
[utilitatem] for
(Dial.
5.5).
What is
guise of
sary is self-defense, for Aper understands civic life as a war carried on under the law and in the courts; whether this is always and everywhere true or just
of the
especially true
zens out of
now a
Empire,
or
we
of
morals,
citi
bring
false
fellow
baseness
not elaborate
deadly
instrument is
tend to
courtroom speech,
for this
is
a praise of
view would
In his
defending friends
fortified,
who
influence
and power
(Dial.
5.5).
Perhaps Aper
that fear of the speaker's ability keeps his enemies and those
envy him
finishes, Aper
admits
that the
ultimate ad
vantage of
oratory is
in
court.
Tacitus'
Teaching
For
one accused and which you are able to
and
the
Decline of Liberty
is
at once a
at
Rome
277
in danger, defend
eloquence
fortress
yourself as well as
attack,
whether
in
law-court,
or
in
the
Senate,
or
5.6).
Eloquence is then
man own
necessary
element
in the
in
dangers abound,
fellow-citizens. The
"the
to
envious"
suggests that
danger."
among it may be
one's espe
cially In the
sure
second section of
plea
pleasure
(honestas voluptates)
power,
from
possession
of such various
goods as
wealth,
honor,
and
experiencing
in
types of speaking,
chief of
both in itself
and
these pleasures
For
what
is
sweeter
[dulcius] for
men?
free
and
naturally
superior
[ingenuo]
thronged
born for
noble
and
ing
of
the
most
brilliant
(Dial.
6.2)
well-
Rome for friends, dependents (clients), wishers, flatterers, and those who thought they might need his services, to pay court to a successful orator. What we find most striking in his way of praising is
custom at
that Aper combines the noble and the pleasant as the goals
are
of
minds
"born for
pleasures."
noble
Aper
seems
to be a sophisticated
end of
gentleman of
sorts, for
is the
not a vulgar
hedonist. He
It
speaks of
body.
goes without
sures,
learning
are
not appear.
The "noble
pleasures"
Aper
and
emphatically
political pleasures.
They
in the
praise
dependency
Is there any
aged men
pleasure
from
by
the favor
of
highest
have that
which
is best?
Behold,
(Dial.
Roman
promenades!
6.3-4)
to Aper
or
enormous wealth and great power are good
According
procure own
insofar
as
they
of
honor
influence
and
thereby
a certain
kind
of pleasure.
procures
the
greatest
pleasure, which
is the
the
public
display
one's
over
the
City,
nay,
of the
world.
By
4.
understanding the
greatest advantage of
oratory
as a noble
of
pleasure, Aper
obfuscates
defense
against
to his
opina-
That Aper's
Dial.
assessment of
endangered
Secundus precisely
can
be
seen
plerique
2.1).
278 rivals
Interpretation
Does Aper deceive himself with
of a all
and enemies.
his
the "noble
pleasures"
"freeborn
mind"?
He
seems now
to forget what he
had
told us in the
first
legal
section on
the utility of oratory. These splendid promenades of to lose their fortunes or their
by
lives
in
a corrupt
action.
The
orator
is delighted
by
"sustained
by
[those]
highest
abundance of all
though
they have
not come
but because they are needy and exposed. He is delighted admired him when really they are hoping to use him.
Aper is impressed he is
an
if they spontaneously
by
because
does
emphatically say he here distinguish sufficiently between flattery toward a benefactor and admiration. But that would be severe indeed. For who does not like to be loved?
political man. we wished
would not
If
to be severe', we
And it
seems to
by
most
part,
and
somehow
oblivious
pleasure5
flattery
of
or calculation of
Aper
lovely
description
the secret
"joys"
(gaudia)
various
kinds
of speeches
long-premeditated,
re
cently written,
persuading
or extemporaneous.
He
others
is
not so good as
of
that
is
self-sufficient and
his
own power.
He
prefers the
"secret
joys"
to the orator to the ones which even nonspeakers may conjecture (Dial.
can never
what
be entirely self-sufficient, for he is dependent on opin he desires and this is the criterion of pleasures he praises.
peak of
section
is surely the
cess as an orator
is
The
orator gains
immortal glory, which Aper understands to be due entirely to ability. He denies that this glory is a form of flattery or that it is
benefactor. The glory won by a good orator is the recognition something intrinsically noble, spontaneously accorded by his admiring fel lows and those who are disinterested, if only they are upright and serious. only to
one's
Then [when I
and
plead a case
well] I
seem
consulates; then I seem to have what does not arise in another, nor is given will,
nor comes with of
by
[legal]
pared with
the glory
favor. What? The fame and praise of what art can be com orators? Are they not famous, not only in the City among the
the young men
and
political men
those who
selves?
have
innate
character
[recta indoles]
and good
hope
of them
(Dial. 7.2-3)
the speech Aper pays a silent compliment to Tacitus
wish
At the
peak of
by
claiming
most
sig-
In Dial.
6.2, he
tries to
prob
lem, he
tends to suppress
his
awareness
overall
judgment
of oratory.
Tacitus'
Teaching
nificant witnesses
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
279
confirmation of
life,
(recta indoles).
Tacitus'
his
own
devo
tion to
Aper
and
Secundus
nonetheless
their reasons.
Whether the
sufficient proved
glory
to
free the
orator and
by
his fellows
dependence
in his
upon
the standards ap
of
questionable.
The limits
his
self-
sufficiency
evidence as
section of
in
a corrupt
defers,
are
society where the opinions of most men, to depraved and fail to restrain his baser appetites.
most certain route to understood
wealth.
Oratory
speech,
erful come cellus
is the is
success
worldly success. In this section of the influence and intimacy with the pow primarily Aper alleges the case of two orators who have be
as
surpassingly influential and wealthy. Through oratory alone Eprius Mar and Vibius Crispus have overcome their abjectly poor origins and risen
world:
high in the
Without
means,
recommendation of
neither
outstanding in
been the
[influential] relatives, without substantial established for many years now, these have character [moribus] of the City, and, while they chose to be, chief men of the
.
forum;
ence
friendship
of
things,
Caesar [Vespasian], they bring every by the First Citizen with a certain
action rever
Along
We
with
they
see their
houses full
of
honors
from first
adoles
cence
We
cannot
deny
man
by
his
Aper
made
his
case.
But in the
course of
argument
case
ter."
is
he has let slip Aper admits that "Neither [of these men] is outstanding in charac Indeed, the reader may remember Eprius Marcellus to have been in the
closed.
of
forefront
Aper's
procured
the
the depraved
virtuous
to
use
"enemies"
by
of
discussed So
at some
oratory to the First Citizen. We have already careers of the delators in Chapter III.
these oratorical
powerful
is the
attraction of
the
prizes of
he is willing
6. The
to disregard their
the basis of
which
potential
for
injustice.6
Tacitus
this
sinis-
view on
Aper
of this view
have been
calculated]
interest,
or the
it can be
280
ter
Interpretation
of
inclination
In the
choice of
Marcellus
as
his
model of
success.
second main
speech, Aper
completes
his
argument
in fa
vor of
the oratorical
life
by denigrating
The
point of view of
its
inep
livelihood,
Aper's
poet pleasure
lasting
honor (Dial.
9.1).
core of
objection
useless.
This is why it is
by
success and
others:
on which
they
come
to the
or
benefit
"What
good
is it to
anyone
if your Agamemnon
Jason
eloquently?"
speaks
(Dial. 9.2)
According
to
Aper,
useful are
united, and
gerous world.
nobility of oratory is based above all on its profound utility in a dan Those who praise and pay the orators expect to be defended by is
more effective than
them.
Oratory
9.2).
(Dial.
cause asks
Poetry, like
poet],
when
the
other
"obligating"
others
interest,
and
be
it is
a
separated
from
it
cannot once
[for
he has
him
though he had
man would
statue"
(Dial.
Presumably
him
Philistine
as
this same
feel the
as a
friend.
allows and
We
must
hasten to
He
add that
Aper may
not
be
such a
he
himself to
appear.
acknowledges that
poetry is
and
a type of
eloquence,
10.4).
he its
venerable"
(Dial.
Yet
one
is
transcendence of petty
praise of eloquence.
We
are
is lacking in Aper's merely human purposes inclined to believe that he uses these words rather
loosely,
of
truly
venerable
beauty
(Dial.
the
order
being
of
the gods
is
even
remotely
suggested
in Aper's
to de
discourse. He
For him the
the
word
splendidissimus, "most
brilliant"
6.2),
scribe successful
(i.e. rich
and
influential)
men.
noble or
beautiful is identical
with what
is
Still, he
would not
be
debunking
is
explanation.
It is
characteris
tic of Aper to
be
useful or
necessary
and at
the
same
time to adorn
or
wants
higher than
his
ble."
mere utility.
most apparent
utilitarian praise of
oratory
and
his
conclusion that
adequately prepares or supports this extravagant con clusion. Aper, the realist, believes in an artificial world based on the fundamental illusion that his profession is grander or more noble than he can prove.
A life based squarely
noble which maintains
on an can
Nothing in the
speech
illusion is
called
a precarious
about
the
it
be
into doubt
by
individuals
overridden,
mistakes, but
are
indicates,
or
there any
to
have it
directing our
not without its exacting the consequences of them. Nor, as irremovable barriers standing between the good and our nec desire for the good away from its object. View
"Thucydides'
Imperialism,"
1974): 16.
Tacitus'
Teaching
who
and the
Decline of Liberty
and
at
Rome
281
and
benefits
seriously Maternus, for Maternus has indeed turned his on the of back life Aper believes to be best. Aper is sustained in his belief by way the accord of most men. If Maternus fails to return to the oratorical life, he can
so
concerned to refute
expect
that
they
will all
feel threatened
can
and
remains
open
to
doubt
and
doubt
reason
for Maternus to be
careful
easily provoke hostility. There is then a sufficient in presenting his case. Of this reason Aper is
perhaps unaware.
But Aper
more careful. retirement on
concludes
his
speech
by
ought to
be
Aper
suspects
[Caesar
for
us
own goes
(Dial.
10.7-8).
Actually,
is is
not without
too far
in
banishing lofty
The
independent
virtue not
only from
and
discourse
a corrupt and
successful even
in
question of virtue
is forbidden
hence dangerous
in the only way Aper is willing to calculate profit. It is not a mark in his favor that he therefore refuses to grant that it is noble. Aper, the political
man, is radically dependent
on
That
such
is
not of
the
lot
of
with
his
Maternus,
to
reject oratory.
We
turn to his
are
importance in Aper
since
limits
society, limits
the
more
interesting
to
as
we
have the
who
looks
not so much
himself,
the gods,
or nature as
erful men
disregarding
their depravity.
"Poetry"
3.
Maternus is
ous
only
dramatic poet, he is
charge, gravely
presented
by
of
Aper, he
his
responds
gaily
(Dial.
1 1. 1).
His
speech
in defense
his
retirement
reserved.
Maternus does
and
not present
entire
concerns,
he
barely
alludes
to the theme
of
Cato,
the
moral critique of
those
influence to
wickedness.
We
understand
this as a
and
Aper. Aper's
speech
most
has clearly indicated his preferences argue entirely disagrees, he chooses not to
of
his
and run
Aper's
7.
point of view as
further antagonizing Aper. Instead, he sup their deepest disagreement and presents himself from fool.7 He harmless, unworldly, and even something of a
of a man
a man, who
does
not wish
to
flatter him
with-
282
pretends passed. cannot
Interpretation
to orient himself
by
it has
long
since
one
To Aper this
must seem
folly, but
perhaps
it
mitigates
patently by At the outset, Maternus indicates that he could have indicted the that, in abstaining from a critique of poetry as elaborate as his praise
someone so
naive.
feel threatened
orators
of
but
oratory,
wonder
art"
[him]
mild
by
a certain
(Dial.
n.l).
We then
art"
Maternus
"certain
whose end
is
Maternus has
the
but
claims
that
him famous. He
alludes
to a significant
in the
reign of
Nero
he "broke the
to
profane
power"
of
Vatinius
"a dishon
far
as
[liberal]
of
arts
(Dial.
1 1.2).
It is
not unimportant
mentions resembles
the
recitation of
his Cato. It
was a successful
defense
The
the
liberal
of
arts against a
a previous reign.
remainder
of
his
explanation or
defense his
his
mo
wonder what
those motives
were and
they
were wise
in light
of
the
well-defended pursuits of
retirement.
In
response
his
own
rather
It
was a
tragedy
gained
he
He
will
subsequently try to
He is brave,
through
admits to
having
"reputation This is
name"
and a
more
than through
oratory.
a partial refutation of
fame
"incomparable"
(Dial.
17.2).
not
"ardently long
(concupisco,
Dial. 12.3) the followers and thronged promenades of the successful orator. Though he does not venture to say it, we suspect that Maternus remains unim pressed with these testimonials because he recognizes that they do not come from
a sense of spontaneous admiration
but
a calculation of self-interest.
he does
who
not need
man of
is
unimpressed with
honor, "for
even
honor is
not
worthy
of perfect vir
tue."8
remark
Maternus
makes
immorality
tions in his
and
degradation
required
in passing in a subsequent section indicates that the to flourish at Court are important considera
politics:
decision to
retire
from
The middle way is too dangerous and therefore impossible: "It is not enough [for an outstanding man] to say, T do not care for anything, I desire neither honors nor advantages, I merely wish to live For these excuses are heard and not accepted; nor can men quietly and without who have qualities choose to remain thus. For though they truly choose to do so, and without any am bition, because it is not believed of them that they wish to remain, they are not allowed to remain by
out reservation.
conflict!'
others.
madman
like Brutus,
well
by
doing
prince"
(Dis
8.
112439-10.
Tacitus'
Teaching
and
and
the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
283
do they have in Though
. .
Marcellus
fortune that is to be desired? That they fear or that they are feared? bound with flattery, that they neither seem sufficiently servile to the rulers
sufficiently free to
us?
nor
(Dial. 13.4)
Maternus is
dignity
flattery. He is
with and
free
of
these
means
because he is free
influence
others
long
for.
also claims no
For the
himself
same
reason, Maternus
free
of
against
they
to harm him:
For the
by
security of anyone whomsoever is guarded better by innocence than I do not fear that I shall ever make speeches in the Senate unless in the eloquence;
rank and
cause of another
(Dial.
1 1
.4).
Maternus'
in
general
than it does in
his
particular
He
is,
after
all,
nocent"
only if
of
we
under a necessity of defending himself at present and is "in forget the implications of his repudiation of the political life, and such activities as
particular
the
tragedy
called
Cato,
hopes to be
succeed
by concealing his
only insofar
action,
which can
"innocent"
as
and even ruin men who are enemies of virtue and education. endangered political
by
impact
poetry in order to conceal his base men is impressive, but one wonders
of
whether
Secundus is
in warning him not to publish it. The next section substitutes for a statement
withdraw
induced Maternus to
from the
oratorical and
off
the
"success"
critique of
oratory
implicit in his
with
drawal,
Maternus
presentation of
between poetry and innocence. He seeks, if even only for a time, to make his interlocutors gentle by removing them from their earnest quest for rank, wealth, and honors. He speaks of the innocence of the men of the
the indissoluble
alliance
golden
age,
and of
the benevolent
gods:
The
blood-thirsty
Aper,
eloquence
is
recent and
born from
wicked
morals, and,
saying,
discovered in
manner
place of a weapon.
But really,
that
happy
of
and
that
golden
and prophets
[poetis
sang
deeds
well
done,
did
not
defend
what was
badly
(Dial.
12.2-3).
The
poet-prophets
were close
responses
they
were said
to
and at whose
banquets they
were said
to have been
prese
it is only
by
retreating
284
Interpretation
political world
from the
ness of
that one
the
innocence,
the
still
for
veneration of
transcendent, how
not account
ever
understood, in
of
outlook. was
But this
does
for the
kind
his
proposed alliance
attempt
Could eminently between poetry and the golden age be a partially rhetorical respectability for a pursuit that is not susceptible of being ex
writing,
which was
political.
plained or
men such as
We
recall
upon a
his life
the opinions
principles of
is truly noble, he was reduced to taking his guidance from of his society. Aper would not like to hear this, so Maternus invokes
innocence and purity without really showing how they apply to life in the Empire. That they do, we know from his Cato and his effort to destroy Vatinius.
Maternus
now
indicates, in
votes
his
retirement.
subdued
context of a praise of
Vergil,
whose
honor is
13. 1
-2).
at
least
Curiously, he
of
beginning
passage
opens with
this
supplies the explanation of the purpose of poetic retirement that was still
missing and that could not adequately be presented to a man of Aper's preju dices. At this point we remember that the young Tacitus was present at the con
versation.
sake
Maternus
ventured
to hint
at
to
which
who are
and
for
whom
he is "struck is
with an
immense
cred
love."
The
Muses
preside
venerable or sa
somehow
is'
and
it
seems natural
is
natural
attested
by
the
joy
it brings:
sweet
Firstly, in truth,
sacred
above all,
may the
[dukes] Muses
accept me,
[Muses]
whose
[objects]
I carry,
struck with an
amore].9
These
sweet
Muses
preside over
philosophy, for
a rational
they
show
the
"causes"10
of
cosmology is the transhuman or di vine pursuit which is, to natural and pleasant. He retires from Vergil, according the pursuits and ambitions of the political life to devote himself to answering the questions to which he is led the love of the truth by his "immense
quest
love"
natural phenomena.
The
for
is but
a part.
May they
9. 10.
[the
Muses]
show me
of
the
moon; from
what sources
the
lands, by
what
11.475-76.
Tacitus'
Teaching
swell,
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
285
the
high
seas
themselves; why only the winter delay obstructs the late [winter]
Vergil
ena.
is, "firstly
appears
all,"
and above
manner
eager
to
know the
It
from the
in
which
the questions
qua
that he is open
vi,
"by
in
what
force"? These
order of
questions remind us of
great
poem,
which attributes
the
the
universe, such as
However,
all
an
no answer
an
indifferent
void.
suggested.12
seems to
despair
of
by
benevolent being? Vergil's doubts concerning the power of to find a satisfactory answer to this question compel him to return philosophy from the questions about the heavens to what is first for men. He makes a new
intelligent
and start by adverting to the pleasures afforded by a natural world that does not seem hostile to man as long as he does not spoil his enjoyment of it by an extravagant
desire for
If the
political glory:
cold
blood
about
my heart
me and
obstructs me
streams
the
flowing
love the
rivers and
forests."
The ble to
veals
then
be to
nature and
live in
accordance with
it. A
closer
look
at this alternative re
must come
that,
from reason, it
from the
gods of
These are for Vergil the only two superhuman man-loving sources of direction for human life: nature or the gods. Both of them teach men to overcome the fear of death and avoid an overly high estimation of the political
gods rule nature.
life
and
its
ambitions:
He [would be] happy [felix] who was able to know the causes of things and who trod Acheron! That one underfoot all fears and inexorable fate and the noise of greedy Pan and old Silvathe knew who also gods, country [would be] fortunate [fortunatus]
nus and the
Nymph
sisters.
. .
of the people
do
not move
him [the
must
latter]
nor
the purple
ther does
of
kings
nor
politics
[res],
nor
kingdoms that
possessor.14
perish; nei
he grieve, pitying
man would
envy the
The happiest
quiet
thus
be the
things and
his own concerns about death or immortal ficient knowledge. But Vergil hints at the fact that
and perhaps everyone else.
H.477-82.
cosmique
glory
through all-suf
for him
II.
12. 13.
If so, the
simple
life
of
farmers
Ibid.,
de
Virgile,"
Revue des
etudes
latines
32(l954):235.
14.
Ibid.,
11.490-99.
286
Interpretation
to the country
gods15
is the only alternative worth considering. In the even though he does not argue the point, deprecates Vergil politics, Georgica, would be dangerous. To hold the merely human in ven to do so because possibly
and close
eration,
reason
as
Aper does, is
which a man
an
illusion,
be
and awareness of
this fact
is the
If
supreme
for
"struck
with an
immense
love"
of
disre
gard
the
political
life but
the
might whole
attracted
to a life of
an adequate
philosophic account of
is beyond human reach, the simple cult of the gods appears to be the only way to preserve an honest stance toward the superhu man, which the political man forgets in his consuming preoccupation with his
own advancement or
the
advancement of
human institutions
such as
the
Roman
"neither Vergil
wise
man, the
pious man
is indifferent to
riches:
does he grieve, pitying the poor man, nor does he envy the conceives of the life of simple piety, no less than the life of inquiry,
mentally
pleasant
possessor."
as a
funda
life. His
preference
critique
seems
to result
from his
characterizes
this
better,
one would
have to
compare
the Georgica as
whole with
the Aeneis as a
evidence of a
Plato.16
whole.
In
our sketch of
we
have found
basic
alternative
reminiscent of speaks
Interestingly
the
other
enough,
for the
Plato's
philosophy to that
He
also
tells us
that,
after
finishing the
his life to the
Aeneis, Vergil
study of As the
planned
to go to Athens and
devote the
remainder of
philosophy.18
passage
just
quoted
from Vergil
and
makes
inquiry,
Maternus is
to it.
Only
in the light
of
15.
16.
of
Plato in
our age
has the
Platonic understanding
mate
the limits of reason: "However much the comprehensive visions which ani
do
not
merely
of the whole. Therefore, they differ, they all are visions of the same differ, but contradict, one another. This very fact forces man to realize that each of taken by itself, is merely an opinion about the whole or an inadequate articulation of
fundamental
awareness of
the
whole and
articula
tion. There is
guaranty that the quest for adequate articulation will ever lead beyond an under standing of the fundamental alternatives or that philosophy will ever legitimately go beyond the stage of discussion or disputation and will ever reach the stage of decision. The unflnishable character of
no
the quest
for
does
not entitle
one,
however,
to limit philosophy to
the
whole.
In
particular, such
interpretation
of
For the meaning of a part depends on the meaning of a part as is based on fundamental experiences alone,
is ultimately
not superior to other
without recourse to
hypothetical
in
frankly based on such hypothetical Natural Right and History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953),
terpretations of that
part which are
assumptions."
Leo Strauss,
pp.
125-26.
soul
especially about the in his books, he himself was nevertheless an Academic: for he placed the thoughts [sententias] of Plato above all Tiberius Claudius Donatus, "Vita P. Virgilii xix, Vergil, Opera,
17.
seems
"Although he
to
have
placed
the opinions
of various philosophers
others."
Maronis,"
ed.
reprint
ed., Hildesheim:
Georg Olms,
1968).
Ibid.,
xm.
Tacitus'
Teaching
and
the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
love"
287
that leads to it
"immense
or
by paltry merely human. Maternus approaches a self-sufficiency that Aper lacks. In a very subdued manner, Tacitus has recorded perhaps the single most important event of his life: his introduction
seem
Aper
to the taste of a
man of
the
a
highest excellence
and
his
horizon
political
of such a
man,
horizon
within which
of
The
goals
effect of akin
purely
political
is
to that of the
of
at
Tacitus
in
broaching the
losophy
with
for fear
of
discrediting
As
one sees
simply educating men to a nobility that encompasses the political while remaining open to its ultimate ground. We do not forget that concern with these questions did not prevent him from writing his
the human questions, or
with
Maternus'
his
concern
own
love
of
philosophy
unconnected with
themes.19
the splendor
ap
in his grasp
of vast
human
and political
4.
The Second Speech of Aper and Messalla's Response: the New Style and the Decline of Oratory
can pronounce
judgment
"poetry,"
on
the
legitimacy
of
any
with
for the
sake of
Vipstanus Messalla,
a capable
assembled company.
In the
for them to inves ensuing conversation, he introduces a new theme contempt for the type feels orators and ancient the admires tigate. Messalla only least two of at shared taste is His of eloquence that prevails in his own time. by
course of the
and
Secundus. We
recall
Tacitus had
promised
theme
by recounting this
Tacitus
were
memorable conversation
his friend, Fabius Justus, to investigate this from his youth. Fabius and the
that oratory was
mature
and
both
of
the
opinion
in
a state of
decline,
endure
this decline is
hardly
whom
Messalla be
lieves to
refuses
"to
our age to
be
condemned,
16.4).
by
[Messalla]"
(Dial.
By
bles
Tacitus again dissem allowing Aper to speak first, win approval in high quarters or with his contented
and respectable
contemporaries.
The
by
Messalla is the
question of whether
the manly
of
such oratory that flourished with more the to superior the Roman Republic was
and vigorous
but
ora-
19.
This
can
be
which
is
conceived
essentially
as a theodicee;
"Tell me,
Muse,
the causes,
divinity
insulted,
what
did the
labors. Is there
such anger
for piety [Aeneas], to suffer so many misfortunes Vergil, Aeneis, 1.8-n. in divine
minds?"
and to undertake
288
Interpretation
the Principate. It
tory
of
be seen, though nothing has yet been said about it, this question implies an adverse reflection on the new regime.
will
at
least initially, in
which
is human
ex
regime
modern
it
cannot
flourish is ipso facto defective. Aper takes pursuing the theme of his speech in de the distinction between "the an
are not so of
the side of
oratory,
indirectly
"The
fense
but
of
the
regime.
At first he tries to
age."
obfuscate
cients"
ancients"
and a
"our
own
are
hundred
and
twenty
reign
years
Cicero
of
(43
B.C.) to the
sixth
year of
Vespasian's He is
(75
the conversation
(Dial.
17.2-3).
silent on
later
out, may be
an
(Dial.
He hints
the
types of speaking are fact that oratory becomes 19. 1). Certainly he claims
In
several
passages, Aper
characterizes
during
which was
to reach
its full
Tacitus (Dial. 20.4-6; 22.4-5). The style that finds favor with Aper's contem poraries is pithy, grave, allied to Augustan poetry, exquisite in its choice of
words, artful in style, this style
was and varied mature
in
construction.
The
greatest
Roman
master of
to be the
we cannot
forbear to
add
splendor of
human
excellence
(cf.
thies may
Chapter I), this excellence is not unreflected in the style. Wherever his sympa have ultimately lain in the controversy between republican and impe
rial eloquence, Tacitus learned
which please must change with
at
of
speaking
it
was neces
sary to
ascend
from the
was
refined and
process, Tacitus
to the taste
is
not
bound
or concerns of
any
as
one age.
His
pithiness and
gravity
are eternal,
for
they
are rooted
in
continue
to move us as
deep long
reflection on a
body
human
vari
ation and
indeed,
end
they may
only
for his
finding
favor
gives
with some
they
are
way to
return
deeper
pleasure at understanding.
To
to the
the
difference between
ancients
confessed what
impressed to
some extent
convince.
by
he
ex
Maternus
tols
his
learning
with which
he has de
fended
(Dial.
24.
promise to show
made
the
case
no
Maternus had
said that
Tacitus'
Teaching
was
and
289
quence.
Aper
merely
imitating
he disagreed. He does
political prudence
had something to do
casual or
with
his
including
reader.
such a speech
in the
place most
striking to the
potentially hostile
superior
oratory is
so
to
to say
(cf. Dial.
27.3).
All
men
periority
of
"the
ancients"
for
granted and as
"conceded
by
all."
He
specifies
that,
as
Attic
orators
tors of
primacy is yielded to Demosthenes, and the ora best after him, so at Rome Cicero is held supreme
among the
and after
Moreover the
leading
orators of
his
age
Calvus, Asinius,
before
own peculiar
Caesar, Caelius,
(Dial.
characteristics and
Brutus
are
generally held to
a certain
excel
25.3).
Messalla
grants
but
adds that
"there is
He
similarity
and
kinship of judgment
and
disposition"
(Dial.
"vigor"
25.4).
mentions
(impetum)
"ripe
under
standing"
(maturitatem)
as qualities
older
he
the
moderns.
oratory first
rectness,
amine
judgment,
promise
When Messalla
offers to ex
reminds
individually, Maternus
of
him
of
his
to investigate the causes of decline (Dial. 27.1) and adds, the ancients, avail yourself
even more than
or
"When
you speak of
the
ancient
liberty, from
27.3).
which we
will see
have degenerated
no one
from
eloquenc
(Dial.
We
so
later that
as
dares
is
able
to
avail
himself of the
ancient
liberty
completely
5.
Maternus himself.
the
Superiority
starts
of Ancient
Upbringing
and
Thorough Education
and the other arts or rebarbarization.
Messalla
from
a well-known
decline,
which stem
from
a general relaxa
decay
for
that
characterizes
the Empire:
For
who
does
not
eloquence and
want of
have fallen away from men, but through the idleness of the youth, the
the other arts
ignorance
[inscientia]
of
teachers,
and
the
forgetting
of
(Dial. 28.2)
Messalla
quence.
will confine
himself to
discussion
of these causes as
they apply
deal
to
elo
The surviving
portion of
his
speech
which
respec
tively
with
old and
new modes of
bringing
up
young children,
the difference as
as regards
the
education of
the
practice of
valuable
Messalla's
prevailed
explanation
is
in
education and
upbringing
during
the
period we
have been
studying.
From him
we
decline
290
of
Interpretation
was
Rome To
already
the
a matter of concern
to thoughtful men in the early about its ebbing virtue. felt they the decline of eloquence Messalla begins
Empire,
by
con
Roman upbringing of children with the laxness of trasting children of good families used to be brought up by Empire. The life in the family
the
strictness of
the
old
with a
highly
respected
female
it that
Above all, it
or
at study.
was
thought
(hones-
is
"proper"
"noble"
is
"base"
(turpe),
at
play
no
less than
The
character or
which resulted
from this
master
it is indispens
prepares a noble
him to
a certain strictness.
This
him hu
demanding
discipline
in
order to
become
completed
by
the knowledge of a no
ble
art.
The discipline
of each
with
and
by
no
depravities
,
should
his
heart the
[artes
right,
honestas]
and whether
of
science of would
or
the study
eloquence,
he
would per
[universum]
(Dial.
28.6).
Nobility
is
possible as
influences. For
only on the basis of sheltering or an early privation of base Messalla believes, the tender young nature can be easily dis
torted or perverted.
ern
This is precisely what is permitted in the more relaxed atmosphere of the mod family Messalla criticizes. The children are not subjected to noble influences.
mothers prefer their own
Their
freedom
to the
care of
ignorant
(cf.fabulas, Dial.
29. 1).
The distinction
between nobility and baseness is not preserved. Instead the child is exposed from the first to the whole array of human and subhuman phenomena. Where morality is
replaced
noble.20
by
lewdness
does
not
develop
a reverence
for
the
of
Impudence
for
instead
actors,
and
with
love
of
gladiators and
horse
races
(Dial.
29.1-4).
Gentlemen disappear
with
the noble
by
voluptuaries without
heart.
education proper
In the
orator.
his speech, Messalla turns to the Education in general has been adversely affected
second part of
to an
phere of
neither to
by learning [classic]
the relaxed
atmos au
thors,
(Dial.
times"
nor
to remarking
replaces
30.1).
Narrow
professional
training
of the
liberal
20.
arts which
speaking.
"Shame is
hardly
training,
much
less
can
chastity
or
modesty
or
any
thing
of moral
purity be
vices"
preserved
among
contest of
(xiv.
15.2).
Tacitus'
Teaching
The
art
and
the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
know
291
what
modern orators
simply do
not
they
were
are
talking
studies
They
are as
ignorant
they
are of nature.
education
in
order to show
how broad
the
Cicero
all
undertook
civil
law,
including dialectics,
from in
great
moral
philosophy,
and
natural
admi
flowed forth
things"
and abounded
learning,
and
many arts,
knowledge
of all
(Dial.
in the
30.5).
moral or political
The human
to be
considered paramount of
education of an orator:
with
dents
those arts in
which
is
argument
and
concerning the good and bad things, the noble and the base, and the just (Dial. 31.1). This study was crucial because the main concerns
unjust"
the
of ora
just (in the law courts) and the noble (in deliberations).21 These are controversial and difficult matters which cannot be treated adequately unless one
tory
has
are the
examined
them
with care.
the just is
possible.
No
one
is
able to speak
human
copiously and with variation and ornament unless he knows force of the virtues and the depravity of the vices, and has under
standing
those things
[pleasures?]
among the
virtues
(Dial.
31.2).
Knowledge
of
human
nature
is
requisite not
only to
knowing
what
is
good
na
persuade
successfully This is
know the
will
"As the
nature of each
apply his
hand
of
and govern
his
oration"
(Dial.
31.4).
philosophy is
the most
crucial
to
make
careful examination of
human
nature and
are also
exemplary
models of
orator
different types
of men
are some
among
distilled type
individual
arguments care
faith; among
more; to
these
it is beneficial to
common
have devoted
moral sense
smooth oration
drawn from
others
persuade
these we will
for every argument. The Academ be alien combativeness, Plato loftiness, Xenophon charm; it will not even
apt passages prepared
I have followed
which
the
manuscript
reading here
rather than
the
unsupported
conjecture
of
Ursinus,
supplied.
Koestermann
adopts
text.
According
in
profitable"
is
supplied as
unchanged
also
The
seems
to give a less
keeping
with
the
Messalla.
292
Interpretation
noble exclamations
from Epicurus
and
Metrodorus
and to
It
should
be
clear
by
now
why it is
reasonable
for
to
become
to
an
Philosophy
enables one
know
teaches how to
persuade.
If witnesses
are needed,
he knows:
most ardent
Demosthenes is
that
whatever
said
listener. Cicero
claims not
he has been
of
due
to the workshops
32-5-6).
the rhetoricians,
the
Academy
(Dial.
cause"
and chief
of
Cicero
and
his
age.
To that
he
opposes
narrow concentration on
declamation The
rhetorical schools of
taught to
speak without
training
basis is
powers.
stimulates the
thought to
develop the
inventive
subjects
Messalla contemptuously gives examples of some of the on which boys are made to declaim: how tyrannicides are to be
whether
"incredible"
re
warded,
deflowered
be
virgins ought
which
observed
in times
upon
of
pestilence,
likely
to deter a mother
section of
intent
incest (Dial.
35.5).
In the third
law
with
the artificial
days,
topics
chief orator of a
daily
round of speeches on
importance in
This
section
of
deliberation
lead to
and a
judg
naturally
would
contrast
between the
Republic.
political and
conditions
Unfortunately,
do
not
have the
prevailing in the Empire and the conclusion of his speech, for the
this point.
extant manuscripts
indicate
lacuna
of six pages at
6.
Maternus'
Second Speech:
the
manuscripts
it
boldest
his speech is the amazing speech in all of Tacitus. There is an almost Platonic intransigence to his severely disparaging assessment of actual politics from the
remains of and most
22.
What
where
he is identified
as
preceding speech,
which com
Tacitus'
Teaching
standpoint of
and
at
Rome
of
293
moderation
wisdom,
recall
although
it is tempered
by
kind
Platonic
a
or
humanity. We
love
of
philosophy
as part of
his
retirement
from the
political
life.
In the
cerns eager
speech,
no
doubt
of
decline
,
a reply to Messalla, the argument still con Roman eloquence, a theme Maternus had been
3;
cf. 16.3).
Where the
manuscripts
resume,
we
of
im
the
beginning
by Fabius Justus, it had been assumed that great eloquence is a desirable thing, nay, that excellence in oratory is identical to hu man excellence and hence that is the noblest art (Dial. 1.1; 5.4; 6.3; oratory
28.6).
The first
speech
had
made
it reasonably
clear
becomes
is that
argument
great
oratory is
by
po
reason
Oratory
same
supplements
flourished in the anarchy of the late Ro but does not necessarily contradict
suggests a
Messalla's it
was
At the
of
time, it
the
decadence
also
For Maternus it is
the restoration
denies that
republican
oratory
and,
as
worthy
standard
by
which
He himself will
standard.
At the
the art:
Great eloquence, like a flame, is nourished on fuel, and aroused by movements, and in burning grows bright. Such a rationale advanced the eloquence of the ancients in our
City
what
as well.
is
proper
[the
Empire] have
obtained
wealth, nevertheless
to attain more
,
of turbu
lence
and
license [the
(Dial.
declining Republic]
lacking one
moderator
36.1-2).
stunning
and the
oratory.
of
perpetually on the verge of civil war (see Chapter II), its in hostile factions, and there were many opportunities for Public deliberations concerned objects of the highest moment
was
life
the
City
was ever
in jeopardy. Should be
put the
potent
faction leaders be
of
put
to death or
reconciled?
How
could armies
wrested
treacher
City
settlement.
Political
by
family
revenge.
Great trials
were
continually
neces
"These things
individually
tore the
City
apart,
but they
rewards
exercised
accumulate great
for
it"
(Dial.
Honors
lavished
on
the
speakers
294
Interpretation
best defend their faction. What
to be
was
who could
over
Maternus
nius,"
agrees
he
calls
"the force
of ge
is indeed
by
of
[vis]
of genius unless
increases,
he finds
is
anyone able
to make a bril
liant
cause"
speech
a comparable
(Dial. 37.5).
point
from the
career of
Cicero,
whom
Messalla had
was
into
such a paragon.
prince of
crisis.
eloquence, it
terrible
who
His
most
famous
in de
traitors
finally
succeeded
and
Antony
(Dial.
Cicero his
was one of
day
who
country's
oratory
usu
ally
was used
for
men as
ty
rants.
Oratory
the
is for the
demagoguery. It is it. A
against
demagogues
such orators:
havoc
on
not permit
We
are not
speaking
call
thing
which rejoices
in
of
honesty
license,
and
famous
eloquence
is the foster-child
fools
incitement have
of an
ungov-
erned
populace,
that
allegiance,
severity, obstinate,
rash and we
arrogant, a
of
thing
does
not arise
in
well-ordered cities.
For
what orator
heard
or the
Cretans? These
severest
disci
According to Maternus,
mocracies such as
oratory
and
demagoguery
flourish especially in de
Athens, Rhodes,
and
is for a well-ordered aristocratic republic or even a stable monarchy (Dial. 40.3), but this is merely a passing reference to what is most desirable. The depth of critique of oratory, and thereby of the ordinary poli tics that make use of it, is stunningly apparent in his concluding words. There he
preference
Maternus'
maintains
defective
when
stand never
is
ordered
by reason.
Though
has
existed, it
sets
the standard
by
which all
intent
of
be judged. The
with
less frustrated
the order in
they live,
where noble
not
flourish. For
accord
ing
to
Maternus,
His
the glory of
oratory
is
truly
noble.
earlier speech
with
had already
conception of now
No
under
Rome
yet
"been freed
41
.
from faults
or ordained
completely in
prayer"
accordance with
(Dial.
1). Ora-
Tacitus'
Teaching
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
be
295
tory
remains and
continue to
tious,
would
to harass and harm one another. If all men were wise and good there
be
no need
"Who
calls upon us to
defend him in is
a political
court un
someone or
been
oppressed?"
Oratory
instrument
necessary by man's abiding cruelty and inhumanity. "If some city could be found in which no one committed wickedness [peccaret] , among the innocent the healthy" orator would be as superfluous as a doctor (Dial. 41 Not among the
.3).
only do men continue to do evil under all regimes, but government continues to be ruled by jealous, selfish, ambitious and unwise men. The following passage is
a critique of the
Principate
as
not an after
identification
is,
all,
Maternus,
speeches
use
the author of
Cato,
a critique of the
Prin
is speaking:)
is there for
What
need
long
the multitude
man?
in the Senate, if the best men quickly were to for many addresses to the people if not the inexperi deliberated about the commonwealth but the wisest [sapientisWhat
need
simus] single
What
What
for voluntary accusations if wicked deeds were done so need for hostile and immoderate defenses if the mercy judge the defendants (Dial.
41.4). condition of all poli
Maternus does
tics
not
have any
expectations
will change.
His
seems
to be the
political result of
his
superior
natural and
partisanship irre
realm.23
partisanship"
et studio).
We
in his first
speech
the
connection was
philosophic openness
to questions of the
what are
his
political stance.
The
supreme question
is
the limits
the rule of
reason or
cosmos.
Now
we see more
clearly that
moderation
in
politics results
from
a superior
defective
character of all
regimes,
which must
is, however,
publication.
limit to
what
Maternus
will put
up with, as one sees from his for doubting the wisdom of that
his interlocutors
more
By his
last
word
Maternus is
concerned
with
to
make
gentle,
and
less frustrated
their
lot
and
the defects
not
of their time.
All
their
defects,
and
He has
decline is
somewhat compensated
for
by a
Oh best born in
were
insofar
as there
is
need
those
whom we
admire,
were
for it, believe me: if you were born in these, or if some god
lack that highest
praise
to suddenly
change your
lives
and
times,
and
23.
glory in eloquence,
There is
a
nor would
they lack
measure and
moderation; now,
inasmuch
acceptance of human nature as the unchangeable ba study of Studi filologici e storici natura humana Tacitus de "Quid sis for politics. Nicola Barbu, in onore di Vittorio de Falco (Naples: Libreria Scientifica Editrice, 1971), PP- 449~l.
Tacitus'
fascinating
cogitaver
296
Interpretation
fame
own and great
tranquility in
the same
himself
(Dial.
of the good of
his
century,
ignoring
the disparagement
41.5).
Maternus'
effect of
reasoning
moved
by
his humanity.
poli
to a
man
who, though
by
no means
indifferent to
tics,
yet
Maternus
of
shares with
Tacitus the
noble qualities of a
deep
understanding
the
human order, openness to the superhuman, versatility, and acceptance of what cannot be changed, along with a concern to move and educate the few who can be
so educated.
the Cato
was not
little hope
was
of
That the
youthful
Tacitus
deeply
improving moved by
matters.
Maternus
we
following. After concluding his speech, Maternus recalls in differences that separate him from Aper and Messalla:
a playful manner
and embracing Aper, he said, "I will accuse you before the poets, and Messalla "And I will accuse you both before the rhetori [will do so] before the replied [Aper] (Dial. 42.2). cians and school
Rising
antiquarians."
masters,"
ends
we
the dialogue
that
he
was present:
general
"When they
departed."
He
laughter. Does
he thereby indicate that he was lost in thought and admiration of what he had heard from Maternus, clearly the most gifted and impressive man present?
With this study of the Dialogus, thought. It appears to us that in this
us an alternative noble response
Tacitus'
we conclude our
essay
on
political
short non-historical
to the
decline
of
liberty
the Principate.
There is
another
with political
fundamental way of life open to certain gifted and decent men concerns in a time of tyranny. The ways of Seneca and Thrasea are
not
undoubtedly admirable but they are was then less attractive and, though
system,
others could see their
for
Political
participation
we admire
way
as
dangerous
less than
Tacitus'
analysis of
manifestations of virtue
in the Principate is
represented
by Maternus,
the com
has
from
politics
in
depraved
order to
devote
would
wise
in
pub
licly denouncing
us good reasons
given
for
doubting
corruption of
inevitably falling
made of
short of the
best
the
necessities
that
fective form
of government. gained
Under those
circumstances
did
not the
risk
outweigh
the benefits to be
Some have
Tacitus'
Teaching
suggested
and
297
that Maternus was forced to an untimely death and that Tacitus presup
posed common
knowledge
the
of
his
readers.24
However
much
admired
noble
independence,
his
own
rash critique of of
futile to
during
the persecutions
favorable
climate provided
reign of
by by Nerva's accession to the throne and the long wrote his history of past servitude and tyranny for
patience was rewarded
the
active
in
public
life,
no
doubt in the
self
manner of
for
such a
career, he
society
of
Aper
and
Secundus, but
Thrasea
there was the difference that in his admiration for Maternus he had
of
his
of
Seneca
and
impressive
their
in his
youth.
His
public ca
by
a certain was
reserve,
that
meeting.
ripe,
in
politics
in
to study and to
write
his
marvellous
the
so rich so
in their
of what
full
Maternus
we see a
reflection of
the
Tacitus
was
to
reveal
himself to be
This genius,
so adept
his histories
so enchant
After
gan with
Tacitus'
some
preliminary
considerations on
Tacitus'
method of
writing,
we
be
the opening
statements of and
four
"Roman"
works.
He invoked
and
admiration
its
principle of
liberty.
all
Tentatively
in hopes
and was
by
which
he judged
impossible to
identify
Tacitus simply
the
partisans of
fact, he
was critical of
main
the policy and arrangements that characterized the Roman defects he found were internal sedition and unlimited impe
unlimited
imperialism
ways.
was
to
destroy
the
conditions
for
republican
self-government
in two
provinces undermined
the frugal
had
the
City
for
for
long
periods of
time gave
op
portunities
to their
commanders
to
corrupt
causes contributed
to the
civil wars
that
consumed
the Re
during
Curiatus
Maternus,"
"Tacitus'
Dialogue
on
Oratory: Political
Activity
under a
Ty
rant,"
Political
(February
1975): 59.
298
Interpretation
The corruptibility of the City implies that the once much-admired republican virtue has its limits. It is the result of habit produced by a good constitution and
favorable duced
circumstances.
When these
rarer
decline, it
vanishes.
Tacitus distinguished
which
"great
virtue"
(magna virtus),
or natural
is
not pro
inborn
(this
virtue was ex
closely in Chapter V). The gentleman who loves virtue for its own than for its rewards proved to be the highest type for Tacitus. Such a
those
who practice virtue
is
not as corruptible as
from fear
of
shame, love
of
corrupt regime
base
men
gentleman must
Virtuous
republics
great virtue.
seek
Sparta
They
by
severe
laws
ban
on unlimited expansion.
Though he
reserved
led him to be
in his
praise.
His only
unreserved
to virtuous
individuals,
he
that
others was
Roman Republic
about politics.
was our
strictly limited. This partial debunking of the introduction to the characteristic Tacitean sobriety
the highest expectation for individual competence the prevalence
of
He
combined
injustice
and unreason
in
to overlook the
forest,
even
however,
under no
illu
they
could
be
restored
in the
corrupt times
in
which
he lived.
of the mixed
Tacitus'
constitution self to
somewhat optimistic
doctrine
in
Tacitus'
moderation consisted
directing
him
individual leaders
to the
of
Tiberius
crucial.
with
investigated it in
considerable
detail. What
cant was
that
during
Tiberius'
time,
the
Principate took
on certain
fundamental
elements
it
was to preserve
Romans. He
also explained
became
The
corruption of
cedent to the
beginning
tion to his rule and conciliated remaining political groups to the new
sparks which
of
dying liberty
were
nearly
all extin
he thought he
the Sen
sedulously enforced. Servility and flattery became widespread. Could anything public be done to arrest the degeneration of the Romans? For, in addition to the rise of servility and adulation, and accompanying their loss of
political
power,
was
the growth of
luxury
and
debauchery. This
lem
created
by
Tacitus'
Teaching
by
and the
Decline of Liberty
at
Rome
299
of
Augustus had
lems
by
concerning
These laws
were regarded
by
and
tyrannical,
and
for,
to enforce
encouraged a system of
ing
delation
which
seriously
the
the lives of
leading
Tiberius properly
resisted
importunities
of
upon
initiate
an
sumptuary
regulation.
morality
mind's
important speech, he explained his reasons for doubting that the decline in could be arrested by such means. The core of the argument is that the
cravings, once aroused, cannot be suppressed
measures of enforcement.
by
requires
despotic
sires and
Unless the
opportunities are
significant
removed, the de
emerges
between
or
tyranny
and modern
tyranny
as exemplified
or an
in,
say, Robespierre
of
Lenin. The
of
root of
understanding
the
limits
legislation
shared even
by
tyrant like
Tiberius,
was
which
is
more resistant
to compulsion or
regarded
by
modern
ideologists. Tiberius
in
a corrupt age as
resigned
to the
fact that it
sponse
will never
be
complete.
This
to the
in
de
cline of the
Republic.
not
Tacitus did
Tiberius'
entirely
share
the
grave resignation of
Tiberius. He
corrected
by transcending its premises. He referred to a partial reform intro duced by the First Citizen Vespasian, who became an object of emulation in his frugality. Tacitus pointed to the importance of the example set by the leader of a
view and emu society for establishing its prejudices. He who rules is looked up to there that rather Tacitus or bad. mysteriously, be he good suggested, may lated, be moral cycles that govern the conditions of society. Finally, he encouraged his
contemporaries
of
their
situation
And he
regarded
his
own ge
by
the harsh
view
necessities
he had to
overcome.
But in
Tiberius'
that
moderation
is
a virtue crucial to an un
derstanding
The
virtue.
He did
not expect
too
much.
is any divine
concern with
or natural support
for
Tacitus'
This
by
to encourage
his
con
Principate,
section
its
hostility
to the
last
eternally.
Tacitus
showed
himself to be
sensitive
longing
of
decent What
men that
morality count,
that the
and
in this
he investigated that
the
question.
is the
the
evidence
life
of virtue?
various answers
given
by
the
major philosophers
of antiquity.
view
indifferent to
less Aristotelian
view
that
for
300 is the
Interpretation
greatest good.
He
also referred
which provided
than
independent
effort
deter
of
own presentation of
investigation
his
life
and
their results.
as a
First,
was
Tiberius
happy? He had
the best
men
injustice
on
the
widest
scale, for
tyrant he
persecuted-
in
to hold
of
power.
He
confessed
in
his life
was an
agony
fear,
cruelty,
and
lust. Tacitus
this lack of re
straint as
naturally
leading
mind's natural
fulfillment in
It is based
on an erroneous
identification
of
happiness
exercised are
tion."
with the acquisition of worldly qualities of Tacitus said, "Those who in acquiring them. As the very rich may be most miserable if they use their prosperity without delibera Tacitus seemed to hold a version of the classic natural right teaching akin
goods and
is indifferent to the
"Aristotelians"
by
and
to do
injustice,
highest
based
and
tyranny, the most extreme form of injustice, is that justice does not matter that worldly success
the self-understanding of Manius
honor
goods.
question of
This
raised the
further
Terentius,
the tyran
one of the
nical
innumerable lesser
allied
by
the fortune
of
Caesars. He
himself
Sejanus,
Sejanus
ius,
In
instigated. He
of
was
impressed
with
honor
he
and power
his followers.
ex
a speech of self-defense
boldly
have
made after
fall, Terentius
choice and
plained of
that he
blindly
followed
gods
success as
determined in the
policy
his
ruler
(Tiberius): "The
given you
left."
Such was the craven attitude of a things; to us the glory of obedience is courtier in the new regime. Though bolder than the rest, the temptations and op portunities that corrupted this man bear heavily on the entire political community
of
Rome
during the
Principate. Tacitus
how dependent
the characters
decent
Where that is
lacking
truth
it
can
be
expected that
they
will
Tacitus taught
us we must
harden
There is
no reason
to be
whom
lieve that
they flatter
and who, as we
"successful"
tyrants
most miserable.
pious
At this point, it
nical
seemed reasonable
and straightforward
life
of
justice
marked
by
the
Tiberius. To
was good
seems to ness.
have
got
This leads
of
one to
piety is
enough.
The
way
implication
as
the,
gods
do
in
such a
question of
Tacitus'
Teaching
whether
and the
Decline of Liberty
the gods, is
such as
at
Rome
301
virtuous
of
to allow the
to
be
happy. The
type
investigated
life
of
Tacitus
explored the
the noble
Seneca,
who
had lived
as
decently
as
was possible
wished to
tunity in hopes
how benefit
choice of
doing
some good
in
circles where
his influence
might some
all
the
devious intrigues
Seneca, in
over
leading
benefit
rival of
for influence
him. He
evil
devices
of
Agrippina
and
her
malevolent creatures.
Seneca
was not
First
Citizen, but
the First
Citizen's for
eight
apolitical years.
tastes
made
it
possible
for Seneca to
rule
During
those years
treason.
noble
The Senate
was given
not always
use)
of
independence. Decent
to
govern
the
and
justice
were upheld
in Rome
from
what went on
in
Rome.
Seneca's
apparent
complete.
This is
most
not consider
it
possible to
do away
with
the
Principate
high form
of self-government.
One
or
decent tone, but they could not do away with the effects of despotism on the morals of political men. The causes of the of a nearly century fall of the Republic could not be undone, rooted as they were in centuries-old
policies and
developments. Thus,
while we admired
Seneca
as a man of
the
highest capacities, we saw that in a corrupt world the possibilities of reform are moderation is always severely limited. Human affairs are so complicated that order to retain his ascen in proper in our expectations of them. Furthermore,
overlook
the crimes in
which
Nero's deficiencies in
was humanly possible evitably issued. We judged Seneca to have done all that was a masterpiece Nero of circumstances. His under the deplorable handling way knowledge not only of of the statesman's art, insofar as that art encompasses a
the human
which
good
but
also of
the
means of
dealing
with
by
that good is
obstructed.
Seneca
was a man of
higher
one cannot
say his
and
He
could not
decisively
the
us
regime or
Nero,
Nero
ordered
him
last to
commit suicide.
Tacitus led
to a harder
view of
the world
by
expos
ing the
limits
Seneca.
career of
that out necessary condition for the Thrasea. In some ways that career was a fulfillment of standing Senator, Paetus led the Senate in unaccustomed decency during the Thrasea Seneca. the policy of reign. He cautiously opposed Nero in certain corruptions middle years of Nero's
The ascendancy
Seneca
was a
302 he
was
Interpretation
permitting in the Empire. It
was once again seemed to us most
important that
during
For it
was one of
the
greater
publicly championing the cause of virtue. misfortunes of the Principate that during the preced in
public
ing reigns
decent
men
had
no role
life
into hiding.
Thrasea courageously became the spokesman for Senatorial independence and the cause of justice. But Thrasea and the Senate were not omnipotent, far from it. When Seneca
relinquished
power, Tigellinus
reintroduced
tions, and though Thrasea continued to lead Senatorial resistance they were able to hold out only a short time. In the end Nero could not tolerate his independence
and
aloofness,
and
Thrasea does
That this
be
so
important points
We believe in born to do
to the
good
not
simply
predominate
in the
universe.
matter of
character,
a certain
courses which
is
in the
absence of
any honor
of
or reward.
One
have left
matters at
this
admiration
for the
writing led
us
to
he thought
leaving
politics
possibly Thrasea, the great heroes of the Annates, also seem to have com bined political action with philosophy. The question of philosophy is not really
raised
dealt
with
it in his Dialogus de oratoribus, which raises the There he introduced the admirable Maternus,
withdrawn
question of a man of
best life.
virtue who
lofty
had
from the
political
life in
order
His devotion to
by his
study
of
whole
intemperate
was
rash
published an only his time in a tragedy entitled Cato, which widely discussed. There is reason to believe that Tacitus regarded this as a and futile response to the great problem of the Principate, a problem too attack on
Yet Maternus
was not
withdrawn.
He
the base
men of
great
to be overcome
by
poem, however
eloquent.
This led
us
to consider the
politics under career was
Tacitus,
as
Tacitus'
based
his heroes, Seneca, Thrasea, and Lepi dus. No more than this could be said, since the reign of Domitian recounted in the Historiae is lost. But Tacitus was not only a noble political man. He made
on
climate
improved
under
Nerva
and
human nature, and when the political Trajan, he began to publish a record of past In
a
but
resolute constancy.
chotomy drawn
by
life
incomplete. All the most richly en dowed human beings are powerfully drawn to exercise a combination of both lives: Agricola, Thrasea, Seneca, and Tacitus were great statesmen as well as
or
false
Tacitus'
Teaching
and
the
Decline of Liberty
base
at
Rome
303
their contem
some
thinkers.
Their
resistance
to the
courses practiced
by
most of
by
an
innate
Tacitus
virtue"
(magna
virtus).
It is
no accident
justice
and
the
of
For Tacitus
cannot
seemed
jects
devotion. One in
be
truth,
wishing to
practice
it. The
circum
stances extent
in
our control.
Tacitus taught
work
deftly
edge
within
them,
remaining
that
critical and
free
that
it is justice
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Jones, Henry.
Romanus"
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Marsh, Frank. The Reign of Tiberius. London: Oxford University Press, 1931. Martha, Constant. Les Moralistes sous T Empire romain, philosophes et poetes. 6th ed. Paris: Hachette, 1894. Michel, Alain. Tacite et le destin de V Empire. Paris: Arthaud, 1966. Momigliano, Arnaldo. Review of The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. VIII: Rome and the Mediterranean (218-133 B.C.), ed. Cook, S., Adcock, F., and Charlesworth, M. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1930). Journal of Roman Studies 21
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conti
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Osservazioni
suite
fonti
per
la
storia
filologiche. Ser. VI, vol. 8, fasc. 5-6 (1932). Quarto Contributo. "L'origine del Tribunato della
Plebe."
Review
romano, trad.
romano
of
economica
sociale
dell'lmpero
1933).
Bollettino dell'lmpero
trans.
Oxford:
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"Nero"
(with
Christians), Charlesworth, M.
1934).
trans., in The Cambridge Ancient History Vol. X, chap. 21. Review of Levi, M., Roma negli studi storici italiani (Turin: L'Erma, Quarto contributo.
Review le
ultime of
lotte di
supremazia
Levi, M., Ottaviano Capoparte: Storia Politica di Roma durante (Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1933). Athanaeum, n.s. xm
romano."
fasc.
1-2
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moderna storiografia sull'Impero
Contributo.
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1939).
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Syme, Ronald,
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Clarendon,
Journal of Roman Studies 30 (1940). Review of Sherwin-White, The Roman Journal of Roman Studies 31 (1941). Review of Cochrane, C, Christianity
and
Citizenship
Clarendon,
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Journal
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"Camillus
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and
Secondo Contributo.
Republic'
(a Robinson, Laura, "Freedom of Speech in the Roman dissertation submitted to the Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, printed by J. H. Furst, Baltimore, and distributed by the author, Center College, Kentucky, 1940). Review of Ciaceri, Le origini di Roma: la monarchia e la prima fase eta
of
dell'
Review
repubblicana,
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..
1937).
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The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. X: The Augustan Empire, 44 Cook, S., Adcock, F., and Charlesworth, M. (Cambridge: Cam
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Tacitus'
Teaching
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36
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alio
307
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Drexler, Hans, Tacitus, Grundzuge einer politischen Pathologie Diesterweg, 1939); Ciaceri, Emanuele, Tacito (Turin: Unione TipoEditrice Torinese, 1945); Theiler, Willy, "Tacitus und die antike SchicksalsM.:
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une
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Recueil de
travaux
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1949).
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Late Republic
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Principate"
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Secondo
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Character
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Early
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1958).
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Quarto
Review
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Quarto
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ries,
Alfoldi, A., Early Rome and the Latins (Jerome Lectures, 7th Se Michigan Press, 1965). of University Review of Ogilvie, R., A Commentary on Livy, Books 7-5 (Oxford: Claren
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Quinto
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Lecture. Oxford: Holywell, 1975. Classical Philology 36 (1941). Albert. "Agrippa Pappano, Legislation under Tiberius. Middletown: Robert. Criminal Trials and Criminal Rogers,
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Ten Studies in Tacitus. Oxford: Clarendon, 1970. The Roman Revolution. Oxford: Clarendon, 1939.
Taine, Hippolyte. Essai sur Tite Live. 4th ed. Paris: Hachette, 1882. Toynbee, Arnold. Hannibal's Italy. 2 vols. London: Oxford University Press, Von Fritz, Kurt. "Tacitus, Agricola, Domitian, and the Problem of the
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1950.
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Walker, Bessie. The Annals of Tacitus. Manchester: Manchester University Press, Waltz, Rene. Vie de Seneque. Paris: Perrin, 1909.
Miscellaneous
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S.v.
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"HTacitismo."
Padua,
1921.
Credulity
and
Curiosity
in A Tale of a Tub
Richard Burrow
Open University, Great Britain
I
will
wish
to suggest a new
central crux of
interpretation
of
A Tale of a Tub.
where
My
Swift
starting
of
point
be the
"A Digression
Madness,"
on
seems to
for
mulate
these
is
problematic
because they
the "common
a
seem
to contain a
double
contradic
In the first,
and
defense
merges
forms"
of
to
"Cant
Vision"
into
generally
understood
by Happiness
an
seeming is a
acceptance of the
perpetual of
Possession of being
weak
Deceived,"
"The Art
neither
Employment
Sides,
criticism of praise
is
elaborated
on,
while
conversely, there is
for the
"can find
out an
Art to
ever,
all
this is again
where
How up the Flaws and Imperfections of conclusion contradicted in the to the two surely ironic
who
Nature."
paragraphs,
"soddering"
he
can
"enjoy
the
Fruits
of
this
Art"
noble
(of
and
"patching") is
said
to have
reached
the "sublime
and refined
Point
of
Felicity,
of
being
Peaceful State
being
moral realism
Knaves."2
the Serene
critics
feel
of
the "stripped
beau"
the "flayed
woman,"
which
"curiosity"
attack on
ironically.
"credulity"
who
find
a straightforward argument
alternative of
for
paragraphs.3
An
possibility
that
Swift's
satire
is purely
to
negative or a mere no
sions,"
which points
final
meaning4
evidence that
Swift has
concealed an
conflicting ten can only be admitted if there is no answer to his riddle in the Tale. I believe
"register
furiously
that there is
full
account of
the
starkness of
with
Swift's di
the play is
lemma: to
unmask
is
deeply
not
foolish. It is
commends
fudging
for
"Swift
which
but does
idolize intellectual
ed.
i.
1958),
pp.
I7I-742.
Swift"
of
in Swift,
ed.
1964.)
3.
Essay
in Problems
Structure,'
of
R. Adams, Strains of Discord (Ithaca, New York: Cornell Univ. Press, 1958), p. 160. P. Reilly, Jonathan Swift, The Brave Desponder (Manchester Univ. Press, 1982), p. 167.
310
must
Interpretation
set on enquiries could only be established by enquiries which themselves beyond the limits they set. Swift's riddle demands a completely different answer. The biggest clue is the description of the "Life in the common
be
venture sort of
Forms":
his
lives such a life has no "Thought of subduing Multitudes to his Reasons or his Visions; and the more he shapes his Under Power, standing by the Pattern of Human Learning, the less he is inclined to form Parties
a man who
own after
his
particular
Notions; because
Ignorance
that instructs
of
him in his
private
Infirmities,
as well as
in the
stubborn
the
People."
My suggestion is that these lines reveal Swift's subject to be, not simply the desirability of enquiry, but also the desirability of communicating the results of
one's enquiries. courages
Notions"
Swift does
who
the man
dis say that the "Pattern of Human from "shapes his it "particular by forming
not
understanding"
Learning"
with
the "common
after
Forms,"
but
rather
Parties"
these
"Notions."
Similarly,
to the
at
exposing weak Sides, and publishing dissemination of insights into the depths rather than the
the "Art
of
Infirmities"
seems to refer
process of of
arriving
them in the
publicize
first
place.
To
"unmask"
is
not
to realize the
falsity
pher who
of
realization. Swift also distinguishes carefully between the philoso "patches up the Flaws of and the man who "enjoy [s] the Fruits this noble The former is not himself deluded but encourages delusion in
that
Nature"
Art."
others.
gravely back with Information and Discov eries that in the inside they [the Depths] are good for (my italics). This, I would suggest, is in harmony with the as a whole, which culmi
the
then comes
"Digression"
"curious"
philosopher
is
criticized
nothing"
nates
in
an assault on
"Cartesius
so
reck
oned
to see before he
died,
Philosophers, like
own
many
lesser Stars in his Romantick System, rapt and drawn within his and in a warning which concerns the expression of thought
thought itself: "... it is
a
Vortex"
rather
than the
pass
Fool in
one
Company,
fatal Miscarriage, so ill to order Affairs, as to when in another you might be treated as a
for
Philosopher"
(Tale,
My
is that those
find
the
an echo of
Swift's
own
moral realism
in the
curious philosopher's
probing
of
depths, but
that his ap
consistent with
makes a radical
his disapproval
of a general
distinction between
the
few
who
not
"curiosity."
enjoy enquiring into the depths and the many, whose predominant passion is This distinction first comes to light in the account of the man "passes his Life in the
of
Forms."
who
common
philosopher"
His
"Notions"
resemble
the
"discoveries"
the "curious
Infirmities"
in that they
are
both
unpleasant
in
sense
lusion,"
"private
which always
difficult to promulgate, unlike "a strong De "operates from without, as vigorously as from
and such a man and
the "curious
philoso
is
of such a
not
inward,
outward:
"the
'Understanding'
man"
has been
Credulity
"shaped to
and
Curiosity
in A Tale
of a
Tub
-311
Learning,"
which
unwise of
Informations"
depths. This is
which
because he is
"outside"
the
Serenity,"
is
In"
"infinitely
to the
for
everyone.
There
in the
argument as
it
progresses: we are
of being
well
by
Happiness"
derstanding"
and
evidence
imply
also
by
the
depths,
inher
Happiness."
ently repulsive, but because he himself pursues "what is generally He is, I would suggest, naturally disposed to be
"curious,"
understood
by
ex
"credulous"
rather
than
periments
like those
Vision."
and
His
imitate those
of the
philosopher
of curiosity.
Rather, they
that
task, "in
order when
to
save
the Charges
Anatomy
come,"
he
is already
convinced
such enquiries
"pervert
The
persona
is to be
few,
that
why disposed to
on
critics
for the majority of men, but not for the find both a seriousness in Swift's demonstration
delusions
and an
"curious"
relish
irony
in his
proof
that
hap
piness must
be based
delusions.
same problem
However,
the
"curious"
in
different form
as much a
his discoveries is
"Fool
among
argument against strates
sisted.
as
Delusion."
by every "strong
which and must
The
"unmasking"
is politically dangerous
"credulous."
be actively
re
However,
the
cannot reveal
of the
There
the opinions
Forms,"
which, as we
of
have seen,
Vision"
the
fanatic; but
which at
least
conserve
they
It is
open
to the "curi
man sity.
conclusion of
Swift's
is
provided
by
the persona
and
he
"only
175).
personated
the Fool
Madman, for
(Tale,
must
p.
The
difficulty
whom
be
numbered
maskers"
he criticizes, if,
less
revealed complex
to be
no
delusory
than the
of
form
of the
digression is designed to
of those who
avoid
is to
eral
destroy
the delusions
as
understanding
"a
perpetual
could could
be found to be
address
freely
admitted.
then the
falsity
of
the
"Forms"
of
Swift to
address
312
Interpretation
the need to defend the
"Forms"
his
remarks on
skepticism about
"curious"
those
only to those who are disposed to in the first place, for only these are likely to be puzzle over the problems set by the digression until
Nature"
"Forms"
they penetrate to some of its secrets. Those who "cream off hand, will also stick to the witty surface of the Tale, "leaving Dregs, for Philosophy and Reason to lap
up."
on
the other
and
the
Sower
the
Swift later
to
gain
"curiosity"
acknowledges upon
that
gentle
is the
"Handle"
by
which
he hopes distinc
Readers"
[his]
(Tale,
p.
203);
while the
tion between the superficial and the enquiring reader is stressed in the next sec tion of the
Madness"
Tale,
is
where
likely
to have on
Readers may be divided into three Classes, the Superficial, the Ignorant, and the Learned: And I have with much Felicity fitted my Pen to the Genius and Advantage the of each. The Superficial Reader will be strangely provoked to Laughter.
.
former the Distinction is extremely nice) will find himself disposed to Stare; which is an Admirable Remedy for ill Eyes, serves to raise and enliven the Spirits, and wonderfully helps Perspiration. But the Reader
whom and
the
whose
Benefit I wake,
when others
rest of
I believe
we should see
in this
more
deliberately
the Tale.
distinguishes between
who
few
a sight of
aged are
to
understand
They
are not
"perspire,"
bafflement,
of
which
leads the
and
"ignorant"
to
puzzle over
dichotomy
the
crux arise and
"ignorant"
"superficial"
corresponds
to that of the
"credulous."
and of
The difficulties
teachings to those
the
"laugh"
who
Forms"
first
come
delusions. Accus
readers
tomed as
are
they
ironically,
is
"superficial"
unlikely
"unmasking"
serious.
They
reason
will
not en
recognize quiries
is incompatible
"curious"
with
criticism of the
"cutting,
opening"
is taken
seriously, it the
common
Understanding by
"unmasking."
the Pattern
of
Human
Learning"
is primarily
refraining from
"unmasking"
Leavis's
puzzled
"curiousity"
and planned
is
not
simply
ironic (see above) is the reaction Swift The puzzlement may give way to
"learning"
"curious"
readers.
believe, is
ill
Eyes."
what
Swift
meant
by describing
the
next
As I have
indicated,
"an
admirable
criticism of
Credulity
municate
and
Curiosity
in A Tale
of a
Tub
-313
masking,"
enquiry itself, but on those who com indiscriminately. Finally, Swift's advice
certain sur
merely conceal certain depths but actively defend faces, "personating the Fool for the Good of the Public."6
is
One
mon
if the
conclusion of
Swift's
argument
Forms"
even on a
be supported, why does Swift bother to present this argument, submerged level? Why did he not simply put into practice the conclu he had
arrived at without
sions which
delusory
endangering the "common by co character? Clearly, one answer follows from the
at
Forms"
that the
search
least to
few: Swift
would wish
sake.
to encourage the
of some of
practical reason
However,
as
there is also a
robust
his
ments which
led to his
defence
in the text is
deeply
political as
the
level
attempts
posed
to
religion
itself
by
the
"unmasker,"
who
is potentially
"credulous"
fanatic.
where
This is
purpose of
who
in the
"Preface,"
the Tale is to
oppose
weak sides of
Religion
Government"
and
how the
imagery
pervades
thing is
that the
"Grandees"
who oppose
inadvertently
criticisms,
when
whale as
"Hobs's Leviathan,
tosses and
Schemes
Religion
and
Government,
whereof a great
many
are
Rotation"
hollow, and dry, and empty, and noisy, and wooden, and given to (Tale, pp. 39-40). However, when they come to interpret the tub which
with,"
the
whale "tosses and plays they do not draw the conclusion that it refers criti which is there cally to the established regime, but identify it with the Tale itself,
upon commissioned to
parable
The im
thus has an
less
noticeable
level,
an
freethinkers'
plication
agreement with
the
criticisms of
Church
I
runs
and
State. Swift
counters
the freethinkers
by
admits
the
falsity
on a
of
the "common
of
Forms,"
he
appears
readers.
level
the text
of
"superficial"
aimed at
Swift's
and
skepticism comes
his
"unmasking"
opposition
to
good of
public."
the
of
the practice of
of
"personating
is
re
his
political purpose
vealed throughout
6. There is little
space
can
briefly
point
to
combination of
far-reaching
skepticism
and reluctance
to
criticize
lic
538a-e).
314 The
Interpretation
"Introduction"
opens with an a
Crowd."7
methods
by
"be heard in
pher cannot
It is
at once
be
"Foundations"
a powerful rhetorician
of
his
"Basket"
are
"often
a
out of
Crowd"
Sight,
one of a
(Tale,
must
pp.
55-56).
To "be be
heard in
come a and
three "Oratorial
or a writer of
Machines"
be
preacher,
of
poet,
Delight
Mortal
Man."
his Modernist
assumptions we
philosopher
find the teaching of the "Digression on depths to must emerge from the
"curious"
work
the
"credulous"
sphere
if he
wishes
to have
any influence
ity
of people.
The
retreat
from philosophy is
rhetorical
"entertainment."
The
satire on
Lucretian
theory
in
which
quotation on
of
which
Greek
to
philosophy.
In his
egalitarian rhetoric of
enlightenment,
Lucretius
attempts
Share,
and
little
.
or
. .
"yet
more refined
nothing is Structure
well compact, every one carries home Contrasted to this, I would suggest, is the
"refinement"
of our
is that
to de
they
levels,
"weighty
Colony"
Matter"
scend to
the
"critics"
in the pit,
while
ments soar
Here,
intercepted"
by
"suitable
(Tale,
p.
61).
of
"Introduction,"
namely, the
text,
which caters
for
all
meanings
only to the
"critics"
among them.
the three
"Machines."
ladder is the
second of
It
represents
"Faction."
and, mysteriously,
one of
is "an
Poetry
many Steps
of
Fate is
tained
by transferring of Property, and a confounding of Meum and 62-63). By linking poetry both to faction and criminality Swift
to the
(Tale,
recalls the
idea, familiar
Renaissance,
also protects a
off"
can
"attain
transferring
indicating
Tub,"
of that the
aspect of
po-
subject of pp.
Tale is
rhetoric
H. Kelling,
that what
a
PMLA, 69 (1954),
198-222.
would add
"be heard in
Lucretius"
Greek philosophy see L. Strauss, "Notes Liberalism Ancient and Modern (New York: Basic Books, 1968), p. 92.
8. For
Lucretius'
on
in
Credulity
and
Curiosity
in A Tale
of a
Tub
-315
etry is its ability to select those fitted to question the "common readers to "climb up by slow to its critique of established
Degrees"
Forms"
by forcing
the "In
customs.
view
is, I believe,
confirmed
in the final
section of
where
charge of
triviality, and to blame its low reputation on the "superficial Vein among many Readers of the present Age, who will by no means be persuaded to inspect beyond the Surface and the Rind of Because "Wisdom is a
Things."
.
Nut,
Tooth, pay the "Grubean Sages have always chosen to con nothing but a vey their Precepts and their Arts, shut up within the Vehicles of Types and which has meant that "transitory Gazers have so dazzled their Eyes, and
which unless you chuse with
Worm,"
Judgement, may
cost you a
and
you with
Fables,"
with
the
Lustre"
outward
that
they have
not
looked be
The
persona
compleat and
which
laborious Dissertation
Read
ers, have
darkly
and
deeply
and
couched under
Arts"
Systems The
of all
Sciences
(Tale,
pp.
most
finished
and refined
persona'
s project
does
own
terms, for if
to the
wisdom
is
dangerous in the way he outlines, what purpose can it concealments of the Grub Street "Sages"? This alerts easy to account convincingly for the Tale's frequent
was
fact
that
it is
not
assaults on
occultism, which
pp.
hardly
Swift
was
writing (e.g.
97-99,
126-
285).
"curiosity"
paragraph
idea that
wisdom
Socrates'
"outward
Lustre"
which
mistaken:
wisdom here because it is only partially "Lustre."9 The real drift of the was hidden, but by his ugliness rather than his satire is precisely opposed to the apparent one: Swift is ridiculing the persona's
"unmasking"
project of sors
rather than
(who bear
an
intriguing
strikes
resemblance
to
Societies,"
Gresham
Wills, Tale,
disparate
p.
64).
trivial
The
and
"Introduction"
the
reader at
first
as a
collection of
is ex entertaining satires, but amined closely. Swift's reasoning on this level is as follows: since the majority of people are not philosophically inclined they must be influenced through their
a concealed argument comes
to light
if the
text
religious
belief
love
of entertainment, while
be
reserved
for the
reader, because it
is dangerous
and utilizes
or unlawful
unspecified way.
we can
its
own
believe the
typically
. .
grandiose claim
that
in "the
En
tertainments of Wit
Style
as well as the
Part,
9.
[he
has]
throughout this
215-22.
316
inals"
Interpretation
(Tale,
p.
71).
The implication
to his
a
Sight"
Swift's
irony
is
often closer
real
study is that the literal level of meaning than he indicates. The persona's
of this
concern with
pher's
"being
heard in
out of
Crowd"
is
also
Swift's,
the
which
is why the
that
philoso
basket is "often
argues
in the Tale.
on
grounds
Wotton
that Swift
is
freethinker
and
Anglicanism is
symbolized
implicated in the
a coat
10
satire of
Catholicism
upon
Puritanism,
as
it
too
is
by
p.
(Wotton's "Observations
There is
some evidence
the Tale of a
view
Tub"
(1705), in Tale,
"surface"
322).
for this
"a
coats are
clearly
in
delusions
as surfaces. as well as
body."
Moreover,
Nastiness"
Swift
alludes p.
to the
role of clothes as
cover
for Lewdness
the naked
(Tale,
ground
78):
and protect a
When Jack
pp.
199-
away his
he "proceeded he does
Heathen
Philosopher"
(Tale,
200).
point
not encourage
his
readers
Christianity which
is
a
first
comes
which
(Tale,
p.
delusion it is surely a healthy one. Moreover, Wotton's Christianity account omits the very obvious fact that the Tale first strikes the majority of read ers as a satire on the two principal enemies of Anglicanism. The implications of
If
the comparison of
Christianity to
Church
and
the coats
a
remain
implications, like
the Observ
para
er's comparison of
State to
of estab
Swift's
satirical
defence
of
constitutes
his descent
from the
ace"
philosopher's
and
explains, satire is supremely entertaining precisely because it does not touch personally,
or
readers
"raise their
with a
feeling of supe
the Noncon
render
riority (Tale,
pp. 50-53).
The
attempt
pride of
formists than to
channel that of
fashionable
simply
once
again.12
However,
torialism"
the
allegory does
not
constitute
"Sar-
On this
level it
represents a society in which the are observed outwardly but no longer believed in. The realization that "Religion is a threatens public
Cloak"
"Forms"
morality.
torialists'
Swift
stresses the
inevitability
. . .
of
of
the
Sar-
metaphysics
being
of
admitted, it
will
follow
cyni-
in due Course
of
Reasoning
"grandees"
Sartorial society
SP,
are
10. See also M. Dargan, "The Nature Rawson, "The Character of Swift's
11.
Allegory
as
Used
by
Swift,"
13(1916). 155-79; C.
,
Satire"
in Focus
Enlightenment Essays, 3, 41-46. See Sheridan, one of Swift's early biographers, in Swift, The Critical Heritage, Williams (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1970), p. 227.
12. 13.
One
Swift (London: Sphere, 1 97 1 ) p. 56. disguised his physical resemblance to the Yahoos
on
Motif."
ed.
K.
P. Harth, Swift
and
of
p.
84.
Credulity
cal
and
Curiosity
to the
in A Tale
of a
Tub
-317
in their
attitude are no
moral
imperatives
stem
which
they
are supposed
to obey, be
cause
they
longer thought to
Mobile"
vested
by
in
the Primum
by
man.
To be "styled
a certain
Judge"
ultimately from God. "The Stars are in in the most literal sense: justice is invented only it is enough that "certain Ermins and Furs be
pp. 77-79). with
Sartorialists'
Position"
placed
(Tale,
Swift
Gulph"
could not
be
said
to disagree
the
vision of
the "horrid
reli
beneath the
"Superficies"
(Tale,
p. 76).
gion as a cloak.
when
ate through
the
of a
scheming knaves,
pretense of
Criticks"
who propagate
"strong
Delusions."
Nevertheless,
the
Sartorialists'
open
atheism,
as
inti
Here,
concentration
on
the
negative aspects of
more aims
threatening
to ".
. .
than a
failure in
The
anti-Herculean
Modern
critic
within
[texts]: to
drag
out
the
Or
else to drive
away
a sort of
Dan
Fowl, who have a perverse Inclination to plunder the best Branches of the Tree of Knowledge, like those Stymphalian Birds that eat up the (Tale, p. unpleasant but are not simply 95). Now the actively dangerous, and
Fruit"
"Faults"
Swift's warning,
as
in the "Digression
of them.
who
Madness,"
on
is directed
at
those who
knowledge
To these
voiced
we can contrast
the traditional
have
Caution, adventuring
and
farther than
who
Mythology
of
and
(Tale,
p.
97),
the "Dangerous
need
Fowl,"
keep
it to them
selves.
The
for Swift's
own
"abundance
is
evident when we
allegory is biblical criticism, and that the new tex Swift satirizes here had been used to deny that a single, au
the Bible
existed.14
thoritative
at which
version of
It is
a measure of
the
greater
depth
the digressions
operate compared
alone admit
to the that
errors
may it
reside
in the
authori
itself,
the
rather
critics.
"superficial"
The allegory
readers at
illustrates this
point even as
entertains
expense of
(who
represent
icism
of
Peter's
to themselves at
first, but
realize
finally
rebel
rediscovery
of the will
(Tale,
of
pp.
117-22).
Swift's
that
approval of opposition
Martin's
to
and
his
critique
Errors"
Sartorialism
reveal
"dragging
outward
out
lurking
does
of a will
he simply advocates a passive, fool among knaves). The ways the two brothers use are covert paradigms of the way all private insights into the flaws
not mean that
Tub,"
the
"com-
14.
of
A Tale
of a
ELH, 33 (1966),
pp.
198-217.
318
mon
Interpretation
should and should not
Forms"
be
used.
point
beyond the
the
"credulous"
"curious"
place of
discoveries
the "Digression on
makes
Through the
man
example of
Martin, Swift
.
the
general point
actively defends certain salutary beliefs which he knows to be false. We are told that, where Martin ". observed the Embroidery to be workt so close, as
.
not
damaging
the
Cloth,
or where
it
served
to hide or
strengthen
ering
jury"
of
any Flaw in the Body of the Coat, contracted by the perpetual tamp Workmen upon it; he concluded the wisest Course was to let it remain,
no p.
resolving in
(Tale,
Case whatsoever, that the Substance of the Stuff should suffer In 136). In Swift's account the Anglican reformers understand that Christians because they have been brought up to be
central
"unmasking"
so.
To in
form them suddenly that doctrines they had considered no longer officially recognized would be a disruptive lead to
a more
far-reaching
a part
skepticism.
Martin
accepts
continue to
play
My
suggestion
is that there is
an
"strengthen."
teaching
that
it is
unwise
to reveal the
falsity
of traditions which
honorable
behaviour.15
He
shows also
that this
recognition
does
as
not
lead to
passivity:
reforms as
long
he
works within
the
sphere.
Kind"
many useful Lectures upon the both and till at last it smelt so strong, I could Parts, contained; containing preserve it no Nevertheless, he is "ready to shew a very compleat Anat
of
Carcass
Humane Nature,
and read
longer."
omy thereof to all curious Gentlemen and ments have shown him "that the Publick Good
and
Others"
(Tale,
p.
123).
His
experi
of
Mankind is
performed
by
two
Ways, Instruction, accordingly throughout his Divine Treatise, [he has] skilfully kneaded up both together with a Layer of (Tale, p. 124). The persona is illogical in the same way as in the
Diversion
....
and
Dulce"
"Introduction,"
where
wisdom
is
Judge
Tooth,
and
pay
you with
nothing but
cannot
did
not pre
him from
"displaying by
Dulce,"
Incision"
his
more prudent
predecessors.
under a
be
communicated except
"Layer
but,
rather
he
freely
reveals
the
results of
and
experiments,
by
which
he himself is revolted, to
opposition
"all
curious
Gentlemen
others."
to in
discriminate
The
enlightenment.
by
which
"
.
"an in
finite Number
Republic
may be
15.
538d-e.
Credulity
immediately
as
and
Curiosity
in A Tale
of a
Tub
-319
absorbed;
and then to
deny
his Disciples
"gross Ignorance
as
since he betrays among other things a in the Common Laws of this Realm, and in the Doctrine as well the Discipline of the Church of (Tale, pp. 126-28). The satire on
would represent
England"
Moderns'
Him,"
devices to
learning
easily accessible;
while
find in
his de
Homer
search cays
laugh
at rather than
superficial
diversion into
which
Modern
a
learning
sometimes
heard
of an
Iliad in
Nutshell in
an
Tale,
p.
the
"dragging
out of
lurking
texts.
and
Errors,"
plified
by
Homer's
multileveled
illustrate the
proper
way to convey
with
They
complement
man
the allegory,
which
deals
the
methods
by
the wise
can
benefit the
"credulous"
majority.
Here,
albeit on a
"credulous"
level,
where
for Anglicanism
also repre
sents a mean
in this
case
between the
Sartorialists'
formity
of
Aeolists'
and
the
rejection of
everything
"Martinism,"
and
Christianity
find in the
but to
"weak
who
sides"
of
the "common
should
be
put.
portrayal of
Aeolism
a satire on
Hobbist
without
"superficial"
denying
satire on
would argue
Puritanism
by
which
Swift
outspokenness of
attempt
to
restore
dangerous
effort on
that law.
In language that
parodies
Hobbes Swift
satirizes the
they believe that wind "ought not to be cov but freely communicated to etously hoarded up, stifled or hid under a Bushel, equal of others and Weight, the Wise Aeolists, Mankind. Upon these Reasons,
Swift
concentrates on
their
rhetoric:
belching, to be the
noblest
Act
of a
Rational
Creature."
The
universal significance
to Jack's destructive ef
forts to
restore
his
coat
to
its
Here,
deny
ers
that there is an
occasional
are satirized.
and
Jack is
freethink
the "common
"Forms"
resides
in their
result
traditional character.
To
reveal the
falsity
of the
is
more
likely
to
in anarchy than
of
radi
cal reform
(Tale,
pp. 150-53)-
Swift
16.
concludes
the
section
by
of
Height
and
pp.
of a
PQ, 45 (1966),
372-78.
320
Interpretation
other."
Depth, border
enemies
upon each
He has indeed
shown
of enthusiasts point
but
Swift
as
that his
(materialism) is
"the
deep
as
his
contempt
in his hostile
portrayal of
Camel-
ion, sworn Foe to Inspiration, who in Scorn, devoured large Influences of their The nature of Swift's God; without refunding the smallest Blast by
Eructation."
alternative
to both
is indicated
"devil,"
by
the second
".
ster,
all
called
their
Interest"
Moulinavent, who with four strong Arms, waged eternal Battel Divinities, dextrously turning to avoid their Blows, and repay them (Tale, pp. 158-60). The windmill is an apt symbol for the
most men
"curious"
is "a
of
perpetual
Possession in
all
of
being
and
Deceived,"
well
and that so
there is
no
"Quality
Mind,
where
Nations
Ages
of the
of
World have
or
Tincture
Enthusiasm"
unanimously agreed, as that of a Fanatick Strain, (Tale, p. 266), decides to utilize the most benign of
"credulity"
the
manifestations
of this
general
rather which
(Chameleon-like)
most
effort
to remove delusions
universal,
psychological need.
The
same point
and
believed
by
(Tale,
155-57).
curious man
may
avoid
(Aeolism)
and
the passivity
of
the "fool
among Propagation
(Sartorialism). The
Religion"
enigmatic
Moulinavent
Philosophy"
and concentrate on
"the
is
advice concludes a
with respect
discussion
of
meant seriously in a way (Tale, p. 169). This how to "distinguish and adapt [one's words],
Times"
(p. 168),
which was
where
first
alternative to
the
a
popular philosopher's
crowd."
actions"
greatest
ing"
man can
of the
Understanding by
Forms"
and
In
"pass[es] his Life in the common (Tale, pp. 162, postscript to the Tale, the "Mechanical Operation of the
his
concept of a
Swift As in
to the
and
elaborates on
of
the
Public."
parody
running beneath
or
and counter
addressed
to the
"credulous"
"superficial"
reader,
of
secrecy is
a major
himself
as an
initiate,
who must
be "excused from
or
is
not
"allowed to
discover"
many of the secrets of the Mechanical Operators (Tale, pp. 270 and 273). This directs our attention to a paradox: his argument is that since the majority will "be born to Heaven
enthusiasm"
upon
in
order
it is necessary to simulate "religious nothing but [an] to be of any benefit to them. However, his careful analysis
would, if taken seriously, the
"credulous"
Ass"
of
the "spiritual
mechanism,"
itself
render
the tech
nique
useless,
since
it depends
on
audience
Credulity
to
and
Curiosity
origin.
in A Tale
of a
Tub
not
321
taken seriously
siasm"
be
of
divine
is, I
would
suggest, a measure of
pretenses.
Swift's
It is the
openness of
the
is
satirized.
The
"fragment"
culminates
in the
persona's argument of
mation of sexual
the Institutors of
which
communicate castrated
exemplify this fact, "was torn in Pieces by Women, because he refused to his Orgyes to them; which others explained, by telling us, he had
tension
himself upon Grief, for the Loss between the institutor of the cult former is
not
of
his
Wife"
(Tale,
p. 285).
There is
and
that the
himself
moved man's
by
its votaries, arising from the fact the passions on which he plays. The
which
principal object of
the
"curious"
desire is knowledge,
distinguishes
him from the majority of men. If he wishes to exert an influence over the "credu he must disguise this distinction. One must marvel at the skill with which
lous"
Swift
avoids
arousing
a similar
ing
is
exposed
to the charge of paternalism from those who reassess his view that
because they be lieve that the majority are capable of rationally perceiving the importance of vir tuous action for themselves or because their sights are not set on promoting
political
the "common
Forms,"
either
virtue
but
on
ensuring that
all are
free to
pursue
happiness
as
they
conceive
it.
PUBLIUS:
THE JOURNAL OF FEDERALISM
Published
by
the
Study
of
Federalism
University
and
John Kincaid
PUBLIUS is a quarterly journal now in its eighteenth year of publication. It is dedicated to the study of federal principles, in research stitutions, and processes. PUBLIUS publishes articles,
dimen notes, and book reviews on the theoretical and practical intergovernmental rela system and federal sions of the American world. throughout the systems tions and other federal
Forthcoming issues will feature articles on bicommunal polities, Reagan's New Federalism, land and liberty, federalism in Ger
many,
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and
the PUBLIUS
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD: Thomas J. H. Beer, Lewis A. Dexter, Ivo D. Duchacek, Max
Anton, Samuel Frenkel, Robert B. Hawkins, Jr., A.E. Dick Howard, L. Adele Jinadu, Irving Kristol, E. Lester Levine, William S. Livingston, Donald S. Lutz, Alexandre Marc, Elinor Ostrom, Vincent Ostrom, Neal R. Peirce, William H. Riker, Harry N. Scheiber, Ira Sharkansky, Donald V. Smiley, David B. Walker, Murray L. Weidenbaum, Frederick Wirt, Deil S. Wright.
ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Individual $20; Institu tional $30; Student and Retired, $15. (Add $5.00 for foreign
postage.)
Subscriptions
be
sent
to:
Department
of
Political
Pluralism,
and
the
Public Good
of
the
Problem
Kenneth L. Grasso
Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos
INTRODUCTION
In
recent
years, American
public
increasingly
afflicted
by
mood of
anxiety,
by
pervasive,
albeit
the line
something has gone wrong. In the political arena, this manifested itself in a crisis of public confidence, in a widely held
American
political system no
amiss
perception
along has
feeling
that the
longer
"works."
But
something is
gone
is widespread, there is
no agreement as to
precisely
what
has
journalists,
gives over a
promises
goodly portion of his recent volume, Statecraft As Soulcraft, to what to be a widely read examination of these Will believes very
questions.'
merely survey recent American political and cultural history to ver accuracy of the widely shared intuition that something is seriously amiss. American culture, he believes, is drowning in the sea of an aggressively hedonis
ify the
civility necessary to
an
functioning
order,
not to mention
better. Absent
munity
and conception of
our
The result of this fragmenta narrowly self-seeking "interest tion of the body politic is something approaching political paralysis. Our govern ment has become increasingly incapable of taking decisive, purposive action to
plethora of
groups."
This paper was delivered at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the American Political Science Associa tion, The Washington Hilton, Washington, D.C., August 28-31, 1986. I want to acknowledge my debt to Dr. Francis Canavan, S.J., of Fordham University, whose ad vice and encouragement were indispensable in the preparation of this paper. I also wish to express my
gratitude to
of
of
Claremont-McKenna College for commenting upon several drafts Cathy Regalado of the Political Science Department of
University
a
for
their work
in typing
several of
its drafts;
work.
and to
Public Re
to say,
fellowship
which
greatly facilitated my
Needless
I
bear responsibility for the views expressed. George F. Will, Statecraft As Soulcraft (New York: Simon & Schuster,
1983).
should stress
despite the strong reservations expressed in this paper about certain aspects of its argument, I nevertheless believe this to be an important and, in a number of respects, invaluable work. Will's
here
that
"statecraft"
"soulcraft"
to thesis, namely, the relationship of temporary problems in the failure to appreciate this relationship
main
and
understanding
of the malaise
did
not
issue in
a public
debate life.
of significant proportions
to me entirely sound, and afflicting our public life. That the work is itself a disheartening commentary on the
seems
state of
American
public
324
Interpretation
community,
and
Indeed,
has
all
but
vanished
from but
our political
consciousness.2
Thus,
we
have
a government
leading."3
"that is
big
not
flabby;
capable of giv
ing
but
not
Will's
analysis of
rather com
monplace; what is striking is the source to which he attributes blame tural and political malaise. In
what
for this
cul
describes
as an act of
half-jokingly but only half-jokingly impiety,"4 "filial Will places the blame squarely upon the
whose
he
the
"defective
to the
philosophic
premises"5
are
dangerous"6
health
of
the
body
politic.
The
cornerstone of
of
Will's
analysis of these
"defective
premises"
philosophic
is
his reading
problem of
ist,
written
by
and
Jay
under
the
en
pseudonym of
life in
"negative"
tirely
of of
but simply
of
the avoidance
of
tyranny
peculiar
to democratic regimes
rein
the
tyranny
a
majority
Publius
affords
free
profusion of verse
narrowly self-seeking interest groups. In society such as the United States no one of these This
profusion of
large
and
extremely di
threat of ma
majority.
interest
of
and
assuring that
no
submerging "dangerous passions in the pursuit one interest group would be able to acquire politi
that in Will's
view
cal power.
It
would
scarcely be
an exaggeration to suggest
Publius in
geniously
ora of
majority tyranny
groups and of
by
unleashing
a veritable pleth
majorities.
thereby abolishing
Ac
cording to
Will,
the political
the
teaching
Publius is designed to
preclude
majority
nar-
tyranny by preventing
pable of purposive
2.
formation
in calling
of
strong, cohesive
action;
not alone
instead, by unleashing
attention to this
Will is certainly
of
disconcerting phenomenon.
good,
For an
and
exam
conse
ination
quent
contemporary
political science's
loss
of
any
conception of a common
its
inability
interest,"
see
Clark E.
'The Public
Interest,'"
As Cochran notes, this inability is a result of a whole ical presuppositions. For an incisive critical analysis beria
common good
non,
of these presuppositions, see Roberto MangaPolitics (New York: Free Press, 1975). If this eclipse of the idea of a was simply an academic phenomenon, it would be disturbing enough; this phenome is not restricted to academic discourse, but has come to characterize American politi
and
the
Public
Philosophy
(Boston: Little,
Ibid.,
p. 164. p. 18.
6. Ibid.,
325
self
exercised
seeking groups, Publius seeks to assure that political power would be only by loose, feeble and everchanging alliances of interest groups
character precludes such action. and
very
Tyranny, in
give
short, is to be
avoided
by
rival interests
politics was
against one
another.7
Publius'
intended to
His
free
rein
to material
self-
self-interestedness alone
goal was
"is
sufficient to
keep
into
society's
ticking
to utilize
"clever"
institutional
a
devices (e.g.,
checks and
balances)
to manipulate self-interest
"social
equilibrium."
Writes Will:
Madison's
sions; he is
problem
attention
is exclusively
on
controlling
passions with
is
entirely in terms
of
controlling the
might
a solution
that would work even for a nation of devils. The moral character
solution
the citizenry
moral character of
portant:
is
unnecessary.
The
upon
result
is
a crass and
highly
resting
of
acquisitive
passions,
and or
shockingly bereft
any
concern
for the
moral
dimensions
of political
life,
mon good
transcending
of
the shifting
alliances of selfish
cuses
Publius
justice."
theory of
For Publius
and
the
good
society is remarkably independent of individuals willing the social good. A society is a lumpy stew of individuals and groups, each with its own inherent
motion."
"principle
of
This
stew stirs
itself,
.
and
in the fullness
good.'
of
time,
out comes a
creamy
puree called
'the
interest'
public
The
endless maelstrom of
individuals
pursuing
spoils"
Politics is thus
ues"
reduced
to
"divvying
up the
"the
allocation of val
"value-free"
to
which
ing
coalitions of
whether a nation
genteelly by everchang narrowly self-seeking groups. The question, Will believes, is so conceived and so dedicated can long endure: will not the ab
political science so refers capable of purposive action and a conception of a common selfish machinations of
sence of a good
majority
transcending
all
the
factions
inevitably
lead to
political
Now if American
this sounds
faintly
conception of
how the
intended to
is widely
reading
shared.
Far from be
ing
eccentric,
in its
main outlines
Will's
of
The Federalist is
7.
Ibid., Ibid.,
p.
37.
8. Ibid.,
9.
p. 39.
p. 35.
326
Interpretation
Will's
conception of
commonplace.10
the
political system
bequeathed to
us
by
Publius,
of
American
school
politics painted
by
the
highly
influential
"pluralist"
or
"interest
group"
Publius."
American politics, many of whose members trace their genealogy back to The principal difference is that whereas the pluralists stand in rap
Publius'
clockwork
regularity
of
machine
to be
ill-conceived,
and
does
not
both
Whereas the
pluralists see
a perpetual motion
something headed to
not
and catastrophic
breakdown. That
such a
breakdown has
occurred, Will
as
believes, is
not so much a
testimony
the
to the
ingenuity of its in
able to
ventors,
upon
more
it is
a result of a
felicitous
accident:
system
has been
trade
"a
dwindling legacy
eras."12
in sterner,
not
thoughtful
The
system
bequeathed to
us
by
Publius does
replenish problem.
indeed,
acts
By
of
and
large,
I have
no quarrel with
Will's
the American
political
system,
or with
his description
concur with
sis of
Furthermore, I fully
is the
erosion of
his
assertion that
of which
diate
he
speaks. practice
of
The issue I
that he
so
Will is
contemporary
of
rightly deplores
is
development
distortion
the
teaching
The
Federalist. It is my
absolved of
contention
can not
on one aspect of
diversity
of an extended
obscures
im
Publius'
statecraft;
practice
Publius'
upon which
indictment
gin
of
The Federalist
found
largely
in Numbers
be
by briefly
sketching the
main outlines of
their
famous
argument.
PUBLIUS'
REPUBLICAN REMEDY
whose
The Constitution in
of a
writes
is intended to be the
charter
re-
self-governing
community.
well
aware,
however,
that such
10. The late Martin Diamond was perhaps the interpretation leading exponent of this Publius. See, for example, Martin Diamond, "The in History of Political Philosophy, 2nd edition, edited by Leo Strauss and Joseph Cropsey (Chicago: Rand-McNally, 1963), pp. 631 51. A particularly good recent presentation of this interpretation is found in Edward J. Erler's "The
"pluralist"
of
Federalist"
Problem
of the
Federalist."
Chicago Press, 1984). 1 1 See, for example, David Truman, The Governmental Process (New York: Knopf, 1951); and Robert A. Dahl, A Preface to Democratic Theory (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1956).
.
Polity 13 (Summer 1981), 649-67. Also important in Theory of The Federalist (Chicago: University of
12.
Will,
p. 165.
Pluralism, Public Good & Self-Government in The Federalist historically; as a matter of fact, it read their histories without "feeling sensations of horror and
gimes
327
to
have
not
fared
well
is
"impossible"
disgust"
at
their per
petual vacillation
extremes of anarchy and tyranny."13 Such re have been "as short in their lives, as they have been violent consequently in their (io, 46). Publius concedes that there is much truth in the allega
gimes
deaths"
"between the
tion made
by many
is disregarded in the
not
decided,
rights
of the minor
party; but
by
the superior
interested
and overbear
ing
majority (10,
43).
These dangerous
regimes are
disease
to which popular
peculiarly
faction.
By
faction, Publius
means,
a number of
by
some common
to the right
of other citizens or
community (10,
43).
The
vices
to which
faction
gives
rise in
unless a
remedy
the
can
be found faction
in
we would
be "obliged to
abandoned
the cause of
indefensible"
(9,
38).
14
Now,
causes of
are
by
The "latent
causes of
faction
are man's
of
in the
man."
nature of
More
specifi
origins
fallibility
and the
which
the rights
originate."
property
politics;
and so
fallibility
will
results
in
differing
opinions
in
religion and
long
"as the
connection sub
sists
between
[man's]
reason and
have
reciprocal
influence
other."
on each
. . .
The
upshot of
mankind
into
parties
"inflamed
with mutual
other, than to
cooperate
more
disposed to
The
most
good."
common cause of
property."
faction, however, is
unequal
distribution
of
of
By
"interests":
Those
ests
who
virtue of
variety
distinct
hold,
property have
ever
in
society.
Those
debtors, fall
13.
and
commentary
of
Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, The Federalist, with an introduction by Garry Wills (New York: Bantam Books, 1982), No. 9, p. 37. Hereafter all cita
work will
tions
this
be
given
of
fol fac
low the
14.
number of
the
paper cited.
Publius
writes:
"To
rights,
against
the danger of
tion,
form
of popular government,
is
the great
directed: Let
me add
that it
is the
45).
great
desideratum it has
so
this form
of government can
be
rescued
from the
be
mankind"
recommended
to the
(10,
cannot
Thus,
justice; if it
be
demands
of jus
tice, its
adoption as a
form
of government cannot
be
recommended.
328
a
Interpretation
a mercantile
interest,
a monied
.
interest,
43-44).
with
many lesser
interests,
grow
up
of
necessity in
civilized nations
.(io,
Given factionalism's
to be
roots
no reason
to expect
America
immune to
it.15
"activity"
But, if
vary
sown
will as
"according
of
society."
Inasmuch
the
"regulation"
conflicting interests
"faction"
constitutes
"the
principal
task of modem
Legislation,"
the
operations of
spirit of
Government."
Furthermore, liberty
is necessarily introduced into the "ordinary gives free rein to faction: "lib
an aliment without which
fire,
are
it
instantly
ex
free to
translate
their views
of
into
public
policy
can
do little if anything to
development
factions; hence,
The
problem of
the
peculiar
vulnerability
of popular regimes
to this mortal
disease. faction in
relation ought
to hold the
balance between
"judge in his
them,"
in
be
because
his interest
tegrity,"
judgement"
"corrupt his in
time"
in
"judges
and parties at
at
the
same
(10,
44).
How then
the ascendancy of
factions
rights"
and private
with
be
prevented?
How is
self-government to
be
made compatible
[must
be]
directed."
In the
an efficacious remedy.
minority faction, the principle of majority rule itself provides The true difficulty arises when a faction comprises a ma "when
enables
a
jority
the
of the populace:
majority is included in a faction, the form of pop it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest, both
citizens"
(10,
45).
Since the
means must
elimination of
be discovered
circumscribed
moreover, is
by
controlling their effects. This choice of means, the fundamental principle of popular government
prevail"
"which
requires
(22,
106).
Thus,
nity independent
majority"
of
the
must
Several
are rejected as
inadequate to
a sufficient
of
the task at
15.
"There is in their
diversity,"
writes
Publius, "in
the
the genius,
man
the different
parts of
union
to occasion
a material
diversity of dis
And
.
.
different
"
in
society.
there
moral,
which
may in
different
propensities and
"pluralism"
inclinations
(60,
304).
In
America,
is
an
irremediable fact
of
fertile
for
the growth
of
factionalism.
-Government
in The Federalist
329
of written
Constitutional rights
alone are
or
Publius
"moral
he
earlier
had
disdainfully dismissed:
wisdom and perfect
"we
...
from the
happy
empire of perfect
virtue"
(6,
26).
If the "impulse
coin
and
upon
"enlightened
helm."
statesmen"
alone adequate.
Such
statesmen
be
at
the
mands of
Furthermore,
public
"clashing
to the
de
"the
good"
prevail" considerations."
and remote of
view
indirect
in the face
"disregarding
the
rights
the good
of
the
(10,
45).
consists
The remedy
resentatives.
which we are
in extending
The
effect of
the latter is to: passing them through the medium of a chosen discern the true interest of their country, best may love of justice, will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary
views,
the
public
by
body
of
citizens,
whose wisdom
Under
such a regulation
it may
well will
pub
lic
voice pronounced
by
the
representatives of
the people,
be
was pronounced
by
the
people
themselves
for that
purpose
(10,
47).
What
advantages accrue
sphere of
the
community?
Extend the
less
probable
that
majority
variety of parties and interests; you make it have a common motive to invade the
rights of other
citizens; or
if
it
will
be
more
difficult for
all who
feel it to discover
in
(10,
48).
The larger the territory, Publius maintains, the wider the range of interests likely major to be found within it. Since no single interest will be able to command a
ity,
the making
several
of public
policy
one
will require
able to get all that it wants. The group compromise. hallmark of such a system will be log-rolling, negotiation, and separate descriptions of Thus, "by comprehending in the society many
ing
groups.
No
will
be
citiz
Publius contends,
we
thereby
majority
of a
majority
will
of
improb
able, if
not
impracticable
be broken into
many parts,
interests
and classes of
individuals
the
combinations of
majority.
In
free
It
government,
be
the same as
for
religious rights.
consists
in
of
in
the multiplicity of
interests,
and,
in the
sects
(51,
264).
330
Interpretation
an extended republic
Thus, in
sects
. .
embracing
. . .
"great variety
could seldom
. .
of
interests,
265).
parties and
a coalition of
the majority
and
take
"
place on
any
other
principles
(51,
it
In the
makes
possible,
Publius concludes,
to Republican
most
incident
government"
(10,
49).
16
At first glance, this cursory examination of teaching might seem to bolster Will's case. After all, Publius seems to disavow any reliance upon either
with
Publius'
statesmanship or moral character as a solution to the problem of self-government justice. Far from neutralizing the effects of factions, he appears to reduce policy to
an outgrowth of
public
shifting
icy is
nothing
more
than a
product of an
advancing the
per
interests
of
if
by
an
invisible
hand"
from this
clash?
Does he not, in
over,
will not
other
theory
of
justice"? More
his
"remedy"
have the
effect of
controlled
by
the very
interests it
of
was
decisive
action
in behalf
the common
Tempting
reading
To
of
The
Federalist,
most
even
the
foregoing
Publius'
cursory
of
examination of
insurmountable
obstacles
only the
ignores both the centrality of representation to faction and the role accorded the representative in
in Number ship
10.
Publius'
to the
problem of
How
can
irrelevant to
a solution
Publius'
"republican
remedy"
be
recon
ciled with
majority tyranny re quires the existence of a representative assembly consisting "of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and
problem of
Publius'
to the
16.
and republics
interpretations
text,
cal
of
mond,
by a republic Publius means nothing more than a "Democracy and The Federalist: A Reconsideration
52
a
figures quite centrally in a number of distinction because, on my reading of the representative democracy. Cf. Martin Dia
of the
Framers' Intent."
American Politi
Science Review
in
(March 1959), 52-68. Diamond argues that break with the Classical and Christian tradition in favor For
a thoughtful rejoinder
Publius'
statecraft
is both demo
Locke
was an exponent.
Eidelberg, The
contention as
Philosophy
of the American
Although his
statecraft
analysis, persuasive,
ing of Publius,
while
simultaneously
Eidelberg brilliantly demonstrates the inadequacies of Diamond's pluralist read enterprise. illuminating the non-Lockean nature of the
founders'
33 1
love
of
justice,
will
be least
likely
to sacrifice
can
it to tempo
claim that
rary Publius
and partial
considerations"?
Will's
policy to an outgrowth of shifting and everchanging alli ances among factions be reconciled with his insistence that it is the function of this representative assembly to "refine and enlarge the public so as to se
reduces public
views"
cure
"the
public good"?
Surely
other
the
divvying
If
up
of
the spoils.
satisfactory
interpretation,
deeper
into
Publius'
solution to since
the
justice is
so
To begin with,
and
the accent of
what we
discussion falls
call
heavily
faction,
two
today
"interest
groups,"
a word or
is necessary regarding
"community"
this conflict occurs. The conflict Publius anticipates takes place within the hori
"people"
zon of a
interests."
gate
possessing "permanent constituting a We ought not allow the fact that polity is
Publius'
and aggre
"pluralistic"
to
of
fact that it is
each other
community
the strongest
of
"one
ties"
united
breth
to
by
by
"chords
affection"
(2, 7); "members of the same fam organized for action in (14, 66)
both the
ultimate programs and
the
are
locus
of political
To
appreciate
advance
the
decision-making. The very difficulty in from the republic's extensiveness (and consequent
reinforced and amplified of
by
certain
institutional
precautions
(the famed
"auxiliary
process.
bicameralism,
etc.) acts
staggered elec
tions,
balances,
effect
so as
to
drastically
does slowing the pace of the decision-making the decisions arrived at? It is a of upon the quality decision-making process have Publius observes that "public measures are rarely investigated
slow the
What
"misfortune,"
with
that spirit of to
moderation which
is
essential
good"
dency
The
advance or obstruct
the
public
(37,
176).
He
writes:
oftener a measure
is brought
under
diversity
of
in the
it,
the
less
must
be the danger
the errors
flow from
want of
due deliberation,
from
the
interest (73,
decision"
Likewise, Publius
branch is "oftener
contends
that "promptitude of
good"
in the legislative
of
an evil than a
opinion,
and
parties"
jarring
tion"
of
as well as
act so as to
and circumspec
majority"
excesses of
(70,
358).
Slowing
the
332
pace of
Interpretation
decision-making, Publius
he deems
essential
contends,
will serve
to
engender
the spirit of
moderation
We
fully
appreciate
by
Publius to the
majority
around
resulting diversity. The diversity prevents the for a single particular interest and so makes the consid community
possible.
eration of
the
good of
the
whole
Simultaneously, by dras
tically indeed,
slowing the
decision-making
diversity
allows
for,
encourages, intensive
and prolonged
deliberation
and
discussion
on pub
lic policy initiatives. Not only does the republic's extensiveness militate in favor of a thorough airing of the issues of the day, but by slowing the process lends it
self
delay
it
necessitates
helps
assure
passion; the
public
is
tunity
to "calm
down."17
The
result and
is
a greater
ceive a
"dispassionate
review,"
that
they
will
accordance with
the spirit of
moderation
Publius deems
demands breeze
so essential:
The
republican principle
that the
deliberate
sense of
govern
the
management of
plaisance
to every sudden
impulse
which
the
people
may
receive a
from the
betray
public
their interest. It is
good
. .
just
observation
that the
people
But their
despise the
that
they
the
means of
promoting it
occasions
present
themselves in
which of
the
interests
inclinations, it is the
of
duty
those
interests,
to
withstand
the
they have appointed to be guardians temporary delusion, in order to give them time
(71
,
and
opportunity for
363).
18
Publius does
ments crucial
by
but
rather govern
by
"the
cool and
deliberate
community."
sense of
the
The distinction is
one."
The latter is
preferable
that ought to control and regulate the government. The passions ought to
be
con-
17.
and
George W. Carey, The Basic Symbols of the American Political University Press, 1970), p. 112: "The mere extensiveness of
to heed the very advice that
upon we would
us as a people or nation
friend,
18.
doing something
we are sure
down,
hand before
acting."
19. and its importance cf. John Hallowell, The Moral Eoundations of Democracy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1954). Writes Hallowell: "[T]he es sence of tyranny is unrestrained will What is demanded by the democratic form of government is
.
to the
will of
the majority
but
judgment
of the
repre
We
decision
not
numerically
time
of a
but because it
vote
represents
judgment
society
with respect
to
a particular
The majority
does
not precede
the
discussion but
concludes
it; it is the re
cording
tion"
decision
reached through
deliberation
and
is
not conceived
(pp.
120-21).
-Government
in The Federalist
Publius
333
by
government"
the
(49,
258).
seeks to establish a
democratic
system
in
which public
policy
reflects not
he
by
the
will of
by
the
the people,
by
the
cool and
deliberate
Implicit in
mands
Publius'
line
of argument
emanating from mere desire, from sheer acts of will, and those resulting from reason and deliberation. Factions are dangerous precisely because they
have their judgment
signed
source and
the
Publius'
de
by
desire
or
self-
interest. He thus
to establish a
barrier to factious
est or passion.
majorities
decision-making process which will act as a by filtering out proposals originating in either inter
in this
process
The
by
conditions conducive
which
to the "dispassionate
reasoned
review"
of
issues;
a
condi
favor
delibera
Simultaneously,
op
long
and
not
drawn-out
this deliberative
portunity
of all points of
give-and-take of public
debate,
criticism,
fact-finding,
long-range
effects.
It thus
acts to
bring
of
proposals
reason;
and
the
interests
the
community.
Factious
proposals
in the perverting
effects of
interest
the judgment
be
by
numbers
become
of
reasonableness.
Publius
fallacious
nature of
factious
Hence,
ment
the
republic's
from
being
captured
machinery
of govern
how the
common good of
Slowing
serious and
the
decision-making
process,
however, does
how the
not
itself
guarantee
that
dispassionate deliberation
about
good of
the
whole com
munity
might
best be
advanced will
actually take
or not
potential
for
such
deliberation. Whether
views"
public
is
realized will
depend
the
representative assembly.
imag
of the
much
assembly
whose
members
nothing
more
than bar
gaining
the
for
particular
interests; in
the
such an assembly,
deliberation how
type Publius
wished
regardless of
republic's
diversity
points
Paul
Eidelberg
out,
difference between
334
Publius'
Interpretation
solution
with
justice
required repre
Publius
envisions sist of
presupposes,
chosen
as we
have seen,
a representative
"a
body of citizens,
whose wisdom
est of their
country,
may best discern the true inter love of justice, will be least likely
to sacrifice
consideratio
(io,
members of
46).
the
representative
assembly
seeks republic's
will
whose
to frustrate
dominate the
not
electoral process?
answer
very
diversity
only
slows
the
decision-making
he is seeking,
as well as
assuring them,
required
once
in office,
of
judgment
by
this deliberative
process.20
To begin with,
sets
assembly's character as a
deliberative
body
large
republic
the very size of the districts from which representatives will be to assure, all other things
proportion of
greater
being
equal,
men
larger "proportion
seeking.
of
fit
characters,"
larger
the type of
Publius is
This, in
turn,
of
will
issue in "a
will make
At the same time, the size probability of fit it "more difficult for unworthy candidates to
choice."
by
carried"
too often
(10,
47).
Their size, in
other
words,
will act as a
barrier to both
as
forms
of outright
corruption,
as an
while
simultaneously,
George W.
suggested, acting
impediment to the
success of mere
Publius'
demagoguery. As
view
pointed
out, moreover, it
was
by
be
the
within an extended re
more
likely
to be
independent
of particular
by consequently more homogeneous districts. Such large and consequently heterogeneous districts would contain a multiplicity of small inter ests, which would, in turn, cancel each other out. With factionalism thus neutral
smaller and
ized,
can
men of
"men
who possess
the
most attractive
merit and
the
diffusive
characters
men of
integrity
to office;
who and
be
elected
in the deliberative
process
he
envisions.
cilitate
Hence,
very
extensiveness and
diversity
(10,
will
tend to
fa
"the
weal"
47): representa
factional
"permanent
interests
Publius'
of
the
community."21
Implicit in
desire to
secure the
freedom
independent
of repre
judgment is
sentation.
a rejection of what
Yves Simon
disparagingly
theory"
Simon's theory of representation invites comparison with Publius' ject. Cf. Yves Simon, Philosophy of Democratic Government (Chicago:
1951),
.
pp.
144-94.
Publius'
21 For insightful discussions of the role of representation in Robert J. Morgan, "Madison's Theory of Representation in the Tenth
see
Federalist,"
Journal of Politics
-Government
in The Federalist
335
that this representative system will refine and enlarge them through a
by filtering
discern The
group
of men
"who
possess
of
[the]
to
society
(57,
289).
"aristocratic"
are unmistakable.
Publius dismisses
"altogether
visionary"
by
(35,
The
representative
rate microcosm
assembly is not intended to be a demographically accu of society at large: rather it is intended to be an elite excellence, a
Because the
republic's
natural aristocracy.
diversity
are to
fac
be "the
body
of the peo
towards choos
ing partisans
interests, but
say,
with an eye
extraordinary
character.
to engage in an ongoing
one might
were
dialogue
to
A his
representative's
views,
be
of
less importance
than
particular
interests
of
their
constituencies.22
be stressed, is there anything inherently reprehensible in this: "The good of the Publius informs us, "can only be promoted by advancing the good of
whole,"
each of
the
the
whole"
(64,
329).
Indeed,
since
determination
goods, the
process.
the common good itself demands the appreciation of particular these goods is an
articulation of since
indispensible
part of the
deliberative
But
he
among the
they
would possess an
to the
subordinate
"partial
interests"
than mere
bargaining
interests
their
constituencies:
deals
of merit
Theory
Press,
37 (November 1974), 852-85; George W. Carey, "Majority Tyranny and the Extended Republic of James Modern Age 20 (Winter 1976), 40-53, esp. 45-50; and Gordon S. Wood, The Creation of the American Republic (Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina
Madison,"
1969).
an
impassioned
and
by
factious majority could not be formed in idea that the public good was
new
federal
Nor did
be
neutralized
into
he
conceive of politics as
simply
for Madison
'in the
lay
not
common
interest for
injustice.'
such
an enlarged
territory, but
rather
substitution of representatives
schemes of
In the
new
federal
be 'more
likely
diffusive
character
and established
be
able to pursue
and
lence
vigorously what they saw to be the true interest of the country free from the turbu clamors of 'men of factious tempers, of local prejudices, or of sinister designs '"(505).
Publius'
22.
Here
again
remarks
invite
comparison with
pp. 41-57.
"That
particular goods
common
good"
writes Simon, "matters greatly for the be properly defended by particular (p. 41). The defense of particular interests is necessary to the determination of the
persons,"
constitute
integral
parts of
this good.
336
Interpretation
deliberate
Publius'
gathered to
on common good.
model of such a
deliberative
actualiza
assembly,
tion
why he held
such
in practice,
were
representatives, in
ar
summary,
to
client, than
judges, impartial
from the
bitrators, weighing
point of
of
"interest
groups"
vantage
the
public refusal
Publius'
"enlightened"
to rely
does
that
they
are
conception of the representative's role makes remedy he proposes. As clear, he does indeed presuppose that enlightened statesmen will usually be at the
Publius'
he is aware, his solution to the problem of faction presupposes a particular type of citizenry. It presupposes a citizenry capable of producing the type of wise or virtuous men he expects to see serve as representatives. It presup helm. And,
as poses a
elections
merely
as an
bargaining
agents
for their
particular
to use elections to select the community's wisest and most virtuous men to en
gage
in
an
ongoing deliberative
to
process about
the
public good.
aware of
injus
tice,
Kendall himself
George
Willmoore
As Publius
people."24
it:
As there
exists a certain
depravity
in
de
in human nature,
government pre
justify
Republican
supposes the
Were the
pictures which
higher degree than any other form. been drawn have some among us faithful like by
these qualities in
a
. .
nesses of the
would
be that there is
among
men
for
(55,
284).
A debased populace, in
itself
with
justice;
the enter
Cf. Carey,
pp. 49-50.
Publius believed,
writes
Carey,
plurality of interests acts to secure the presence of "a group of decision makers suffi ciently detached from the immediate interests of any given controversy which would serve more or less as a jury to judge the relative merits of the arguments and proposals advanced by interested and
consequent
parties."
and
Carey,
p.
112. and
passim.
As Kendall
of the
Publius'
and
Carey observe,
of
republic's extensiveness
facilitates factions
a thorough will
airing
issues
the
necessarily
appeals of
be
rejected.
confidence
prior of
have
a sense
they do have in
the community,
other words, a
feeling
of
for justice
and
doing
that which
promotes
the true
interests
of
(b) Off at
vast
sufficient
time to deliberate
and
meditate), the
majority
designed
rooted
interests
deliberative
process
he
seeks will
good
is
in his favorable
assessment of
the
community
within which
this
process
is to
occur.
-Government
in The Federalist
and
337
well aware
diversity
in itself guar
assembly nor the establishment of the deliberative process he envisions; it merely serves to facilitate these objectives. In the final analysis, con fidence regarding the realization of these objections rests upon his ultimately fa
Publius'
vorable estimate of
the
virtue and
intelligence
of
the American
people.
By
weak
faction,
fore.
republics'
the
diversity
allows
this
intelligence to
come to the
inadequacy
of what we
"pluralist"
inter
even
Publius becomes readily apparent. Indeed, this reading fails to grasp the fundamental problem to which Publius addresses himself. Rather than
the narrow and
"negative"
purely
goal of
the avoidance of
political science takes as its goal a broader, more pos majority tyranny, itive and nobler objective: self-government with justice. Rather than seeking
Publius'
merely to establish a democratic system which can avoid the summum malum of tyranny, Publius seeks to establish a democratic system which can effectively se
cure
justice
seeking.
Indeed, in Number
ter
having
observed
that a multitude
of
diverse
and often
conflicting interests
of
"grow up
of
various and
he notes that the "regulation necessity in civilized interfering interests forms the principle task of modern
proposed
nations,"
these
legislation"
(io,
44).
The
Constitution is
superior
to the Articles
of
Confederation
precisely because it will result in a strong government capable of decisive action in behalf of "the permanent and aggregate interests of the community"; capable in
other
words,
so as
to secure
effectively regulating these "various and interfering Publius does not believe that the public "the public
of
good."
interests"
good
will emerge
"as if
by
an
invisible
hand"
from
negotiations
between the
transcend
various
seeks a
decision-making
process
that
can
factional
of
in behalf
thus
requires majorities
that will
be he
more
than loose
and
shifting
seek of
coalitions of
on
the
other
hand,
will not a
tyrannical
objectives.
puts
his faith in
way
with
itself
of
the country's
of
diversity, along
certain
precautions
certain
"inventions
prudenc
so as to se
deliberate
be "a
body of citizens
whose wisdom
est of
their country,
may best discern the true inter love of justice, will be least likely Publius is
confident
considerations."
to
sacrifice
it to temporary
and
and partial
that
the
from
such a
decision-making
factionalism
the
thereby
the
effectively advancing
self-
common good of
Far from
basing
his teaching
Publius'
interest,
republican
remedy ultimately
rests on
338
Interpretation
the American
good
people.
character of and of
being
a sufficient condition
in
as
itself for
"pluralism"
government,
of
is
a means to an
end;
Founders'
Eidelberg
et check
the
pluralism was
divide
would
impera. Given
interest,
purposively
for the
common good.
Pluralism
the
justice;
other
half of the
solution
had to do
statesmanship
with
although
insufficient alone,
taken together
a
the
diversity
which
Publius
wished
to encourage, constituted
was
remedy to the
mortal
diseases
of
faction.25
Ironically, it
the republic's
of
come
and
the virtue
the
government's
to the demands of
from any one interest, and thus its capacity to scending the machinations of factions
Will's
Publius'
analysis
insensitivity
to the full
dimensions
of
statecraft.
Yet it is
Will
paints of
the contem
porary
politics of
American
teaching
stitutes a
whether
minus of
its
moral
dimensions.
Contemporary
practice
thus con
distortion
Publius'
the seeds
of
in
Publius'
argu
ment.
Could it be that
albeit
teaching itself is in
a political practice
of a
some
tering,
unintentionally,
bereft
way of important
responsible
for fos
aspects of
"virtuous
people"
virtuous and
Pub
unexplored.
as the ultimate
his
whole
the citizenry
mysterious
briefly
in
Publius'
argument.
Equally
is the
Publius did
virtuous
he continually invokes. Unfortunately, of the opportunity created by his notion of the enduring
common good
people,
or of
conception of an
transcending
the machinations of
Publius'
factions,
statecraft.
25.
inability
perhaps, in
view of
his forum
Cf. Paul
pp.
Press, 1974),
Eidelberg, A Discourse on Statesmanship (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois 179, 214. Here, as in his earlier The Philosophy of the American Constitution,
compelling
rejoinder
Eidelberg
provides a
to the
"pluralist"
reading
of
Publius.
339
raised
unwillingness
of
issues
by
the ethical
dimensions
no means
his
argument
imparts
a certain shallowness
to The
Founders'
by
laudable,
ramifications
Publius'
failure to
renders portions of of
his thought
obscure and
explain the
eventual
disappearance
important
aspects of
that
political consciousness.
the
fun
political question
it is difficult to
ascertain what
Publius deems to be
the
key
terms of
is defending, or even to grasp the meaning of his discourse. Publius, for example, sometimes speaks
contract
in the
ture"
cadences of the
of
social
liberalism
of
Hobbes
and
Locke. He
of na
the reasons
which
impelled
men to
(51, 265),
their "natural tion
and the
rights"
in
order
necessity to do
of their so
(2,6). When
he
frequently
adverts
to the dangers
they
rights
of other citizens.
Publius certainly sounds Lockean when he tells us that government is "instituted no less for the protection of property than of the persons of (54,
individuals"
278).
Lockean
assertion
that
"the
nate
protection"
"the faculties
object of
of men
from
...
government"
(10,
44).
Are
we
therefore to con
clude that
was a
thorough-going individualist
life
to
by
the
contract of
naturally
in
order
secure conditions
of peace
wherein
they
might
pursue
their subjective
whole
self-
interest,
understood
in
narrowly
this
acquisitive sense?
The
tenor of The
Federalist
militates against
view.
Publius'
central
preoccupation, the
a major
faction,
his
or more
broadly,
self-government with
(if
a concern at
all)
of contractarians such as
Hobbes
the
fact
remains that
references
to the organizing
concepts of
few,
and
largely
rhetorical.
They
are not
words, to his
us
argument.
That he
employed this
language
pause;
that
after
was so pervasive
in the intellectual
day
even
Burke, its
realize
principal
self of need
it. To
the gulf
him contemporary critic, that separates Publius from the contractarians, one
sometimes availed with
only
contrast
his thought
tion such as
26.
Paine.27
this particular passage is widely cited as proof of the Lockean reading is not the only possible interpretation of this passage, nor is it p. 307. necessarily the most plausible. See Eidelberg, Philosophy, 27. Cf. Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1973). For an excel
I say
"perhaps"
Publius'
because
although
"Lockeanism,"
lent
exposition of
versy,"
Paine's contractarianism, see Francis Canavan, S.J., "The Burke-Paine Contro The Political Science Reviewer VI (Fall 1976), 389-420.
340
Interpretation
passages abound which attest
Indeed,
which asserted
and
Justice is the
end of government.
It is the
It
will
be
pursued until
it
is obtained, The
aim of
or until
liberty
be lost in
the pursuit
(51,
265).
every
political
Constitution
ought to
be
to obtain
for rulers,
[the]
most wisdom
to discern
good of
society
good, the
(57,
289).
the
public
real welfare of of
the great
body
of
the
people
is the
supreme object
as
Government
whatever
it may
be fitted for
(45,
233).
Unfortunately,
good,"
since
or
Publius
nowhere
explains
exactly
consist
what
"the
common
an
"justice,"
"the
people"
real welfare of
the
in,
no
definitive
swer
is
possible
is
reducible to
of the
sense.
Suffice it to
interpretation is
not
fully
consistent with
with references
rights,"
as well
of
whole."
the
These
statements
only
make
in something
those
more
than
safeguarding individual rights. The burden insist that we read Lockean concepts into
who would
Publius'
in
Still,
the
is the
common good of
commercial
republic?
close
reading
of
the text yields the conclusion that it consists in to the individual's that Publius
something
pursuit of
more
than the
his
subjective self-interest.
however,
upon
philosophical
from
which we might
derive
Publius'
one.
whole account of
focus is
anthropology instrumental
new govern
goods; thus,
we obtain a
very detailed
an
obtaining
entirely
context
28.
Of
particular
significance
in this
one attended
is Alexander Landi's recent study of James exclusively to Madison's use of social contract in the political vision of Hobbes and Locke, whose
with
society
.
its
teleology
However, Madison's
society oriented solely to security and prosperity, for which reason he also used a more traditional language to describe the ends of political [H]e considered virtue to be an society object of government, both directly and indirectly Madison's understanding of the ends of politi
of a market
. . .
.
image
cal
society
extended
appropriate
to a free
people."
beyond security and prosperity to include justice, virtue, Alexander Landi, "Madison's Political
conclusion as to the
parallels
and
Theory,"
ultimately
noncontractarian character
political
Madison's thought
as a whole
substantially
my
conclusion
regarding
theory.
-Government
in The Federalist
the society
341
these
ultimately intended to
serve.
The
character of
which
partial explanation of
"Notes"
be
found in Madison's
Gouverneur
Life
and
Morris'
records
observation that
said to
liberty
were
generally
be
An
accurate
view of
the
matter
would, nevertheless,
prove
property
was
the
The
favorable to
life. It
was preferred
by
had
nounced
for the
sake of
ular government.
property which could be secured only by the restraint of a reg These ideas might appear to some new, but they were nevertheless
just
[P]roperty
then,
was
the
main object of
government.29
James Wilson,
he
however,
responded
that
of government and
society.
object.30
The
cultivation and
improvement
of the
human
mind
[their]
most noble
It is
interesting
in
on
view of
the
alleged pervasiveness of
dition's influence
to
to his
his fellow delegate from Pennsylvania explicitly explain why Publius is vague
and
it. This
the ulti
government,
on a
the
nature of
potentially controversial point in order to avoid ruffling feathers, and thereby narrowing the Constitution's base of support. The most that Lockcan be conceded to the advocates of a Lockean reading of Publius is that
eanism
is
present
in his
writings
along
made
thought; in my
view, a compelling
case can
be
that the
Publius'
This is
scure.
not the
we
As
aspect of
Publius'
teaching
solution
that
remains somewhat ob
to the
problem of
faction
presupposes
a virtuous citizenry:
proper"
A citizenry
capable of
and
im
character and
ability
citizenry
required
by
program;
and,
finally
discerning
and
by
these men,
chial
rather
pander popular
must own
to this
question without
obliterating
the people
every impression
of
I have
to the
present genius of
America,
the
the state
legislatures,
of
and
the
principles which
1787,"
29.
342
are
Interpretation
with
incorporated
the
political character of
every
class of citizens.
am unable to
conceive
present
.
temper,
or under
speedily happen,
will choose
.
pursue a scheme of
tyranny
or
treachery
(55,
282-3).
Publius'
Despite the centrality of the notion of a virtuous people to ment, it receives only a brief mention and its implications
line
of argu
remain undeveloped.
To begin with, beyond asserting that the American people are such a people, Publius nowhere provides us with the criteria that will enable us to distinguish
virtuous
Without
lius'
from debased peoples, must less justifying those criteria. even entering into the complex philosophical issues raised
that there exist objective moral norms discernible
virtuous and more
by
Pub
and and
premise
by
reason,
and
debased peoples,
just
it
must
arbitrary
cultural
has definite
preconditions.
Concretely, it
citizenry
whose characters
Publius'
have been
the
formed in
formed
wrong,
a cultural
norms.
solution to
justice
would
be
in
by
or
a cultural tradition
with a
and
operating radically defective conception of the two. It presup in a united in their allegiance to a wholesome moral tradi poses, short, citizenry tion. This, in turn, presupposes limits to the degree of heterogeneity desirable in
Publius'
extended republic.
must
be emphasized, is In
not
merely
the
procedural: without
agreement,
procedural agreement
realize. view of auspi
the
goals self-government
not
is instituted to
foregoing
that
considerations, it is
cious
we constitute
one united
people,
a people
same ancestors,
speaking
the same
language, professing
and
very
similar
in their
.(2,
7).
The American
people can
be
said to
be
one people of
they
culture,
i.e.,
a common
life is
good
life.
the meaning
of
human into
existence.
To
use
John
Courtney
which
are the
"entelechy,"
the "vital
form,"
a community organized for action in history, and which gives this commu identity.31 its particular and enduring The American people's status as a vir nity tuous people stems from the deep formative influence this culture and hence
the ethic
which
finds
expression
in it
has
indi
vidual characters.
By
culture,
they
possess a shared
concep
conscience,
which enables
them to recognize,
John
343
mainte
that
they
will
reject, the
"wicked"
factions. The is
a
nance of
dition
of self-government with
justice
which can
extent and
type of
"pluralism"
be
encouraged.
This
the question
which must
of whether or not
there exists a
diversity
and
be
encouraged
to assure the
and
independence
tion of
factions,
not a
the preservation
of a virtuous
community
of a
ing
public commitment
there
edy.
is
republican rem
There is
limit,
after
all, to the
a
amount of at
diversity
less
community
can con
tain,
while still
remaining
not raise
community
all,
much
a virtuous one.
be
preserved and
fact, immediately
virtuous a
after
reassuring the reader that the American people are indeed a Publius raises the question as to whether they will remain such
people,
people, only to
dismiss it lation.
of
. .
by
commenting:
"what
fuller
popu
may produce,
to declare
and
pretensions"
my
(55,
282-83).
How,
It is
as
Kendall
Carey inquire,
polis nor a
are the
to be kept
virtuous?
obvious that
Publius'
commercial re
is
the Platonic/Aristotelian
Protes
which, animated
by
visions of
human excellence,
to produce
sought
to inculcate
virtue.
As
a commercial republic
it
aims
The
govern
est objectives.
Publius is advocating is animated by much more mod The Constitution whose ratification Publius seeks entrusts to the sharply limited
to be
answered
national government a
set of objectives:
The
of
principal purposes
by
the Union
are
these
The
common
defense
con
the members
the
preservation of
the
internal
the
between the
with
states
the
superintendence of our
intercourse,
political and
commercial,
foreign
countries
(23,
112).
But,
as
Publius
reminds
us, the
government
he
champions
national."
partly lives.
of
Publius
fully
direct influence
their
Precisely
what role
however, they
unclear.32
were
character, in the
preservation of public
intended to play in the formation virtue, and how they were to go about
performing this
32.
role remains
the state constitutions at the time
synopsis makes
For the
relevant provisions of
Publius wrote,
at the state
see
Philosophy,
pp. 264-71.
As Eidelberg's
the
apparent, at
least
promotion of religious
conceivably constitute the Thus, in view of its centrality to his piece of the puzzle. Even if this is indeed the case, however, missing failure to explicitly address the solution of the problem of self-government with justice,
public concerns.
in
moral education
Publius'
344
Interpretation
seems
Publius diverse
vaguely
aware
be
without
national
character.
Yet, he
remains
tions might be
over
the
long run.
uninterested
these
implica
self-government with
of
justice, Publius
which
the nature
the conditions
of
its
perpetuation.
What if any
he
would accord
rightly confront the cultural preconditions of his political teaching and the politi cal implications of these preconditions may justifiably be viewed as the capital
weakness of
The Federalist.
Indeed,
as
Kendall
and
Carey
head
. . .
on
"33
has been
perhaps
the greatest
failure
the
American
political experience
CONCLUSION
The
truth.
old
Publius'
mind"
contains a good
moral
deal
of political
dimensions
of
the practice he
create
ei
advocates
a situation
has had in
far-reaching consequences.
the
dominant
academic
interpretations ignore
The Federalist
of
its
argument or
them altogether.
More is
importantly, the absence of a clearly defined litical life, and hence of the common good
charged with
erosion
towards
which
his
government
directing
in the American
moral presuppositions of
his
politics,
in
other
words, has
dering
can
a practice
presuppositions.
Today,
the
diversity
of our
extended republic
scarcely be
which
spiritually we Publius be
queathed
to us remain,
they
by
substance
has
The
substance
Publius
in
gredient
in his
program
for
self-government with
justice (and
upon
which, as
not alto
Will
rightly
notes,
we continue
to
trade,
highly
attenuated,
may
soon cease
It is the
erosion of
immediate
body
politic.
This
impor
sit-
contemporary American
political
life; it decisively
separates our
questions raised
by
his
notion of
the "virtuous
people,"
edu
p. 59.
345
from that in
of
the
founders. And it is
undeniable
that this
the crisis
profound
which
it has issued
of
necessitate
the development
"pluralism"
theoretization
the problems of
its
Nev
must
necessarily begin
statecraft.
by
forgotten
moral
dimensions
of
the
Founders'
(P
SCIENCE,
EDITORS: Marsha Hanen
and
Marsha Hanen Alison M. Jaggar Annette C. Baier The Alison Wylie Sandra Harding Marilyn Friedman Virginia Held Sibyl Schwarzenbach John Exdell Kathryn Morgan Steven Burns Barbara Houston Susan Sherwin Christine Overall Sheila Mullett Ann Ferguson Lorraine Code Kai Nielsen
Sex
Inequality
and
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Drive NW
On the Wisdom
A Lecture
given
of
Nathan
by
Chaninah Maschler
at
November 1985
The Nathan
vid of
whose wisdom
is
our
limits
upon royal
power.1
My
Nathan is
a merchant.
But he has
more
in
common with
his
like his predecessor, is remembered special kind of story, a parable for self judgment.
The
My Nathan too lives in Jerusalem and, chiefly for having told a story to a king, a
Saladin,
the
Moslem his
ruler
the Third
Jerusalem
and established
court
ble's
King
David
made
Jerusalem his
stronghold goes
(II Sam.
5).
King
Saladin
like this:
WHICH HE'D RECEIVED FROM HANDS BELOVED. THE RING'S STONE WAS AN
IT HAD THIS OCCULT
OPAL,
VIRTUE,
RING,
WONDER, THEN,
PROVIDING THAT, IN TURN, THE CHOSEN ONE BEQUEATH THE RING TO HIS FAVORITE
SON.
THUS THE SON DEAREST TO THE FATHER, REGARDLESS OF THE ORDER OF BIRTH,
WAS TO BECOME
ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD
DESCENDED TO A FATHER OF THREE SONS ALL THREE OF WHOM WERE EQUALLY OBEDIENT TO THE FATHER.
ALL
THREE, ACCORDINGLY,
BUT, BEING
SON,
THAT
ONE, OR
THE THIRD
THEY'D ALTERNATIVELY SEEM TO BE THE SON WHO MOST DESERVED THE RING. AND SO TO EACH THE FATHER, IN PIOUS
FRAILTY,2
PROMISED IT.
1. 2.
II Samuel 12; cf. II Chronicles 9:29. fromme Schwachheit, but later spoken
um einen zu
of
in
different tone,
indem
er zwei nicht
mbgen,
begiinstigen.
348
Interpretation
CAME,
THE FOND FATHER IS IN STRAITS:
BUT WHEN THE TIME FOR DYING TO WOUND TWO OF HIS WHAT'S TO BE DONE?
SONS, WHO
HE BIDS THE JEWELER SPARE NEITHER COST NOR TOIL TO MAKE THEM IN ALL POINTS IDENTICAL. THE JEWELER
SUCCEEDS,
HIM,
TO
HIM,
PRIVATE,
CONFERS ON HIM HIS SPECIAL BLESSING, HIS RING AS WELL, THEN DIES.
NO SOONER IS THE FATHER DEAD THEN ALL THREE SONS APPEAR,
QUARREL;
called
Nathan
was given us
by the Ger
I
Lessing
(1729- 1781).
pronounce cause
feelingly only from affection for its bearer, but also be I take pleasure in the historic fact that by chance so fitting a name belongs
the name
chance"
"by
since
fried, germanizing
ring-like
I hope that the
name upon
parable of the
rightly
the rest
of
parable might
imagine that, detached from its setting (I mean, be heard as teaching that tradition, prece
should not
frailty"
dent,
ther,
even
if
riddled with
arbitrariness,
be tampered
making
a
with
the fa
you will
recall, is
chided
for "pious
in
not
choice
among the
than
out
perhaps more
question
"who
rule?"
should
have
definite
answer
be
rational
and
just.
Such
meanings
may
flash
momentarily when the story is taken by itself. In the play they are not caught because there Nathan adds one brush stroke to the picture of the quarreling brothers:
THEY SEEK THE
STRABLE
AS IS FOR
made
to
represent
family
der
of
mankind,
Islam, Christianity,
Judaism:
them has
They
stand side
by
side
3.
who amongst
inherited the
bless-
Ring
B. Q. Morgan tr.,
somewhat altered.
349
ing of Abraham,
the three chief
urged
who
Considering the
what
story's application to
branches
Christianity
in the West,
is
perhaps also
being
is that
strife
ought
to be seen
Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist among Christian brothers against the backdrop of biblical history.
seems to
asked
tion or tions
You may be pleased with the story, though it infinite protest. The Sultan is not. He had
teach infinite
resigna
the merchant
for instruc
in
matters of
religion,
one.
asked
tradition
is the true
To the
of
North America
is
Still, I doubt
that you are unaware that one of the standard opinions about Jews
cob their
not
forebear (cf. Merchant of Venice i.iii.72f ), they are value that splendid Achillean round-outness which hates deception
than death.
sing's
Certainly
is
one of
in
Germany. And
teaching
of
stranger
in
their midst
Lessing's
purposes
(Kant, in
Anthropology,
is
speaks of
Palastinenser,"
Us),
play:
this
the Jew as
tricky
coward
addressed
by
the
After
hearing
the Jew's
fable,
the Sultan
irritably
exclaims:
Nathan
replies:
(ill. V.65f)
In
soliloquy
immediately
the theatre
audience
preceding the narration of the fable of the rings, had overheard Nathan as he reasoned to the conclusion that
be
what
it
seems:
EXPECTING TO BE ASKED FOR DINARS AND HE WANTS TRUTH, THE NAKED TRUTH, AS THOUGH IT WERE READY CASH, LIKE COIN! HAD IT BEEN THE OLD STYLE COIN, WHICH WAS DULY WEIGHED, PERHAPS I COULD OBLIGE. BUT HE IS ASKING FOR MINTED COIN,
SOMEONE'S HEAD TRUTH ISN'T LIKE THAT, SO THAT YOU COULD PUT IT INTO
TOO LOW? WHAT IS TOO LOW FOR ONE SO HIGH? THAT'S it!
Nathan's
wisdom, according to
my exposition,
seems
to consist,
first, in the
abil
ity
unsentimentally to
guess at people's
motives, carefully
taking
account of
350
what
Interpretation
said
is
but
also
looking
Most
behind the
of us
words at more
the
speaker and
his situation;
second,
skill at evasion.
hope for
cially
about
when
the
merchant's
they bear a prophet's name. And even if there is something attractive intelligence, because it is so exact and adroit, mere pru
stuff of which our
heroes
are made.
Ask
yourself
how Socrates
if
you
hero.
Lessing *s
play is de
consists
inspire
for
(Handeln)
(Handeln),4 and whose virtue is the power to reckon profits chiefly in trading and losses rightly. By elevating such a man to the rank of paradigm for emula
tion,
Lessing
hopes to
win us
modern world
in
which
willy-
dwell.5
of
daring
would
gratuitously
cent of
of
evasive.
It is
essential
that we
the
king
the
Faithful,"
he may have sounded vaguely reminis in Jehuda ha Levi's Khusari, is not a pagan ruler but "Defender charged by his office to restrain, if need be by force, all who, in
his judgment, threaten Islam. In Saladin's Jerusalem the Jew is, at best, a toler ated alien, such as Shylock was in Christian Venice. The Jew cannot speak freely. The
sultan s
opening
words
to
shrink protec
tive distance
COME
and abandon
fear,
Saladin
still,
I LONG HAVE HAD THE WISH TO KNOW THE MAN WHOM THEY CALL WISE.
what if it were in scorn they called him so? what if, to them,
wise meant nothing more than shrewd and that man's shrewd who knows
Saladin
you
advantage?
shrewd,
Saladin
HUMAN BEING, WHICH THE PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW, ARE KNOWN TO YOU. AT
LEAST, YOU HAVE TRIED TO KNOW THEM, HAVE PONDERED THEM. THIS OF ITSELF
produces the wise man.
(das
den Weisen)
jeder
diinket)6
Nathan
4. 5.
(der
sich
il.iii. l8f.
p.
6. m.v;
opening
paragraph of
p. 75.
351
have
Socrates,
of
Descartes,
of
Hobbes,
Spinoza in this brief exchange between the Moslem king and the Jew ish merchant may ask: does Lessing want us to size up Nathan not just as a Jew
of
and a merchant
but
as a philosopher?
so regards him, who has heard barely more from Nathan than Unlike you, Saladin has heard about Nathan, and does not entirely dis count a man's reputation. When just now I cited the Sultan's words you probably noticed how he in effect chides Nathan for attributing disdain of the people's opinion to their ruler. If Saladin was sincere there, this might account for his Nathan to know more than has been said so far. trusting The king gives voice to his disappointment:
Clearly, Saladin
you.
have
DISTINGUISHED,
DOWN
CLOTHING,
Fully
ruler and philosopher, it is necessary to know that Saladin, in trying to entrap the Jew into actionable at tack on Islam, is himself trapped. Saladin is a man of honor. Also, as the lines I
have already shown, he is steeped in the writings of the philosophers. But the ancient philosophers have not prepared him to deal with money and matters
quoted
economic. must
haps, by
So he is late to learn that his treasury is empty and when at last he not where or how to turn to refill it. Mistaught, per the ancient philosophers, who treat goods of the body with disdain and
trade and money, Saladin becomes putty in the hands
with of
who mistrust
his sister,
Sittah. He falls in
violence, the Jew
her be
schemes
made
because he his
supposes
that,
could
philosophers nor
tradition
Saladin to
look
finance rationally, so that charging interest would be fair exchange for risk taking and interest rates charged of the one
upon
understood as
impersonating
the benefit to
moderate
recognizes
himself of
having
his life
and goods
7. See i.iii, n.ii, v.i. Al Hafi's bitter outburst "Es war nicht Geckerei bei Hunderttausenden die Menschen driicken, ausmergern, plundern, martern, wiirgen: und ein Menschenfreund an Einzelnen sein wollen? Es war nicht Geckerei des Hochsten Milde, die sonder Auswahl uber und Gute und Flur und Wiistenei, in Sonnenschein und Regen sich verbreitet, nachzuaffen, und nicht des
Bos'
Hochsten immer
words
voile
Hand
haben"
zu
at m.i. I07fif
is
not a mere
venting
of
feeling. It
contains a a party.
di
dervish
"
refuses
any longer to be
The
italicized
Jesus'
allude
unmistakeably to
teaching:
THOSE WHO PERSECUTE YOU, SO THAT YOU MAY BE SONS OF YOUR FATHER WHO IS IN HEAVEN. FOR HE MAKES HIS SUN RISE ON THE EVIL AND ON THE GOOD AND SENDS RAIN ON THE JUST AND THE
JUST."
IN-
Lessing's dervish
continues
the
reflection
men to Merchant of Venice IV.i) gives rise: A moral and religious teaching that would foreswear the principle of mutuality, of exchange, especially when it is adopted by a ruler, breeds the most terrible injustice, because it so much strengthens men's longing for God-like generosity that
they will disown those deeds that might bring home to them that they lack des Hochsten immer voile who need not be Hand, that they are not natura naturans. How dear the picture of himself as "given is to Saladin Lessing shows in the opening scene of Act V.
"giver"
to"
352
Interpretation
not
Nathan does
ruler's character.
himself
mits
Saladin*
against
s wrath,
he
must
be
more
the shallowness of
ring
rings,
man
ifestly
AND
HOW,
NOW TELL ME, WHOSE FIDELITY AND FAITH ARE LEAST SUBJECT TO DOUBT?
SURELY,
SHARE.
OR, TURNING
THINGS AROUND, HOW CAN I ASK OF YOU THAT YOU YOUR FOREBEARS GIVE THE LIE SO THAT MY ANCESTORS NOT BE GAINSAID? THE SAME HOLDS FOR THE
CHRISTIANS, DOESN'T
IT?
(lII.vii.75-90).
not overlook
The
merchant's evenhandedness
is pleasing, but do
unattended to.
that differ
to slip
by
And
note
to
diversity
nor
of
food
and
drink
and clothes:
(mere externals),
vout
one could
be
judging by
have
Jew
Moslem (both
accept.9
of whom
dietary
and even
in
some measure a
at
dignity
of
the three
ac
hardly
cording to Nathan, make good on its claim to deserve reverence for tradition and recognition of the human
claim which
reverence, a
and
weak!10
very
VIII, 9-14; Lessing's Werke, Jerusalem, Arkush tr. (Hanover, NH: Univer
und
der
Kraft,"
and
Mendelssohn's
pp. 90ft.
Lessing
and
on
which are
general, though
they may be
sort,
and
eas
ily
"Those
passages which, as
it were,
but
once
in the book
of
nature,
hensible;
time and
mony.
that
perceived,
must be explained by themselves or remain incompre by means of the senses, by those who were present at the
place of
their occurrence in nature. Everyone else must accept them on authority and testi those who live at
attested no
another
Moreover,
mony,
longer
exists
only evidence^]
without
In historical matters, the authority and credibility testimony we cannot be convinced of any his
itself."
torical truth.
9.
Without authority, the truth of history vanishes along with the event Cf. Maimonides, Mishne Torah i. 1 : "We should not follow the customs of the
or
gentiles nor
im
in their way
of
trimming
Israelite
shall
be
recognizable
by
just
he is distinguished from is in
them
by
his knowledge
his
principles."
(Isadore
Maimonides'
judgment
as a sociologist campaign
Kinross'
account of
Ataturk's
to
modernize
Rebirth of a Nation (London: Weidenfeld, 1964) holds the wearing of the fez!
10.
cal
a chapter about
Ataturk's expressly
forbidding
Cf.
Maimonides'
"Letter
Astrology,"
on
Ralph Lerner is
and
Philosophy,
p. 228:
"Know, my
masters, that it
not proper a
for
trustworthy
clear proof
anything
thing for
is
353
beginning
me
up sharply against the question why he doesn't "go that is, why he has not become a Moslem. In phrasing the question this way, I may already have answered it in part! When first Saladin commanded Nathan to say what faith and law carry con for him, Nathan had simply answered: "Sultan, I am a (m.v.40). The Sultan, however, had pressed Nathan, insisted that a sage is bound to trans
viction
Jew"
brings
native,"
form
chance
into
choice:
A MAN LIKE YOU DOES NOT STAY PUT WHERE ACCIDENT OF BIRTH HAS CAST HIM.
OR IF HE
THE BEST.
(lII.V.42f).
We,
nates
who
"coined"
or
from
"natural"
religion.
We must, therefore,
ask
why Nathan perseveres in the religion of his forebears. Remaining not only inconvenient and expensive but even dangerous. The
"insight"
"peculiar"
is
(if that is
what
it
is)
which prompts
Nathan to
remain a
Jew is
chiefly expressed through his way of winding up the fable of the three brothers. But it may be prefigured in his name. This name, Nathan, was chosen by Les
sing.
In Boccacio's Decameron,
called
where
the
ring-story
who
Nathan, in Hebrew, means he (presumably, but not necessarily, God) has given. By equipping his merchant-philosopher with the name Nathan, Lessing
focuses
at
attention on
the
singular qualities of
Nathan's patience,
of
his
not
chafing
two other
Christian Monk) differs from Nathan in this respect: The Sultan yearns to become sala ad dunyah ve-ad din, improver of the world and of the law. From Nathan he wants to learn what he must do to become deserving of
that
name.
ruler
is to
(as
does Nathan himself) cording to his means. Such in Nathan's deriving from
the
case.
only
means
according to his
but
even ends ac
Having
gained
easily turns into callous passivity. Not so the Sultan's good will, he steers it toward free,
geometry, and
astronomy.
man's
reasoning
such as arithmetic,
.
The
second is a
thing
thing
to distinguish
in his
mind and
thought
trustworthy
and
accept as
trustworthy because
Anyone
simple
of
reason.'
tradition,
as
thing'
and
grounds of
who accepts
trustworthy anything
(Proverbs divisive
is
not of
it is
said
'The
believeth any
on
14:15)."
See
also
"Ernst
und
the
inherently
nature of
354
Interpretation
of
the
right to
issue
He
other.
continues
his fable
who
of
the brothers
case
by having
them
bring
hears their
not accuse
the broth
ers of
and
to have
to
promised privilege
by
dint it.
of
his ring directly from the father grace. But he denies the court's
competence, so
coercive
long
as
he
presides over
advises
liegt):
allow
future
he
to issue judgment.
Turning directly
to the
IF YOU FEEL THAT YOU ARE HE, THAT WISER JUDGE WHO IS PROMISED
US, THEN.
In
answer
by
the
hand
and exclaims:
THE THOUSAND TIMES THOUSAND YEARS THAT YOUR JUDGE SPOKE OF ARE NOT YET UP.
Saladin, in declining
offering him
and
Nathan
pretended
to be
choosing instead to identify himself with the judge in the fable who acknowledges his judicial impotence, is freed for the modesty to which, by temperament, he is inclined. Whether Saladin will be able to act according to his insight is As I
self a
different
matter.
construe the
fable,
one
would
be
or
times thousand years are not yet up. To stave off the
via while
forgetting
of our
being
in
in
patria
he
stays a
harshly ("Come closer, Jew the Sultan's cry, "Nathan, dear Nathan, be my
so
would
...
")
con
friend"
(in. vii.
155).
Or rather, it
there, had it been up to Saladin. Nathan, re the king's wars and need for cash, gracefully offers to supply what is membering needed. In thus saving both the king's and his own dignity, he seems to be
concluded
have
people's
ability to judge
pp.
who
is truly
wise.
258,9
of
the
Dover
edition.
In calling
atten
mean
whether
the
Prophet,
least Tamar
may
well
whom we
learn
of the
fate
of
by hindsight)
and the
that
first in the
led,
going
Amnon,
to the rebellion
of
Absalom.
355
friendship
wars.
Moslem-Christian
his way to remind us like me, you cannot help wondering whether pockets of peace in the deserve to be so much celebrated, you were probably also worried
"blood"
pretty picture. It does nothing to stop the In the concluding act of the play, Lessing goes out of that the tumult in Egypt and in Lebanon continues (v.ii). If,
makes a midst of war
by
the word
in Nathan's
speech
in defense
of religious pluralism:
SHARE,
I believe
but
not
Lessing
Bear in
that I
wants us to
was must
to make us uneasy,
too easily
uneasy. mind
To
show
briefly
III,
recount the
play's plot.
that the
fable
and merchant
play.
have described
belong
five-act jour
At the
ney,
play's
returned
from
long
commercial
Babylon. His daughter Rachel's nurse, Daja, welcomes without her charge. She is full to bursting with the story of a recent him, alone, fire that threatened Nathan's house and nearly cost Rachel her life. Had it not
as
taking him
far
of a
hearing
with
Rachel's
That
should
into the flames, the girl would surely have Knight Templar, openly wearing his white
march about
cross,
Saladin's Jerusalem is mighty strange, freely since the Order had just treacherously broken the Christian truce with Saladin (i. v.i 08) and every member of the Order could expect death at Moslem hands.
streets of
in the
The knight's life has been spared, Daja reports, because blance to the Sultan's deceased elder brother.
of
his uncanny
may
at
resem
Nathan,
set some of
whose
snubbing
of
of melodrama
the theatre
audience against
him,
soon redeems
himself
by
for his daughter. He wants, of course, to express his gratitude to her savior, the Knight Templar. But this is made difficult, not only by the oath of poverty sworn
by
no
all such
knights,
and
by
their
for
Jews,12
but also,
even pri
marily,
by
the dishonored
an
to
have
slain
avoids
II,
scene 5.
Then,
softened
by
the
fa
sa
remarkable
ability to
and
her
honor
requires
Nathan
proceeds
The knight
blurts
12.
13.
out
his
real rancor:
E.g. l.iv.58, n.v.20, n.v.39, n.v.47, 1v.iv.119f. m.viii. n.v.27 and knight's soliloquy at
iv. iv.
14. 15.
on
kind
and
kindness.
356
Interpretation
SUPPOSE THAT I DO NOT EXACTLY HATE BUT FOR ITS PRIDE AM FORCED TO SCORN THIS PEOPLE?
THIS PRIDE IT HAS PASSED ON TO CHRISTIANS, MOSLEMS
GOD.16
I'm
curious
how
you
feel
about
Nathan's
response.
He
says:
(iI.V.
108).
words
be
Nathan
says to
and
Saladin in the
next act
(al
discussed),
to one's
where
he
reminds
the ruler,
ourselves,
of the sweetness of
loyalty
own people?
Are they honorable, considering the reverence Na people (according to the Christian nurse's [Daja]
i.vi.22ff)?
ends
the
knight,
in
meeting too, be
prevails over
hardly
the
knight
him to
call on
The
man, as
ence
fire,
and rushes
from the
girl's pres
his passion, unwilling perhaps his love for Rachel to her father (m.ix), who is slow to
Unable to
suit.
encourage
the Templar's
Nathan's standoffishness,
which
Lessing
without
exhibits
by having
the
knight
gesture
of
father
on
Nathan
calling the knight son, exacerbates the young man's The knight had abandoned himself to his passion for Rachel to fill
of when
the void
given
left in him
bereft
of the
organizing
purpose of
him
as member of
his
chivalric
order.18
Himself suspecting that he is a bastard, he interprets Nathan's inquiries about his lineage as a half-knowing proving of his illegitimacy.19 Deprived of Rachel, on whose love he has, as he believes, a legitimate claim, even according to her
father, he is
and
now overwhelmed
by
he is illegitimate through
and
knight, is
ashes20
his
new
purpose, as
16.
Yemen,"
also
cf. Deuteronomy 10:15, 7:7> 4;8, cited in this order by Maimonides in "Epistle to Isadore Twersky, Maimonides Reader (New York: Behrman House, 1972), p. 439. See Spinoza, Theologico-Political Treatise, Hi.
Cf.
Nathan
in.
ix. 42-50.
Cf. Nathan
11. 5 with
Iliad
ix. 316-65.
357
given
husband,
to which
his
fancy
had
the glow of
emulation of
his
father,21
is
blocked. While the knight is in this utterly vulnerable condition, Rachel's Chris tian nurse, Daja, gives him the information that Nathan has no right to stand in
passion's
was
way,
of
born
his daughter is daughter only by thieving adoption: Rachel Christian parents, baptized as a Christian too! (iii.x).
since
In his confusion,
erlaubt,
allowed
outrage
(m.x.l
18:
gate
Nathan hdtte
sich
so zu verfdlschen?
What,
to
guidance.
He might,
as would
as
Saladin later
him, have
gone to the
Sultan
for advice,
out
supposed new
in his
soliloquy.
But,
proaching the
chosen as
cloister.
identity he had been trying next the act, we see the knight ap
are certain whom
he has
mentor,
whether
the
lay
brother Bonafides
or the
Patriarch
of
Jerusa
lem (the only character in the play who has no proper name). The lay brother is standing in the porch of the monastery and the knight's first words to Bonafides
are
to the
effect
that
he's been
looking
for the
monk.
But just
little later
(iv.i.36)
we
Patriarch.
If, instead
rectly but
the
attending a performance of the the Patriarch (i.e., the local Bishop) in Act I, not di
Bonafides'
by
proxy:
Taking
advantage of used
monastic oath of
obedience,
the monk as
his
messenger
message was
tan's
him
so as
the
more
Lessing
us
witness
Bonafides,
a crown confuse
and
the Knight
only to
exhibit
but
also
the Knight's
moral steadfastness:
The Patriarch's
promise of
in the hereafter for rendering assassin's the knight. Nor did his Order's breaking
gift of
service
to the church
failed to
him: The
for the
by that natural code of honor which deems murder in exchange being saved alive base ingratitude. The knight (greatly to the
stayed ritterlich
messenger's
relief)
IV,
our
knight
the
would use
this
same treacherous
Patriarch
his
spiritual
advisor!
True,
knight
as
seems relieved
approaches
to come
upon
Brother Bonafides
Patriarch
he
the cloister.
Unfortunately,
apprehensive of
his conscience, begs off from hearing the sharing intimacies that would burden knight out. Consequently, it is to the Patriarch of Jerusalem himself (now substi despite the tute for his substitute!) that the knight puts his case of conscience, knight's
moral and even physical revulsion at
REVEREND
the Patriarch:
SUPPOSING,
POSSESSED AN ONLY CHILD, CALL IT A GIRL WHOM WITH THE GREATEST CARE HE HAD BROUGHT UP
21.
HI.vili.30ff.
. .
.
358
Interpretation
CHILD,
The
patriarch answers
must
foster-father
both imperial
and
burn: in seducing a Christian to apostasy, the Jew has broken Papal law. For the child it were better that it had died than that
for its damnation everlasting its earthly life were to be saved apart from Christian doctrine. Repelled by such unreason, the Knight tries to extricate himself. Too late!
as
According
humiliating truce,
Sultan Saladin,
to enforce the
local
secular ruler
obligated
thank god
LIES FOR THE STATE ISELF IN LACK OF FAITH: ALL CIVIC BONDS DISSOLVE
.
BELIEVE.23
We
can
be be
sure
identity
the
Saladin
war will
by
the
written
terms
of
the
truce,
in Jerusalem.
this course
of events were
We it is
or of
could
be
sure of
tragedy. But
Lessing's play, somewhat like Shakespeare's Much Ado about Nothing Moliere 's Tartuffe, tends toward a disaster that does not come to pass. The fall
not.
"real"
not even a
person,
merchant,
and
friend,
how
and
teacher) is
prevented
by
born
decency
luck.24
Before
and
we examine
Lessing
expressly
consider what
for the untying of the play s justice there was in my claim that the plot is
arranges
regard
con
for
and
and
sind"), let us
briefly re
Sir Knight; also, give further instances of Nathan's wisdom. May it not fairly be said that the knight, subjected to the test of the rushing waters of returning chaos, that is, of the loosening from all bonds of habitual sol
and outs of
nicety than
22.
anything
cf.
or anyone else
in the
play.
Even after,
as we
thought, he
1v.ii.100, 139L
ruler's
with
connivance, the
placetaker,
Angelo, representing
Cf. Werke. VIII, pp. 102, 115L and company in Act V, scene i Brother Bonafides.
23.
24.
Cf.
Dogberry
of
about
Nothing with
359
the
by
Patriarch's
naked
villainy,
we're made to
words:
(iV.iv. I
IO,f).
falls.25
And
we are made
knight
In pitying
saw the
him,
we
fear for
despair
ourselves.
Was it in
and
anticipation of such
arm
failure, because he
young
man's
hoped to
him
with a new
unreservedly
than said:
with
lecture,
gave me pause?
Na
(lI.V.I08f).
If Nathan
spoke
from
solicitude
was
that not
wisdom?
Surely
it
was
kindness?
unkindness.26
kindness, like Spinoza's, has its own Lessing con trived that when first we meet Nathan, in Act I, we find him quite tough, toward his daughter. Rachel, unable to bear the thought that she is despised by one her savior from the fire, the Knight Templar whom she must needs admire has transformed him, with Daja's enthusiastic assistance, into a being so high
Nathan's
that
he
cannot
but "look
We're
down,"
an angel sent
to save her.
Lessing
seems
to be
sketching
angel's
a miracle-tale
in the
making:
has become
cure
wings.27
his daughter
cial
of
how Nathan does everything in his power to the self-gratifying delusion that supernatural powers take a
shown wants
spe
interest in her. He
of
to
active gratitude
to a
fellow human be
the fire
with sil patterns
"the iron
wanting to be drawn
out of
silver"
tongs,
to think
itself
a pot of
he
substitutes
delight in the
made
by
sheer coincidence:
ON A RANDOM COUNTENANCE
FROM EUROPE, AND YOU ARE SAVED FROM FIRE, IN ASIA. IS THAT NO WONDER, WONDER-AVID FOLK? WHY MUST YOU CALL AN ANGEL DOWN FROM HEAVEN?
(i.ii.
IO3).
25.
26. 27.
p. 238
Dover
edition.
See
also i.i.
109, 123L
360
Interpretation
on the
Nathan is commenting
to stir
of
happen
Saladin,
same
so much so as
life;
happens to be
The
by
also shows
opening act in which we see how Nathan takes his daughter in hand how coolly he bribes the nurse when she too insistently mentions her its demand that
she
Christian
you
conscience and
disclose Rachel's
resist.28
origins
(i.i. 41 ). If
don't like my calling it bribery, say that the merchant, to distract the nurse, Nathan has no compunction overwhelms her with gifts too glamorous to
about
buying
the
nurse's silence.
Someone
raised on
Kantian
notions of respect
may Daja
well
accept
miracle-tales-and-all
learned
also
from
love,
that Daja cannot (since she believes that her Christian way alone leads to
stand
salvation) patiently
walk to
by
when
the
child
that is
so
dear to her
continues to
what, from her Christian perspective, is perdition? (v.vi). Now offering bribes instead of words shows disrespect. Yet Rachel's more than patience, love
for Daja
as a
Christian, is
welchen
kind
of
of
"heteronomy"
(Wie
weiss
denn fur
Erdklotz
fi
den auf
welchen
gebohren?) It is
a respect
but, in
to the
stead of
being
felt
as a passive
According
Knight, it was through Nathan's raising that Rachel developed such suppleness. There must, then, be some kind of affection in Nathan's ability to size up who each is and in his freedom to give daughter, nurse, Knight Templar, Sultan
to each what
is
"fitting."29
This virtue,
(agape), is,
to argue
as aydnr) The play seems that the merchant-philosopher, because it is his business to deal with de most
which some
Christians
might
be tempted to
identify
paradoxically, linked to
commerce
by
our play.
tachable circulating
man
goods and
being's ovoia,
being
money (things which cannot be mistaken for a hu made for alienability), because he is landless, can be
made
before him. Thus the very condition that first they were dispersed an object of suspicion their in Lessing's play made a source of freedom.
Jews
"unrootedness"
is
good
From the Sultan's trap Nathan was rescued by his own wit and the Sultan's heart and aspirations to nobility. From the Patriarch's law he is saved by
Brother Bonafides, the fact that
of
men
three
the
macy to bands
admit.
kinship
(die
ersten
iv.vii.
160) "critical
and a piece of
would
historian"
Brother
28. iv. vi:
Bonafides,
always
obedient, though
inwardly
protesting,
go-between
It's probably not unimportant that Nathan's distractive manoeuvres work not because is greedy but because she sees Nathan's goodness in his generosity. 29. Cf. Republic i, Socrates's conversation with Polemarchus; cf. also Spinoza p. 238, Dover edition, appendix to part iv of the Ethics.
the nurse
361
act
before, in
adoption
(iv.vii)
takes the
monk
initiative
of
Patriarch is
on
warning Na of Rachel's
because, eighteen years ago, he had been the horseman who brought Rachel, then a babe-in-arms, from war-torn terrain to Nathan. In so doing he was carrying out the wishes of the baby's father, recently bereaved of his Christian
has piously preserved, through all those years, a prayerbook that belonged to Rachel's father, in which are written, in Arabic script, the names of
wife.
The
monk
and
his
wife's
of
defy
(v.iv.28f).
We have
are that
almost reached
curtain come
the end
of
the
down
left
on stage
figures (the
ruler's sis
embra
and
the
merchant's
On
a s
(fortunately) very
Joy,"
much reduced
is
reminiscent of
Schiller
and almost
equally
be the implications
of three
final facts:
Christian infant's life
and
First,
long
now,
as
Bonafides
is
as
lay
brother
is
the sufi
dervish Al
Hafi. Al Hafi is probably for Bonafides, I'm not at days in the hut
on
all confident
he
will
be
allowed
always
dreaming
of:
Jerusalem, his
continues
Flute,
to
reign.30
Second,
us:
we're
being
not
deprived
of the
seemed
to promise
marry Rachel.
Third,
kinsman
up
as
person's
friend, he has
as
no
and no equal.
In the
midst of
those
embracements
he is
solitary
as the
misanthrope sufi.
Every comedy I know of Measure for Measure, like ones dark (barring Aristophanes), even and especially non-wedwith a concludes culminates in a wedding. Lessing's Nathan the Wise
Let
me elaborate a
little
on the
last two
observations.
Lessing's play are much akin. Both are Masonic drama. The Queen of Kingdom of Darkness. the Night corresponds to the Patriarch of Jerusalem. She is Ecclesia, laythree messenger boys are the The Daja. Lessing's are court Queen's The three ladies from the Sufi Der is the see imagination to this) brother Bonafides. Papageno (though it takes a trick of the and Tamino. Nathan is, of course, Sarastro (Zoro
30.
Mozart's
opera and
Hobbes'
This leaves Sarastro, Monstatos, Pamina, Mozart's Prince and Princess and It is precisely because one runs into difficulty in matching up comparison: Each effort to see by the urge I Moor with Lessing's Knight, Daughter, and Sultan that darkening. Lessing's play, performance of which was prohibited in Sax
vish.
aster)
seeing-as
illuminates
while
ony
and
Austria,
in
was
first
performed
years after
published
1779.
Mozart's
opera was
Vienna,
in
1791.
362
Interpretation
cannot
issue in
wedlock
because the
same
lit
establishes
that the
knight
Why
knight,
not
to Rachel.
unrelenting efforts to couple her ward with the Christian knight, for Rachel the gaining of a brother is total gain: The stage direc tions at v. viii. 98 call for Rachel's approaching and the knight's withdrawing at
nurse's,
by
the
fact
that
in Act II Nathan
checks on
knight
and
finds that
amorous
in Act V,
checks
now
in full knowledge
of
knight's
Rachel's
even
never
becomes
I
that
the knight
registers
cannot answer
my
Lessing
on
means
to show
by involving
is, I
take
great success
it,
of
to be reminded
of
barriers. Is
Lessing
apprehensive
doctrines that
would make us
reducing the number and kinds of attachment and ings? Or is he punishing the knight, not for his passion, but for remaining a lover like Palamon and Arcite in Chaucer's "Knight's incapable of conceiving
Tale,"
of
confessed
and a woman?
never
imagined that
Nathan he
and
Na (cf.
between him
rescued
Or, finally, is Lessing using the sibling relation between Rachel to drive home that the exasperating deliberateness of Na than, the stuffy carefulness of the bourgeois, no matter how unloveable it looks
the knight
next
spontaneity and daring of the knight, deserves our This last suggestion brings us back to the hypothesis that
to the
nostalgia
grateful respect?
Lessing
contrived
Lessing
for the supposedly finer pre-comseems to have been the first man of
of a mercantile mentality.
letters to
Else
Netherlands,
fenders in
31.
more or
less
popular
literature.31
on the
change, a
deserving
of respect
(respectable)
(utilite)
they
of mankind.
There the
Jew,
the
Moslem,
infidel
Christian deal
though
count none
the Anglican
accepts the
Quaker's knit
promise"
21, Lettres
sur
(Spectator, May
chants.
19, 1717):
mankind
There
are no
les Anglais (Cambridge, 1 96 1 ) Addison remarks more useful members in a commonwealth than mer
.
They
together in mutual
intercourse
of good office,
distribute the
gifts of nature,
observes
find
rich,
great."
and magnificence
to the
And Hume
in
Liberty"
(Hume
Moral
and
edition p. 316):
"Trade
till the last century, and there scarcely is any ancient writer on
politics who
has
made mention of
it (Xenophon
the
Laws,
excludes
it)
363
medium
drama,
which
for giving li
restorative
turgical expression to the gratitude we owe to those who accept the risks of great
ness
(tragedy)
infecting
can
us
with
confidence
in the
powers of smallness
(comedy), how
allegiance
drama be
made to celebrate
middling
can
to shift
its
from the
By revealing
This brings from
the
me
source of
this moderation.
what
to
saying
I deem to be the
real reason
for Lessing's
who
Voltaire,
is free
less than
scrupulous
it toward the Jew, especially when his business dealings make intimidation in good conscience
of
convenient,
and unlike
Kant,
who
delivers himself in
private
letters
as well as
in
his Anthropology
ers
von
bigotry
as to make
his
admir
blush, Lessing is
a genuine practitioner of
the
(piXavdgojnia
preaches.32
(unbestochenen,
Vorurteilen freie Liebe, 1n.vii.135f) which he He is neither an antinor a philo-semite. He makes Nathan a Jew, not because he puts any stock
in
a mystique of
chosenness, but
because,
IV,
with
Aeschylus, he believes
ordinance we
that
Zeus,
whoever
He
might
be, has
established as a
fixed
vii,
that wisdom,
if it
comes,
comes
from
suffering:
In Act
scene
learn the
circumstance of
Rachel's bondage
adoption.
Thereby
in
we
springs
from human
understood. private
to the
eighteen years
the
frequently during
was set on
the Crusades).
Among
where
family
fire
consumed.33
Hume
goes on
to
point out
that the
supposition
that the
flourishing of the
What is
freedom is erroneous, as the French "commerce can never flourish but in free
with political
example shows.
much more
true
is that
government.
He
Carthage, Venice, Florence, Genoa, Antwerp, Holland, England. "The Mfree cities now in Europe are London, Amsterdam, and Hamburg
.
three greatest
. .
towns
He
adds the
important
se
observation: cure
"Commerce
is
apt
to
decay
in
subordination of rank
monarchy.
Birth, titles,
all
be honored
above
is absolutely necessary to the support of riches and industry, and, while these no
commerce
tions prevail,
the
considerable
traders will
employments
to
which
in
order
to pur
annexed."
krantz
and
Cf. Lessing's early play Die Juden Schubert ed. vn/2, 112.
ed.
threatens Nathan's house and daughter in 33. I hardly need belabor the fact that the fire which Act I, the fire with which the Patriarch thrice threatens Nathan in recompense for his adoption of a baptized girl child (1v.ii.79), and the fire of eighteen years earlier by which Nathan lost all his inti fire. They correspond to the Sabeans, Chaldeans, and light mates are one and all Masonic trials by
ning
and gale
vealed
Job to detach him from "sent the Whirlwind. from Voice in the
to"
all
364
Interpretation
ME,
I HAD BEEN LYING IN DUST AND ASHES FOR THREE DAYS CALLING GOD TO ACCOUNT, RAGING AGAINST HIM.
NIGHTS, WEEPING,
IN A FRENZY OF REBELLION I CURSED MYSELF AND THE AND SWORE UNDYING HATRED TOWARD CHRISTENDOM
.
COSMOS,
BUT
REASON,
RETURNING BY
DEGREES,
ADDRESSED ME
GENTLY,
SAYING:
"NEVERTHELESS
WAS HIS DECREE. COME. PRACTICE WHAT LONG YOU'VE UNDERSTOOD. THE DOING OF WHICH IS NO HARDER THAN IS ITS COMPREHENSION.
RISE."34
WILL."
The
second
and modest
constitution
that to us
of a war
for independence
and a
self-
that have
from
human equality, he and the play named after him may seem petty. Nathan's efficacy is purely private: He makes friends of a Moslem and a Christian and he gives a fine raising to a baptized girl-child. True, the Moslem he befriends is a king, so that "taking him aside may bear public conse
evident as quence.
privately"
True,
one
the child
who girl
largely
for
owes
Nathan is
dered
Christian
seven sons of
his
own
begetting
seems
by
her
mother's co-religionists.
Nevertheless, it
make us
to me that
Lessing
of
the
fairly
small, unheroic,
and self-interested:
Nathan's
to his
own
advantage,
friendship
pacts and
the
adoption of
Nathan's returning
34.
well-focused
Because
of the sentence
I italicized,
Spinozist
grounds of
understanding (Ethics 11 corollary to proposition 99), I see no providence in Lessing's play except such as Spinoza and Maimonides both would acknowledge. Thus Nathan the Wise, where the Sufi and the Jew agree that a man must do the good which he clearly perceives to be
identifying
will with
such, seems to
me
to teach the same determinism as do the Dialogues for Freemasons: In the Dia
clear-eyed and
unsaid"
far-sighted Falk (falcon) maintains that "the sage is (Der Weise kann nicht sagen, was er besser
verschweigt, Werke
VIII,
459).
Rightly
or wrongly,
Lessing
VIII,
seems
to
me
to
hold
with
Spinoza that
(cf. Werke
427, the
"Zusatz"
Jerusalem's essay on freedom). In the Hamburgische Dramaturgic (2nd piece, Werke IV, 242), Lessing denies the possibility of Christian tragedy. The expressly stated reason for this impossibility is that the true Christian's imperturbable meekness is inherently untheatrical. But putting two and two
together I believe the deeper
reason
finality
It
and
that,
where
for the
Christian
requires
possible,
tragedy
as
tragedy
rupture of
divine
(in truth,
annihilating rupture of a man who wills evil for evil's sake. Tragedy in Lessing's judgment) that we confess that "this character, placed in this situa
this passion, could not
of
tion,
and overcome
judged."
by
have judged
him to
and
have
The determinism
truth. The upshot
"philosophic"
tragedy Lessing identifies (Werke IV, 243) as the of all this is that the famous (or infamous) conversation
even the prime evidence
"absolute"
with
Jacobi
zism."
(Werke VIII, 563flf) is very far from being the sole or Hence my citation of passages from Spinoza.
365
and
life derives from hate is in bondage to the past, least (cf Spinoza, Ethics in, definitions 1 and 2 and proposition 1 pp.
,
I29f
Dover
ed.).
He is
Jew's adopting
of a
baptized in
fant is
vii.
risky
8),
and most of
business. But he takes risks only wenn's notig ist, und niitzt (in. the time his virtue as a free man is shown by the intelligence
or circumvents rather
with which
he declines
If Nathan is
Musterbild der
hero, he is
hero
of
sobriety
and as such
being
offered as
menschlichen
part iv).
Thus the
goodness
chief question
so gut als
is
whether
Nathan's
klug,
klug
als weise
(i.iii. 88)
is
sufficient to
inspire
one
to
self-exertion.
Social
Theory
a special
and
issue
on
Practice
Marxism/Feminism: Powers
of
Theory/Theories
and
of
Power
Nancy Holmstrom
on
aspects
of
the
present
and
future
the
other.
Submit
Tallahassee,
FL 32306-1054
Robert H.
Horwitz,
1923-
1987
Will Morrisey
In his
philosophy
at
told a story on
with
himself. He
recalled
walking along
his friend Herbert Storing, when some youths, out to intimidate, ran di rectly at the two professors. (These were not former students.) "Storing stood
there
and
like
man,"
a real
Bob said,
illustrating
this
by
expanding his chest. Then, his enormous eyes shuffled a few steps to the left, narrowed his eyes in
got off
glance,
and mut
tered, "/
He
and
the sidewalk.
undergraduates
was
teaching
man.
Hobbesian
The lesson
worked:
I have remembered,
ably will, too. But Bob left the teaching unfinished, with respect to himself. Six teen years later, back at Kenyon for his memorial service, I learned that Bob had
won
the Bronze Star in World War II. His laugh came back to me then; it always
sounded as
read
Machiavelli
not
losing
his
liberality
but
putting a surgical edge on it. At the service, Bob's student, colleague, and friend Phil Marcus said, "Bob Horwitz was always more than most saw, until it was too
late."
Robert
mained a
Henry
kind
of
Horwitz Texan
was
born in El Paso
on
September 3, 1923,
and
he
re
all
and acted
to back
up those thoughts, for the sake of them and the friends who shared them. He didn't talk or act for the sake of just anybody, having a Texan contempt for "the as he himself once pusillanimous and the timid, the compromisers, and the
like,"
put and
it. A
student wrote
how to have fun. Preferably at the same Bob learned early how to reconcile contraries, Tennessee, a Jewish Southerner in the 1930s
minorities sometimes embattled.
or a
balance them. He
minority him
of a
grew
up in
minority, both
This
must
have
given
a certain
distance
from, but
It surely
a nonetheless passionate
workings of
the
political order.
prepared
Bob to
appreciate
by
rediscovered
way
or
of
writing
was
to be
coincidence
providence, Bob's
relation of
Declaration
contradiction, the
or teachers at at
not
from books
first,
his
but
by
experience
in
a southern
where
Amherst
met
he
and
studied piano at
School,
wisely
married
her,
in Hawaii,
he
undertook
the Sisy-
368
Interpretation
phean task of
teaching
adult education
of
toler
in 1948,
one
when
Stalin's troops
crushed
Czechoslovakia
the evil
of
and
harshly
At the
Wallace -style
student about
leftist totalitarianism.
knowledge,
it
so
acquired
by
reconnoitering
wide,
sometimes rough
terrain,
and elevated
Bob
could see
what phi
and measure
its
proportions. must
be, if philosophy is to losophy is, and what political philosophy Bob never forgot these lessons. Out of them he fashioned a life with
sometimes
survive.
friends,
it.
modern
in
collaboration
with
fortune's wheel,
neither
as often
in
With
respect
to fortune if
not
friendship,
the ancient
the
satisfy Bob. So he assumed either one, prudence advised. He didn't lose his balance.
the work Bob
as circumstance re
Almost
all
did
during
the
and after
his
years
in Chicago
concerned
doctoral dissertation he
seek
contrasted
ways
Aristotle, Rousseau,
and
Dewey
to educate citizens in
various regimes.
mistic
belief that
"growth,"
conceived as
Bob
co-edited
two books on
ideologies,
here
with
of such
philosophy reconceived as science. Bob had a less than schemes. He also had too much respect for 'the common
man'
to believe
that
for
enlightenment.
losophy
regard
to imagine
as well
it identical to the
propaganda of modern
science,
to
it
defended
by
that propaganda.
effect of modern social science methods.
He
that
they
poli
tics,
and thus
to Essays on
ultimately debase the way politics are practiced. In his contribution the Scientific Study of Politics, a book he conceived, he dissected
propaganda"
the "scientific
cal
of
idea
tific description
by,
as
Bob
s
called
"psychologist-kings."
them,
class was
Lasswell'
ruling
even
to be empowered only to
tually
versal
will so arrange
human
life,
redo
human
itself through
a sort of uni
be necessary any longer. This strange, simultaneous maximizing of tyranny and anarchy elicited Bob's vigorous con demnation, and he was struck by the equally vigorous condemnation the Essays
enlightenment, that
no politics will
provoked
in
professional
journals,
then
firmly
committed
to
'behaviorism.'
With
Professor Strauss, Herbert Storing, and Walter Berns, Bob went through enemy fire in a different kind of war. He knew that simply to provoke that war, to force social scientism to defend itself on territory not its own, was to win a battle, if
not
the
war.
369
the sort of
work
that
done
by
most
contemporary political scientists to demonstrate clearly the difference between his understanding and theirs. In the mid-1960s, Bob published a series of mono
graphs on
land
in Hawaii;
a student of use of
remarked
how
politics
determined the
the
trees
growing
regime."
more than
twenty
years
old, these
by
specialists, some
of whom might
learn from them things beyond their specialty, as might citizens and legislators. Bob thought of his political science classes as opportunities for the civic edu
his students, who could be depended upon not to have had much of that previously. During his ten years at Michigan State University, he conceived and
cation of
ideologies
He
worked
tion
itself. He did
not confine
legislators, secondary school teachers, military personnel, hospital ad ministrators, Rotarians and Lions; he appeared on several radio programs and, at
federal least once, Bob
on television.
went
political science
de
re
partment. called:
In
letter
written
Kenyon then
no
was
arts college
instruction in
Under
your
department in the
country.
was
had
part of
it. Your
"plan"
Before I left Chicago for Gambier, I tried to draw for Leo Strauss the little diagram for the department: a base of political philosophy; one
our political
pillar,
system; the
other
top, in
asked
ternational
what
relations.
Strauss
showed
and when
he
others."
is already better
(among
to teach these
transplanted the
annual conferences
Gambier, Ohio
to educate
(they
by
assuming) and to be
this process, and
educated
(they
and
stretched
it
realized).
With
students
he
reversed
worked with
Leslie Rubin, to
"plan"
teaching
teachers at Kenyon
of
during
work
Now
exists at more
than one
hundred
Bob's scholarly
years centered on
John Locke,
ularly Locke's
educational
Bob
collaborated with
Judith Finn
370
study
of
Interpretation
Locke's
artful
reworking of Aesop's Fables; he wrote on Lockean civic education for his anthology The Moral Foundations of the American Republic; and, in what will likely be recognized as his finest work, he wrote an introduc
tion to and an
extensive
commentary
on
Locke's Questions
of Nature, to be
lish translation
manuscript
an Eng scholarly apparatus Clay. Bob discovered portions of this Strauss missing by Jenny (controversial portions Locke himself had hidden with various
published with
the
Law
friends),
his
and proved
that
they
were
intended to form
part of
the
whole.
In
each of
essays
Bob
concerns
himself
not
Locke taught
whose
and
for
whom
Locke
wrote.
only with Locke's teaching but with how Locke was indeed an Aesopean writer
the labyrinthine character of
use
life,
as
Bob demonstrates,
his
the
writings.
Locke's Questions
for
in the university,
where
philosopher addressed
future English
rulers with
spection a
theologically
sensitive
topic deserves.
and
as
his hero,
he did
emulate
Locke in
some of
this
friend to controversy as Locke was not, confessing that he "attempted to be unfailingly kind and gen erous in helping his friends, but could never understand the maxim that we
But,
as
he
immediately
added, Bob
was a
should
love
enemies."
our
He
saw
to
civil, but he
also wanted
that Lock
spiritedness, especially
Bob's final controversy at Kenyon was a defense of civility in its academic form, liberal education. The same kind of ideology he had espoused in the
1940s,
studied
in the 1950s,
American early
during
the 'New
1980s
Left'
days
of
reappeared at
Kenyon in the
in the forms
feminism into is
and 'global-
Their
partisans wanted
to transform
liberal
education
political educa
politi
be
they
saw no
difference between
rhetoric and
philosophy that
adversaries a
is
politic.
Physically
in
politics
weakened
by
chronic
illness, Bob
gave
his
few lessons
both in his
and
in theirs. lead to
civility.
Both Aquinas
can
As
founder in
his
own
sphere, Bob
Machiavelli
or
and regarded
it he
as an open might
question whether
it is better to be loved
upon
feared. I think
question."
finally
he
have
to in
re
the souls in
came
In
some
preferred or at
fear,
simply.
In others, fear
to
friendship
all
least to
spect. much.
A very few others needed not to fear him at Women students and colleagues had a certain
or,
at
least,
not too
advantage
in this, because
Bob
U.S. my
never
lost
/
degree
of of
Army boy
University
Southern courtliness, piquantly mingled with that Chicago brashness. Bob was almost unique among him
a as an over
acquaintances
in that I
grown
properly
To
woman,
they
371
thought him a man, one of them going so far as to write, "You are drawn to the
problems
boys."
If I
ever
discover how he
man
aged
this effect, I shall report back for the benefit of men everywhere.
men
Nor did
often
it
began that
him in
1980 recalled,
"They
he
wasn't
told
me
he
was
longer
as combative as
used to
be.
This may have been true, but I still found him fore the laughter came, if you deserved to share it. One
called
exhausting
But it
long be
of
his last
students re
defiantly
fire
a piece of chalk at a
and
For
a short
death,
exist
some of us worried
Locke's Questions
were
only
in
notes or
in
some unpublishable
form. We
wrong; the
discovered,
will
nearly complete, to be
published
finished
by
of
several
longtime
as
So it
be
Bob's life
shared
his
passion
I knew it: his scholarly passion and his friendliness with those who for knowing and his prudent but no less passionate care for the
to
ways we come
know,
and to wonder.
Quarterly
WORKS
an
MICHEL FOUCAULT: the ethics of care for Interview translated by Joseph gauthier
KARLIS RACEVSKIS:
michel
freedom
foucault.
the question of
Identity
foucault's
ecstatic
thinking
DIANE RUBENSTEIN: food for thought: metonymy in the late foucault THOMAS FLYNN: foucault JAMES BERNAUER
michel as parrhesiast:
his last
de trance
and
works of michel
foucault 1954-1984
foucault:
biographical chronology
David M. Rasmussen. Editor / James Bernauer. Guest Editor Subscription Rates S15 Student / S 20 Individual /S55 Institutions.
or
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order
to
of
Book Review
The Fate
Corngold.
of
and
French Theory.
1986.
xiv
By Stanley
+ 279
pp.:
(New York:
Columbia
University Press,
$28.50.)
Will Morrisey
German ics
assert
'the death
of
the
critics.
North
apotheosis of
the French
How
go on?
Pessimists say,
but
Stanley
a
Corngold
stu
is
no pessimist. of
literature
at
Princeton,
former
dent
Man,
Brooklyn, he
'deconstructionism'
equipped
to arraign
His de
parture from or overcoming of Brooklyn did not include any foolish attempt to jettison every ounce of Brooklyn baggage. But he knows that Brooklynite com
itself convince academics, who remain genteel even while that is to say, themselves. assaulting Western civilization and the bourgeoisie So he writes his critique in 'Eighties-academic prose. ("My purpose is to institute
mon sense will not
by
self as
the copresence
['structure']
of various narratives
['effects']
of
have produced.") He be
also gives
every
sign of actu
'deconstructionists'
ally
cists
having
have
written
Each
and
reader will
example of this
happy
conjunction of style
substance, but
quotes
footnote 35,
page
244.
There
on
Corngold
Heidegger
an
as-they-say dense
passage of
by
life,"
acces
("Historical
concretizations
"suprapersonal
better."
only in the old neighborhood, he comments, "It is with its Truly, Corngold attacks
"deconstructionism'
heavy
even
his
most
insensible targets
"disown'
will not
flinch.
The
poet's self
order
is Corngold's
of the
topic
"a
paradoxical
being
a
that must
poetic
self-
exist."
"Disown"
itself in
assertion
to
sacred"
to the
"feeling
tragedies,
feeling
that can no
recognition,
but to
(Geist)
its "objective
perceive
and experience.
This
carrying-over works
material,
into "foreign
analogous
into
T. S.
Eliot
calls
and
from itself, to
man writers
of seven
away Ger
Corngold presents,
374
Interpretation
occur.
problematic, does
('shattering'
The
'deconstructionists'
claim
'diffraction'
and
tures.'
are
structionists'
self-knowledge,
reject
"coercive
agent of
authority"
the basis of
and
autonomous
individuality. The
self
"as the
its
development"
own
the
source of poetic
than a myth.
Corngold
cannot
agrees
self as self
be
represented
self
"cannot
at once stand
full description
of
The
attempt
to do so
would yield an
infinite
infinite
(not
knowing
the self's
foundation)
be itself
or an
'progress'
(selves followed
which
by
super-selves).
it?"
"Can
a self
and
know that
the act
by
it is known he
'disowns'
Corngold
affirms that
"effect"
"history,"
by
which
means narrative.
Narrative is
an
not
identical to the self, opposing but not obliterating other selves that the dominant part of that self finds
both
(including
objection
able); the synthesis of these effects approximates "a third term, a projected total
ity"
of
"The
integrity
with
of the self
is
established
by
a style open
to the
history [here,
in the
"history"
also means
experience] it
and makes
stories
it tells,
lit
others' collaboration."
Corngold
would
defend Rousseau
by
means of a
writer.'"
Corngold's German-language
and
writers are
Heidegger,
many
of whom
by
'deconstructionists'
as witnesses
its
own
mortality,
of
the
self"
does
assume.
Bildung
"turns
and
. .
finally
negat
enabling, sustaining,
ture makes the self
and
Na
Holderlin's
"Nature"
"Nature"
stable, Platonic
forms; it is
time, both
self and
do
sustain
Poetic,
medi
language "assures
the permanence
word]
of relations
between signifier and arresting an eternal ates between self and other, thus imitating all-encompassing does not attempt to prove Holderlin's scheme to be rationally
'slippage'
signified
Language
"Nature."
Corngold
sustainable or co
herent;
which
a proof of
justifying
mutability
of
death
serves as
makes
that Holderlin
than the
"deconstructionists'
do. Corngold
Book Review
shows
375
and
that
Lacan, Leplanche,
imply
the existence of
In Dilthey, nature,
political
way to
social and
history. "What
of a poet
to sustain the
view
that the
forces?"
subjectivity may be authentic and representative of social contends that historical Dilthey activity includes the study of history, that study makes history, is a praxis. The self itself by political activity, art,
'objectifies'
and scholarship.
"Literature is
an
relations of
force between
enter
acts of
creation, reception,
order."
the public
But the
notion of
history-as-narrative. Predictably,
soul,"
Dilthey
the
brings
in
his
"energy
of experiences of and
heart
world,"
and of the
generalize
those experiences,
"the
power of not
tion of "historical
psychology"
only Corngold entirely appreciates this, but the former does write, and the latter repeats, that literature's "highest is "to represent the dignity of
implies
conviction."
The
no
also "jv%r].
Neither
Dilthey
the
nor
function"
person
in the
midst of
its
determination"
by
history.
In the
rejects poet's
argument
between Rousseau
of art as a
the understanding
self
becomes
more
problematic, a field
to possession. For
Nietzsche, questioning distinguishes the self from merely determined phenom ena. "The self wants itself as a question"; it "exists as the question of its being
and to this extent self.
is
self-determined,
as no outside
conception of
force
causes
it to
question
it
the self to be
dubious, because
Nietzsche
are
appears nearly to identify the self with the body, whose many drives merely asserted to have a rank. Disorder cannot be said to determine itself. But Corngold adds that Nietzsche's will to power itself consists of contradictory
forces; if
ward
language, kdyoc,
overcoming.
then language, an "enterprise of the will to therefore logic, are not oriented toward discovery but to
self's
power
The
self-questioning
question of yet
means
not self-doubt
but
self-
overcoming,
questioning.
"The
live
as an openness, an
virtual answers one
unansweredness
toward
being,
as a
it
must
bend the
world will
into
in
question."
order to preserve
itself
Nietzsche's
Rousseauan
to power,
might
observe, synthesizes
part of
Hegelian history.
'deconstructionist'
itself
irony"
by
noting that
"irony
can
punctual abrogations of
much
Of the two twentieth-century literary men Corngold discusses, Mann does interest him whereas Kafka does. The latter's novels contain
as when
not
"breaks"
in
perspective
a violation of
376
Interpretation
point-of-view. call
non-"authorial"
Such
"breaks"
appear of a
to
"undecidability"
what
the
might of course
text,
sympto
of
the
Author."
One
of a
suggest
that these
instead
reveal as an
the
incompetence
suggestion.
more
Even
of
horror
of
construction,
which
is
one
instance
perfection of
technique,
Therefore, Kafka's
as are
narrator
"is
as much
subject
to
inauthenticity
procedures
blindness
bureaucratic
of
consistency
'character,'
schematism of
irre
perspective."
Of course, this
stand.
can
go so
lets the
"random"
breaks
In
being
allowed
to stand,
they
are no
longer
senting
random.
Corngold does
not quite
mercy to his suffering characters. He cannot really relinquish control, only imitate such relinquish ment. He approaches relinquishment of control in fiction.
us with a coherent self even attempts to show
in his
Corngold
interpretive
bent
on
involved
own
as
describing
will
the
to power
masking its
contradiction."
Freud's texts
"cure"
"insert"
choanalyst attempts to
the reality of
by
To Kafka,
such a
itself
cause
not
injury; like
particular
play,"
Rousseau,
is defined
by
interests but
by
by
what
"indifference to the
'Deconstructionists'
consciousn
Freud's texts
lit
or
hostile to it. Although they claim to der to liberate readers from allegedly coercive grip, they in fact texts into saying nothing, the better to fit them into the
erature
is,
'deconstruct'
or perhaps are
in
authors'
coerce con
'deconstructionist'
struct.
Heidegger "joins
which
logic."
a tradition subverting the western philosophy of language founds normally meaning on, and subordinates rhetoric to, grammar and The "most character of Heidegger's notion of Dasein is a res
primordial"
olute return to
sees eral
"one's
Self."
ownmost
will
his
general
principle, the
which
to power, in
it,
Heidegger begins
to the
with
his
gen
principle,
the emphasis
"make[s]
Self."
a resolute return
Wherever
antirational
mere
human
"moods,"
beyond
stands
"sensation-bound disclosive
From Rousseau to
Heidegger, "mood
for
attain."
The disclosive
power of moods
evidently has
are
waned. and
increasingly
perceive
that
"'fragile"
moods appear
they
in oneself;
strong if the
Book Review
coincidence
is
mood.
from
this
increased
might
subjectivism,
although
not elaborate on
much as
he
having
availed
himself
of a sort of
historicism.
Corngold
would
'deconstructionism,'
halt this waning of Rousseau's project before it slides into which he rightly considers an absurdity. "If a text were
tion of nothingness,
a of
self-deconstructing motion, a play of ineffable differences, a representa it could not weigh heavily enough upon the reader to pro
mood."
For
all
the
in human
Corngold may
historicism
an
and also to
Rousseau,
who at
inventing
early form of historicism. When historicism, following subjectivism, eschews dialectic based on the principle of noncontradiction and asserts a "mood"-based dialectic
A
of synthesizing opposites, it finds such projects as logic, scholar
might explore an effort
'deconstructionism'
hard to
resist.
this matter
by
Nietzsche
with an eye
structionism'
they
somehow
fostered. Corngold's
and
bring
Identifying
to disown
his
own
book
as a con
fession
'Germany,'
Corngold indicates
'Germany,'
a readiness
or overcome
doing
of
language
and vice-versa,
'Germany'
in
order
to
determine
what
common sense
mon sense can
lacks that
'Germany'
offers,
and what
bring
down to earth,
or even
gins with
convolution
'Germany'
thought, this thought betrays a contempt for common sense that yields in theory and extremism in practice. One way to get beyond is to return to
'Brooklyn.'
Philosophy
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