Livia's shadow: a subtext in Tacitus, Annals 1.10.5?
At Annals 1.10.5, Tacitus offers a stylish trio of features that he claims were cited by Augustus’ detractors on the princeps’ death: his early abduction of Nero’s wife (Livia); the luxurious existences enjoyed by regime hangers-on; and the negative influence of Livia herself. The double mention of...
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| Format: | Journal article |
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Svenska Klassikerförbundet
2017
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| _version_ | 1826279597104168960 |
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| author | Westwood, G |
| author_facet | Westwood, G |
| author_sort | Westwood, G |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | At Annals 1.10.5, Tacitus offers a stylish trio of features that he claims were cited by Augustus’ detractors on the princeps’ death: his early abduction of Nero’s wife (Livia); the luxurious existences enjoyed by regime hangers-on; and the negative influence of Livia herself. The double mention of Livia seems rhetorically out of place in a triad of this kind, and I argue that Tacitus is seeking to encourage other interpretative possibilities: specifically, that the wife-stealing of the first element of the triad might recall Augustus’ forcible separation of the future emperor Tiberius from his wife Vipsania in order that he might marry Julia. The effect of the double reference would then be to help set up what becomes a key theme in the early books of the Annals: the damage wrought by the principate upon the personal lives of those it touches. Verbal parallels in the passages of Suetonius dealing with the two forced divorces suggest that Tacitus may reflect a wider appetite in the post-Augustan tradition for aligning the two situations for literary ends. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T00:01:07Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:75fd3d17-6f99-4746-a2d6-4129b553617b |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T00:01:07Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Svenska Klassikerförbundet |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:75fd3d17-6f99-4746-a2d6-4129b553617b2022-03-26T20:12:45ZLivia's shadow: a subtext in Tacitus, Annals 1.10.5?Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:75fd3d17-6f99-4746-a2d6-4129b553617bSymplectic Elements at OxfordSvenska Klassikerförbundet2017Westwood, GAt Annals 1.10.5, Tacitus offers a stylish trio of features that he claims were cited by Augustus’ detractors on the princeps’ death: his early abduction of Nero’s wife (Livia); the luxurious existences enjoyed by regime hangers-on; and the negative influence of Livia herself. The double mention of Livia seems rhetorically out of place in a triad of this kind, and I argue that Tacitus is seeking to encourage other interpretative possibilities: specifically, that the wife-stealing of the first element of the triad might recall Augustus’ forcible separation of the future emperor Tiberius from his wife Vipsania in order that he might marry Julia. The effect of the double reference would then be to help set up what becomes a key theme in the early books of the Annals: the damage wrought by the principate upon the personal lives of those it touches. Verbal parallels in the passages of Suetonius dealing with the two forced divorces suggest that Tacitus may reflect a wider appetite in the post-Augustan tradition for aligning the two situations for literary ends. |
| spellingShingle | Westwood, G Livia's shadow: a subtext in Tacitus, Annals 1.10.5? |
| title | Livia's shadow: a subtext in Tacitus, Annals 1.10.5? |
| title_full | Livia's shadow: a subtext in Tacitus, Annals 1.10.5? |
| title_fullStr | Livia's shadow: a subtext in Tacitus, Annals 1.10.5? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Livia's shadow: a subtext in Tacitus, Annals 1.10.5? |
| title_short | Livia's shadow: a subtext in Tacitus, Annals 1.10.5? |
| title_sort | livia s shadow a subtext in tacitus annals 1 10 5 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT westwoodg liviasshadowasubtextintacitusannals1105 |