HIS 101 NVCC Roman Society under Augustus Analysis PLEASE READ ALL LINKS AND ATTACHMENTS BEFORE STARTING 6.3 Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Sources for Cultu

HIS 101 NVCC Roman Society under Augustus Analysis PLEASE READ ALL LINKS AND ATTACHMENTS BEFORE STARTING
6.3 Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Sources for Cultures of the West, Volume 1 (Read the screenshot attachments)
7.2 Pliny the Younger, Sources for Cultures of the West, Volume 1 (Read the screenshot attachments)
Livius.org: Res Gestae Divi Augusti (“The achievements of the deified Augustus”) (Links to an external site.)

The Divine AugustusPlease answer the following questions:

Compare the “Res Gestae Divi Augusti” to the “Lives of the Twelve Caesars” (source 6.3). How is the power of the emperors portrayed? Are there significant differences from Augustus to Caligula or Claudius?

Compare how Augustus portrays power over his religiously diverse empire to the same authority displayed in the letters from Pliny the Elder to Tacitus. How do the two emperors address their authority over religious matters? Are they the same or are their approaches different? Why do you think this? Ē
VitalSource B x
N Topic: Module 4:
S SOLUTION: HIS 1
plagiarism checke
SST Plagiarism Check
Online Editor – G
y! (55,341 unread) –
how to screenshc
t v
–
X Х
8 https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780190070403/cfi/6/28!/4/2/8/32@0:0
会见
…
Translation by Clifford Backman.
6.3. FROM SUETONIUS, LIVES OF THE TWELVE CAESARS: CALIGULA; CLAUDIUS, CA. 119 CE
a
C
A friend of Pliny the Younger, Suetonius (69–122 CE) also kept company with the Roman emperors Trajan and Hadrian, whose secretary he became. Although his Lives of the Caesars (from Julius Caesar to
Domitian) has often been accused of being gossipy and melodramatic, Suetonius made use of the senatorial archives that he accessed as an imperial secretary to bolster his accounts with documentary evidence.
Suetonius’s lives of Caligula and Claudius display different reigns by these arguably brilliant leaders—the first driven by megalomania and the second by scholarly interests.
[Caligula]
So much for Caligula the emperor; now we speak of Caligula the monster…. Almost as though he wore a royal diadem, he turned the image of the Principate into that of an absolute monarchy. Since his lackeys
told him he surpassed all other princes and kings, he started to claim divine power for himself, even to the point of sending to Greece for the most beautiful and sacred of all its statues of the gods (even those of
Jupiter on Mount Olympus), and ordered their heads to be removed and replaced with likenesses of his own…. He put up a special shrine to himself as a god, complete with a staff of priests, the finest animals
for sacrifices, and a life-sized statue of himself made of gold, which was dressed each day in clothes identical to whatever he was wearing that day….
He ordered his own brother Tiberius Gemellus to be killed by a military tribune without warning, and he likewise forced his father-in-law Silanus to slash his own throat with a razor…. He spared his uncle
Claudius simply so that he could make fun of him…. He made a habit of fornicating regularly with all three of his sisters, seating them just below him at banquets while his wife lay just above. It is widely
reported that he took Drusilla’s virginity when she was still a child; his grandmother Antonia, it is said, caught them in bed together…. When Drusilla died [38 CE] he proclaimed a period of public mourning;
during this time he regarded it a capital crime if anyone laughed, bathed, or dined with their families….
His gift for cruelty is shown by the following episodes. When the price of beef, for feeding the wild beasts that fought in his gladiatorial shows, was deemed too high, he ordered criminals to be fed to them
instead. He looked out at a group of elderly convicts from a colonnade, and without bothering to read out the charges against them simply ordered them all to be led away, “one bald head after another.” He
condemned a number of men of high rank to be branded like cattle with a hot iron and sent to work in the mines or at road-building; others were caged like animals or thrown to the wild beasts. A few had their
bodies sawn through.
[Claudius]
Claudius became emperor at the age of fifty [41 CE]…. He was a modest, unpretentious man who refused to take the title of imperator…. He always sought the Senate’s approval before recalling anyone from
exile, and asked that the commander of the Praetorian Guard and military tribunes might accompany him to his house as a gracious favor of the Senate. He also made sure to seek the permission of the consuls
before scheduling any fairs to be held on his private estates…. As a consequence, it took no time at all for his behavior to win him the respect and devotion of the people. So great was their affection for him that
when a rumor spread that he had been attacked and killed on a visit to Ostia, the people were horrified. Crowds quickly surrounded soldiers and senators everywhere, calling them traitors and assassins, and did
not relent until several magistrates brought forth a number of witnesses to swear that Claudius was in fact quite safe and making his way peaceably back to the capital.
…
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. How might Caligula’s cruelty have resulted from his unrivaled control of Rome?
1. Was Claudius’s seeming respect for the Senate merely a fraud?
Settings
lon by Clifford Backman.
Type here to search
DI
4
e
W
osc
>
10:36 PM
6/1/2020
VitalSource B x
N Topic: Module 4:
SOLUTION: HIS 1
plagiarism check
SST Plagiarism Check
Online Editor – G
y! (55,341 unread) –
how to screenshc
t v
–
居
X Х
产
# a
…
8 https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780190070403/cfi/6/30!/4/2/8/2/2/2@0:6.82
7.2. PLINY THE YOUNGER, LETTERS, 97–112 CE
The nephew of the naturalist Pliny the Elder, Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, called Pliny the Younger (61–112), passed through the cursus honorum under the emperors Domitian and Trajan. A friend of Tacitus
(author of Document 6.2) and employer of Suetonius (author of Document 6.3), Pliny the Younger also wove his personal experiences of imperial Rome into his works. In his “Letter to Tacitus,” Pliny poignantly
describes his uncle’s death in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius (79); in his “Letter to Trajan,” he recounts his understanding of early Christianity in the Roman Empire.
a
C
E
To Tacitus
You asked me to send you an account of my uncle’s death, so that you may describe it accurately in your writings. I am honored by your request—for if this disaster is recorded by you, I am sure that it will
live forever in memory….
On the 24th of August, in early afternoon, my mother asked my uncle to take a look at a cloud of unusual size and shape…. He rose from his books and mounted a small hill nearby, from which he could get
a better view of the uncommon sight. It was not clear at first which mountain the cloud was surrounding, but we later learned, of course, that it was Mount Vesuvius. The cloud, as it rose up from the mountain,
was shaped rather like a pine tree and shot up to a tremendous height…. It appeared bright in some places, and dark and mottled in others, because of the dirt and ashes cast up in it…. My uncle ordered his
small boat to be readied, and climbed on board…. He steered his course directly at the danger, the better to see what was happening and to dictate his observations of the whole dreadful scene [to his secretary]
He got so close to the mountain that cinders, pumice-stones, and blackened bits of burning rock were falling into his boat, getting thicker and hotter the closer he drew…. Wide tongues of flame burst from
the sides of Vesuvius, showing bright and clear….
[After landing and advancing to the villages and towns under the mountain] he witnessed houses rocking from side to side as though shaken from their foundations by repeated blows. In the open fields
burning rocks and cinders fell in profusion…. forcing them to tie pillows to their heads with table napkins as their only defense against the storm of stones…. They thought it best to return to the shore and see if
they could embark, but the waves were extremely high and roiling. My uncle lay down on a sail-cloth that his servants had spread out for him, and called twice for some water to drink. He drank, but as he did
so a wall of sulphurous flames came so close that they had to rise and leave. Helped by two servants, my uncle stood—and instantly fell over, dead. I suppose he suffocated on the noxious fumes.
To Trajan
I always turn to you, my lord, when in doubt—for there is no one I trust better to guide me when I am uncertain and to teach me when I am ignorant of any matter. I have never had anything to do with a trial of
Christians, and don’t know what charges are made against them, or how they are investigated, and what degree of bother to go through in the effort. I am more than a little uncertain about whether to treat them
all the same or to make concessions to the young and the aged among them. Are they to be pardoned if they express contrition? If a man used to be a Christian but has since ceased to be one, is he to be free of
punishment? If one is a Christian but has otherwise committed no offense, should he be charged with a crime]? Or do we prosecute only those Christians who commit additional offenses?
In dealing with the Christians who have been brought before me, I have done as follows. First I questioned them as to whether or not they were Christians. Those who acknowledged it I then questioned a
second and third time, threatening them with punishment. Those who persisted in their ways, I had executed. Whatever the nature of their beliefs, I decided, they deserved punishment simply for being so
stubborn and obstinate. There were some among them who were Roman citizens, and I signed orders for them to be transferred to Rome.
Accusations against others then spread, as so often happens, and several things followed. An anonymous affidavit was published that listed the names of many people who were believed to be Christians.
Those who denied that they were or had ever been Christians I put to the test; I had them invoke the Roman gods, offer prayer and incense and wine to your image (which I had ordered to be brought together
for this specific purpose—along with statues of the gods), and curse Christ. It is said that no true Christian can be forced to do any one of these things—and so those who passed the test I ordered to be released.
Others named by the anonymous tipster swore oaths that they were Christians—but then they denied it, saying that they used to be Christians but had long since ceased to be, anywhere from three to twenty-five
years ago. These too all worshiped your image, sacrificed to the statues of the gods, and cursed Christ.
They testified, though, that the extent of their former error had been limited to meeting with other Christians on a fixed day, before dawn, and singing responsively a hymn to Christ as their god, and that they
swore simply not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not to bear false witness, and not to refuse to return anything that had been entrusted to them. Having done this, they said, they usually separated but
Settings
mbled later (and somewhere else] in order to share a meal. A simple, regular meal, I should add. But they insisted that they had ceased even this limited participation after, in accordance with your
instruction, I had released an edict forbidding political associations. Naturally, I thought it prudent to find out if this was really true by torturing two slave-women whom the Christians call “deaconesses.
10:41 PM
Type here to search
e
6/1/2020
99
D
W
Ē
VitalSource B x
N Topic: Module 4:
SOLUTION: HIS 1
plagiarism checke
SST Plagiarism Check
Online Editor – G
Y! (55,341 unread) –
how to screenshc
t v
–
X Х
8 https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780190070403/cfi/6/30!/4/2/8/10@0:42.7
는 h
уу аз парса ташо Плс аршс исс апа поир у апопопаоао поуп…. паррсагса опұп шоппс расс, апа сап апа поиса шопе, оссаас огшс аппапа апс Сазар ш… у пус огасса по
small boat to be readied, and climbed on board…. He steered his course directly at the danger, the better to see what was happening and to dictate his observations of the whole dreadful scene [to his secretary]
He got so close to the mountain that cinders, pumice-stones, and blackened bits of burning rock were falling into his boat, getting thicker and hotter the closer he drew…. Wide tongues of flame burst from
the sides of Vesuvius, showing bright and clear….
[After landing and advancing to the villages and towns under the mountain] he witnessed houses rocking from side to side as though shaken from their foundations by repeated blows. In the open fields
burning rocks and cinders fell in profusion…. forcing them to tie pillows to their heads with table napkins as their only defense against the storm of stones…. They thought it best to return to the shore and see if
they could embark, but the waves were extremely high and roiling. My uncle lay down on a sail-cloth that his servants had spread out for him, and called twice for some water to drink. He drank, but as he did
so a wall of sulphurous flames came so close that they had to rise and leave. Helped by two servants, my uncle stood—and instantly fell over, dead. I suppose he suffocated on the noxious fumes.
G
To Trajan
I always turn to you, my lord, when in doubt—for there is no one I trust better to guide me when I am uncertain and to teach me when I am ignorant of any matter. I have never had anything to do with a trial of
Christians, and don’t know what charges are made against them, or how they are investigated, and what degree of bother to go through in the effort. I am more than a little uncertain about whether to treat them
all the same or to make concessions to the young and the aged among them. Are they to be pardoned if they express contrition? If a man used to be a Christian but has since ceased to be one, is he to be free of
punishment? If one is a Christian but has otherwise committed no offense, should he be charged [with a crime]? Or do we prosecute only those Christians who commit additional offenses?
In dealing with the Christians who have been brought before me, I have done as follows. First I questioned them as to whether or not they were Christians. Those who acknowledged it I then questioned a
second and third time, threatening them with punishment. Those who persisted in their ways, I had executed. Whatever the nature of their beliefs, I decided, they deserved punishment simply for being so
stubborn and obstinate. There were some among them who were Roman citizens, and I signed orders for them to be transferred to Rome.
Accusations against others then spread, as so often happens, and several things followed. An anonymous affidavit was published that listed the names of many people who were believed to be Christians.
Those who denied that they were or had ever been Christians I put to the test; I had them invoke the Roman gods, offer prayer and incense and wine to your image (which I had ordered to be brought together
for this specific purpose—along with statues of the gods), and curse Christ. It is said that no true Christian can be forced to do any one of these things—and so those who passed the test I ordered to be released.
Others named by the anonymous tipster swore oaths that they were Christians—but then they denied it, saying that they used to be Christians but had long since ceased to be, anywhere from three to twenty-five
years ago. These too all worshiped your image, sacrificed to the statues of the gods, and cursed Christ.
They testified, though, that the extent of their former error had been limited to meeting with other Christians on a fixed day, before dawn, and singing responsively a hymn to Christ as their god, and that they
swore simply not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not to bear false witness, and not to refuse to return anything that had been entrusted to them. Having done this, they said, they usually separated but
reassembled later [and somewhere else] in order to share a meal. A simple, regular meal, I should add. But they insisted that they had ceased even this limited participation after, in accordance with your
instruction, I had released an edict forbidding political associations. Naturally, I thought it prudent to find out if this was really true by torturing two slave-women whom the Christians call “deaconesses.” All
that I learned from this, though, was disgusting and gross superstition.
That is when I stopped my investigation and hurried to consult you. The matter strikes me as warranting this appeal because of the number of people involved. There are many lives at stake of every age
and rank, and both sexes. This superstition is spreading like a contagion and is now to be found not only in the cities but also in villages and on farms; nevertheless, it is possible to stop it and cure it. It is
abundantly clear that our temples, which for a time had been almost deserted, have once again begun to be frequented; that the established rites, so long neglected, are being resumed; and that sacrificial animals
are coming in from everywhere—animals for which not too long ago hardly a single purchaser could be found. This is why I think it easy to imagine multitudes of people returning [to Roman ways] if an
opportunity for amnesty is offered.
[Trajan responded to Pliny with a brief letter of his own.]
You did well, Pliny, in sifting through the cases of the people charged with being Christians. It is not possible to lay down a single rule to serve as a fixed guide. Christians should not be sought out, but if
any are accused and brought before you, and if you find them guilty, they should be punished. There is one exception to this rule. Anyone who denies being a Christian and proves it by worshipping our gods
should be granted amnesty even if he was under suspicion in the past. Anonymous public accusations should have no place in our justice for it would establish a dangerous precedent to accept such
accusations, and it would be against the spirit of our age.
Settings
o
Type here to search
gi
4
e
W
osc
10:42 PM
6/1/2020

Purchase answer to see full
attachment