Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics, September (2006)
Abstract
Capri, which will explore the interrelationship between culture and empire, between Tiberius’ intellectual passions (including astrology, gastronomy, medicine, mythology, and literature) and his role as princeps. These five papers do not so much develop an argument as explore significant themes which will be examined and deployed in the book in different contexts. “Odysseus at Rome” is an appendix to the previous paper on Tiberius’ obsession with the Greek hero. It draws attention to some startling evidence for Odysseus’ unpopularity in the Roman world.
Heikki Solin’s splendid compilation and careful taxonomy of Greek personal names attested in the city of Rome is a monumental work of exacting scholarship, a vast and ordered database of thousands of names marching in columns and indices over 1700 pages. It is also a treasury of insight into the self-perception and presentation of the masses at Rome, or at least those affluent enough to erect inscriptions, and its very size ensures some statistical force.
Take for instance the lists of names under “Political Personalities”. In the subsection devoted to “Macedonians and Rulers of the Hellenistic World”, Alexander and its many derivatives (in both male and female forms) dwarf the competition, with some 760 examples at Rome. A clear second is Antiochus (with derivatives) at 426; then Philippus, 143, and Antigonus, 107. Surprising are the meager representations of the two other dynastic names, Seleucus of Syria, 71, and weakest of all, Ptolemaeus of Egypt, a mere 40, reduced to the third tier behind Attalus, 88, barely ahead of Nicomedes, 34 – and Seleucus and Ptolemaeus are joined by their female relatives, Cleopatra, 88, Laudica (Laodice), 52, Berenice, 51, and Arsinoe, 36. The women are in fact led by Olympias, the mother of Alexander, with 95. This must all mean something, but what?
Tiberiana 3: Odysseus at Rome – a Problem
Edward Champlin (Princeton University)
Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics, September (2006)
Abstract
Capri, which will explore the interrelationship between culture and empire, between Tiberius’ intellectual passions (including astrology, gastronomy, medicine, mythology, and literature) and his role as princeps. These five papers do not so much develop an argument as explore significant themes which will be examined and deployed in the book in different contexts. “Odysseus at Rome” is an appendix to the previous paper on Tiberius’ obsession with the Greek hero. It draws attention to some startling evidence for Odysseus’ unpopularity in the Roman world.
Heikki Solin’s splendid compilation and careful taxonomy of Greek personal names attested in the city of Rome is a monumental work of exacting scholarship, a vast and ordered database of thousands of names marching in columns and indices over 1700 pages. It is also a treasury of insight into the self-perception and presentation of the masses at Rome, or at least those affluent enough to erect inscriptions, and its very size ensures some statistical force.
Take for instance the lists of names under “Political Personalities”. In the subsection devoted to “Macedonians and Rulers of the Hellenistic World”, Alexander and its many derivatives (in both male and female forms) dwarf the competition, with some 760 examples at Rome. A clear second is Antiochus (with derivatives) at 426; then Philippus, 143, and Antigonus, 107. Surprising are the meager representations of the two other dynastic names, Seleucus of Syria, 71, and weakest of all, Ptolemaeus of Egypt, a mere 40, reduced to the third tier behind Attalus, 88, barely ahead of Nicomedes, 34 – and Seleucus and Ptolemaeus are joined by their female relatives, Cleopatra, 88, Laudica (Laodice), 52, Berenice, 51, and Arsinoe, 36. The women are in fact led by Olympias, the mother of Alexander, with 95. This must all mean something, but what?
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