KUKU

KU ScholarWorks

  • myKU
  • Email
  • Enroll & Pay
  • KU Directory
    • Login
    View Item 
    •   KU ScholarWorks
    • Dissertations and Theses
    • Theses
    • View Item
    •   KU ScholarWorks
    • Dissertations and Theses
    • Theses
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    DECUS POSTERITAS REPENDIT: Reevaluating Cremutius Cordus in Tacitus' Annals

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Woo_ku_0099M_15289_DATA_1.pdf (604.0Kb)
    Issue Date
    2017-05-31
    Author
    Woo, Michael Tae
    Publisher
    University of Kansas
    Format
    79 pages
    Type
    Thesis
    Degree Level
    M.A.
    Discipline
    Classics
    Rights
    Copyright held by the author.
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    In one of the best known passages in the Annals, Tacitus gives an account of the trial and death of Aulus Cremutius Cordus (A. 4.34-35), a Roman historian documenting the transitional period from the Roman Republic to the Empire. In this account Cordus is given a speech with which he defends a historian’s right to praise the enemies of the emperor. The majority of modern scholars have interpreted Tacitus’ account as unqualified praise for Cordus, and many have suggested that readers are to understand Cordus as a surrogate for Tacitus’ own views on the rights and duties of historians. In this project I attempt to challenge that consensus. I argue that Cordus and Tacitus disagree in their historiographical, political, and even moral principles, and that Tacitus’ account of Cordus’ trial and death contains criticism of the historian, even while acknowledging his courage. This reading complicates Tacitus’ relationship to Cordus and to several other characters in the Annals who, though they die deaths of great renown, effect little change. To argue for ideological differences between Cordus and Tacitus I take a circuitous first step by examining mentions of Cordus and his historical works in other ancient writers. Modern praise for Cordus has conditioned readers of the Annals to expect that he was universally respected by the ancient authors, but this project shows that opinions about him were divided. This division is epitomized by the differences between the accounts of Suetonius and Seneca the Younger. I argue that Tacitus is closer to Suetonius than Seneca in his feelings towards Cordus; Tacitus and Suetonius both distrust historians with strong partisan (i.e., Republican) beliefs, and Cordus, I show, is yoked by both to such historians. Seneca praises Cordus mainly for his willingness to die for his beliefs, but this very willingness—eagerness even—to die for personal vindication and glory is a quality that Tacitus believes a flaw in several characters in his histories including, I argue, Seneca himself in the account of his suicide (A. 15.62-64). Tacitus’ criticism for this quality in Seneca, which Tacitus diagnoses as the readiness to die an “ostentatious death” (ambitiosa mors, Agr. 42.4-5), informs, in my final section, my examination of Tacitus’ account of the trial and death of Cordus. Importantly, Tacitus’ depiction of Cordus follows directly after a digression in which Tacitus discusses his own historiographical and political views, and I point out that elements of this digression and of the account of Cordus can be compared to show significant differences between the two historians.
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/1808/25834
    Collections
    • Classics Dissertations and Theses [90]
    • Theses [3768]

    Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.


    We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.


    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

    Browse

    All of KU ScholarWorksCommunities & CollectionsThis Collection

    My Account

    Login

    Statistics

    View Usage Statistics

    Contact KU ScholarWorks
    785-864-8983
    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    785-864-8983

    KU Libraries
    1425 Jayhawk Blvd
    Lawrence, KS 66045
    Image Credits
     

     

    The University of Kansas
      Contact KU ScholarWorks
    Lawrence, KS | Maps
     
    • Academics
    • Admission
    • Alumni
    • Athletics
    • Campuses
    • Giving
    • Jobs

    The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression and genetic information in the University’s programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the non-discrimination policies: Director of the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, IOA@ku.edu, 1246 W. Campus Road, Room 153A, Lawrence, KS, 66045, (785)864-6414, 711 TTY.

     Contact KU
    Lawrence, KS | Maps