The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Roman Empire (58 page)

As we've seen in the previous chapters, the early Empire was an age of seekers and of a growing body of specialists and professionals. It was accordingly an age that produced works of information, advice, and knowledge for both laymen and professionals of all kinds. And like today, where there is so much—too much—to know, people needed advice on what one
should
know to be educated in general or in a particular subject. This climate in turn created a need for the know-it-all, writers who churn out encyclopedic works on various topics or who prescribed how or in what to be educated. The following are some various areas and major writers in each.

Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (35–95) was from Caligurris in Spain. He was a rhetorician and educator. His work,
Institutio Oratoria,
is a comprehensive treatment of rhetorical education (including the skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking) and includes valuable annotated lists of Greek and Latin authors that Quintilian thought worth studying and why.

 
Roamin' the Romans
As you read about the authors in this chapter, you'll notice just how culturally important the province of Spain was to the early Empire. The next time you go to Spain, take note, especially in the city of Cordoba from which Seneca the Elder, Younger, and the poet Lucan came.

Plinius Caecilius Secundus (61–114), or Pliny the Younger, was Pliny the Elder's nephew and was adopted by him. Pliny the Younger was a friend of Trajan's and wrote a long, long speech praising the emperor (a eulogy) called the
Panegyricus.
Ten books of letters survive, including his famous letters to and from Trajan concerning the Christians in Bithynia and his recollection of Mt. Vesuvius's eruption and death of his uncle.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (ca 4
B
.
C
.
E
.–
C
.
E
. 65) was born in Cordoba, Spain and was the son of the famous rhetorician Seneca the Elder (ca 65
B
.
C
.
E
.–
C
.
E
. 37). Seneca became Nero's tutor, but later “retired” and was forced to commit suicide when he was implicated in the conspiracy of Piso. Seneca wrote works and letters on Stoic philosophy, natural science, tragedies, and a satire on the deification of the emperor Claudius. His tragedies were translated into English in 1581 and became influential on the Elizabethan court and upon writers such as Ben Johnson and Shakespeare.

Vitruvius Pollio (fl. under Augustus) wrote an important treatise,
De Architectura,
which is our major source of information on Roman city planning, architectural design, aqueducts, and the machines of war.

Sextius Julius Frontinus (ca 30–104) was
praetor urbanus
of Rome in 70 and
consul suffectus
in 73; he then was governor of Britain. In 97, the emperor Nerva appointed him
curator aquarum
(water commissioner). Frontinus wrote a major work on the history, workings, management, distribution, and construction of Rome's aqueducts and water works, called
De Aquis Urbis Romae
(Rome's Water Supplies).

Aulus Cornelius Celsus (
fl.
20?) wrote encyclopedic works of which only the medical portions survive. He wasn't a doctor, but he wrote a clear and comprehensive work for laymen describing medicine from Hippocratic works to current practice.

Galen (ca 129–199) of Pergamum was a Greek doctor, scientist, rhetorician, and philosopher who rose from the position of doctor to a gladiatorial school to imperial physician for Marcus Aurelius in Rome. Galen's voluminous works on Hippocratic medicine, anatomy, physiology, neurology, case studies, and other subjects, as well as his philosophical and religious approach to medical knowledge, became standard through the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

Gaius Plinius Secundus (24–79), or Pliny the Elder, was a prolific writer and self-styled investigator. He was killed while checking out Mt. Vesuvius during the same eruption that buried Pompeii and Herculaneum. His
Historia Naturalis
(Natural History) is 37 books of information on everything from physics and geography to magic charms. While interesting, it contains a great deal of misinformation and has been called “a compendium of all the errors in the ancient world.”

Marcus Cornelius Fronto (ca 100–170) was Marcus Aurelius's tutor. He was a traditionalist, and wanted to get back to using “real Latin.” To get the vocabulary that this would take (imagine trying to describe our global world using only English words) he researched obscure words and phrases and tried to create a Latin that was more precise in terminology and expression. His letters to the young Marcus Aurelius survive.

 
When in Rome
The abbreviation
fl.
stands for
florit
, Latin for “flourished,” and is used when we know when a particular author was active, but don't have a good idea when he or she was born or died.

Aulus Gellius (ca 125–175) started writing little discourses for his children. These included a host of obscure facts, odd bits of cultural information gleaned from a wide range of authors, and probably a whole garage of information. The collection of these writings is known as the
Attic Nights
in honor of his time in Athens.

While Latin literature was going silver, Greek literature was beginning to enjoy the beginnings of a Renaissance. Greek was still the lingua franca of the ancient world and still the primary language of education and culture. With the prosperity and stability of the Empire, Greek writers and educators enjoyed a wide audience and a broadening interest by both Greek speakers and Romans in what was emerging as Greco-Roman culture. Two representative writers are Plutarch and Pausanias.

Plutarch (ca 45–120) wrote moralistic biography and philosophical essays that became highly influential in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. His
Bioi Paralleloi
(Parallel Lives) pairs biographies of influential Greeks and Romans and concentrates on actions, words, or circumstances that might pass unnoticed but reveal the character of each subject. His other work was a collection of 83 essays on topics that bear on moral character and guidance. This work is known as the Moralia.

Think travel guides began with Michelin? Pausanias (fl. 150) wrote a practical guidebook to Greece for tourists interested in Greek antiquities. Pausanias based his work mostly on his own experience and included first-hand commentary on ruins, statues, and local attractions (such as marvels that local tourist attractions advertised but didn't materialize while he was there). His works have been crucial to identifying and reconstructing buildings at archeological sites.

Does the reading public want highbrow literature? Not now, and not then. Many readers went for romance novels, which started to become popular during this time (probably to read instead of Pausanias while on vacation in Greece). If the Empire had had supermarkets, you would have found beautiful women swooning, handsome heroes with intense stares, menacing pirates, and exotic settings depicted on the covers of
Chaereas and Callirhoe, An Ethiopian Tale,
and
Daphnis and Chloe
—probably right next to
Kosmopolitana
magazine and the display of
Tik-tak
s.

I should tell you about the “Second Sophistic,” a period of intense interest in Greek rhetoric in performance (rhetoric as performance art) and public lectures given by Greek orators on various subjects of public concern.

The original “sophists” were professional rhetoricians, teachers, and public lecturers who became active during the fifth century
B
.
C
.
E
. in Greece, especially in Athens. This period would be the “First Sophistic,” although it's never called by this name. “Sophist” comes from the Greek
sophistēs
, or “learned man.” Some sophists claimed not just to teach skills but virtue. Those in Athens were confronted by Socrates (who was nevertheless accused of being a Sophist himself) and attacked by Plato in his various dialogues for teaching young men how to win arguments with clever rhetoric
(hence our term “sophistry” to indicate dishonest verbal sleights of hand). The “sophists” of the “Second Sophistic” were also rhetoricians, teachers, and public speakers who achieved great popularity in the revival of Greek culture that occurred during the early Empire's period of prosperity and stability. Two famous speakers of the period are Dio Chrysostom and Aristides.

Dio Chrysostom (ca 40–115) had a pleasant style that earned him the title “Golden Mouth” (Chrysostom). Dio was born in Bithynia and was a popular lecturer who spoke on culture, politics, morals, and virtues.

Aelius Aristides (ca 120–189) was a widely popular inspirational orator and speaker. He delivered showpiece orations on a variety of topics and grand public eulogies of Rome and Athens when in those cities. Over 50 speeches remain.

The Apostle Paul's letters comprise the earliest Christian texts. Despite all the literature and writers you're reading about in this chapter, the ancient world relied heavily on oral tradition, and the early Christian church relied on preaching and the idea that Christ would come back
soon.

However, as the Apostles and first-hand witnesses of Christ began to die out and the Kingdom of God began to look like it might be a while in coming, Christ's sayings and teachings were written down. These sayings began to be woven together with narratives of his ministry in the later first and early second centuries. Some versions apparently relied on a common source of sayings (known as “Q” for
quelle,
meaning “source”). Luke put what he knew into the form of Hellenistic history and included the story of Jesus' birth. As the Apostles' own generation passed, their acts also were written down for reference and edification.

Besides scripture itself, however, Christians began to write
about
scripture and about the beliefs that made them who they were. Christian scholarship therefore developed to support or oppose differing views and approaches, although politics and doctrine fettered these discussions as often as it informed them. Some influential writers of the early Christian church included Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen.

Irenaeus (ca 130–202) of Lyons was one of the Christian church's first systematic theologians and proponents of the authority of apostolic succession in church doctrine and teaching.

 
Great Caesar's Ghost!
Most Christians have seen study Bibles in which translations are lined up for comparison. This goes back to Origen, whose
Hexapla
compared six versions of the Old Testament. There were columns for Hebrew, Hebrew transliterated into Greek, and three Greek versions, including the
Septuagint.

Tertullian (ca 160–230) of Carthage was influential in helping to determine the early Christian canon and in arguing against
Gnostic
beliefs. He himself was a proponent of the apocalyptic writings of
Montanism
, which was condemned. Tertullian's language and style were famous and helped establish Latin firmly as the language of the Western church. It was he who coined the term “New Testament.”

Origen (ca 185–254) was an Alexandrian and became one of the most learned of early Christian scholars. His works on Biblical criticism, systematic theology, exegesis, and doctrine were influential, but his unorthodox teachings and ordination got him booted from Alexandria by his bishop. He continued his work in Palestine, was tortured in the persecutions under Decius, and died a short time later.

 
When in Rome
Montanism
developed from the apocalyptic prophesies of Monatanus (ca 172), a charismatic Phrygian priest and preacher. His followers (Tertullian was the most prominent) treated his writings as scripture in their fervor for the end times. The sect was suppressed quickly but continued in remote parts of Phrygia into the seventh century.

Gnostic
is a term that applies to sects that believe in a kind of secret knowledge (Greek
gnosis
) that depends on revelation. There were gnostic aspects to many Hellenistic religions and philosophies, and gnostic sects were an influential element of early Christianity. The gospel of John appears to have been written, in part, to contradict some of their claims.