The Roman Revolutionaries: The Evolution of Revolution in Ancient Rome

Abstract

This dissertation is a collective study of the phenomenon of the revolutionary in ancient Rome. I have selected six Roman political actors as case studies in revolution and have utilized the ancient historiographical accounts to show how ancient writers interpreted the phenomenon of revolution and thus revolutionaries in Rome between the Late Republic and early Principate. Tiberius Gracchus, Gaius Gracchus, Spartacus, Catiline, Octavian, and Vespasian are the focus of this study, and I concentrate on their depictions as revolutionaries in writers from a range of periods, including Sallust, Tacitus, Plutarch, Appian, and Cassius Dio. The four chapters analyze what factors a Roman revolutionary had to contend with in order to stage a revolution and how ancient historians depicted revolutionaries across time in response to these factors by looking in turn at revolutionaries during the Late Republic, the transition from Republic to Principate, and the early Principate. Chapter 1 first analyzes the language and essence of Roman revolution to demonstrate how the ancient conception of revolution differs from the modern conception. Then it proceeds to outline the factors necessary, from a historical perspective, to stage a revolution in ancient Rome, which thereby serves as a yardstick with which to measure the historiographical depictions of revolutionaries in the subsequent chapters. Chapter 2 examines the historiographical portrayal of revolutionaries under the Late Republic through focusing on Tiberius Gracchus, Gaius Gracchus, Spartacus, and Catiline. Chapter 3 shows how Octavian is represented during his revolutionary career prior to his attainment of supreme rule and establishment of the Principate. Chapter 4 begins with a brief overview of some differences between staging a revolution under the Principate and under the Republic and then analyzes Vespasian and his role in the Flavian movement to seize the emperorship in AD 69. Overall, my research highlights how ancient historiography portrayed the evolution of the figure of the Roman revolutionary from the Late Republic to early Principate and analyzes the depictions of the revolutionary aspects of the six revolutionaries chosen as case studies.