Personal relationships in the Roman family : a profile of the family of M. Tullius Cicero
| dc.contributor.author | Clark, Patricia A. | en_US |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2024-08-13T17:54:03Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2024-08-13T17:54:03Z | |
| dc.date.copyright | 1985 | en_US |
| dc.date.issued | 1985 | |
| dc.degree.department | Department of Classics | |
| dc.degree.department | Department of Greek and Roman Studies | |
| dc.degree.level | Master of Arts M.A. | en |
| dc.description.abstract | The goal of this thesis is to describe in depth personal relationships within the family of M. Tullius Cicero as they are revealed in his private correspondence, and to assess these relationships within the broader social context of late Republican Rome. Attention is directed to expressions of sentiment, the amount of affect perceptible in the relationships and the ways in which affection· :is moderated by societal prescriptions and expectations. The introductory chapter begins by defining the Latin term familia, and then briefly surveys the recent scholarly interest in, and special problems associated with, study of family structure in classical antiquity. Despite a paucity of.evidence and bias in the sources toward political and legal issues and the male viewpoint, a more personalized historical approach is emerging. A synoptic overview follows of the secular institution of Roman marriage; the ideals of marriage, wifely fidelity and submission and the eternal marriage bond, contrast with the realities of frequent serial political marriage alliances and widespread divorce and adultery. Attitudes toward childrearing meant that children of the Roman elite, from birth, .were nurtured by a pool of servile child-minders and were confronted with a set of traditionally prescribed patterns for the course of their lives, together with the expectation that a contribution to familial-prestige and power was the preeminent goal of adult life. In Chapter II Cicero's relationships with his wives are assessed; the most detailed evidence is provided by his letters to Terentia. Their time together was broken by Cicero's prolonged absences abroad which produced strains. The nature of their joint and separate decision-making spheres, Cicero's expectations of Terentia and the content of their communications are investigated. Finance, property, political events and the security and future of their children were primary shared concerns. Direct expressions of affection were rare, confined to the early letters from the exiled Cicero and largely consisted of praise for Terentia's performance in the role of materfamilias. The marriage seems to have a managerial rather than companionate .character. Cicero's divorce and remarriage, which were undertaken for a mixture of social, financial and political reasons, are discussed finally. In Chapter III Cicero's attitudes toward his children are examined. His son Marcus began to receive significant parental attention when consideration had to be given to his education. Throughout the correspondence Marcus' education and preparation for public life are constant elements. Marcus' early life was spent under the care of tutors and pedagogues, but at times his father's personal supervision is evident: Cicero instructed Marcus on vacation and took his son with him to his proconsular province for training. Cicero's expectations for Marcus governed their relationship in later years; Cicero carried out the traditional parental officium in preparing Marcus for a public career, and acquired for him a municipal aedileship during a time of severe political turbulence; further, Cicero arranged for Marcus' philosophical and oratorical training at Athens in a style appropriate to a scion of a consular family. The nature of Cicero's relationship with Tullia is evident in the consistently affectionate language employed of her throughout the correspondence. Tullia's early childhood relationship with Cicero is conjectural, but if we compare Cicero's relationship with young Attica, and with Tullia i n later life, he appears to have been openly affectionate and concerned for her health and well-being. For most of Tullia's life Cicero's concerns centered upon her marital prospects and each of her betrothals, marriages and divorce(s) is discussed in detail . Family prestige, advancement, even survival, were key considerations in these alliances, but Tullia's personal feelings were not ignored . In her final years she enjoyed a close companionate relationship with her father. Her death precipitated a powerful reaction in him, and Cicero ' s modes of coping with this grief are examined in detail. The Conclusion summarizes the nature of the several familial relationships and describes the kinds and degree of sentiment visible in each. Finally, some assessment of the typicality of the personal relationships in Cicero's family is attempted : although affection and sentiment are visible as elements in each relationship, less so with Terentia and more so with Marcus and especially Tullia, their expression is strongly channelled and moderated by socially prescribed roles and the onmipresent expectation that familial requirements are of paramount importance in the life of the individual. | |
| dc.format.extent | 304 pages | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1828/17467 | |
| dc.rights | Available to the World Wide Web | en_US |
| dc.title | Personal relationships in the Roman family : a profile of the family of M. Tullius Cicero | en_US |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_US |
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