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Contesting Clementia: the Rhetoric of Severitas in Tiberian Rome before and after the Trial of Clutorius Priscus*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 August 2016

Eleanor Cowan
Eleanor Cowan*
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
*
[email protected]
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Abstract

This article examines a discussion about punishment which took place in Tiberian Rome. Should clementia or severitas inform the decisions of the judges and what was the proper relationship between the authority of the senate and the clementia of the princeps? My argument has five parts. I begin (I) by examining clementia and severitas in the work of Velleius Paterculus. I next (II) examine Velleius’ presentation of Tiberius as a figure who adjudicates punishment in his community. I then (III and IV) argue that Velleius’ ideas were the product of and sought to contribute to controversy about the ownership and use of clementia which can be tracked though Tiberius’ principate. Finally (V), I suggest that Tacitus made use of the rhetoric of clementia and severitas current in Tiberian Rome and that it influenced his reading of saevitia under the principate.

Keywords

clementiaseveritasmoderatioClutorius PriscusTiberiusVelleius Paterculus
Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Roman Studies , Volume 106 , November 2016 , pp. 77 - 101
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2016. Published by The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies 

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Footnotes

*

This article is dedicated with respect and admiration to Barbara Levick. I would like to extend sincere thanks to Bob Cowan, Andrew Pettinger, Paul Roche, JRS Editor Catherine Steel and the anonymous readers for JRS whose vigilance saved me from a number of errors. I take sole responsibility for any that remain.

References

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