HERCVLIS RITV: CAESAR AS HERCULES IN CICERO'S PRO MARCELLO. (6th May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Harrison, S.J.
• Is Part Of: Classical quarterly. Volume 68:Number 1(2018)
• Page Start: 338
• Page End: 343
• Publication Date: 2018-05-06
• Subjects: Classical philology -- Periodicals; Classical literature -- Periodicals; 880
• DOI: 10.1017/S0009838818000162
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0009-8388

Abstract

Abstract : Cicero's praise of Caesar in the Pro Marcello of September 46 b.c.e. has been much discussed for its sincerity or otherwise. Here I would like to point out some unobserved literary colour which may make some contribution to the argument, namely Cicero's subtle evocation of Hercules in describing the achievements of the victorious Caesar. Such an analogy is not unlikely in the context of Roman military image-making: Sulla in 78 b.c.e. and Crassus and Pompey in 70 b.c.e. had earlier encouraged connections with Hercules in analogous victorious contexts, and similar comparisons are later made between the foreign conquests of Augustus and those of Hercules in both Virgil ( Aen. 6.801) and Horace ( Carm. 3.14.1–4).