“artifices scaenici, qui imitantur adfectus”: Displaying emotions in Roman drama and oratory

Because of the kinds of sources available, any discussion of forms of visualization of emotions in ancient Rome will have to rely on what can be inferred from ancient texts; literary genres where display is at issue thus seem most promising as objects of study. Therefore, after some preliminary considerations, this article focusses on significant passages from Roman drama (mainly comedies by Plautus and Terence and tragedies by Seneca the Younger) as well as Roman oratory (mainly Cicero’s speeches) in which speakers describe the appearance of others or their own reactions and interpret these as indications of emotional states: such comments reveal views on the ways in which bodily features and particular emotions were seen as linked. The importance of the visual display of emotions as an element of social communication, which can also be inferred for everyday life, goes hand in hand with scepticism as to the genuineness of the emotions shown. Interestingly, writers such as Horace and Cicero address the question of whether it is necessary for orators and actors to experience certain feelings to convey them plausibly. The analysis of relevant extracts demonstrates that strong emotions were assumed to be shown by changes in facial expression, tone of voice, and gestures, and that the display of genuine emotions was felt to be more effective for the purposes of the plot of plays or the argument of speeches

Dionysus / Bacchus / Liber in Cicero

This chapter examines the occurrence of the god’s different appellations Dionysus, Bacchus and Liber in the works of Cicero as well as their various functions and connotations. A range of perspectives on the god emerges across the surviving corpus of Cicero’s works: philosophical, oratorical, rhetorical and epistolographic. The view taken of the god generally corresponds to the immediate rhetorical aim of Cicero or whichever of his characters is speaking. Significant examples are discussed under several headings: cultural theologies, metonymical value of Bacchus/Liber, Bacchic raving and Liberalia – a festival of freedom? From a linguistic point of view, Cicero employs all three names depending on the context: he refers to Liber when pointing out positive aspects of the Roman god and the associated festival and cult, chooses the name Bacchus metonymically for wine and its derivatives to illustrate raving, and speaks of Dionysus in discussions of the Greek god and his genealogy. The term Bacchus and related words tend to appear in passages with more negative connotations than the designation Liber; similarly, Cicero regarded the erection of statues of Bacchants in his house as inappropriate for his image

Catullus and Martial in Thomas Campion's Epigrams

This paper explores the influence of the poetry of Catullus, both on his own and as filtered by Martial, on the Latin epigrams of the British Elizabethan / Jacobean writer Thomas Campion (1567–1620). By looking at a selection of examples, the study shows how Campion’s epigrams adopt and develop a number of motifs from Catullus, some of which had been taken up by Martial. The creative reworking of such elements contributes to enabling Campion to establish an individual brand of epigrams suitable for his own time