The Moral Decline of Rome

A detailed Summary of The Moral Decline of Rome

An Exploration of Sallust's and Plutarch's View of the Moral Decline of the Roman Republic

Though there are varied dates as to the time that the Roman Republic stood, it is agreed upon as lasting approximately 500 years. During the last century of its existence (133 BC -27 BC) there were the many violent years of The Civil Wars and much social strife. Though the end result of these final years of the res publica was the adoption of an Emperor and the birth of the Roman Empire, the focus of this paper will be the presentation of the nature of tensions at the end of the res publica using selections from Sallust and Plutarch as a basis.

Sallust and Plutarch, while coming from different worlds and living different lives were very much alike in the thoughts that they presented in their writing on the fall of the Roman Republic. Sallust was an active individual in Roman politics during the Republic's decline. He was a tribune in 52 BC who was kicked out of the Senate amid allegations of immorality. In 49 BC Sallust was in command of one of Julius Caesar's legions and was elected to Praetor in 47 BC. Taking part in the African Campaign earned him the governorship of Numidia in. Upon his return to Rome i

1 Sallust, Bellum Catalinae. Taken from Roman Civilization [CLASS 111.3(08)] Supplementary Readings, sec. VI, p. 30. 2 Ibid. sec VI, p. 30. 3 Sallust, Bellum Catalinae. Taken from Roman Civilization [CLASS 111.3(08)] Supplementary Readings, sec. XIV, p. 31. 4 Ibid. sec. IX, p. 31. 5 Ibid. sec. X, p. 31. 6 Plutarch, Antony. Taken from Roman Civilization [CLASS 111.3(08)] Supplementary Readings, paragraph 1, p. 107. 7 Sallust, Bellum Catalinae. Taken from Roman Civilization [CLASS 111.3(08)] Supplementary Readings, sec. IX, p. 31. 8 Plutarch, Antony. Taken from Roman Civilization [CLASS 111.3(08)] Supplementary Readings, paragraph 1, p. 107. 9 Ibid. p. 115.

All biographical information on Sallust and Plutarch taken from: The Oxford Classical Dictionary, edited by N. G. L. Hammond and H. H. Scullard.

Both Sallust and Plutarch come across trying to live their lives right. Plutarch shows this by living as a Priest at Delphi and sternly believing in the ways and rites that such a life involved. When you consider that this was a way of life for him for 30 years, you have to accept the fact that he lived a moral life. Sallust on the other hand displays moral beliefs through his writings. He lived a public life, though by all accounts a prosperous public life, and his writings can be interpreted as his reaction to the way that things are in the Republic at the time of his writing. It is clear that both Sallust and Plutarch hold the view that good old-fashioned morality is a good thing. In their writings they portray the founders of The Republic as possessing this morality. It was the pietas, virtus, clementia, and iustitia that the founders of the Republic possessed that built the res publica against all odds. Also in their writings they choose to make the founders of the Empire (and therefore killers of the Republic) as people who lack these very same morals.

We can see that he is saying that the Romans in the past, the Romans who built the Republic, were just and honest. Further they were this way just out of nature and not because there were laws stating that they had to be that way. Sallust goes on and gives a brief excuse for what the people of Rome became: For men who had easily endured hardship, danger and difficult uncertainty leisure and riches, though in some ways desirable, proved burdensome and a source of grief. Accordingly at first the desire for money increased in them and then the desire for power and these have been as it were the ingredients of all the Republic's evils.5 Sallust kind of gives the impression that it is not human nature that makes the Romans go bad but instead it is the soft life that they now have the opportunity to lead. Regardless of the cause though the end result is the same, the people of Rome are no longer the stuff that legends are made of. Plutarch too presents Roman morality as something that is desirable and good. Antony as a soldier on the battlefield for instance t

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Approximate Word count = 1974
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History