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Detailed Assignment for Week 9 (26 Feb.-Mar. 1)

Read

☞Book 15.48-59 (Woodman); 60-65 (Latin); 66-70 (Woodman); 71-74 (Latin)

Ponderanda

  • This week's reading covers the Conspiracy of Piso and its (bloody) aftermath.  It includes, among other famous events, the rather chilling suicide of Seneca (this is the first of the two sections we'll read in Latin). One of the more challenging things to wrap one's head around is the extent of this conspiracy and exactly who (and how many) were involved.  As you read, you might want to make a rough list (of both named and unnamed participants).  Deduce from that something of the nature of the plot.  And to the extent you are familiar with the assassination of Julius Caesar, what does the 'Conspiracy of Piso' (and its aftermath) have in common (or not) with that?  
  • Certainly one of the more powerful scenes in the Annals is Tacitus' account of the death of Seneca.  How would you evaluate that scene? As sympathetic of Seneca? or muted disapproval?  What features, in particular (and if any), strike you as noteworthy or unusual?  

Legenda ad libitum

A couple of things:

  • First, I promised you a second article by Woodman, so here it is: 'Amateur Dramatics at the Court of Nero: Annals 15.48-74' in T.J. Luce and A.J. Woodman, edd. Tacitus and the Tacitean Tradition, pp. 104-28 (Princeton 1993).  I strongly encourage you to read this one -- it's about the second half of Book 15 and this week's reading.  Click HERE Download HERE for a pdf of same.  
  • Second, the death of Seneca in Tacitus is much discussed.  But for a very interesting and holistic view of the topic (i.e., not confined strictly to Tacitus), see J. Ker, The Deaths of Seneca (Oxford 2009).  No e-version from UW Libraries (that I can see), but there must be one out there somewhere.
  • Third, I have not said a lot about the vast number of Nero biographies out there.  All of them, however, grapple with the 'Conspiracy of Piso' (and its aftermath).  Although for my money the most readable and interesting of fairly recent biographies is Champlin's Nero (Cambridge MA 2003), in terms of straight-up history Miriam Griffin's Nero.  The End of a Dynasty (1984) remains my go-to bio of Nero.  Her chapter on the Conspiracy, "'What an Artist Dies with Me'" (Chap. 10, pp. 164-82) is worth reading (e-version available through UW Libraries). Drinkwater's Nero: Emperor and Court (2018) is excellent as well and certainly more up-to-date than Griffin: the section (9.3) of his Chap. 9, Pt. II (entitled 'Killer?'!!) on the 'Pisonian Conspiracy' is thorough and first-rate (sadly, not available electronically, at least not through UW).