De Divinatione

From NovaRoma
(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
m
m
Line 63: Line 63:
 
[[Cicero]]'s dialog in two books on the topic of [[divination]], written after his ''De natura deorum''. "The dialogue is represented as taking place between Cicero and his only brother Quintus, at Cicero's country home at Tusculum, about ten miles from Rome." <ref name="Falconer">[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cicero/de_Divinatione/Introduction*.html Introduction to the Loeb edition] by Falconer.</ref>
 
[[Cicero]]'s dialog in two books on the topic of [[divination]], written after his ''De natura deorum''. "The dialogue is represented as taking place between Cicero and his only brother Quintus, at Cicero's country home at Tusculum, about ten miles from Rome." <ref name="Falconer">[http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cicero/de_Divinatione/Introduction*.html Introduction to the Loeb edition] by Falconer.</ref>
  
Until recently, the prevailing view was that expressed by Fowler in his introduction to the Loeb edition of 1923: "[Cicero] became convinced that the commonly accepted belief in divination was a superstition which 'should be torn up by the roots.' He was himself an augur, and in his book On the Republic had written in favour of maintenance of the rites of augury and of auspices. But these practices were engrafted on the Roman constitution and he advocated their observance because of his belief in obedience to law and because, as a member of the aristocratic party, he thought augury and auspices the best means of controlling the excesses of democracy."<ref name="Fowler"/>
+
Until recently, the prevailing view was that expressed by Fowler in his introduction to the Loeb edition of 1923: "[Cicero] became convinced that the commonly accepted belief in divination was a superstition which 'should be torn up by the roots.' He was himself an augur, and in his book On the Republic had written in favour of maintenance of the rites of augury and of auspices. But these practices were engrafted on the Roman constitution and he advocated their observance because of his belief in obedience to law and because, as a member of the aristocratic party, he thought augury and auspices the best means of controlling the excesses of democracy."<ref name="Falconer"/> This view is most succinctly expressed by Thayer: "Synopsis: He doesn't believe in it."<ref>http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cicero/de_Divinatione/home.html</ref>
 +
 
 +
Beard proposes an alternative reading, distinguishing "Marcus", a character in the dialog from "Cicero", the man.<ref name="Beard">Beard, M., 1986. Cicero and Divination: The Formation of a Latin Discourse. The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 76, pp. 33-46 {{JSTOR|300364}} Page 33, note 2</ref>  
  
  

Revision as of 06:48, 21 May 2010

 Home| Latíné | Deutsch | Español | Français | Italiano | Magyar | Português | Română | Русский | English

Contents

Books

Cicero: On Old Age On Friendship On Divination

0674991702.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg
Cicero (Author), W. A. Falconer (Trans.). (January 1, 1923). Loeb Classical Library. ISBN 0674991702
Paperback
Buy from Amazon: Canada UK USA

An Introduction to Roman Religion

0253216605.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg
John Scheid, Janet Lloyd (Translator). (2003). Indiana University Presss. ISBN 0253216605
English translation of La Religion des Romains (ISBN 2200263775). A must for all those who wish to know what the Religio Romana was and how it was practiced.
Buy from Amazon: Canada UK USA

Cicero's dialog in two books on the topic of divination, written after his De natura deorum. "The dialogue is represented as taking place between Cicero and his only brother Quintus, at Cicero's country home at Tusculum, about ten miles from Rome." [1]

Until recently, the prevailing view was that expressed by Fowler in his introduction to the Loeb edition of 1923: "[Cicero] became convinced that the commonly accepted belief in divination was a superstition which 'should be torn up by the roots.' He was himself an augur, and in his book On the Republic had written in favour of maintenance of the rites of augury and of auspices. But these practices were engrafted on the Roman constitution and he advocated their observance because of his belief in obedience to law and because, as a member of the aristocratic party, he thought augury and auspices the best means of controlling the excesses of democracy."[1] This view is most succinctly expressed by Thayer: "Synopsis: He doesn't believe in it."[2]

Beard proposes an alternative reading, distinguishing "Marcus", a character in the dialog from "Cicero", the man.[3]


The Text

Sources

Beard, M., 1986. Cicero and Divination: The Formation of a Latin Discourse. The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 76, pp. 33-46 (Retrieve from JSTOR)

Scheid, John and Lloyd, Janet (Trans.), 2003. An Introduction to Roman Religion. ISBN 0253216605 English translation of La Religion des Romains (ISBN 2200263775).

Schofield, M., 1986. Cicero for and against divination. The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 76, pp. 47-65

Wardle, D. (ed. & tr.), 2006. On Divination Book 1. Clarendon Ancient History Series. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Pp. xii + 469. ISBN 0199297916 Review by J. Linderski: http://www.classics.ukzn.ac.za/reviews/07-41war.htm Website: http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/series/ClarendonAncientHistorySeries/

References

  1. 1.1 1.2 Introduction to the Loeb edition by Falconer.
  2. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cicero/de_Divinatione/home.html
  3. Beard, M., 1986. Cicero and Divination: The Formation of a Latin Discourse. The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 76, pp. 33-46 (Retrieve from JSTOR) Page 33, note 2
Personal tools