1. MARCO TEORICO
1.3. Protocolo de enmienda del Convenio Internacional de Kyoto Decisión 618
Introduction
The Augustan period marks another peak in the Latin literary occurrences of patria. Whilst this peak is not as great as that of the Ciceronian occurrences considered in the previous chapter, it is still significant. Virgil’s Aeneid and Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita provide us with the two greatest literary concentrations of the concept during this period, with both texts placing patria prominently within their respective narratives. The concept is one of the most important ‘characters’ of the Aeneid, providing the narrative with its thematic core and directing the actions of the core protagonists. In Ab Urbe Condita, patria frequently sits at the heart of Livy’s message regarding the correct moral conduct of Roman men and women. The concept enables Livy to refocus the minds of his contemporary readership, stressing the themes of unity and collectivity inherent in the pax Augusta over the individualism and division of the years that preceded it.
The use of patria in these texts indicates that the Augustan period was witness to a dynamic discussion as to the cultural significance of the concept, both in terms of its definition and in terms of its role in Roman cultural life. Considering that these texts were
composed in living memory of civil war, it is unsurprising that the Aeneid and Ab Urbe Condita use patria to emphasise unity.274 Yet the approaches of Livy and Virgil to this shared aim are widely different. In Livy, unity is stressed through the depiction of patria as a common or shared focus, a reiteration of the widely used theme of patria as the primary object of collective service and obligation. In Virgil, unity is stressed through the redefinition of patria’s territorial and cultural relevance as embodying a unified Italy, an aspect that complements the many previous arguments regarding the Italianità of Virgil’s Aeneid.275 In essence, Livy can be seen to take up a more traditional or conservative position in relation to patria, whilst Virgil can be seen to be more innovative. Both of these differing approaches indicate the presence of three important factors. These factors are communication, collective memory and the dependence of concepts of cultural identity on the machinations of prominent cultural individuals.
Let me consider the first factor: communication. In order for a concept and its defining themes to be successfully disseminated to an audience, effective modes of communication are required.276 Modes of communication are themselves dependent upon the technology
274 Cf. Connolly (2009), 192, who states “the never-ending threats to Roman unity
that punctuate Livy’s history, which signal his concern with the fragility of the Roman collective – not just its vulnerability to external attack by the Samnites or the Gauls, but the precarious balance of competing interests of the rich and the poor – mean that at the core of his text is a triumphal narrative affirming the values of collective identity.”
275 See Syme (1939), 465-466; Bonjour (1975a), 475; Toll (1991 and 1997); Ando
(2002); and Pogorzelski (2007), 99-138.
276 One theoretical school of thought that stresses the importance of communication
with regard to concepts of collective identity is Ethnosymbolism, a school of thought pioneered by Smith, A.D. (1986 [1993]). In particular, Ethnosymbolism emphasises the importance of a collective historical memory.
available at a given time and the extent of the intended audience. Benedict Anderson, for example, rightly argues that the modern day concept of the nation was entirely dependent upon forms of ‘mass’ communication, such as the mass press, for the communication of its core themes.277 These mass forms of communication enabled a nationalist agenda to be perceived or imagined by the majority of a given society in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and thus transformed nationalism from a preserve of the ruling and middle classes to a fully populist movement. In the case of patria in the Roman world, the most effective extant forms of communication available to promote messages regarding collective identity were literature and inscriptions. However, neither literature nor inscriptions can be classified as ‘mass’ modes of communication, and hence we must be cautious as to the extent of their impact upon Roman society. There remains a great level of uncertainty as to the degree of literacy in the Roman world, and the tendency to present oral performances of works should not be taken as meaning such performances were intended to be or indeed were accessed by all sectors of society.278 As Habinek is right to indicate: “Many of the characteristics of Latin literature can be attributed to its production by and for an elite that sought to maintain and expand its dominance over other sectors of the
277 Anderson (1983 [2006]), 24-37 and 39ff.
278 On the question of literacy in the ancient world see Harris (1989), 3-42; Bowman
and Woolf (1994), 1-16; Woolf (1994); Bowman (1994); Habinek (1998), 3-14; and Di Renzo (2000).
population through reference to an authorizing past”.279 Thus, whilst literature and inscriptions can be regarded as effective modes of communication for ideas associated with concepts, it is ultimately only via a consideration of the limitations of audience that the true nature and aims of patria’s conceptualisation can be understood.
The second factor that is important in the consideration of the Aeneid and Ab Urbe Condita in terms of their respective presentations of patria is that of memory. The dissemination of a specific idea relating to an important cultural concept is entirely dependent upon the effectiveness of the mode of communication employed to stir emotions, and to connect a concept and its defining themes to the past experiences of its audience.280 Ethnosymbolism and scholarship that comprises what can be termed Collective Memory Studies indicate the potency of memory with regards to the cultural presentation of concepts of identity.281
279 Habinek (1998), 3.
280 Over the last two decades there has been a rapidly growing interest in examining
memory within the context of the ancient world, both individual and collective, and particularly within the field of literature. See Bettini (1997); Mackay (2008); Hardie (2013); Kirichenko (2013); and Seider (2013).
281 Ethnosymbolism’s utility with regard to antiquity is illustrated by a)
Ethnosymbolism itself since Smith, A.D. (1986 [1993]) argues that the cultural apparatus employed to create and develop the modern-day concept of the nation is inherited from the pre-modern ‘ethnic’ past, what we would term antiquity, and b) by Garman (2007), a short pioneering application of the theory to examine the development of collective identity in antiquity with a focus on Greece. The umbrella term Collective Memory Studies refers to all scholarship that has to one extent or another examined the notion of Collective Memory, a term coined by Maurice Halbwachs in the 1920s. For a collation of scholarship on the topic of Collective Memory see Olick, Vinitzky-Seroussi & Levy (2011). Although Collective Memory has become the standard term to refer to communal modes of remembering or commemoration, other terms have been employed to describe the same process. These include ‘Bodily Memory’ (Young, A. (1996)), ‘Cultural Memory’ (Assmann, J. (1992 and 2011); and Berliner (2005)), ‘Historical Consciousness’ (Seixas (2004)), ‘Historical Memory’ (Pennebraker & Gonzales (2009)), ‘Public Memory’ (Bodnar (1992)) and ‘Social Memory’ (Burke (1989); and Connerton (1989)).
Ethnosymbolism argues that units of collective identity are the products of a deliberate process of creation, re-creation and manipulation of a group’s collective historical memory via mythological epic and history.282 Anthony D. Smith uses the phrase ‘collective historical memory’ to signify the presented accumulation of events and experiences of any given group that has occurred over time. It is neither set in stone nor is it free from subjectivity. Rather, its form is entirely dependent upon the decisions made by individual writers as they react to changes in political, cultural or social contexts. Such a deliberate change to a group’s collective historical memory is required in order to provide a source of legitimacy for contemporary political, cultural and social change, and/or to control the pace of change being experienced. Within this process of change, mythological epic and history have specific roles. Mythological epic, Anthony D. Smith argues, is employed when changes to the origins of a group are required. It thus acts as a narrative of beginnings, providing a collective group with a clear if not necessarily permanent sense of ancestral pedigree.283 This is the case with regard to Virgil’s Aeneid, since one of the central themes of the epic poem is the Italian origins of the Roman race. Historical texts, on the other hand, are employed when it is necessary to alter which events or experiences are to be remembered by the membership of a collective group.284 History and myth,
282 Smith, A.D. (1986 [1993]), 24-26; and Smith, A.D. (1999), 61-62. 283 Smith, A.D. (1991), 14ff.
284 On the deliberate forgetting of facts relating to Collective Memory see Assmann,
therefore, function as narratives of development, charting the ways in which the collective character of the group has developed over time, a function which can, as in the case of the Aeneid, have a decisive impact on how this collective character should be defined.285
Collective Memory Studies examine the deliberate and conscious storage, remembrance and commemoration of a specific set of communal events and experiences. Collective Memory enables a group to develop a distinct sense of communal beginning and the notion that its members belong to a continuous linear narrative. This process can have the effect of uniting psychologically generations past, present and future.286 Collective Memory thus establishes the belief that any given group is a community of fate that shares a common mission and pre-ordained destiny.287 This theme is particularly evident in Virgil’s Aeneid where great emphasis is placed upon a pan-Italian involvement in the creation of Rome. To all intents and purposes, Collective Memory functions as the blueprint for a group’s internally created image and provides the means by which to begin to establish this image psychologically and potentially to maintain it into the future.288
285 Smith, A.D. (1986 [1993]), 25-26. Cf. Anderson (1983 [1991]).
286 See Halbwachs (1925 and 1950); Assmann, J. (2011); Zerubavel (1995), 237-8;
and Nora (1978, 1984a and 1984b).
287 See Lambert, Scherer, Rodgers & Jacoby (2009).
288 Assmann, J. and Czaplicka, J. (1995), 126: “According to Nietzsche, while in the
world of animals genetic patterns guarantee the survival of the species, humans must find a means by which to maintain their nature consistently through the generations. The solution to this problem is offered by cultural memory, a collective concept for all knowledge that directs behaviour and experience in the interactive framework of a society and one that obtains through generations in repeated societal practice and innovation.”
Since such memories are not biologically transmitted, their survival is reliant on cultural mnemotechnics.289 This process is controlled and directed by individuals or small sub-groups, which is the third factor that is evident from an analysis of the Aeneid and Ab Urbe Condita. The conceptualisation of concepts of collective identity such as patria is a deliberate process. It is based on the conscious decision- making of influential cultural individuals, and is often directed by the specific aims or intentions of these individuals. At the heart of this deliberate process lies communally orientated literature, including mythology, epic, history, geography, religious texts and to a lesser degree philosophy.290 As in the case of Ethnosymbolism, Collective Memory Studies stress the function of literature as a medium by which to communicate and chart the origins and historical development of the group. The use of literature also reinforces the dependence of Collective Memory upon the cognitive abilities of individuals and shifts in political, cultural and social currents.
Cultural Memory Studies, however, go further and highlight specific literary strategies that affect the development of culturally orientated concepts of identity such as patria. Two such strategies employed in the writing of history are particularly worthy of note within the context of this study as they are both identifiable in Livy.
289 Assmann, J. (2011), 72.
290 Leroi-Gourhan (1993), 258-265. Other modes of storage and expression that are
central to cultural mnemotechnics but which are not relevant for the purposes of this chapter are ritual (see Assmann, J (2011), 70ff; Leroi-Gourhan (1993), 258-265; and Goody (1998)) and monuments and topography (see Koselleck (2002), 285-326; and Young, J.E. (2002), 90-96).
The first is history’s conscious composition as a means by which to educate. Through the use of specific examples, history is able to provide an account of an event or deed that is easy for the audience to remember. This event consequently acts as a template for the audience as to what are to be considered the accepted and expected communal values and characteristics. Education by example is a feature that is particularly identifiable in Roman culture, and most notably in Livy’s history. The cultural use of exempla was widespread, particularly within the higher echelons of society.291 In Latin history, the use of exempla is especially noticeable in Livy’s Ab Urbe. Here it is employed, amongst other things, to cement within the minds of his audience the values and characteristics that are associated with patria.292 By using such examples, Livy’s history functioned to create unifying memories for its audience, central to which were values, characteristics and notions regarding Roman collective identity.
The second strategy employed in the writing of history is the recollection of moments of collective trauma. Collective trauma refers to moments of seismic change within a community that are experienced by multiple individuals. These include natural disasters, war and political and social upheaval.293 Since collective trauma often has a powerful psychological impact upon the minds of both contemporary generations and future generations, it is fundamental in the creation and development of ideas or concepts of collective
291 See van der Blom (2010); and Urban (2011).
292 For a detailed analysis of Livy’s use of exempla see Chaplin (2000 and 2014). 293 Neal (2005), 3-7.
identity.294 The salience of collective trauma in the development of collective identity is a feature that is also discernable in Livy. Livy uses the theme of collective trauma to create powerful memories for his audience upon which he then attaches the defining themes and characteristics associated with patria. Thus, through the theme of trauma, Livy’s history takes pre-existing memories and utilises their enduring psychological impact to advance its specific cultural and political message of Roman unity in the face of adversity.
This chapter thus looks at the utility and development of patria in Virgil’s Aeneid and Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita through the lens of collective memory. This investigation enables me to consider the degree to which ideas of patria were discussed during a watershed moment in Roman history. In section 3.1, I discuss the use of patria in Ab Urbe Condita to consider the role of history in this process. In the first instance, I examine the relationship between patria and exempla (3.1.i), and in the second that between patria and moments of collective trauma (3.1.ii). In section 3.2, my discussion is centred on how Virgil’s Aeneid functions as a vehicle of deliberate redefinition of patria’s territoriality as Italy. I do so by considering two distinct yet related themes: ‘death’ (3.2.i) and ‘rebirth’ (3.2.ii).