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TACITUS ON THE DEATH OF OCTAVIA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2008

PAUL MURGATROYD
PAUL MURGATROYD
Affiliation:
McMaster University, Canada
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Extract

Scholars so far have commented only briefly on Tacitus' depiction, at Annals 14.60–4, of the execution (in ad 62) of Nero's young wife Octavia, passing lightly over the pathos and criticism of Nero there as straightforward and self-evident. In fact, there is a subtle and skilful build-up of sympathy for Octavia and an extensive and powerful attack on the emperor and his court (and the servile senate), all the stronger for the pity aroused for her. This combination of emotional impact and damning indictment merits and repays deeper analysis.

Type
Research Article
Information
Greece & Rome , Volume 55 , Issue 2 , October 2008 , pp. 263 - 273
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 2008

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