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Arms and Letters: Julius Caesar, the Commentaries of Pope Pius II, and the Politicization of Papal Imagery*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

Emily O'Brien
Emily O'Brien*
Affiliation:
Simon Fraser University
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Abstract

In their title, the Commentaries of Pope Pius II recall the works of Julius Caesar by the same name. The connections between these ancient and humanist histories, however, run much deeper. This article explores this relationship in detail and in the broader historical and historiographical contexts of fifteenth-century Italy. It argues that in both Caesar's histories and in his career more generally, Pius found much that resonated with his own experiences, challenges, and goals. More importantly, he found in these ancient Commentaries valuable apologetic strategies for constructing his own textual self-portrait as both pope and prince. In choosing Caesar's histories as his models, Pius was following a recent historiographical precedent. Several Italian Renaissance humanists had also turned to Caesar's works as guides for writing histories about leaders of contemporary temporal politics. This article argues that by adopting the same models when shaping his own image, Pius was effectively politicizing his self-portrait in his Commentaries.

Type
Studies
Information
Renaissance Quarterly , Volume 62 , Issue 4 , Winter 2009 , pp. 1057 - 1097
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Renaissance Society of America

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Footnotes

*

A shorter version of this paper was delivered in Siena, Italy, at the conference “Pio Secondo Pontefice: Il Papa del Rinascimento a Siena,” Convegno Internazionale di Studi, 5–7 May 2005. For their constructive criticism on the ideas presented here and on early drafts of this article, I would like to thank Anthony Molho, Riccardo Fubini, Kurt Raaflaub, Anthony F. D'Elia, Christopher Celenza, Michael C. J. Putnam, Joanna Drell, and Paul Garfinkel. I am especially grateful to Thomas M. Izbicki and to a second, anonymous reader who reviewed the manuscript for Renaissance Quarterly. Their thoughtful suggestions offered me excellent guidance through the process of revision. I would also like to thank the journal's copyeditor Erika Suffern. Except when otherwise noted, all translations are my own.

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