Review

Author(s): Allen M. Ward

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 Ancient 1665

elegance" to which she aspires in her preface, and I and James I to Johan Wolfgang von Goethe, Thomas
hope she writes many more. Jefferson, and Henry Adams. Chapter 8 describes
AMY RICHLIN Tacitus's attraction for these and many other impor-
University of Southern California tant figures in the Western intellectual and political
tradition. As Mellor points out in the epilogue, Tac-
itus and his passionate moralism have been out of
RONALD MELLOR. Tacitus. New York: Routledge.
fashion in an age that lacks a moral consensus and in
1993. Pp. xii, 211. $25.00.
which the scientific history of the academy dominates.
As the evils that Tacitus passionately denounced-the
Ronald Mellor skillfully summarizes the present state
corruption of power, the duplicitous political manip-
of knowledge about Tacitus and his works while he
ulation of language, and the complicity of those who
deepens the reader's appreciation of them. He also
should know better-become increasingly evident to-
writes clearly and supports his observations with his
day, Tacitus may regain his lost popularity. This book
own readable translations, numerous citations of an-
certainly prepares the way.
cient authors, and references to almost 150 secondary
ALLEN M. WARD
works. Mellor's work should appeal equally to profes-
University of Connecticut,
sional historians, students, and the educated public.
Storrs
The latter two groups will find that his frequent
literary allusions and modern parallels will make the
subject much more relevant than might be expected. EVE D'AMBRA. Private Lives, Imperial Virtues: The Frieze
Where Mellor has been most creative is in connect- of the Forum Transitorium in Rome. Princeton: Prince-
ing Tacitus's personal experience with his work to ton University Press. 1993. Pp. xviii, 157; 91 plates.
explain why it has the characteristics that made it $35.00.
stand out originally and exert great influence on later
generations. As he points out, Tacitus was a deeply Eve D'Ambra's learned monograph on the frieze of
engaged public man who continued his political life Domitian's Forum Transitorium in Rome moves
through his writing with a high degree of emotional from a close reading of the extant relief fragment to
intensity (p. 1). He finds the wellspring of this in- considerations of the Forum in the context of impe-
tensely personal engagement in the psychological rial architectural patronage and domestic politics.
experience of being a survivor. Tacitus safely en- Domitian reactivated cults affirming the morality of
dured and even prospered during Domitian's tyr- Roman matrons, revived Augustan laws on marriage,
anny. As a result, shame and/or guilt for doing what and proclaimed his reverence for Minerva, whose
was necessary to survive always colored his perception temple was enclosed in the Forum. The goddess's
of the relationship between the senate and emperors empaneled image appeared above an emblematic
from Augustus onward: a vicious cycle of collabora- frieze representing the punishment of Arachne, the
tion, resentment, hatred, and self-justification (pp. latter flanked by moralizing exempla showing virtu-
8-9). Therefore, Tacitus was obsessed with distin- ous women working wool and weaving under the
guishing necessary compromise for survival from supervision of Minerva Erga. Only about 4 percent of
outright collaboration. Even his Agricola, ostensibly a the original frieze survives, so any interpretation
pious eulogy for his equally successful father-in-law, must remain tentative, but D'Ambra believes that the
is a model of the middle way (moderatio) between extant reliefs provide an essential key to the whole.
culpable collaboration and pointless martyrdom that Arachne was the acclaimed weaver of Greek myth
he espoused. who exposed the sexual immorality of the gods in her
Moral complicity on the part of his fellow senators designs and, according to Ovid (Metamorphoses, Book
in the rise of tyrannical emperors helps to explain Six), dared to compete with Athena, her rival and
Tacitus's constant search for the moral causes of judge; dashed in her pride, Arachne tried to hang
political events. As Mellor points out, "Tacitus makes herself but, before dying, was transformed into a
it clear that he sees the moral decline of Rome spider, a fitting conclusion for an etiological reading
indissolubly linked with its political decline" (p. 52). of the myth. Given Domitian's problematic sex life
Romans always preferred moral explanations of and his difficulty protecting the chastity of his Vestal
events, but the passion and relentlessness with which Virgins, an Ovidian spin in such a public monument
Tacitus pursued them seems conditioned by his per- seems unlikely, especially when one considers Domi-
sonal experience. tian's reputation for sensitivity to any affront to his
As a moralist, Tacitus placed great emphasis on the maiestas. The myth implicated mortal and immortal
psychology of his characters, who take on the roles of females in a craft activity in which they took great
actors in a tragic drama that he presents in poetic pride. If Athena demonstrated her power over
language of great power and style. These character- Arachne, she also served as a patron of weaving, of
istics, explored in chapters 5 through 7, have fasci- craft, and of the artisans whose well-being and polit-
nated poets, playwrights, political theorists, and lead- ical support Domitian sought. Indeed, the Domitianic
ers from Niccol6 Machiavelli, Jean Baptiste Racine, forum relief distantly echoes the Parthenon Frieze,

AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW DECEMBER 1994

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