Digital Commons @ Connecticut College

Title

Who’s Anti-Roman? Sallust and Pompeius Trogus on Mithridates

Authors

Eric Adler, Connecticut CollegeFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-2006

Comments

Initially published in Classical Journal, 2006, p.383-407.

©2006 Classical Association of the Middle West and South

http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/30038017

Abstract

Contemporary scholars of Roman imperialism have discussed the Ways in which ancient historians denigrate non-Romans and thereby present intellectual justifications for Roman conquest. This paper offers a case study that questions this position's validity: an examination of Sallust's Epistula Mithridatis (Hist. 4.69M) and Pompeius Trogus' speech of Mithridates (Justin 38.4-7). I argue that Sallust offers a more powerful attack on Roman foreign policy than does Trogus, whom many scholars have deemed "anti-Roman," and conclude that Roman historians are capable of using speeches of foreigners to engage in Roman self-criticism.

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Recommended Citation

Adler, E. "Who's Anti-Roman? Sallust And Pompeius Trogus On Mithridates." Classical Journal 101.4 (n.d.): 383-407. Web.