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Fear as an Instrument of Power in the Historiographic Writings of Tacitus

Authors

Marta Czapińska-Bambara Uniwersytet Łódzki https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2159-8294

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/1505-9065.17.2.02

Keywords:

Tacitus, fear, power, history of Rome

Abstract

Tacitus’texts are permeated with fear. This effect is reached as a result of the use of a rich vocabulary related to fear and numerous scenes in which fear plays a major role. The structure of Tacitus’stories is in fact composed of the overlapping kinds of fear caused and felt by people in power, participating in its execution, aspiring to hold it and subjected to it. Consequently, the stories expose the mechanism of Roman power, which was driven and fueled by fear. The reason why Tacitus used the description of fear in the historical texts also seems to be significant. The aim of this article is therefore to look at the semantic layer of the words that the historian used to illustrate fear, to emphasize the aspect of power within interpersonal relations, which were almost entirely based on fear, and to indicate the reason that could have prompted Tacitus to use this feeling in presenting the history of Rome.

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Author Biography

Marta Czapińska-Bambara, Uniwersytet Łódzki

Marta Czapińska-Bambara jest adiunktem w Zakładzie Latynistyki i Językoznawstwa w Katedrze Filologii Klasycznej Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego. Uzyskała tytuły magistra z Antropologii Kultury i Filologii Klasycznej oraz tytuł doktorski z Filologii Klasycznej. Jej badania koncentrują się głównie na literaturze łacińskiej i recepcji wybranych koncepcji politycznych, retorycznych i filozoficznych autorów antycznych w myśli renesansowej i późniejszej. Jest autorką monografii pt. Èthos przywódcy politycznego w myśli starożytnej i renesansowej. Platon, Cyceron, Machiavelli, Guicciardini.

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Published

2022-12-30

Versions

2023-08-10 (2)
2022-12-30 (1)

How to Cite

Czapińska-Bambara, M. (2022). Fear as an Instrument of Power in the Historiographic Writings of Tacitus. Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Litteraria Romanica, 17(2), 9–21. https://doi.org/10.18778/1505-9065.17.2.02