Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
Volume/Issue:
Volume 63: Issue 2-3
From withdrawal to return in the first decade of the Ab Vrbe condita: An example of Livian dialectic of contrasts
Author:
Nicolas L.J. Meunier UCLouvain (Université catholique de Louvain), Belgium

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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2500-967X
Pages:
335–348
Online Publication Date:
14 Mar 2024
Publication Date:
16 May 2024
Article Category:
Research Article
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1556/068.2023.00115
Keywords:
Livy; historiography; Early Rome; Ab Urbe condita
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Abstract

Livy's narrative, far from being a faithful and scrupulous account of historical facts, is first and foremost a piece of literary, a narration, a collection of exempla that should serve as models or anti-models for readers, as Livy himself says in his Praefatio (Liv. Praef. 10). In his writing work, he follows guiding principles, the most important of which is the dialectic of contrasts, inspired by oratory and rhetoric. On the basis of different examples from the first decade of Ab Urbe condita, the objective of this article is to examine how this principle of writing was applied to the theme of Returns (a motif well known in the imaginary and literature of classical Antiquity). Thus, it appears that each episode of return or attempt to return is systematically preceded by an episode of withdrawal from the civic community, with which it is contrasted in various ways. Examples of such withdrawal-return antagonist pairs are numerous, and they concern both individual characters (Tarquin the Proud, Coriolanus, Cincinnatus, Kaeso Quinctius, etc.) and collective ensembles (in the form of a secessio of an entire ordo).

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Cover Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
Print ISSN:
0044-5975
Online ISSN:
1588-2543

Senior editors

Editor(s)-in-Chief: Takács, László

Managing Editor(s): Kisdi, Klára

Editorial Board

  • Tamás DEZSŐ (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest)
  • Miklós MARÓTH (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Avicenna Institute of Middle Eastern Studies)
  • Gyula MAYER (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Classical Philology Research Group)
  • János NAGYILLÉS (University of Szeged)
  • Lajos Zoltán SIMON (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest)
  • Csilla SZEKERES (University of Debrecen)
  • Kornél SZOVÁK (Pázmány Péter Catholic University)
  • Zsolt VISY (University of Pécs)

 

Advisory Board

  • Michael CRAWFORD (University College London, prof. em.)
  • Patricia EASTERLING (Newnham College, University of Cambridge, prof. em.)
  • László HORVÁTH (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest)
  • Patricia JOHNSTON (Brandeis University Boston, prof. em.)
  • Csaba LÁDA (University of Kent)
  • Herwig MAEHLER
  • Attilio MASTROCINQUE (University of Verona)
  • Zsigmond RITOÓK (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, prof. em.)

László Takács
Acta Antiqua
Mikszáth tér 1.
H-1088 Budapest
E-mail: acta.antiqua.hung@gmail.com

Scopus
Current Contents - Arts and Humanities

2023  
Scopus  
CiteScore 0.2
CiteScore rank Q3 (Classics)
SNIP 0.532
Scimago  
SJR index 0.111
SJR Q rank Q3

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Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
Language English
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(Latin)
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Size B5
Year of
Foundation		 1951
Volumes
per Year		 1
Issues
per Year		 4
Founder Magyar Tudományos Akadémia   
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Address		 H-1051 Budapest, Hungary, Széchenyi István tér 9.
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ISSN 0044-5975 (Print)
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