Striking and Destroying an Image: The Historical Representation and Defamation of Sextus Pompeius (48-35 BCE)
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2016-08-31
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en
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History is written by the victors, and can as such be highly selective. Victory-narratives are hardly ever favourably disposed towards former opponents, leaving behind a trail of figures that have been cast aside for the sake of a dominant historical tradition. Although he was one of the principal contestants in the Late Republican civil wars, the Roman general and politician Sextus Pompeius did not make the cut. Despite his initial successful opposition, his ultimate defeat allowed the constructed pro-Augustan tradition to defame and partially erase him from the historical narrative. By combining the concept of character assassination with numismatic research in particular, this thesis sheds new light on Sextus’ self-promotion and his historical defamation. In doings so, it aims to improve our understanding of the historical Sextus rather than its defamed counterpart. Moreover, it draws attention to the impact these processes tend to exert on history, both in a formative and receptive sense.
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