A tale of two Octavias: historical empathy and intimate partner 'violence'.

This paper starts with the contention that the category of 'violence' is culturally constructed and varies according to one's cultural and historical context. This is not intended to excuse contemporary acts that violate our laws and standards, but instead to provide a platform for examining Roman i...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies Vol. 66; no. 2; pp. 150 - 163
Main Author: Lawrence, Sarah
Format: Article
Published: Oxford University Press / USA Dec2023
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=180268187&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: hlh
    uiTerm: 180268187
    longDbName: Humanities International Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        00760730
        6EYU
      jtl: Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies
      issn: 00760730
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Dec2023
      vid: 66
      iid: 2
      pid: 622
      pub: Oxford University Press / USA
    artinfo:
      ui:
        180268187
        10.1093/bics/qbae021
      ppf: 150
      ppct: 13
      formats:
        fmt:
          – @attributes:
              type: T
          – @attributes:
              type: P
              size: 511KB
      tig:
        atl: A tale of two Octavias: historical empathy and intimate partner 'violence'.
      aug:
        au: Lawrence, Sarah
        affil: University of New England , Armidale , Australia
      su:
        Gender-based violence
        Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, ca. 4 B.C.-65 A.D.
        Empathy
        Intimate partner violence
        Violence
        Domestic violence
        Historical source material
        Excuses
      sug:
        subj:
          Gender-based violence
          Seneca, Lucius Annaeus, ca. 4 B.C.-65 A.D.
          Empathy
          Intimate partner violence
          Violence
          Domestic violence
          Historical source material
          Excuses
      keyword:
        Gender
        Nero
        Octavia
        Rome
        Seneca the Younger
        Tacitus
      ab: This paper starts with the contention that the category of 'violence' is culturally constructed and varies according to one's cultural and historical context. This is not intended to excuse contemporary acts that violate our laws and standards, but instead to provide a platform for examining Roman ideas of acceptable and unacceptable force so far as we can access them via texts written by male members of the elite. By examining Nero's treatment of Octavia as it is depicted in Tacitus' Annals , I argue that we can identify Roman social/moral condemnation of (technically legal) violence inflicted on Octavia by Nero. However, comparison with the depiction of the same events in the anonymous Octavia demonstrates how conditional this condemnation could be on the victim's presentation as a moral and social exemplar.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: Y
      custom: © 2020 Institute of Classical Studies.
      item: Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies
      holder: Oxford University Press / USA
      dt:
        @attributes:
          year: 2023
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N