Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
Reading Tacitus in Latin is like reading James Joyce. It is language which is really at the margins of comprehensibility, as well as being very exciting. Apart from being lurid and OTT, he also wants to talk about the corruption of autocracy. It’s about one-man rule going bad in the Roman Empire.
From Greeks to Romans – tell me about The Annals.
This is the best work of history ever written – that’s a big claim.
It’s been described as tragic historiography and full of dramatic events.
Oh yes, just take the murder of Nero’s mother. There is no better story than Nero’s attempts to murder his mother with whom he is finally very pissed off! Nero the mad boy emperor decides that he is going to get rid of mum by a rather clever collapsible boat. He has her to dinner, waves her fondly farewell. The boat collapses. Sadly for Nero, his mum, Agrippina, is a very strong swimmer and she makes it to the land and back home. And she’s clever, she knows boats don’t just collapse like that – it was a completely calm night, so she works out Nero was out to get her. She knows things are going to end badly. Nero can’t let her off, so he sends round the tough guys to murder her. Agrippina looks them in the eye and says, “Strike me in the belly with your sword.” There are two things going on. One is: my son who came out of my belly is trying to murder me. But the other thing we know is that they were widely reputed to have had an incestuous relationship in the earlier days. So it’s not just Nero the son murdering his mother, but Nero the lover murdering his discarded mistress. And if you read Robert Graves’s I, Claudius, some of it comes directly from this.
It’s better than a Hollywood plot.
Yes but it’s not just that. What he does is seduce you with an extraordinary tale. But, there is also a cynical, hard-hitting analysis of corruption. Reading Tacitus in Latin is like reading James Joyce. It’s language which is really at the margins of comprehensibility as well as being very exciting. But, actually, he wants to talk about the corruption of autocracy. It’s about one-man rule going bad.
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Mary Beard is Professor of Classics at the University of Cambridge. She is the Classics editor of The Times Literary Supplement and author of the blog, A Don’s Life, which appears in The Times as a regular column. Her frequent media appearances and sometimes controversial public statements have led to her being described as “Britain’s best-known classicist”.
This is the best work of history ever written – and that’s a big claim.
It’s been described as tragic historiography and full of dramatic events.
Oh yes, just take the murder of Nero’s mother. There is no better story than Nero’s attempts to murder his mother, with whom he is finally very pissed off! Nero the mad boy emperor decides that he is going to get rid of mum by a rather clever collapsible boat. He has her to dinner, waves her fondly farewell. The boat collapses. Sadly for Nero, his mum, Agrippina, is a very strong swimmer and she makes it to the land and back home. And she’s clever, she knows boats don’t just collapse like that – it was a completely calm night, so she works out Nero was out to get her. She knows things are going to end badly.
Nero can’t let her off, so he sends round the tough guys to murder her. Agrippina looks them in the eye and says, “Strike me in the belly with your sword.” There are two things going on. One is: My son who came out of my belly is trying to murder me. But the other thing we know is that they were widely reputed to have had an incestuous relationship in the earlier days. So it’s not just Nero the son murdering his mother, but Nero the lover murdering his discarded mistress.
It’s better than a Hollywood plot.
Yes, but it’s not just that. What he does is seduce you with an extraordinary tale. But there is also a cynical, hard-hitting analysis of corruption. Reading Tacitus in Latin is like reading James Joyce. It’s language which is really at the margins of comprehensibility, as well as being very exciting. But actually he wants to talk about the corruption of autocracy. It’s about one-man rule going bad.
You teach Classics at Cambridge – in these recession-hit times, when students are struggling to get work, is a degree in Classics still relevant?
Well, it depends what you think education is for. There’s a terrible tendency for the present government and some mums and dads to see university as some kind of professional training. Of course, there are some excellent subjects like that – say, medicine and law. But for me university is all about training the brain. With Classics you are studying so many things – philosophy, archaeology, language – all of which help you in almost any job you want to go for. I know I would say that, but Classics is inherently interesting and absolutely relevant.
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