Auteur: Čulík-Baird, Hannah & Hanses, Mathias
Titre: Africa ipsa parens: Racializing Representations of Sardinians in Cicero’s Pro Scauro (54 b.c.e.)
Revue/Collection: Transactions of the American Philological Association (TAPA), 154, 1
Annèe edition: 2024
Pages: 77-119
Mots-clès: Éloquence - Eloquenza - Eloquence, Rhétorique - Retorica - Rhetorics
Description: Following recent developments in the scholarship on premodern racial formation, the present article examines Cicero’s racializing representations of Sardinian provincials in the Pro Scauro (54 b.c.e.). In this speech, Cicero defends Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, former governor of Sardinia, against charges of provincial mismanagement. In order to secure Scaurus’s acquittal, Cicero portrays the Sardi as a distinct and “deficient” genus, characterized by innate and homogenous somatic, cognitive, and “genetic” qualities. At the same time, Cicero also disparages the Sardinians as a “mixture” of the Africans and the Carthaginians who occupied Sardinia prior to Roman conquest. The result is a juxtaposition between racialized Sardinians and “pure” Romans that is designed to convince the jurors to side with Scaurus, whose participation in the provincials’ dehumanization, murder, and exploitation Cicero presents as morally unproblematic [Author].
Oeuvres:
Sigle auteur: Čulík-Baird & Hanses 2024
Titre: Africa ipsa parens: Racializing Representations of Sardinians in Cicero’s Pro Scauro (54 b.c.e.)
Revue/Collection: Transactions of the American Philological Association (TAPA), 154, 1
Annèe edition: 2024
Pages: 77-119
Mots-clès: Éloquence - Eloquenza - Eloquence, Rhétorique - Retorica - Rhetorics
Description: Following recent developments in the scholarship on premodern racial formation, the present article examines Cicero’s racializing representations of Sardinian provincials in the Pro Scauro (54 b.c.e.). In this speech, Cicero defends Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, former governor of Sardinia, against charges of provincial mismanagement. In order to secure Scaurus’s acquittal, Cicero portrays the Sardi as a distinct and “deficient” genus, characterized by innate and homogenous somatic, cognitive, and “genetic” qualities. At the same time, Cicero also disparages the Sardinians as a “mixture” of the Africans and the Carthaginians who occupied Sardinia prior to Roman conquest. The result is a juxtaposition between racialized Sardinians and “pure” Romans that is designed to convince the jurors to side with Scaurus, whose participation in the provincials’ dehumanization, murder, and exploitation Cicero presents as morally unproblematic [Author].
Oeuvres:
Sigle auteur: Čulík-Baird & Hanses 2024
