Roman writers since the 2nd century BC loved contrasting their luxurious present with a frugal early Republic. Sallust saw Carthage's destruction as Rome's turning point, and Ammianus skewered 4th-century elite decadence. Yet most maintained faith the empire would survive. Moral framing shaped how Romans remembered their history.
Roman authors framed empire's decline as moral decay, not political collapse
Key facts
- Since the 2nd century BC, Roman authors customarily contrasted present luxury with the frugal early Republic
- Sallust, writing in the age of Caesar, believed Rome began to decay the moment it destroyed Carthage
- Ammianus Marcellinus visited Rome in the late 4th century and described the decadence of the wealthy elite
- Ammianus recorded the catastrophic Battle of Adrianople and Julian's failed Persian campaign
- Roman authors generally maintained confidence in the ultimate survival of the imperial system despite contemporary disasters
Sources
imperial expansion and moral decline in the romanjstor.org
by AW Lintott · 1972 · Cited by 262 — eign pressure on Rome was removed.'0 In Sallust's Catiline fortune turns sour Rome's wealth and security after the fall of Carthage with the appear- ance of ...
The Decline of the Roman Republic as Personified by Catilinehistoryissexydotcom2.wordpress.com
This assessment is on Sallust's work, it is not an argument by the author that moral decay directly influenced the fall of the Roman Republic ...
Chapter 2 Decadence and Roman Historiographypure.roehampton.ac.uk
by S Malik · Cited by 13 — What mattered was the individual's personal relationship to God. Unlike Sallust or Livy, Augustine and Orosius saw decadence right from the foundation of Rome.
The Manipulation of Historical and Moral Turning Points in ...classicalstudies.org
One of the chief attributes of Sallust's historiographical style, across his corpus, is his emphasis on moral turning points in Rome's history.
Sallusten.wikipedia.org
Sallust's uses the Jugurthine War, as with War of Catiline, is to use history as a vehicle for his judgement on the slow decline of Roman morality and politics.
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