Riflessioni in margine a un recente libro su Sallustio

Abstract

Arnaldo Marcone's new book (Sallustio. Storiografia e politica nella Roma tardorepubblicana) provides an opportunity for the three authors to discuss various aspects of the historiographic production of the historian of Amiternum and the problems it poses for the interpretation of the political culture that characterized the last decades of the life of the libera res publica. In particular, the paper analyses Sallust’s political leanings, which can be interpreted in different ways through his judgments on certain turning points in Roman history, his psychological construction of certain characters such as Catiline, Sulla, M. Aemilius Lepidus, his use of direct speeches, his approach to the theme of imperialism and the moral and political decadence of the city of Rome.