The second factor was the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE), the long and bitter conflict between the city-states of Athens and Sparta, an event that permanently derailed further intellectual and creative
achievements
in Athens.
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome_nodrm
A SUCCESSFUL FUND-RAISING GENERAL
The general Timotheus, as we have seen, created some trouble for himself by failing to repay a bank loan for money he borrowed to finance his military activities. But Aristotle, in his treatise Athenian Constitution [22. 3], records the method whereby Themistocles successfully raised 100 talents for building warships. In 483 BCE, a rich vein of silver was discovered in a state-owned mine near Athens; the yield was a 100-talent profit for the Athenian government. Some leaders thought the windfall should be distributed among all the people, but Themistocles argued that the money should be lent to the 100 wealthiest citizens, one talent per man. His opinion carried the day, the 100 talents were accordingly lent, and then Themistocles prevailed upon the 100 "lucky winners" to use their newfound money to oversee the construction of warships. Each recipient did so, and none too soon; the Athenians needed those 100 new ships to defeat the mighty Persian navy in the Battle of Salamis in 480.
? ? as a result, he lived a comfortable life, made possible by the money he inherited from his father. He died around 340 BCE.
ASK YOURSELF
1. The portion of the document that has been quoted is taken from the very beginning of Apollodorus's speech to the jury. Do you think he is off to a good start? Do his arguments make sense? If you were the opposing lawyer, what counterarguments might you make?
2. Timotheus is obviously being made to look like a crook and a villain. Do you think that this would be a fair characterization of him? After all, he was put into a position where he had to do a job (providing funds for the fleet) that probably should have been done by the authorities in Athens. What, if anything, could he have done differently?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e These days, we hear many news accounts of "frivolous lawsuits. " Perhaps the best example of this kind of case was the suit brought against a noted fast-food chain by a customer who was irate because she burned herself when she spilled some of the hot coffee served to her in the restaurant's drive-through. The incident occurred in 1992, but the case was not resolved until 1994, when the parties settled out of court for an undisclosed sum of money, but apparently the amount was well into the six figures. The Athenian legal system, too, was plagued by what might well be termed frivolous lawsuits. (The comic playwright Aristophanes [ca. 445-380 BCE] ridiculed and satirized the litigious inclinations of his fellow Athenians in a play entitled Wasps, which features, among other amusing incidents, a dog put on trial for stealing a piece of cheese! ) We have numerous tran- scripts of court speeches and cases argued by skilled orator/lawyers like Demosthenes, Isocrates, Aeschines, Isaeus, and Dinarchus, all of whom lived in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. Could you find among these cases examples of petty or frivolous legal actions, akin to suing a fast-food
? ? ? ? 52
chain for the temperatures at which it serves coffee or putting on trial a
cheese-thieving dog?
e Aristophanes, in his aforementioned play Wasps, does more than simply
create a ridiculous situation like a court case against a dog. Research this play, and find out what else about the court and jury system the playwright found objectionable.
Further Information
Bolkestein, Hendrik. Economic Life in Greece's Golden Age. Leiden, 1958.
Calhoun, George Miller. The Business Life of Ancient Athens. Chicago, 1926.
Frost, Frank J. Greek Society (especially Chapter Four: "The Economies of the Greek
World"). Lexington, MA, 1987. Website
Demosthenes Biography. http://biography. jrank. org/pages/5026/Demosthenes. html
Bibliography for Document
Murray, A. T. (tr. ). Demosthenes V: Private Orations. Volume V. [LCL. ] Cambridge and London, 1939.
Pay It Back! Apollodorus and His Day in Court
53
This page intentionally left blank
11. WORKERS NEEDED FOR BUILDING THE PARTHENON
INTRODUCTION
The fifth-century BCE politician, statesman, and orator Pericles was to a very great extent the face of Athens during its Golden Age, at the midpoint of the century. He came from a weal- thy and distinguished Athenian family, and as a handsome, intelligent, and well-spoken man, he might seem to be a "natural" for the world of politics. After some initial hesitation, he took the plunge, eventually gaining election to the office of strategos, a post to which he was elected 15 consecutive times, from 444 to 429. (Ten strategoi were chosen annually, and although technically military leaders--the word strategos means "general"--they often exerted wide influence in politics and public policy debates and decisions. Usually, one of these 10 emerged as the most influential, and this was clearly Pericles's defining characteristic and the source of his political power in Athens. )
The key to Pericles's electoral and political success was undoubtedly his oratorical abil- ity, a skill that remains critical to this day for aspiring politicians. He was widely regarded as the best public speaker of his time. In 430 BCE, at the conclusion of the first year of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles was chosen to make a speech in honor of Athenian casualties. He used the occasion to deliver a stirring address about the glory of Athens and its democ- racy. Among other things, he proclaimed that for a person in poverty, the real shame was not in the poverty, but in the individual's failure to take measures to escape it.
Pericles was the guiding and driving force behind the explosion of creative activity in art, architecture, literature, economics, and geopolitics that occurred in Athens during his string of electoral victories: a brief but important era called the Athenian Golden Age. Not only did the efforts expended during this time result in the creation of lasting achievements, but they had an equally strong impact on the employment picture in Athens, for virtually any Athenian who wanted a good-paying job could obtain one. The building projects, in particu- lar, generated all sorts of employment opportunities. And while Pericles's oratorical skills may have been central to his success as a politician, the job-creation component of his policy initiatives must certainly also have endeared him to the electorate.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. A construction project of this magnitude would require massive injections of cash. Most of the money came not from taxpayer funds, or contributions from wealthy
? ? ? ? 55
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
donors, but rather from the Delian League's treasury. The Delian League was a sort of mutual defense organization of Greek polises, formed around 478 BCE, shortly after the Xerxes-led Persian invasion of Greece. The league's purpose was to deter future Persian invasions by showing a united, pan- Hellenic front. Although the League was theoretically composed of equals, it did not take much time for Athens to assert leadership and then dominance. League members contributed money, in the form of annual tributes, while Athens provided ships, sailors, and sol- diers. Over the next three decades, far more money was flowing into league coffers than was necessary to build and maintain ships, and to recruit and train military personnel. So Athens began treating this surplus as its own; Pericles dipped into these monies to fund the construction projects.
This funding method brought howls of protest from league members, and even some Athenians found it to be disreputable. But Pericles defended the practice by saying merely that the Athenians were under no obligation to justify their actions to anyone, as long as they continued to furnish the military manpower and equip- ment necessary to keep the Persians at bay.
2. Part of the reason the buildings were so expensive is that Pericles did not stint on materials. "Ivory, gold, ebony, and cypress-wood" were not cheap. And the project was highly labor intensive, with the best architects, craftsmen, and artists employed, and all commanding excellent wages. Untold numbers of unskilled workers also participated, and these individuals were undoubtedly paid well.
3. The amount of time required to complete these building projects was mind- bogglingly fast to an ancient Athenian but might seem overly lengthy to us. For example, the great temple on the Acropolis, the Parthenon, took about 15 years of construction time. By modern standards, that would appear to be a long time, but the world of the ancient Athenians obviously lacked modern aids such as mecha- nized construction equipment or computer-assisted building plans.
Document: Construction Zone: Authorized Personnel Only! Plutarch Describes the Building of the Parthenon
[Pericles] was . . . anxious that the unskilled masses, who had no military training, should not be debarred from benefiting from the national income, and yet should not be paid for sitting about and doing nothing. So he boldly laid before the people proposals for immense public works and plans for buildings, which would involve many differ- ent arts and industries and require long periods to com- plete, his object being that those who stayed at home, no less than those serving in the fleet or the army or on garrison duty, should be enabled to enjoy a share of the national wealth. The materials to be used were stone, bronze, ivory, gold, ebony, and cypress-wood, while the arts or trades which wrought or fashioned them were those of carpenter, modeler, coppersmith, stone-mason,
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Acropolis: The Acropolis (the name derives from two Greek words meaning "top of the city") was a prominent elevation in Athens, its dimensions about 1,000 feet wide and 460 feet long. Several impor- tant buildings, in addition to the Propylaea and the Parthenon, were located there, including the Erechtheum, a much-admired Ionic temple in honor of the deities Athena, Poseidon, and Erechtheus;
? ? ? 56
dyer, worker in gold and ivory, painter, embroiderer, and engraver, and besides these the carriers and suppliers of the materials, such as merchants, sailors, and pilots for the sea-borne traffic, and wagon-makers, trainers of draught animals, and drivers for everything that came by land. There were also rope-makers, weavers, leatherworkers, road builders, and miners. Each individ- ual craft, like a general with an army . . . had its own corps of unskilled laborers at its disposal, and these worked in a subordinate capacity . . . and so through these various demands the city's prosperity was extended far and wide and shared among every age and condition in Athens.
So the buildings arose, as imposing in their sheer size as they were inimitable in the grace of their outlines, since the artists strove to excel themselves in the beauty of their workmanship. And yet the most wonderful thing about them was the speed with which they were com- pleted. Each of them, [it was thought], would take many generations to build, but in fact the entire project was carried through in the high summer of one man's [i. e. , Pericles's] administration . . . The director and supervisor of the whole enterprise was Pheidias, although there were various great architects and artists employed on the individual buildings. For example, Callicrates and Ictinus were the architects of the Parthenon [see sidebar] . . .
The Propylaea, or portals of the Acropolis, of which Mnesicles was the architect, were finished within the space of five years. While they were being built, a miraculous incident took place, which suggested that the goddess Athena herself, so far from standing aloof, was taking a hand and helping to complete the work. One of the work- men, the most active and energetic among them, slipped and fell from a great height. He lay for some time severely injured, and the doctors could hold out no hope that he would recover. Pericles was greatly distressed at this, but the goddess appeared to him in a dream and ordered a course of treatment, which he applied, with the result that the man was easily and quickly healed. It was to com- memorate this that Pericles set up the bronze statue of Athena the Healer near the altar dedicated to that goddess . . .
[Tr. Ian Scott-Kilvert. Plutarch: The Rise and Fall of Athens, Nine Greek Lives. (Pericles 12, 13. ) Penguin Classics, New York, 1960. Page numbers: 178, 179, 180, 181. ]
Workers Needed for Building the Parthenon
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? a small temple also in honor of Athena; numerous statues, altars, and other temples. Some of the early kings of Athens were said to have homes on the Acropolis, although the Acropolis was not pri- marily a residential area. On the south slope, there were two mag- nificent outdoor theaters, and a long portico. Adjacent to the larger of the two theaters was a recital hall for musical contests, the Odeon.
Also located on the Acropolis was a large rectangular building called the chalkotheke. Only traces of this structure remain today, and its purpose is uncertain, but it apparently served as a repository for objects made of bronze--its name is etymologically connected to the Greek word for bronze-- and it may also have been used as a treasury building.
Athena: The patron goddess of Athens and a deity whose name and image were well represented by the stat- ues and temples constructed on the Acropolis.
Callicrates and Ictinus: As Plutarch states, these two individuals were the architects of the Parthenon. Callicrates flourished during the Athenian Golden Age, although little is known of his life or of his other architectural projects, with one exception: the third Long Wall. There were originally two Long Walls, built ca. 461- 456 BCE, running parallel from Athens to its port cities, meant to provide the Athenians safe access to the sea in the event of an attack. A third Long Wall, between the first two, was built under the supervision of Callicrates, around 455. Ictinus was most famous for his work on the Parthenon, but he
? ? ? 57
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? was also noted as the primary architect of the Temple of Apollo at Bassae, in Arcadia, in the central Peloponnesus. The travel writer Pausanias notes that this building was considered one the most beautiful temples in all of the Peloponnesus, second only to the Temple of Athena at Tegea, designed by another noted sculp- tor, Scopas, who flourished in the fourth century BCE.
Interestingly, the names of Pheidias and Ictinus (although not Callicrates), along with many others, are carved into the frieze surrounding the perimeter of the Art Institute in Chicago.
doctors: Plutarch does not provide the names of the physicians, but it is interesting to speculate that physi- cians were apparently on site, or at least on call, to treat injuries suf- fered by the workers. And acci- dents like the one described in the document probably happened with some regularity; construction zones are inherently risky places even now, but in the fifth century, with- out regulations or policies specifi- cally protecting the workforce, they must have been even more dangerous.
Mnesicles: A fifth-century BCE architect about whom nothing is known except what Plutarch conveys to us in the document: that he was the designer of the Propylaea.
Pheidias: The famous sculptor- architect is thought to have been born ca. 490 BCE and to have died in 432. He was, and is, generally considered the best artisan of his time, high praise indeed when one considers the great number of artists flourishing during that era. His reputation primarily rests on
? ? ? AFTERMATH
Unfortunately, the Athenian Golden Age was brought to a crashing halt by two chief factors from which the Athenians never really recovered. The first of these was the death of Pericles from the highly contagious, and usually fatal, plague that swept through Athens around 430 and the following years. Pericles died around 429. Although a popular leader for many years, he had his share of enemies, too, and they were never shy about leveling angry criti- cisms at him, for almost all of his policy decisions.
The second factor was the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE), the long and bitter conflict between the city-states of Athens and Sparta, an event that permanently derailed further intellectual and creative achievements in Athens. It is certainly true that Athens did not cease to exist after the war, and noted Athenian philosophers, scientists, writers, and orators flourished in the cen- turies to come. But it also seems safe to say that Athens never recaptured the heights to which it had risen in its fifth-century Golden Age.
ASK YOURSELF
1. As mentioned earlier (in "Keep in Mind as You Read"), Pericles siphoned off large sums of money from the Delian League treasury to pay for the labor and materials required to construct the expensive buildings. Was he justi- fied in doing so? Were his critics right to complain about what he did?
2. Large, impressive, expensive buildings are often built as dis- plays of power, as landmarks that enable a city to flaunt its wealth, and as sources of civic pride. Would the Parthenon have been an example of Athenian power, wealth, and pride? Would there have been other advantages for Athens in having a building of this magnitude in the city? After all, it was no accident that this huge temple was con- structed at the very top of one of the highest elevations in all of Athens!
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e ConsiderPericles'sbeautification-of-Athensplans. One of his motives in devising and promoting his ambitious building plan was apparently to provide jobs for people who were unemployed or under- employed. Politicians today often try to do the same thing. Can you find other examples in ancient history, or in western history generally, in which these kinds of full-employment programs
? ? ? ? ? 58
were tried? How successful were they? What crite- ria could we use to determine whether Pericles succeeded?
e Consider the anecdote about the worker who was injured on the job: What kinds of conclusions or inferences can we draw from it? For example: How dangerous was it to "work construction" in the ancient world? How skilled or proficient was the medical profession in treating work-related injuries?
e Withregardtothatinjuredworker,Plutarchstates that "the goddess [Athena] appeared to him [Pericles] in a dream and ordered a course of treat- ment, which he applied, with the result that the man was easily and quickly healed. " Today, this explanation for the healing might seem a little, or a lot, far-fetched. Is it possible, however, that the ancient Athenians believed it? If Pericles merely made up the story about Athena appearing to him in a dream, why do you suppose he would have done that? What advantages would it bring, or what would he gain from it? Can you think of modern examples in which political or religious leaders claim to have visions or messages from God about a particular course of action?
Further Information
Kagan, Donald. Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy. New York, 1991.
Ober, Josiah. The Athenian Revolution. Princeton, NJ, 1996. Website
438 B. C. Pericles Triumphant. http://www. pbs. org/empires/ thegreeks/characters/pericles_p8. html
Bibliography for Document
Scott-Kilvert, Ian (tr. ). Plutarch: The Rise and Fall of Athens; Nine Greek Lives. Penguin Classics. New York, 1960.
Workers Needed for Building the Parthenon
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? three of his greatest sculptures: the Athena Promachus, the statue of Athena in the Parthenon, and the statue of Zeus at Olympia. The Athena Promachus--like the Parthenon--was erected on the Acropolis. Pheidias created a pol- ished spear and shining helmet for the bronze, colossal statue. It was said that the glint of the sunlight on the spear point and the helmet crest could be seen from miles away. Pheidias's Olympian Zeus was considered not only his best work but the best ever created by any ancient Greek sculptor. It was a chryselephantine statue (like the Athena in the Parthenon), mas- sively made--over 60 feet tall-- and seated on a heavily decorated throne. The statue was so impres- sive that it was regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Propylaea: The Athenian Propylaea, built in the 430s, was an elabo- rately designed and constructed entryway to the Acropolis. It con- tained five doors: one for pro- cessions and their necessary com- ponents, such as wagons pulled by animals, and four other doors reserved for the general public. The Propylaea was also outfitted with auxiliary buildings, one on each end. One of these was used as a kind of picture gallery.
strove to excel themselves: Ancient Greek artists--like most typical ancient Greeks--loved to compete with one another to determine which of them could produce the best works of art.
? ? ? 59
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? ? ? ? A HOME FIT FOR A GODDESS
The Parthenon is perhaps the most recognizable landmark in all of ancient Athens. Photos of it have probably appeared in more travel brochures, more feature newspaper articles, more history books, and on more Internet sites than any other ancient building. And why not? It came to symbolize the power and the wealth of the Golden Age of Athens under Pericles's inspired leadership.
The word derives from the Greek parthenos, meaning "young girl," one of the chief epithets of the goddess Athena, in whose honor the Parthenon was built. Located at the top of the Acropolis (see glossary, above), it was a massive rectangular structure, so large that it could reportedly be seen by sailors on ships in the Mediterranean Sea, from 20 miles or more away. Its exterior featured 34-foot-tall Doric columns, 17 of them on the two long sides of the building, 8 on the short sides. (By contrast, typical rectangular temples generally featured 13 columns on the long sides and 6 on the two ends. ) The columns were ingeniously designed in such a way that they bulged very slightly in the middle and tilted very slightly toward one another. The Greek architects were trying to create an optical illusion with this bulging and tilting; they knew that from a great distance, a curved line looks straight, and a straight line looks curved. They wanted the columns to appear to be perfectly straight when viewed by those sailors on the sea and by others who might be seeing the building from a distance.
Perhaps the most stunning feature of the temple was the magnificent statue of Athena, placed on the inside of the building. Standing some 40 feet tall, created by the super-talented sculptor-architect Pheidias, it was a chryselephantine (gold and ivory) colossus. The gold alone that it contained has been estimated to have been worth 44 talents, equivalent to approximately $13 million (see the following sidebar). Some archaeologists believe the statue's great height required a sort of skylight to be carved into the roof of the Parthenon to accom- modate it; otherwise, it would not have fit inside the building.
? ? ? ? ? ? ANCIENT GREEK MONEY
Greek money in Pericles's day was divided into four basic denominations: obols, drachmas, minas, and talents; the latter two were never minted. The drachma seems to have been the basis of the monetary system, much like the dollar in modern American currency. So the question arises: how much, in American dollars, was the drachma worth?
First, some equivalencies: six obols 1/4 one drachma
100 drachmas 1/4 one mina
6,000 drachmas 1/4 one talent
It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to determine the exact dollar amount for one drachma. But educated
guesses are possible. For example, it appears that one drachma was about the average daily income for a middle-class, employed Athenian in the fifth century BCE. If we assume an approximate contemporary mini- mum wage of $6. 00/hour, and an eight-hour workday, then we might suggest a value of $50 (rounded up from $48) for one Athenian drachma. (If this calculation is even roughly accurate, it then becomes apparent why the Athenians never minted one-talent coins. A one-talent coin would have been worth $300,000. Where, and on what, would such a coin be spent? What merchant could make change for it? )
Hence, 44 talents for the gold in the statue of Athena would be equivalent to $13,200,000. The overall cost of the Parthenon has been estimated at a stupendous 5,000 talents, or about one and a half billion dollars, a staggering sum even by today's standards, surpassing the price tag even of a modern sports palace like Yankee Stadium. A couple of factors that drove the cost so high: the expense of the building materials (only top-quality marble was used) and the labor costs. The document has revealed how many people were employed generally in the Athenian Golden Age, and certainly a good many of these workers were assigned to Parthenon construction. And of course, they all had to be paid.
? ? 60
12. CICERO ADVISES HIS SON ON A RIGHT AND PROPER CAREER
INTRODUCTION
The orator/statesman/lawyer Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE) produced a tremendous output of written works during his lifetime, including many philosophical treatises. Among these is his De Officiis, or On Duties.
Cicero's public life had taken a very gradual decline after his consulship in 63 BCE, and in the 50s and 40s, he turned increasingly to thinking about, studying, and writing philosophy. De Officiis, penned about 45 BCE, is the last, and possibly best, of his 15 philosophical tracts. The piece is addressed to his 21-year-old son (also named Marcus Tullius Cicero), who was at the time in Athens studying with the noted philosopher Cratippus. (The elder Cicero was apparently acquainted with Cratippus and even used his influence to help him gain Roman citizenship. ) Cicero wrote De Officiis with his son in mind.
Sadly, at the very end of the book, Cicero expressed his hope that he and his son could discuss in person the issues raised in it, but he never saw his son again. The famed orator was killed in the proscriptions of late 43 BCE.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Cicero, as an educated and sophisticated Roman gentleman, had a sort of benign contempt for people he considered beneath his social status, especially manual laborers such as "fishmongers, butchers, cooks, poulterers, and fishermen. " Interestingly, however, he professes a high regard for those engaged in agriculture (although he probably refers in the document to the owners and managers of the farms, not the field workers).
2. Cicero, and many Romans of his rank in society, looked down upon professions, and their practitioners, that today are held in (mostly) high esteem: actors, physi- cians, architects, and athletes, for example. This disconnect is especially striking in the case of charioteers and gladiators. Romans of all social classes flocked to the amphitheaters and the racetracks in huge numbers; the great chariot-racing venue in Rome, the Circus Maximus, is estimated to have had a seating capacity in excess of 250,000. But these same rabid spectators would have considered individual glad- iators and charioteers a contemptible lot.
? ? ? ? 61
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? Document: Cicero's Advice to His Son
Now in regard to trades and other means of livelihood, which ones are to be considered becoming to a gentleman and which ones are vulgar, we have been taught, in gen- eral, as follows. First, those means of livelihood are rejected as undesirable which incur people's ill-will, as those of tax- gatherers and usurers. Unbecoming to a gentleman, too, and vulgar are the means of livelihood of all hired work- men whom we pay for mere manual labor, not for artistic skill; for in their case, the very wage they receive is a pledge of their slavery. Vulgar we must consider those also who buy from wholesale merchants to retail immediately, for they would get no profits without a great deal of outright lying. And verily, there is no action that is meaner than misrepresentation. And all mechanics are engaged in vulgar trades, for no workshop can have anything liberal about it. Least respectable of all are those trades which cater for sensual pleasures: "Fishmongers, butchers, cooks, and poulterers, and fishermen. " [A quotation from the play Eunuch, by the Roman playwright Terence, ca. 195-159 BCE. ] Add to these, if you please, the perfumers, dancers, and the whole corps de ballet.
But the professions in which either a higher degree of intelligence is required or from which no small benefit to society is derived--medicine and architecture, for exam- ple, and teaching--these are proper for those whose social position they become. Trade, if it is on a small scale, is to be considered vulgar. But if wholesale and on a large scale, importing large quantities from all parts of the world, and distributing to many without misrepresentation, it is not to be greatly disparaged. It even seems to deserve the high- est respect, if those who are engaged in it, satiated, or rather, I should say, satisfied with the fortunes they have made, make their way from the port to a country estate, as they have often made it from the sea into port. But of all the occupations by which gain is secured, none is better than agriculture, none more profitable, none more delightful, none more becoming to a free man. [Tr. Walter Miller. Cicero: De Officiis (1. 150. ) LCL, 1913. Page numbers: 153, 155. ]
AFTERMATH
As noted earlier, Cicero is thought to have written this philosophical tract around 45 BCE, near the end of his long and distinguished career in Roman public and intellectual life. De Officiis was his penultimate published work; only the Philippics, a series of 14
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? corps de ballet: Cicero again enumera- tes a list of disreputable occupa- tions, culminating with the corps de ballet, or in Latin, ludus talar- ius, a kind of melodramatic vaude- ville show, often with bad acting, bad singing, and bad dancing. Cicero here is denigrating the actors who participate in such displays.
fishmongers, butchers, cooks, poul- terers, fishermen: It is not exactly clear why Cicero, or Terence for that matter, would consider these sorts of occupations the "least respectable," or why workers engaged in these occupations would be founts of lies and misrepresenta- tions. It could be that the market- places where these goods were sold sometimes harbored unsavory characters--thieves, pickpockets, muggers--and so the reputations of even the honest tradesmen were thereby besmirched.
liberal: This word is not to be under- stood with the modern political connotations. As used in the document, its etymological con- nection to the Latin word liber, "free," helps to define it: occupa- tions that are worthy of a free Roman citizen or those "becoming to a gentleman. "
Terence: (Full Roman name: Publius Terentius Afer. ) The Roman play- wright Terence wrote six plays; all survive. Eunuch (161 BCE) recounts the story of a love triangle involv- ing an Athenian youth, a courte- san, and a soldier.
vulgar: The Latin word, which has been translated as "vulgar," is sor- didus, a word of many and varied
? ? ? ? ? 62
speeches directed mostly at his hated rival Mark Antony, appeared later. Crossing Mark Antony was not a wise thing to do; his influ- ence was on the rise in the 40s as Cicero's declined. For the last 18 months of his life, Cicero was reduced to not much more than a fugitive, wandering across Italy. (Fortunately, he owned several properties at various places, so presumably he was able to find accommodations. ) When he was eventually tracked down and mur- dered, in December of 43, his severed head and hands were put on public display, apparently at the behest of Mark Antony.
ASK YOURSELF
1. Why do you suppose Cicero believed that fishermen, butchers, cooks, and chicken farmers engaged in professions that "cater[ed to] sensual pleasures"? Why would he have considered basic foods such as fish, meat, and poultry to be somehow linked to sensual pleasures?
2. Cicero does not explicitly urge his son not to earn his livelihood in any of the occu- pations that he scorns in the document. Do you think, however, that this is the implicit message?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e How would you feel if a parent or other close relative sent you a book- length letter (the De Officiis is several hundred pages long) filled with admonitions, career counseling, injunctions, and other advice that might seem a bit inappropriate? We do not know how the young Cicero felt about his father's many words of advice, but could you speculate about his reaction?
Cicero Advises His Son on a Right and Proper Career
? ? ?
The general Timotheus, as we have seen, created some trouble for himself by failing to repay a bank loan for money he borrowed to finance his military activities. But Aristotle, in his treatise Athenian Constitution [22. 3], records the method whereby Themistocles successfully raised 100 talents for building warships. In 483 BCE, a rich vein of silver was discovered in a state-owned mine near Athens; the yield was a 100-talent profit for the Athenian government. Some leaders thought the windfall should be distributed among all the people, but Themistocles argued that the money should be lent to the 100 wealthiest citizens, one talent per man. His opinion carried the day, the 100 talents were accordingly lent, and then Themistocles prevailed upon the 100 "lucky winners" to use their newfound money to oversee the construction of warships. Each recipient did so, and none too soon; the Athenians needed those 100 new ships to defeat the mighty Persian navy in the Battle of Salamis in 480.
? ? as a result, he lived a comfortable life, made possible by the money he inherited from his father. He died around 340 BCE.
ASK YOURSELF
1. The portion of the document that has been quoted is taken from the very beginning of Apollodorus's speech to the jury. Do you think he is off to a good start? Do his arguments make sense? If you were the opposing lawyer, what counterarguments might you make?
2. Timotheus is obviously being made to look like a crook and a villain. Do you think that this would be a fair characterization of him? After all, he was put into a position where he had to do a job (providing funds for the fleet) that probably should have been done by the authorities in Athens. What, if anything, could he have done differently?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e These days, we hear many news accounts of "frivolous lawsuits. " Perhaps the best example of this kind of case was the suit brought against a noted fast-food chain by a customer who was irate because she burned herself when she spilled some of the hot coffee served to her in the restaurant's drive-through. The incident occurred in 1992, but the case was not resolved until 1994, when the parties settled out of court for an undisclosed sum of money, but apparently the amount was well into the six figures. The Athenian legal system, too, was plagued by what might well be termed frivolous lawsuits. (The comic playwright Aristophanes [ca. 445-380 BCE] ridiculed and satirized the litigious inclinations of his fellow Athenians in a play entitled Wasps, which features, among other amusing incidents, a dog put on trial for stealing a piece of cheese! ) We have numerous tran- scripts of court speeches and cases argued by skilled orator/lawyers like Demosthenes, Isocrates, Aeschines, Isaeus, and Dinarchus, all of whom lived in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE. Could you find among these cases examples of petty or frivolous legal actions, akin to suing a fast-food
? ? ? ? 52
chain for the temperatures at which it serves coffee or putting on trial a
cheese-thieving dog?
e Aristophanes, in his aforementioned play Wasps, does more than simply
create a ridiculous situation like a court case against a dog. Research this play, and find out what else about the court and jury system the playwright found objectionable.
Further Information
Bolkestein, Hendrik. Economic Life in Greece's Golden Age. Leiden, 1958.
Calhoun, George Miller. The Business Life of Ancient Athens. Chicago, 1926.
Frost, Frank J. Greek Society (especially Chapter Four: "The Economies of the Greek
World"). Lexington, MA, 1987. Website
Demosthenes Biography. http://biography. jrank. org/pages/5026/Demosthenes. html
Bibliography for Document
Murray, A. T. (tr. ). Demosthenes V: Private Orations. Volume V. [LCL. ] Cambridge and London, 1939.
Pay It Back! Apollodorus and His Day in Court
53
This page intentionally left blank
11. WORKERS NEEDED FOR BUILDING THE PARTHENON
INTRODUCTION
The fifth-century BCE politician, statesman, and orator Pericles was to a very great extent the face of Athens during its Golden Age, at the midpoint of the century. He came from a weal- thy and distinguished Athenian family, and as a handsome, intelligent, and well-spoken man, he might seem to be a "natural" for the world of politics. After some initial hesitation, he took the plunge, eventually gaining election to the office of strategos, a post to which he was elected 15 consecutive times, from 444 to 429. (Ten strategoi were chosen annually, and although technically military leaders--the word strategos means "general"--they often exerted wide influence in politics and public policy debates and decisions. Usually, one of these 10 emerged as the most influential, and this was clearly Pericles's defining characteristic and the source of his political power in Athens. )
The key to Pericles's electoral and political success was undoubtedly his oratorical abil- ity, a skill that remains critical to this day for aspiring politicians. He was widely regarded as the best public speaker of his time. In 430 BCE, at the conclusion of the first year of the Peloponnesian War, Pericles was chosen to make a speech in honor of Athenian casualties. He used the occasion to deliver a stirring address about the glory of Athens and its democ- racy. Among other things, he proclaimed that for a person in poverty, the real shame was not in the poverty, but in the individual's failure to take measures to escape it.
Pericles was the guiding and driving force behind the explosion of creative activity in art, architecture, literature, economics, and geopolitics that occurred in Athens during his string of electoral victories: a brief but important era called the Athenian Golden Age. Not only did the efforts expended during this time result in the creation of lasting achievements, but they had an equally strong impact on the employment picture in Athens, for virtually any Athenian who wanted a good-paying job could obtain one. The building projects, in particu- lar, generated all sorts of employment opportunities. And while Pericles's oratorical skills may have been central to his success as a politician, the job-creation component of his policy initiatives must certainly also have endeared him to the electorate.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. A construction project of this magnitude would require massive injections of cash. Most of the money came not from taxpayer funds, or contributions from wealthy
? ? ? ? 55
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
donors, but rather from the Delian League's treasury. The Delian League was a sort of mutual defense organization of Greek polises, formed around 478 BCE, shortly after the Xerxes-led Persian invasion of Greece. The league's purpose was to deter future Persian invasions by showing a united, pan- Hellenic front. Although the League was theoretically composed of equals, it did not take much time for Athens to assert leadership and then dominance. League members contributed money, in the form of annual tributes, while Athens provided ships, sailors, and sol- diers. Over the next three decades, far more money was flowing into league coffers than was necessary to build and maintain ships, and to recruit and train military personnel. So Athens began treating this surplus as its own; Pericles dipped into these monies to fund the construction projects.
This funding method brought howls of protest from league members, and even some Athenians found it to be disreputable. But Pericles defended the practice by saying merely that the Athenians were under no obligation to justify their actions to anyone, as long as they continued to furnish the military manpower and equip- ment necessary to keep the Persians at bay.
2. Part of the reason the buildings were so expensive is that Pericles did not stint on materials. "Ivory, gold, ebony, and cypress-wood" were not cheap. And the project was highly labor intensive, with the best architects, craftsmen, and artists employed, and all commanding excellent wages. Untold numbers of unskilled workers also participated, and these individuals were undoubtedly paid well.
3. The amount of time required to complete these building projects was mind- bogglingly fast to an ancient Athenian but might seem overly lengthy to us. For example, the great temple on the Acropolis, the Parthenon, took about 15 years of construction time. By modern standards, that would appear to be a long time, but the world of the ancient Athenians obviously lacked modern aids such as mecha- nized construction equipment or computer-assisted building plans.
Document: Construction Zone: Authorized Personnel Only! Plutarch Describes the Building of the Parthenon
[Pericles] was . . . anxious that the unskilled masses, who had no military training, should not be debarred from benefiting from the national income, and yet should not be paid for sitting about and doing nothing. So he boldly laid before the people proposals for immense public works and plans for buildings, which would involve many differ- ent arts and industries and require long periods to com- plete, his object being that those who stayed at home, no less than those serving in the fleet or the army or on garrison duty, should be enabled to enjoy a share of the national wealth. The materials to be used were stone, bronze, ivory, gold, ebony, and cypress-wood, while the arts or trades which wrought or fashioned them were those of carpenter, modeler, coppersmith, stone-mason,
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Acropolis: The Acropolis (the name derives from two Greek words meaning "top of the city") was a prominent elevation in Athens, its dimensions about 1,000 feet wide and 460 feet long. Several impor- tant buildings, in addition to the Propylaea and the Parthenon, were located there, including the Erechtheum, a much-admired Ionic temple in honor of the deities Athena, Poseidon, and Erechtheus;
? ? ? 56
dyer, worker in gold and ivory, painter, embroiderer, and engraver, and besides these the carriers and suppliers of the materials, such as merchants, sailors, and pilots for the sea-borne traffic, and wagon-makers, trainers of draught animals, and drivers for everything that came by land. There were also rope-makers, weavers, leatherworkers, road builders, and miners. Each individ- ual craft, like a general with an army . . . had its own corps of unskilled laborers at its disposal, and these worked in a subordinate capacity . . . and so through these various demands the city's prosperity was extended far and wide and shared among every age and condition in Athens.
So the buildings arose, as imposing in their sheer size as they were inimitable in the grace of their outlines, since the artists strove to excel themselves in the beauty of their workmanship. And yet the most wonderful thing about them was the speed with which they were com- pleted. Each of them, [it was thought], would take many generations to build, but in fact the entire project was carried through in the high summer of one man's [i. e. , Pericles's] administration . . . The director and supervisor of the whole enterprise was Pheidias, although there were various great architects and artists employed on the individual buildings. For example, Callicrates and Ictinus were the architects of the Parthenon [see sidebar] . . .
The Propylaea, or portals of the Acropolis, of which Mnesicles was the architect, were finished within the space of five years. While they were being built, a miraculous incident took place, which suggested that the goddess Athena herself, so far from standing aloof, was taking a hand and helping to complete the work. One of the work- men, the most active and energetic among them, slipped and fell from a great height. He lay for some time severely injured, and the doctors could hold out no hope that he would recover. Pericles was greatly distressed at this, but the goddess appeared to him in a dream and ordered a course of treatment, which he applied, with the result that the man was easily and quickly healed. It was to com- memorate this that Pericles set up the bronze statue of Athena the Healer near the altar dedicated to that goddess . . .
[Tr. Ian Scott-Kilvert. Plutarch: The Rise and Fall of Athens, Nine Greek Lives. (Pericles 12, 13. ) Penguin Classics, New York, 1960. Page numbers: 178, 179, 180, 181. ]
Workers Needed for Building the Parthenon
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? a small temple also in honor of Athena; numerous statues, altars, and other temples. Some of the early kings of Athens were said to have homes on the Acropolis, although the Acropolis was not pri- marily a residential area. On the south slope, there were two mag- nificent outdoor theaters, and a long portico. Adjacent to the larger of the two theaters was a recital hall for musical contests, the Odeon.
Also located on the Acropolis was a large rectangular building called the chalkotheke. Only traces of this structure remain today, and its purpose is uncertain, but it apparently served as a repository for objects made of bronze--its name is etymologically connected to the Greek word for bronze-- and it may also have been used as a treasury building.
Athena: The patron goddess of Athens and a deity whose name and image were well represented by the stat- ues and temples constructed on the Acropolis.
Callicrates and Ictinus: As Plutarch states, these two individuals were the architects of the Parthenon. Callicrates flourished during the Athenian Golden Age, although little is known of his life or of his other architectural projects, with one exception: the third Long Wall. There were originally two Long Walls, built ca. 461- 456 BCE, running parallel from Athens to its port cities, meant to provide the Athenians safe access to the sea in the event of an attack. A third Long Wall, between the first two, was built under the supervision of Callicrates, around 455. Ictinus was most famous for his work on the Parthenon, but he
? ? ? 57
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? was also noted as the primary architect of the Temple of Apollo at Bassae, in Arcadia, in the central Peloponnesus. The travel writer Pausanias notes that this building was considered one the most beautiful temples in all of the Peloponnesus, second only to the Temple of Athena at Tegea, designed by another noted sculp- tor, Scopas, who flourished in the fourth century BCE.
Interestingly, the names of Pheidias and Ictinus (although not Callicrates), along with many others, are carved into the frieze surrounding the perimeter of the Art Institute in Chicago.
doctors: Plutarch does not provide the names of the physicians, but it is interesting to speculate that physi- cians were apparently on site, or at least on call, to treat injuries suf- fered by the workers. And acci- dents like the one described in the document probably happened with some regularity; construction zones are inherently risky places even now, but in the fifth century, with- out regulations or policies specifi- cally protecting the workforce, they must have been even more dangerous.
Mnesicles: A fifth-century BCE architect about whom nothing is known except what Plutarch conveys to us in the document: that he was the designer of the Propylaea.
Pheidias: The famous sculptor- architect is thought to have been born ca. 490 BCE and to have died in 432. He was, and is, generally considered the best artisan of his time, high praise indeed when one considers the great number of artists flourishing during that era. His reputation primarily rests on
? ? ? AFTERMATH
Unfortunately, the Athenian Golden Age was brought to a crashing halt by two chief factors from which the Athenians never really recovered. The first of these was the death of Pericles from the highly contagious, and usually fatal, plague that swept through Athens around 430 and the following years. Pericles died around 429. Although a popular leader for many years, he had his share of enemies, too, and they were never shy about leveling angry criti- cisms at him, for almost all of his policy decisions.
The second factor was the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE), the long and bitter conflict between the city-states of Athens and Sparta, an event that permanently derailed further intellectual and creative achievements in Athens. It is certainly true that Athens did not cease to exist after the war, and noted Athenian philosophers, scientists, writers, and orators flourished in the cen- turies to come. But it also seems safe to say that Athens never recaptured the heights to which it had risen in its fifth-century Golden Age.
ASK YOURSELF
1. As mentioned earlier (in "Keep in Mind as You Read"), Pericles siphoned off large sums of money from the Delian League treasury to pay for the labor and materials required to construct the expensive buildings. Was he justi- fied in doing so? Were his critics right to complain about what he did?
2. Large, impressive, expensive buildings are often built as dis- plays of power, as landmarks that enable a city to flaunt its wealth, and as sources of civic pride. Would the Parthenon have been an example of Athenian power, wealth, and pride? Would there have been other advantages for Athens in having a building of this magnitude in the city? After all, it was no accident that this huge temple was con- structed at the very top of one of the highest elevations in all of Athens!
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e ConsiderPericles'sbeautification-of-Athensplans. One of his motives in devising and promoting his ambitious building plan was apparently to provide jobs for people who were unemployed or under- employed. Politicians today often try to do the same thing. Can you find other examples in ancient history, or in western history generally, in which these kinds of full-employment programs
? ? ? ? ? 58
were tried? How successful were they? What crite- ria could we use to determine whether Pericles succeeded?
e Consider the anecdote about the worker who was injured on the job: What kinds of conclusions or inferences can we draw from it? For example: How dangerous was it to "work construction" in the ancient world? How skilled or proficient was the medical profession in treating work-related injuries?
e Withregardtothatinjuredworker,Plutarchstates that "the goddess [Athena] appeared to him [Pericles] in a dream and ordered a course of treat- ment, which he applied, with the result that the man was easily and quickly healed. " Today, this explanation for the healing might seem a little, or a lot, far-fetched. Is it possible, however, that the ancient Athenians believed it? If Pericles merely made up the story about Athena appearing to him in a dream, why do you suppose he would have done that? What advantages would it bring, or what would he gain from it? Can you think of modern examples in which political or religious leaders claim to have visions or messages from God about a particular course of action?
Further Information
Kagan, Donald. Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy. New York, 1991.
Ober, Josiah. The Athenian Revolution. Princeton, NJ, 1996. Website
438 B. C. Pericles Triumphant. http://www. pbs. org/empires/ thegreeks/characters/pericles_p8. html
Bibliography for Document
Scott-Kilvert, Ian (tr. ). Plutarch: The Rise and Fall of Athens; Nine Greek Lives. Penguin Classics. New York, 1960.
Workers Needed for Building the Parthenon
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? three of his greatest sculptures: the Athena Promachus, the statue of Athena in the Parthenon, and the statue of Zeus at Olympia. The Athena Promachus--like the Parthenon--was erected on the Acropolis. Pheidias created a pol- ished spear and shining helmet for the bronze, colossal statue. It was said that the glint of the sunlight on the spear point and the helmet crest could be seen from miles away. Pheidias's Olympian Zeus was considered not only his best work but the best ever created by any ancient Greek sculptor. It was a chryselephantine statue (like the Athena in the Parthenon), mas- sively made--over 60 feet tall-- and seated on a heavily decorated throne. The statue was so impres- sive that it was regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Propylaea: The Athenian Propylaea, built in the 430s, was an elabo- rately designed and constructed entryway to the Acropolis. It con- tained five doors: one for pro- cessions and their necessary com- ponents, such as wagons pulled by animals, and four other doors reserved for the general public. The Propylaea was also outfitted with auxiliary buildings, one on each end. One of these was used as a kind of picture gallery.
strove to excel themselves: Ancient Greek artists--like most typical ancient Greeks--loved to compete with one another to determine which of them could produce the best works of art.
? ? ? 59
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? ? ? ? A HOME FIT FOR A GODDESS
The Parthenon is perhaps the most recognizable landmark in all of ancient Athens. Photos of it have probably appeared in more travel brochures, more feature newspaper articles, more history books, and on more Internet sites than any other ancient building. And why not? It came to symbolize the power and the wealth of the Golden Age of Athens under Pericles's inspired leadership.
The word derives from the Greek parthenos, meaning "young girl," one of the chief epithets of the goddess Athena, in whose honor the Parthenon was built. Located at the top of the Acropolis (see glossary, above), it was a massive rectangular structure, so large that it could reportedly be seen by sailors on ships in the Mediterranean Sea, from 20 miles or more away. Its exterior featured 34-foot-tall Doric columns, 17 of them on the two long sides of the building, 8 on the short sides. (By contrast, typical rectangular temples generally featured 13 columns on the long sides and 6 on the two ends. ) The columns were ingeniously designed in such a way that they bulged very slightly in the middle and tilted very slightly toward one another. The Greek architects were trying to create an optical illusion with this bulging and tilting; they knew that from a great distance, a curved line looks straight, and a straight line looks curved. They wanted the columns to appear to be perfectly straight when viewed by those sailors on the sea and by others who might be seeing the building from a distance.
Perhaps the most stunning feature of the temple was the magnificent statue of Athena, placed on the inside of the building. Standing some 40 feet tall, created by the super-talented sculptor-architect Pheidias, it was a chryselephantine (gold and ivory) colossus. The gold alone that it contained has been estimated to have been worth 44 talents, equivalent to approximately $13 million (see the following sidebar). Some archaeologists believe the statue's great height required a sort of skylight to be carved into the roof of the Parthenon to accom- modate it; otherwise, it would not have fit inside the building.
? ? ? ? ? ? ANCIENT GREEK MONEY
Greek money in Pericles's day was divided into four basic denominations: obols, drachmas, minas, and talents; the latter two were never minted. The drachma seems to have been the basis of the monetary system, much like the dollar in modern American currency. So the question arises: how much, in American dollars, was the drachma worth?
First, some equivalencies: six obols 1/4 one drachma
100 drachmas 1/4 one mina
6,000 drachmas 1/4 one talent
It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to determine the exact dollar amount for one drachma. But educated
guesses are possible. For example, it appears that one drachma was about the average daily income for a middle-class, employed Athenian in the fifth century BCE. If we assume an approximate contemporary mini- mum wage of $6. 00/hour, and an eight-hour workday, then we might suggest a value of $50 (rounded up from $48) for one Athenian drachma. (If this calculation is even roughly accurate, it then becomes apparent why the Athenians never minted one-talent coins. A one-talent coin would have been worth $300,000. Where, and on what, would such a coin be spent? What merchant could make change for it? )
Hence, 44 talents for the gold in the statue of Athena would be equivalent to $13,200,000. The overall cost of the Parthenon has been estimated at a stupendous 5,000 talents, or about one and a half billion dollars, a staggering sum even by today's standards, surpassing the price tag even of a modern sports palace like Yankee Stadium. A couple of factors that drove the cost so high: the expense of the building materials (only top-quality marble was used) and the labor costs. The document has revealed how many people were employed generally in the Athenian Golden Age, and certainly a good many of these workers were assigned to Parthenon construction. And of course, they all had to be paid.
? ? 60
12. CICERO ADVISES HIS SON ON A RIGHT AND PROPER CAREER
INTRODUCTION
The orator/statesman/lawyer Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BCE) produced a tremendous output of written works during his lifetime, including many philosophical treatises. Among these is his De Officiis, or On Duties.
Cicero's public life had taken a very gradual decline after his consulship in 63 BCE, and in the 50s and 40s, he turned increasingly to thinking about, studying, and writing philosophy. De Officiis, penned about 45 BCE, is the last, and possibly best, of his 15 philosophical tracts. The piece is addressed to his 21-year-old son (also named Marcus Tullius Cicero), who was at the time in Athens studying with the noted philosopher Cratippus. (The elder Cicero was apparently acquainted with Cratippus and even used his influence to help him gain Roman citizenship. ) Cicero wrote De Officiis with his son in mind.
Sadly, at the very end of the book, Cicero expressed his hope that he and his son could discuss in person the issues raised in it, but he never saw his son again. The famed orator was killed in the proscriptions of late 43 BCE.
KEEP IN MIND AS YOU READ
1. Cicero, as an educated and sophisticated Roman gentleman, had a sort of benign contempt for people he considered beneath his social status, especially manual laborers such as "fishmongers, butchers, cooks, poulterers, and fishermen. " Interestingly, however, he professes a high regard for those engaged in agriculture (although he probably refers in the document to the owners and managers of the farms, not the field workers).
2. Cicero, and many Romans of his rank in society, looked down upon professions, and their practitioners, that today are held in (mostly) high esteem: actors, physi- cians, architects, and athletes, for example. This disconnect is especially striking in the case of charioteers and gladiators. Romans of all social classes flocked to the amphitheaters and the racetracks in huge numbers; the great chariot-racing venue in Rome, the Circus Maximus, is estimated to have had a seating capacity in excess of 250,000. But these same rabid spectators would have considered individual glad- iators and charioteers a contemptible lot.
? ? ? ? 61
Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome
? Document: Cicero's Advice to His Son
Now in regard to trades and other means of livelihood, which ones are to be considered becoming to a gentleman and which ones are vulgar, we have been taught, in gen- eral, as follows. First, those means of livelihood are rejected as undesirable which incur people's ill-will, as those of tax- gatherers and usurers. Unbecoming to a gentleman, too, and vulgar are the means of livelihood of all hired work- men whom we pay for mere manual labor, not for artistic skill; for in their case, the very wage they receive is a pledge of their slavery. Vulgar we must consider those also who buy from wholesale merchants to retail immediately, for they would get no profits without a great deal of outright lying. And verily, there is no action that is meaner than misrepresentation. And all mechanics are engaged in vulgar trades, for no workshop can have anything liberal about it. Least respectable of all are those trades which cater for sensual pleasures: "Fishmongers, butchers, cooks, and poulterers, and fishermen. " [A quotation from the play Eunuch, by the Roman playwright Terence, ca. 195-159 BCE. ] Add to these, if you please, the perfumers, dancers, and the whole corps de ballet.
But the professions in which either a higher degree of intelligence is required or from which no small benefit to society is derived--medicine and architecture, for exam- ple, and teaching--these are proper for those whose social position they become. Trade, if it is on a small scale, is to be considered vulgar. But if wholesale and on a large scale, importing large quantities from all parts of the world, and distributing to many without misrepresentation, it is not to be greatly disparaged. It even seems to deserve the high- est respect, if those who are engaged in it, satiated, or rather, I should say, satisfied with the fortunes they have made, make their way from the port to a country estate, as they have often made it from the sea into port. But of all the occupations by which gain is secured, none is better than agriculture, none more profitable, none more delightful, none more becoming to a free man. [Tr. Walter Miller. Cicero: De Officiis (1. 150. ) LCL, 1913. Page numbers: 153, 155. ]
AFTERMATH
As noted earlier, Cicero is thought to have written this philosophical tract around 45 BCE, near the end of his long and distinguished career in Roman public and intellectual life. De Officiis was his penultimate published work; only the Philippics, a series of 14
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? corps de ballet: Cicero again enumera- tes a list of disreputable occupa- tions, culminating with the corps de ballet, or in Latin, ludus talar- ius, a kind of melodramatic vaude- ville show, often with bad acting, bad singing, and bad dancing. Cicero here is denigrating the actors who participate in such displays.
fishmongers, butchers, cooks, poul- terers, fishermen: It is not exactly clear why Cicero, or Terence for that matter, would consider these sorts of occupations the "least respectable," or why workers engaged in these occupations would be founts of lies and misrepresenta- tions. It could be that the market- places where these goods were sold sometimes harbored unsavory characters--thieves, pickpockets, muggers--and so the reputations of even the honest tradesmen were thereby besmirched.
liberal: This word is not to be under- stood with the modern political connotations. As used in the document, its etymological con- nection to the Latin word liber, "free," helps to define it: occupa- tions that are worthy of a free Roman citizen or those "becoming to a gentleman. "
Terence: (Full Roman name: Publius Terentius Afer. ) The Roman play- wright Terence wrote six plays; all survive. Eunuch (161 BCE) recounts the story of a love triangle involv- ing an Athenian youth, a courte- san, and a soldier.
vulgar: The Latin word, which has been translated as "vulgar," is sor- didus, a word of many and varied
? ? ? ? ? 62
speeches directed mostly at his hated rival Mark Antony, appeared later. Crossing Mark Antony was not a wise thing to do; his influ- ence was on the rise in the 40s as Cicero's declined. For the last 18 months of his life, Cicero was reduced to not much more than a fugitive, wandering across Italy. (Fortunately, he owned several properties at various places, so presumably he was able to find accommodations. ) When he was eventually tracked down and mur- dered, in December of 43, his severed head and hands were put on public display, apparently at the behest of Mark Antony.
ASK YOURSELF
1. Why do you suppose Cicero believed that fishermen, butchers, cooks, and chicken farmers engaged in professions that "cater[ed to] sensual pleasures"? Why would he have considered basic foods such as fish, meat, and poultry to be somehow linked to sensual pleasures?
2. Cicero does not explicitly urge his son not to earn his livelihood in any of the occu- pations that he scorns in the document. Do you think, however, that this is the implicit message?
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
e How would you feel if a parent or other close relative sent you a book- length letter (the De Officiis is several hundred pages long) filled with admonitions, career counseling, injunctions, and other advice that might seem a bit inappropriate? We do not know how the young Cicero felt about his father's many words of advice, but could you speculate about his reaction?
Cicero Advises His Son on a Right and Proper Career
? ? ?
