Between Clemency and Genocide: The Representation of Mass-Violence in Praise of the Roman Emperors

Abstract

An early fifth century CE Roman triumphal inscription celebrates the apparent extinguishment of the nation of the Goths (ILS 798). In the same era, however, the poet Claudian praises Rome as formidable in war, but gentle towards subdued foreign nations (De Bello Gildonico 97-8), echoing the poet Vergil's famous injunction of proper Roman behaviour (Aeneid 6.853). This paper will explore the tension between the celebration of clemency (clementia) towards conquered peoples and the praise of their extermination in Roman imperial ideology as represented in Latin panegyric: oratory and poetry praising emperors.