Exemplary Wisdom of Ancient Rome: exempla in Roman ethics

所有阶级和背景的古罗马人在他们的一生中都会遇到、辩论、记忆和内化许多历史典范的意义，通过学校的修辞练习、公共葬礼、城市雕像、建筑和文学。他们会遇到同一故事的许多不同版本，往往是相互矛盾的版本，也会遇到许多截然不同的故事，说明同样的道德原则。拟议的专著“罗马模范智慧：罗马伦理中的典范”表明，这种多样性和多样性在促进罗马社会成员的伦理反思和发展方面发挥了至关重要的作用。通过对大量古罗马文本的深入分析，尤其是西塞罗、塞内加、瓦莱里乌斯·马克西姆斯、维勒留斯·帕特库勒斯、西利乌斯·伊塔库斯、昆提连、普鲁塔克和阿米安努斯·马塞利努斯等人的作品，本书探索了古罗马人如何将过去的英雄故事作为重要的文化资源来学习和思考关键的道德问题（例如关于战争、性或政治的伦理）。书中探讨了这些资料如何告诉我们，一个简洁、尖锐的叙述如何能够概括一个复杂的道德观念，古罗马人如何被期望将榜样的道德信息应用到自己的生活中，以及这些榜样如何为道德决策和行为提供指导。它还探讨了什么样的伦理体系提供了一个框架，在这个框架内，几个世纪以来，历史范例是主流教育和非正式终身道德发展的关键媒介。这个研究项目是对罗马模范体系的伦理维度的第一次详细研究，它发展了一些令人兴奋的关于罗马伦理的新思想，这些新思想与现代教育和伦理探究有关。

Ancient Romans of all classes and backgrounds would have encountered, debated, memorised and internalised the significance of a great many historical exempla in the course of their life, through rhetorical exercises at school, public funerals, urban statuary and architecture and literature. They would have encountered many alternative and often conflicting versions of the same story, and many very different stories illustrating the same moral principles. The proposed monograph, "Roman Exemplary Wisdom: exempla in Roman ethics", demonstrates that this variety and multiplicity played a vital role in stimulating ethical reflection and development in members of Roman society. Through close analysis of a wide range of ancient Roman texts, including, in particular, the works of Cicero, Seneca, Valerius Maximus, Velleius Paterculus, Silius Italicus, Quintilian, Plutarch and Ammianus Marcellinus, it explores the way that the ancient Romans used heroic tales from their past as an important cultural resource for learning about, and thinking through, key moral issues (for instance about the ethics of war, sex or politics). It investigates what these sources can tell us about how a concise, pointed narrative can encapsulate a complex moral idea, how ancient Romans were expected to apply the moral message from an exemplum to their own lives, and how these exempla offered guidance for moral decision-making and behaviour. It also explores the question of what sort of ethical system provided the framework within which historical exempla were for centuries a key medium for mainstream education as well as informal life-long moral development. This research project is the first detailed study of the ethical dimension of the Roman exemplary system, and it develops some exciting new ideas about Roman ethics which have relevance for modern education and ethical enquiry.