Exemplary Wisdom of Ancient Rome: exempla in Roman ethics

所有阶级和背景的古罗马人都会在他们的生活中遇到，辩论，记忆和内化大量历史范例的意义，通过学校的修辞练习，公共葬礼，城市雕塑和建筑以及文学。他们会遇到同一个故事的许多不同的、往往相互冲突的版本，以及许多非常不同的故事，它们说明了同样的道德原则。拟议的专着，“罗马示范智慧：在罗马伦理学的范例”，表明这种多样性和多样性发挥了至关重要的作用，刺激道德反思和发展的罗马社会成员。通过对广泛的古罗马文本的仔细分析，特别是西塞罗、塞涅卡、瓦莱里乌斯·马克西姆斯、韦莱乌斯·帕特库鲁斯、西利乌斯·意大利人、昆体良、普鲁塔克和阿米阿纳斯·马切利努斯的作品，本书探讨了古罗马人如何利用他们过去的英雄故事作为学习和思考关键道德问题的重要文化资源（例如关于战争、性或政治的道德）。它调查了这些来源可以告诉我们一个简洁的，有针对性的叙述如何封装一个复杂的道德观念，古罗马人如何被期望从一个范例应用到自己的生活中的道德信息，以及这些范例如何为道德决策和行为提供指导。它还探讨了什么样的道德体系提供的框架内，历史范例是几个世纪的主流教育以及非正式的终身道德发展的关键媒介的问题。这个研究项目是第一个详细研究罗马示范系统的伦理维度，它开发了一些令人兴奋的新想法，罗马伦理学，具有现代教育和伦理调查的相关性。

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.