Nobility: A Roman Model

1479 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Contributions of rome

When understanding the concept of nobility, a clear distinction must be made. That is, the distinction between being noble and belonging to the nobility (of Roman society). Before acknowledging this discrepancy one must also keep in mind that neither definition is exclusive, that is to say that a person can be of noble character while also belonging to the nobility and vice versa. As well, a person can belong to the nobility and not be of noble character and a person of noble character might not belong to the nobility. Aristotle, in relation to nobleness, once said that:

The truly magnanimous man must therefore be a good man; and it seems, that whatever is great in any virtue belongs to the magnanimous character; for it never could be fitting for the magnanimous man to wring his hands and run away, nor to commit an act of injustice... (Aristotle n.d.).

Thus, to Aristotle (and consequently much of philosophy), being noble means to act always in a noble manner, to consistently do good deeds, and to never commit an act of injustice. The Romans were not oblivious to this understanding of nobleness and Cicero, in one of his speeches, touches upon the concept of nobleness in his description of the “best people”. Cicero when speaking of the “best people” states that “All men belong to the best people who are law-abiding, are not naturally unscrupulous, not fanatics, not up to their ears in debt” (Cicero n.d.). Matthias Gelzer, in his book The Roman Nobility, states that “there is no ancient definition of nobility”. Gelzer also outlines the transition of the concept of nobilitas from ‘notability to notability founded on office’ and concludes that “…nobility demanded consular ancestors” (Gelzer 1969, 28-32). Accordingly, when discussing...

... middle of paper ...

...ains” – others are deprived of life” (Jaczynowska 1962, 497).

Works Cited

Aristotle. A New Translation of the Nicomachean Ethics of Aristotle. J. And C. Vincent, 1826.

Cicero. "In Defense of Sestius." In Classics In Translation Volume II: Latin Literature, by Paul MacKendrick and Herbert M. Howe, 113-115. Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, n.d.

Gelzer, Matthias. The Roman Nobility. New York: Barnes & Noble, Inc., 1969.

Jaczynowska, Maria. "The Economic Differentiation of the Roman Nobility at the End of the Republic." Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte , 1962: 486-499.

Marius, Gaius. "Selections From Sallust." In Classics In Translation Volume II: Latin Literature, by Paul MacKendrink and Herbert M. Howe, 89-91. Wiscon/sin: University of Wisconsin Press, n.d.

Brill’s Encyclopedia of the Ancient World New Pauly, v.3., s.v “Nobilitas.”

Show More
Related

  • The Virtues of the Populace: Cicero Marcus Tullius

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    The value attributed to the first virtue, wisdom, whose essence lay in “the perception of truth and with ingenuity,” concerns the comprehension of the nature of justice (7). In fact, Cicero asserts, within the public sphere, “unless learning is accompanied by the virtue that consists...

    Read More

  • Comparing the Roman Empire and the United States of America

    1290 Words  | 3 Pages

    1. Tim Cornell, John Matthews, Atlas of the Roman World, Facts On File Inc, 1982. (pg.216)

    Read More

  • Political Testament of Cardinal Richelieu

    780 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Political Testament, Cardinal Richelieu explains that the nobility is something to be used as a tool, a perpetual game of appeasement and request of services. He understood that the nobility could be a nuisance and a body of dissent against the King, but that they were necessary to the crown to provide military aid and money. Richelieu explains that one must know how to manage and manipulate them: “To take away the lives of these persons, who expose their lives every day for a pure fancy of honor, is much less than taking away their honor and leaving them a life which would be a perpetual anguish for them. All means must be used to maintain the nobility in the true virtue of their fathers, and one must also omit nothing to preserve the advantages they inherited.” ...

    Read More

  • Difference Between Aristotle And Hobbes

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    Aristotle’s goal in, “The Nicomachean Ethics,” is to argue that there is such thing as a chief good

    Read More

  • Kant Vs Aristotle

    1053 Words  | 3 Pages

    Aristotle’s virtuous person and Kant’s moral worth have two different meanings. Kant and Aristotle, from different times, have different ways of looking at what makes people make the best decisions. Coming from different sides of ethics in Deontology and virtue ethics, they agree and disagree with each other as most other schools of ethical thought do as well. After stating both their positions, I will prove that Kant’s view of morality is more correct than Aristotle’s view of the person.

    Read More

  • Livy’s The Rise of Rome

    1439 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...for success, he robs his audience of the right to make certain determinations about characters such as Tarquin Superbus and Romulus because of his bias toward the motivation behind their actions. Livy’s The Rise of Rome was a grand effort and an amazing undertaking. Cataloguing the years of Roman history consolidated rumor and legend into fact, creating a model for Rome to follow. Livy’s only error in this vast undertaking was in imprinting his own conception of morality and justice onto his work, an error that pulls the reader away from active thought and engaging debate. In doing so, Livy may have helped solidify a better Rome, but it would have been a Rome with less of a conception of why certain things are just, and more of a flat, basely concluded concept of justice.

    Read More

  • The Rape of Lucretia

    1982 Words  | 4 Pages

    3)Dionysius, Earnest Cary, and Edward Spelman. The Roman Antiquities. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard UP, 1937. Print.

    Read More

  • Does Aristotle’s Function Argument Offer a Convincing Account of the Human Good?

    1843 Words  | 4 Pages

    17, No. 3, p. 252-259. Urmson, J.O., (1988). Aristotle’s Ethics (Blackwell), ch.1. Wilkes, K.V., (1978). The Good Man and the Good for Man in Aristotle’s Ethics. Mind 87; repr.

    Read More

  • The Juxtaposition in the Hope of Roman Light

    2172 Words  | 5 Pages

    On that first fateful day, when Romulus struck down his own brother Remus, the cauldron of Rome was forged in blood and betrayal. The seeds on the Palatine hill cultured one of the most potent and stretching empires of human history. Though this civilization seemingly wielded the bolts of Zeus, they were infested with violence, vanity, and deception. Yet, one man—or seemingly “un”-man—outshone and out-graced his surroundings and everyone within it. He brought Rome several victories and rescued his beloved country from an early exodus, thus providing her a second beginning. This man was Marcus Furius Camillus, and against a logical and emotional mind, he was oft less than loved and celebrated. At times he was disregarded, insulted and even exiled—irrevocably an unwarranted method to reward Rome’s “Second Founder.” This contrast of character between hero and people was perhaps too drastic and too grand. The people were not yet ready to see Marcus Furius Camillus as a model of behavior to be emulated—to be reproduced. Hence, much of Livy’s Book 5 provides a foundation for the Roman people to imitate and assimilate a contrasting, honest, and strong behavior and temperament

    Read More

  • Taking a Look at Nicomachean Ethics

    942 Words  | 2 Pages

    I chose to write about Aristotle and his beliefs about how the virtuous human being needs friends from Book VIII from Nicomachean Ethics. In this essay I will talk about the three different kinds of friendship that (Utility, Pleasure, and Goodness) that Aristotle claims exist. I will also discuss later in my paper why Aristotle believes that Goodness is the best type of friendship over Utility or Pleasure. In addition to that I will also talk about the similarities and differences that these three friendships share between one another. And lastly I will argue why I personally agree with Aristotle and his feelings on how friendship and virtue go hand in hand and depend on each other.

    Read More

  • The Battle of Actium

    1843 Words  | 4 Pages

    Dio, Cassius. "Roman History - Book 50." 17 June 2011. University of Chicago. 31 October 2011 .

    Read More

  • Friendship and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

    1716 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gakuran, Michael. "Aristotle’s Moral Philosophy | Gakuranman • Adventure First." Gakuranman Adventure First RSS. N.p., 21 May 2008. Web.

    Read More

  • The Fall of the Roman Empire

    3876 Words  | 8 Pages

    Vickers, Michael J. "The Roman World (The Making of the Past)." Peter Bedrick Books, 1989.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Fate of Oedipus and Phaedra

    2334 Words  | 5 Pages

    Sophocles.  "Oedipus Rex."  An Introduction to Literature, 11th ed. Eds. Sylvan Barnet, et al.  New York: Longman, 1997. 800-836.

    Read More

  • Good Citizen vs. Good Man

    568 Words  | 2 Pages

    Consequently, if indeed there are several kinds of constitution, it is clear that there cannot be a single virtue that is the virtue-of a good citizen. But the good man, we say, does express a single virtue: the complete one. Evidently, then, it is possible for someone to be a good citizen without having acquired the virtue expressed by a good man" (1276b). What Aristotle doesn't tell us is who is better off. Is it sufficient to be the good citizen or is it definitely more satisfying to be the good man? The good man is recognizably superior to the good citizen. The good man possesses everything that is good. He does what is just and what is just is beneficial to himself and to those around him. His soul is completely well-ordered and, therefore, cannot allow for his desires to take over and commit evil or injustice of any kind.

    Read More

More about Nobility: A Roman Model

Open Document