Corruption and Anti-Corruption
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Yehudah Gershon
Abstract
The encounter between king Pyrrhus and Fabricius in the negotiations following the battle of Heraclea in 280 BCE elevated Fabricius in the Roman historical and literary tradition to the representative figure par excellence of Roman incorruptibility in the face of inappropriate ‘gift giving’. The earlier rejection of Pyrrhus’ lieutenant Cineas in his embassy to Rome on the same grounds has been crystallised in the same moralising light. This contribution, by looking to the extended narratives of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Plutarch and Appian, seeks to contextualise these events within their cultural diplomatic and discursive setting and so interrogate the nature of this exemplary ‘anti-corruption’. On closer examination of the negotiative dynamics it will be seen that gift giving becomes ‘corrupt’ and inappropriate in our narratives not simply because of the nature of the transfer of objects, but rather because of the contextual discourse of ‘anti-corruption’ and rejection. Our three major accounts are contrasted and their various emphases explored in relation to each other as well as to the earlier and imperial Latin exemplary discourse. It will be claimed that incorruptibility informs the definition of corruption itself, and this is made possible through the mutability of the figure of Fabricius. The extended narratives of these incidents represent a musing on the nature of transfer and gifting between unequal parties, as perspective and context determine inappropriateness and moral rectitude. This contribution explores various narrative perspectives on the two pivotal episodes centred on Cineas at Rome, and Fabricius and Pyrrhus. They are placed and examined within the broader narratives so refining our understanding of ‘corruption’ in accounts of early Roman history. Furthermore, in the Greek adaption and development of Roman Exemplary discourse, the rhetorical and situational engagement with moral and exemplary statuses dynamically complements the concurrent multivalent commemoration and reanalysis in the Latin tradition of Fabricius’ character and status of exemplum more broadly. It will be seen that to understand corruptive gift giving and the refusal of gifts the act alone should not be our focus but the recycling of tropes and morals that surround audience, act and judgement are just as determinative.
Abstract
The encounter between king Pyrrhus and Fabricius in the negotiations following the battle of Heraclea in 280 BCE elevated Fabricius in the Roman historical and literary tradition to the representative figure par excellence of Roman incorruptibility in the face of inappropriate ‘gift giving’. The earlier rejection of Pyrrhus’ lieutenant Cineas in his embassy to Rome on the same grounds has been crystallised in the same moralising light. This contribution, by looking to the extended narratives of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Plutarch and Appian, seeks to contextualise these events within their cultural diplomatic and discursive setting and so interrogate the nature of this exemplary ‘anti-corruption’. On closer examination of the negotiative dynamics it will be seen that gift giving becomes ‘corrupt’ and inappropriate in our narratives not simply because of the nature of the transfer of objects, but rather because of the contextual discourse of ‘anti-corruption’ and rejection. Our three major accounts are contrasted and their various emphases explored in relation to each other as well as to the earlier and imperial Latin exemplary discourse. It will be claimed that incorruptibility informs the definition of corruption itself, and this is made possible through the mutability of the figure of Fabricius. The extended narratives of these incidents represent a musing on the nature of transfer and gifting between unequal parties, as perspective and context determine inappropriateness and moral rectitude. This contribution explores various narrative perspectives on the two pivotal episodes centred on Cineas at Rome, and Fabricius and Pyrrhus. They are placed and examined within the broader narratives so refining our understanding of ‘corruption’ in accounts of early Roman history. Furthermore, in the Greek adaption and development of Roman Exemplary discourse, the rhetorical and situational engagement with moral and exemplary statuses dynamically complements the concurrent multivalent commemoration and reanalysis in the Latin tradition of Fabricius’ character and status of exemplum more broadly. It will be seen that to understand corruptive gift giving and the refusal of gifts the act alone should not be our focus but the recycling of tropes and morals that surround audience, act and judgement are just as determinative.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Preface VII
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Part 1: The Discourse(s) of and on Corruption
- Twisted Transfers as Corruption 1
- The Corrupted Speak 47
- Civil War and the Corruption of liberalitas in Tacitus’ Histories 65
- Irreversible Corruption 83
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Part 2: Corruption in Social Practice and Daily Life
- Creating Evidence for Corruption 111
- Corruption in Greco-Roman Egypt 129
- Ideas of Corruption in Roman Imperial Ports 145
- Suspect Inheritances 167
- Salvian and the Corrupted Church of Southern Gaul 199
-
Part 3: The Politics and Diplomacy of Corruption
- Corruption and Anti-Corruption 223
- Beyond Crime 257
- Usurpation of (and Corruption Involving) the Right of Roman Citizenship in the Republic 287
- Balkan Promises 307
- Index 335
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Preface VII
-
Part 1: The Discourse(s) of and on Corruption
- Twisted Transfers as Corruption 1
- The Corrupted Speak 47
- Civil War and the Corruption of liberalitas in Tacitus’ Histories 65
- Irreversible Corruption 83
-
Part 2: Corruption in Social Practice and Daily Life
- Creating Evidence for Corruption 111
- Corruption in Greco-Roman Egypt 129
- Ideas of Corruption in Roman Imperial Ports 145
- Suspect Inheritances 167
- Salvian and the Corrupted Church of Southern Gaul 199
-
Part 3: The Politics and Diplomacy of Corruption
- Corruption and Anti-Corruption 223
- Beyond Crime 257
- Usurpation of (and Corruption Involving) the Right of Roman Citizenship in the Republic 287
- Balkan Promises 307
- Index 335
