TRANSLATIO FORTUNAE: CURTIUS RUFUS’ ALEXANDER, LIVY’S HANNIBAL, AND INTERTEXTUALITY

Dylan James

doi:10.1086/724110

TRANSLATIO FORTUNAE: CURTIUS RUFUS’ ALEXANDER, LIVY’S HANNIBAL, AND INTERTEXTUALITY

Dylan James

Haifa Center for Mediterranean History

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The influence of Livy on Curtius Rufus is long established, but this relationship has mostly escaped recent critical reevaluation of intertextuality. This article explores two allusions to Livy’s Book 21 in Curtius’ Book 7. I argue that these intertexts contribute to the characterization of Alexander in terms of his clementia and fortuna by alluding to Hannibal’s somewhat different trajectories with respect to those virtues. Regarding Curtius’ engagement with Livy’s conception of fortuna in the Third Decade, I suggest that Curtius is responding to ancient notions about the transference of fortune between empires, still current in his own day.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	210-231
Number of pages	22
Journal	Classical Philology
Volume	118
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1086/724110
State	Published - Apr 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Many thanks are due to Ory Amitay, Liz Baynham, Lisa Hau, Paul Jarvis, Lisa Kallet, Tim Rood, Rosalind Thomas, Peter Thonemann, and the anonymous referees for CP, who all helped me, at various stages and in various ways, clarify or reformulate certain ideas. Remaining faults and good ideas are my own. This research was conducted in Oxford (supported by the Clarendon Fund), Geneva (Fondation Hardt Research Scholarship), Cincinnati (Margo Tytus Summer Residency Fellowship), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Lady Davis and Golda Meir Postdoctoral Fellowships), and the Haifa Center for Mediterranean History (Postdoctoral Fellowship); I thank these funding bodies for making this article possible. The text of Curtius throughout is Lucarini 2009; Livy Books 21–25 is Briscoe 2016; Books 26–27 is Yardley 2020; Books 28–30 is Walsh 1986. Translations of Curtius and Livy are adapted from Yardley and Heckel 1984 and Yardley and Hoyos 2006. Other texts and translations as noted.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Classics
Language and Linguistics
Linguistics and Language

Access to Document

10.1086/724110

Cite this

@article{bb1a7146c8e24babb6245cb404558bbe,

title = "TRANSLATIO FORTUNAE: CURTIUS RUFUS{\textquoteright} ALEXANDER, LIVY{\textquoteright}S HANNIBAL, AND INTERTEXTUALITY",

abstract = "The influence of Livy on Curtius Rufus is long established, but this relationship has mostly escaped recent critical reevaluation of intertextuality. This article explores two allusions to Livy{\textquoteright}s Book 21 in Curtius{\textquoteright} Book 7. I argue that these intertexts contribute to the characterization of Alexander in terms of his clementia and fortuna by alluding to Hannibal{\textquoteright}s somewhat different trajectories with respect to those virtues. Regarding Curtius{\textquoteright} engagement with Livy{\textquoteright}s conception of fortuna in the Third Decade, I suggest that Curtius is responding to ancient notions about the transference of fortune between empires, still current in his own day.",

author = "Dylan James",

note = "Funding Information: Many thanks are due to Ory Amitay, Liz Baynham, Lisa Hau, Paul Jarvis, Lisa Kallet, Tim Rood, Rosalind Thomas, Peter Thonemann, and the anonymous referees for CP, who all helped me, at various stages and in various ways, clarify or reformulate certain ideas. Remaining faults and good ideas are my own. This research was conducted in Oxford (supported by the Clarendon Fund), Geneva (Fondation Hardt Research Scholarship), Cincinnati (Margo Tytus Summer Residency Fellowship), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Lady Davis and Golda Meir Postdoctoral Fellowships), and the Haifa Center for Mediterranean History (Postdoctoral Fellowship); I thank these funding bodies for making this article possible. The text of Curtius throughout is Lucarini 2009; Livy Books 21–25 is Briscoe 2016; Books 26–27 is Yardley 2020; Books 28–30 is Walsh 1986. Translations of Curtius and Livy are adapted from Yardley and Heckel 1984 and Yardley and Hoyos 2006. Other texts and translations as noted. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.",

year = "2023",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1086/724110",

language = "English",

volume = "118",

pages = "210--231",

journal = "Classical Philology",

issn = "0009-837X",

publisher = "University of Chicago",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - TRANSLATIO FORTUNAE

T2 - CURTIUS RUFUS’ ALEXANDER, LIVY’S HANNIBAL, AND INTERTEXTUALITY

AU - James, Dylan

N1 - Funding Information: Many thanks are due to Ory Amitay, Liz Baynham, Lisa Hau, Paul Jarvis, Lisa Kallet, Tim Rood, Rosalind Thomas, Peter Thonemann, and the anonymous referees for CP, who all helped me, at various stages and in various ways, clarify or reformulate certain ideas. Remaining faults and good ideas are my own. This research was conducted in Oxford (supported by the Clarendon Fund), Geneva (Fondation Hardt Research Scholarship), Cincinnati (Margo Tytus Summer Residency Fellowship), the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Lady Davis and Golda Meir Postdoctoral Fellowships), and the Haifa Center for Mediterranean History (Postdoctoral Fellowship); I thank these funding bodies for making this article possible. The text of Curtius throughout is Lucarini 2009; Livy Books 21–25 is Briscoe 2016; Books 26–27 is Yardley 2020; Books 28–30 is Walsh 1986. Translations of Curtius and Livy are adapted from Yardley and Heckel 1984 and Yardley and Hoyos 2006. Other texts and translations as noted. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.

PY - 2023/4

Y1 - 2023/4

N2 - The influence of Livy on Curtius Rufus is long established, but this relationship has mostly escaped recent critical reevaluation of intertextuality. This article explores two allusions to Livy’s Book 21 in Curtius’ Book 7. I argue that these intertexts contribute to the characterization of Alexander in terms of his clementia and fortuna by alluding to Hannibal’s somewhat different trajectories with respect to those virtues. Regarding Curtius’ engagement with Livy’s conception of fortuna in the Third Decade, I suggest that Curtius is responding to ancient notions about the transference of fortune between empires, still current in his own day.

AB - The influence of Livy on Curtius Rufus is long established, but this relationship has mostly escaped recent critical reevaluation of intertextuality. This article explores two allusions to Livy’s Book 21 in Curtius’ Book 7. I argue that these intertexts contribute to the characterization of Alexander in terms of his clementia and fortuna by alluding to Hannibal’s somewhat different trajectories with respect to those virtues. Regarding Curtius’ engagement with Livy’s conception of fortuna in the Third Decade, I suggest that Curtius is responding to ancient notions about the transference of fortune between empires, still current in his own day.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85153719222&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1086/724110

DO - 10.1086/724110

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85153719222

SN - 0009-837X

VL - 118

SP - 210

EP - 231

JO - Classical Philology

JF - Classical Philology

IS - 2

ER -

TRANSLATIO FORTUNAE: CURTIUS RUFUS’ ALEXANDER, LIVY’S HANNIBAL, AND INTERTEXTUALITY

Abstract

Bibliographical note

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this