Religion in Suetonius‘ Lives of the Caesars: religious-social deviance and literary interactions

• Applicant: Privatdozentin Dr. Darja Sterbenc Erker
• Subject Area: Greek and Latin Philology ; Religious Studies and Jewish Studies
• Term: since 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 449778888

The extension proposal will elaborate the interlocking of religious and social deviance of the emperors in Suetonius' Lives of the Caesars. The aim of the proposal is to show the societal and cultural context of the representation of religion and religious deviance of the Caesars as well as to identify the literary strategies Suetonius employs to present the religion of the emperors in a positive or negative way. Through a variety of literary strategies, Suetonius often portrays the Caesars as religious deviants, suggesting not only their abandonment of religious norms but also their deviation from the social and political norms imposed on an upper-class man. Suetonius recounts the emperors' religious, social and political deviance from multiple perspectives, which negatively characterise the emperors and undermine their ability to rule. The project will examine how Suetonius transposes many motifs and narratives from the rhetorical tradition of political invective into his Lives of the Caesars in order to denigrate the emperors' religion and religious deviance and thereby subtly undermine the political authority of the emperors and the principate itself. A new element in the project proposal is an increased focus on the social dimensions of religious deviation, as Suetonius often associates transgression of religious norms with transgression of social norms. The project will explore the biographer's subtle references to social hierarchy and violations of the social code of conduct imposed on elite men by the emperors. The project will also emphasise the literary aspects of Suetonius' Lives of Caesar and the methodological dangers of taking the text literally when using it as a historical source for the history of religions. In addition, a new focus will be placed on the generic influences of various literary genres, such as Menippean satire, elegy or philosophical treatises, from which Suetonius took pretexts or motifs and transposed them into his Lives of the Caesars. The project will include new sources and research questions of immense importance for a deeper analysis of the religious and social deviance of the emperors in the Lives of the Caesars. Recent research on literary interactions under Nerva, Trajan and Hadrian suggests an important method for this project, which consists of comparing accounts of religious-social deviance in the Lives of the Caesars with Tacitus' Annals and Historiae, as well as with the work of Pliny the Younger. Since the superstitiones in Suetonius' Lives of the Caesars are closely linked to the superstitious belief in astrology as a foreign and partly forbidden practice, the project will examine Suetonius' depiction of the use of horoscopes and astrology by the emperors.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Finland
• Cooperation Partner: Privatdozentin Dr. Marika Rauhala