Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons^™

Who’S Anti-Roman? Sallust And Pompeius Trogus On Mithridates, Eric Adler

Classics Faculty Publications

Contemporary scholars of Roman imperialism have discussed the Ways in which ancient historians denigrate non-Romans and thereby present intellectual justifications for Roman conquest. This paper offers a case study that questions this position's validity: an examination of Sallust's Epistula Mithridatis (Hist. 4.69M) and Pompeius Trogus' speech of Mithridates (Justin 38.4-7). I argue that Sallust offers a more powerful attack on Roman foreign policy than does Trogus, whom many scholars have deemed "anti-Roman," and conclude that Roman historians are capable of using speeches of foreigners to engage in Roman self-criticism.