This article explores the relationship between the concept of luxuria and the use of silk in imperial Rome vis-& agrave;-vis the perception that the Romans shared of the relatively mysterious people, the Seres, from whom silk was long acquired. The Seres, likely inhabiting the Western Tarim Basin area on the Silk Road, are described-in a sense paradoxically-in most Latin texts, from the 1st century Ad, as peaceful and honest in spite of the fact that they sold the Romans, through a barter (permutatio), a commodity, namely silk, the use of which was likely restrained by sumptuary laws and that most Roman authors considered morally corrupting. Literary sources suggest, from the 2nd-3rd century Ad, an interesting shift "from barter to trade" as for the commercial practices undertaken by the Romans to obtain silk from the Seres; a circumstance which-again paradoxically-apparently enhanced the Romans' perception of Seres as frugal. This shift towards trade may have meaningful archaeological parallel in the introduction, in the 2nd century Ad, of a monetary system similar to the Romans' in the area where the Seres dwelled.
This paper aims to shed light on the condemnation and denial of luxuria and, more generally, on the moral reform (correctio morum) assumed by the last of the Flavians. The objective of the paper is twofold: on the one hand, to determine the extent to which Domitian follows in the wake of the policy inaugurated by his father; on the other hand, to fathom the Suetonian Life, to reflect on the judgment underlying the program of correctio morum advocated by Domitian, to which Suetonius attributes many vices, except luxuria. The correctio morum will be analysed as a key to understanding the several implicit models in the representation of Domitian, the explicit ones, and those attributed to him by Suetonius.
Restoration of the social order and rejection of Neronian luxuria were a cornerstone of Vespasian's imperial ideology. Pliny the Elder was a sedulous officer under Vespasian: as the Emperor endeavoured to organize the Empire politically, Pliny endeavoured to organize it culturally; Vespasian's opposition to luxuria is reflected in Pliny's frequent moralistic tirades against this vice. On the other hand, Pliny shows to have detailed knowledge about goods, processes and practices related to luxuria. I argue that Pliny's ambiguous attitude towards luxuria (criticism vs deep knowledge) reflects the wider political and economical instances of Vespasian's reign. Ideologically speaking, luxuria is a disrupting vice to be fought against; however, consumption of luxuries is crucial to refill State coffers. Far from rejecting opulence, Pliny disguises as acrimonious moralism his promotion of a socially acceptable luxuria, an unavoidable if not essential strategy for the Restauratio Imperii.
The Amatorius is a unique work by Plutarch, where a lively narrative style, endowed with literary and thematic elements closely resembling comedy and romance, is coupled with an original interpretation of Platonic eros. The goal that Plutarch sets for himself in the Amatorius is complex and fraught with difficulties, because on the one side he seeks to preserve the core elements of Plato's idea of eros (with explicit references to Symposium and Phaedrus), on the other he aims to reconcile the ethical, pedagogical, and metaphysical aspects of Platonic eros with the marital love. In fact, he conceived eros as a sexual and equal relationship that ignores the traditional disparity between lover and beloved, thus making it possible for women as well to partake in the highest form of love. The result is an unprecedented version of Platonic eros that far surpasses, in both its articulation and complexity, the scant and conventional treatments of eros found in the survived contemporary philosophical literature.
To explore the psychological side of luxuria and to deepen the philosophical aspect of this concept, it is important to carry out preliminary work on the pre-history of the ethical debate about the role of passions among some of Plato's heirs in the Old Academy. Although there does not seem to be a specific reflection on luxuria in the Old Academy, it is important to show how the philosophical debate about pleasure, goods, passions, and virtues is indeed very articulated in the Old Academy and to what extent it could have influenced the Hellenistic and post-Hellenistic philosophical and literary debate. By reconsidering the ethics of Speusippus and Xenocrates in relation to their psychological conception, therefore, I intend to bring out the Old Academic ethical context, which appears to be less anti-hedonist than it is generally thought and more open to a wise control of passions and external goods, without this implying the eradication of the former or the rejection of the latter. This will show how the ethical doctrines of Speusippus and Xenocrates could be coherently inscribed in their philosophical system thanks to the anchoring of the psychological and ontological conceptions.
