Africa ipsa parens: Racializing Representations of Sardinians in Cicero’s Pro Scauro (54 b.c.e.)

Hannah Čulík-Baird, Mathias Hanses

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Following recent developments in the scholarship on premodern racial formation, the present article examines Cicero’s racializing representations of Sardinian provincials in the Pro Scauro (54 b.c.e.). In this speech, Cicero defends Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, former governor of Sardinia, against charges of provincial mismanagement. In order to secure Scaurus’s acquittal, Cicero portrays the Sardi as a distinct and “deficient” genus, characterized by innate and homogenous somatic, cognitive, and “genetic” qualities. At the same time, Cicero also disparages the Sardinians as a “mixture” of the Africans and the Carthaginians who occupied Sardinia prior to Roman conquest. The result is a juxtaposition between racialized Sardinians and “pure” Romans that is designed to convince the jurors to side with Scaurus, whose participation in the pro-vincials’ dehumanization, murder, and exploitation Cicero presents as morally unproblematic.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)77-119
Number of pages43
JournalTAPA
Volume154
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 1 2024

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Language and Linguistics
  • Classics
  • Literature and Literary Theory
  • Linguistics and Language

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