Cornelius Nepos, ‘‘Atticus,’’ and the Roman Revolution laudations has been to falsify our history. Many events are recorded
inthemwhichnevertookplace,bogustriumphs,multipleconsulates,
false genealogies, and transitions to the plebs, so that men of lower
birthwereinsinuatedintoanothergenusofthesamename;asifI[i.e.,
M.TulliusCicero]weretoclaimdescentfromManiusTullius,whoas
apatricianwasconsulwithServiusSulpiciusinthetenthyearafterthe
expulsionofthekings.Infactwecanseeaperfectexampleofsuchanallegedtransitionofafamily
(frompatriciantoplebeianstatus)embeddedinthefirstparagraphofSueto-
nius’LifeofAugustus:
Thatfamily[theOctavii]wasadlectedintothesenatebyKingTarqui-
nius Priscus among the ‘‘minor families,’’ then transferred by Servius
Tulliustothepatricianfamilies;lateritcrossedovertotheplebs;and
then,afteralonginterval,returnedtothepatriciatebytheagencyof
DivusJulius.Therelevanceofthisgrowthof interestinfamilyhistoriesisAtticus’own
roleinthematter,asNeposdescribesit.Thiswasagainanaspectofhiscentral
roleinRomansociety,thistimeasanantiquarianandscholarinclosecon-
tactwithsenatorssharingtheseinterests.Suchconcernspartlyrepresenteda
genuinelyscholarlyactivity,atleastinintention;butpartlytheywerestudies
pursuedintheinterestsofparticularfamiliae.Neposdescribesthisfunction
ofAtticusasfollows(,):
Hewasalsoanextremedevoteeofancestralcustom[mos maiorum],and
loverofantiquity,ofwhichhehadsocloseaknowledgethathesetit
alloutinthatvolumeinwhichhearrangedthemagistraciesinorder.
Fortherewasnolawnorpeacetreatynorwarnorfamousdeedofthe
Roman people,which was not recorded at its correct point in time;
moreover,headded,aswasparticularlydifficult,theoriginsofthevari-
ousfamilies,insuchawaythatfromitwemightbeabletoidentify
thedescendantsoffamousmen.This last motive is very striking, and will need furtherdiscussion. For the
momentitisworthstressingthatthistaskneededtobeperformed:without
scholarlyresearch,ifthatistheword,peopledidnotnecessarilyhaveaclear
ideaoffromwhom,intheRomanpast,theircontemporariesdescended.But
thereisanotheraspecttothis.LikesomanyelementsofAtticus’lifeandac-
tivity,asNepospresentsthem,thisonelooksforwardtothevalueswhich
weretobeinstitutionalizedinthereignofAugustus.IntheperiodofCaesar