The invocation of the forefathers in Cicero’s "De diuinatione" and "De natura deorum". Religio and Roman identity in the end of the republic

Abstract

The invocation of the ideal of mos maiorum, understood as a set of virtues or exemplar characteristics of the Romans, has been repeatedly examined in Cicero’s texts. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill analyses the topic in relation to the discussion regarding Roman identity in first century B. C. texts and he demarcates three different ways of using it: one which he defines as typically aristocratic, that refers to one particular individual’s noble ancestors; a second use which, instead of singularising, amalgamates all forefathers in a same group and establishes a continuity between past and present; finally, a third way which postulates an absolute gap between the world of the forefathers and the one of the contemporaries. In this paper we will examine how this topic works in Cicero’s De divinatione and De natura deorum. From our viewpoint, the ideal of mos maiorum involves not only ethical and moral virtues, but also represents a special attitude towards gods and worship, which is central in the definition of Roman identity.