New narrative devices in "Bellum Africum": between history and fiction

Abstract

The narrative style of Bellum Africum is unusual when set against the other texts in Corpus Caesarianum and the earlier historiographic tradition. The author tries to get the reader involved in the facts narrated by using certain devices, which are similar to those employed in novels and other types of fiction, and which taken as a whole, they represent a new way of writing about history: there ismarked empathy between the narrator and the protagonists of the story, picturesque description, hyperbolic and somewhat childish explanations, stereotypical episodes, self-indulgence in exotic, fantastic or sentimental details; a set of narrative devices that seem to be targeted at the potential audience for this work, not very cultivated readers who probably demanded this type of writing. These devices were used with clear ideological purposes, in addition to their stylistic function: to belittle Caesar’s enemies and to glorify him and his army.