Les dénominations du peuple dans l’Histoire romaine de Cassius Dion : des mots qui font la paire ?

Abstract

Cassius Dio carefully selects the words that he uses to name the Roman people in order to describe the way the Roman Republic ended in his Roman History, books 36 to 51. We would like to show the degree of coherence in his lexical choices: some terms (δῆμος, πλῆθος) are linked to others to illustrate the cooperation between the Senate and the people meanwhile the use of other terms (πλῆθος, ὅμιλος and ὄχλος) gradually reveals the conflicts that lead to the end of the Republic. Dio’s lexical art is much more visible in the speeches.

Keywords

• rhetoric
• Roman Republic
• Roman history
• Cassius Dio
• Greek terms for Roman realities