Sallust on Mark Antony
Sallust on Mark Antony

Summary/Abstract: It was previously postulated and convincingly shown that Sallust was not a friend of Octavian, Mark Antony and Lepidus’ regime, although there is no information that he openly opposed the Triumvirs. Sallust’s retirement from public office after Caesar’s death and more than one allusion to contemporary politics in his monographs leave no space for any other conclusion. The aim of this contribution is to show that Sallust’s hidden critique – which was the only possible at the time when the memories of recent sufferings dur- ing the Civil War and proscriptions were still strong – was specially aimed against Mark Antony. Concluding argument – but not the only one – could be found in Sallust’s (so far) unclear remark on hunting as servilium officium (Cat. 4.1): in fact, well known scandalous behaviour of Mark Antony and Cleopatra included hunting (Plut. Ant. 29.1).

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