De vita sua

Scaurus' book is the first known autobiography written by a Roman.[1] Two of its fragments show that Scaurus used the first person, another striking innovation in Latin historiography.[2] Few autobiographical texts are known before Scaurus; Scipio Africanus and Scipio Nasica Corculum wrote letters about their campaigns, which possibly used the first person, but they were a different genre and written in Greek. Some modern scholars suggested that Gaius Gracchus wrote a family history, but this theory has been doubted since Hermann Peter.[3] Gaius Gracchus more likely wrote a biography of his elder brother Tiberius.[4] The genre nonetheless existed in the Greek and Persian worlds since at least the 5th century, with the autobiography of Nehemiah, or the travels of Skylax.[5]

De vita sua was written in three books, of which seven fragments have survived. Scaurus started his autobiography with his childhood, as a fragment mentions his meagre inheritance, which he told in order to emphasize the obstacles he had to overcome.[6] Like most ancient autobiographies, De vita sua was apologetic—Scaurus wrote it to justify his actions during his tumultuous career. He was notably involved in up to 17 political trials.[7] He likely included his own speeches in his book, a practice introduced by Cato the Censor in his Origines.[8][9]

The majority of modern scholars think that Scaurus probably composed De vita sua towards the end of his life, in the 90s or early 80s, because Valerius Maximus relates several anecdotes from Scaurus' life that can be dated from this period.[10][11] They therefore assume that these anecdotes came from De vita sua, which publication might have therefore been posthumous.[12][11] However, Christopher Smith writes that Scaurus may have avoided telling about the later part of his life, which was full of trials and controversies.[13] Instead, Scaurus perhaps told more about his military achievements, especially during his consulship of 115, which culminated with a triumph. He could have written his autobiography soon after, or rapidly passed over the rest of his political career.[14]

Ernst Badian suggests that Scaurus was helped in the writing by a learned slave named Daphnis, whom Pliny the Elder said Scaurus bought for the record sum of 700,000 sesterces.[15][16][17] This slave was perhaps later owned by Quintus Lutatius Catulus—another Roman statesman who wrote an autobiography; he might have even written a history book on his own right.[18]

Scaurus dedicated his book to Lucius Fufidius, likely identified with a friend of the dictator Sulla; he later became praetor in 81.[19] Fufidius belonged to a family of moneylenders from Arpinum that probably funded the political career of Scaurus, who in return supported their advancement to the senatorial order.[20][21]

Scaurus' book inspired several later politicians to write their autobiography, including one of his opponents, Publius Rutilius Rufus, who like Scaurus had a tumultuous life and felt the need to justify himself.[22] He might have even written his own biography in answer to Scaurus'.[23][24] Rufus' autobiography was also entitled De vita sua, and likewise used the first person, but had a longer success than Scaurus'.[25] Rufus was an exception though, most autobiographies of Roman politicians had a short life.[26] In his dialogue Brutus (written in 46), Cicero indeed complains that Scaurus' book was already forgotten by his time.[27] Cicero likely read the book in order to prepare the defence of Scaurus' son during a trial in 54, and frequently refers to Scaurus' life in the resulting Pro Scauro, doubtless with information taken from De vita sua.[2] The later authors who cite Scaurus were only interested in grammatical peculiarities, and their citations are very short.[11] Five fragments indeed come from grammarians of the Late Roman Empire: Servius, Charisius, and Diomedes—who cites Scaurus three times.