About this episode
Mary and Charlotte discuss the influence of ancient Rome on America's founding with scholar Joy Connolly.
In case you haven’t noticed… the USA is celebrating a special anniversary. Mary and Charlotte talk to one of America’s leading scholars of ancient Rome and its modern reception, Joy Connolly, about why so much of the struggle for independence deployed the words, images and sometimes actual clothing of the Ancient Romans. They discuss George Washington’s production of the tragedy of Cato in the revolutionary army and Joseph Warren’s donning of a toga to incite the rebels. They ask why the Declaration of Independence and Constitution drew so heavily on Roman writers like Cicero and Virgil, why Cincinnati was named after the authoritarian Cincinnatus, and to what extent the Republicans and Democrats resemble the classical ideologies they named themselves after. Most of all, the big question: did the Founders know that Virgil’s words e pluribus unum (out of many, one), which became a rallying cry for the merging of the colonies into one, actually came from a recipe for cheese spread? Mary and Charlotte recommend some further reading: Joy has written about the use of classics in the revolutionary period and later in: “Classical Education and the Early American Democratic Style” in S…
People in this episode
Hosts: Mary, Charlotte
Guest: Joy Connolly
Topics covered
- American Revolution
- Ancient Rome
- Classical Influence
- Founding Fathers
- Cultural Reception
- Historical Analysis
Keywords
- American Revolution
- Ancient Rome
- George Washington
- Cincinnatus
- e pluribus unum
- Joy Connolly
- Classical Education
- Founding Fathers
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: ACLS
Books & works: Cato, Classical Education and the Early American Democratic Style, Past Sovereignty: Roman Freedom for Modern Revolutionaries, Roman Error, e pluribus unum
Places: USA
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