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The Story Of Mucius Scaevol Exemplarity In Roman Culture

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Did you know that around 46% of people’s favorite superhero is Spider-Man? That is a lot of people compared to how many comic characters there are, especially in today’s popular culture. Today we constantly hear stories about superheroes all of the time in pop culture, and in ancient Rome they also had stories about incredible people. Mucius Scaevola is one of these incredible people with a heroic story that changed the course of Roman history. Scaevola, a young roman sent on a mission, mistook the Estruscan king’s scribe for the king and killed him. When brought before the king, he intimidated the king which led to peace between the Etruscans and Romans. His story is an example of exemplary discourse as it follows the four criteria as identified by Matthew B. Roller in his essay, “Exemplarity In Roman Culture”. According to Roller, for something to be considered exemplary discourse one must have done an action with an audience that commemorates and later mimics it. The story of Mucius Scaevola was one that inspired many and changed Rome’s history as it led to peace between two major rivals in early history. Mucius Scaevola committed an incredible deed where after being caught …show more content…

An example of this would be gladiators, fighting for glory in the name of their country. According to Carlin Barton in her paper, “Savage Miracles: The Redemption of Lost Honor in Roman Society and the Sacrament of the Gladiator and the Martyr”, the “self-immolation” (Barton, 42) of Scaevola, “reenacted by a condemned criminal in the arena,” (Barton, 42) inspired the poet Martial to write many powerful poems which served to further inspire other gladiators. Martial and other storytellers assisted in essentially turning Scaevola into something of a symbol of hope and what others should aspire to

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