Conspiracy theory as a theoretical framework has emerged only in
the last twenty years; commentators are finding it a productive way
to explain the actions and thoughts of individuals and societies.
In this compelling exploration of Latin literature, Pagan uses
conspiracy theory to illuminate the ways that elite Romans invoked
conspiracy as they navigated the hierarchies, divisions, and
inequalities in their society. By seeming to uncover conspiracy
everywhere, Romans could find the need to crush slave revolts,
punish rivals with death or exile, dismiss women, denigrate
foreigners, or view their emperors with deep suspicion. Expanding
on her earlier Conspiracy Narratives in Roman History, Pagan here
interprets the works of poets, satirists, historians, and
orators-Juvenal, Tacitus, Suetonius, Terence, and Cicero, among
others-to reveal how each writer gave voice to fictional or real
actors who were engaged in intrigue and motivated by a calculating
worldview. Delving into multiple genres, Pagan offers a powerful
critique of how conspiracy and conspiracy theory can take hold and
thrive when rumor, fear, and secrecy become routine methods of
interpreting (and often distorting) past and current events. In
Roman society, where knowledge about others was often lacking and
stereotypes dominated, conspiracy theory explained how the world
worked. The persistence of conspiracy theory, from antiquity to the
present day, attests to its potency as a mechanism for confronting
the frailties of the human condition.
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