Informal Diplomacy in Ancient Rome: An Analysis of Negotiation in Cicero's Letters
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Birmingham
Department Name: History and Cultures
Abstract
This multidisciplinary project analyses ancient Roman informal political negotiations, combining close reading of ancient Latin letters with modern negotiation theory. Modern political studies are increasingly focusing on informal diplomacy - non-legally binding political activity - to explain broader political trends (Christiansen and Neuhold, 2012). Roman history provides an insightful parallel: although formal political power rested primarily in elected magistrates, informal interactions among the socio-political elite heavily influenced their policies. Aspects of this informal diplomacy have been examined recently, such as social convention (Hall, 2009), mediation (Tatum, 2017), and informal conversation (Rosillo-López, 2021). This project will be the first to analyse Roman negotiation processes in the context of modern theory. Both political and classical studies stand to gain: the former by showing how modern negotiation theories are already represented in the ancient world, and the latter by reframing the relationship between informal and formal political action in Roman society.
Our best insights into Roman informal negotiations are the letters of Marcus Tullius Cicero, a prominent statesman from 80-43BCE. Some 900 letters and 90 replies survive, including many to fellow politicians. Notably, these detail several "crisis points" involving negotiations with parties outside of Rome. Historical records outline the outcomes of these events, indicating a connection between informal negotiations and formal political actions.
The main research question driving this project is how informal negotiations worked in ancient Rome. Drawing on close readings of Cicero's letters from 58-43BCE, I will present a novel, interdisciplinary framework which applies modern negotiation theories to Roman informal diplomacy, to answer the main research question and several secondary questions, including:
How did political, diplomatic, and behavioural factors influence ancient Roman informal diplomacy?
What role does power (a)symmetry occupy in Roman informal negotiation?
How do letter-based negotiations fit into the framework of Roman informal politics?
How effective was informal diplomacy in ancient Rome?
I will utilise a qualitative case study methodology, drawing on Cicero's letters and modern negotiation theories. Following the construction of a conceptual framework highlighting the most pertinent theoretical themes, I will use process tracing methods to analyse how the style of diplomacy used by Cicero and his correspondents developed over time in response to exogenous (e.g. at the strategic level) and political (e.g. changes in the positions of Cicero and his correspondents) factors. This research will provide an original, rigorous and interdisciplinary contribution to our understanding of change and continuity in the conduct of informal diplomacy in ancient Rome through the correspondences of one of its most prolific writers and iconic statesmen.
Our best insights into Roman informal negotiations are the letters of Marcus Tullius Cicero, a prominent statesman from 80-43BCE. Some 900 letters and 90 replies survive, including many to fellow politicians. Notably, these detail several "crisis points" involving negotiations with parties outside of Rome. Historical records outline the outcomes of these events, indicating a connection between informal negotiations and formal political actions.
The main research question driving this project is how informal negotiations worked in ancient Rome. Drawing on close readings of Cicero's letters from 58-43BCE, I will present a novel, interdisciplinary framework which applies modern negotiation theories to Roman informal diplomacy, to answer the main research question and several secondary questions, including:
How did political, diplomatic, and behavioural factors influence ancient Roman informal diplomacy?
What role does power (a)symmetry occupy in Roman informal negotiation?
How do letter-based negotiations fit into the framework of Roman informal politics?
How effective was informal diplomacy in ancient Rome?
I will utilise a qualitative case study methodology, drawing on Cicero's letters and modern negotiation theories. Following the construction of a conceptual framework highlighting the most pertinent theoretical themes, I will use process tracing methods to analyse how the style of diplomacy used by Cicero and his correspondents developed over time in response to exogenous (e.g. at the strategic level) and political (e.g. changes in the positions of Cicero and his correspondents) factors. This research will provide an original, rigorous and interdisciplinary contribution to our understanding of change and continuity in the conduct of informal diplomacy in ancient Rome through the correspondences of one of its most prolific writers and iconic statesmen.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Henriette Van Der Blom (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Tyler Broome (Student) |