In re the Romans and the matter of dying a good death: I just recently
wrote a piece for The New Criterion. (It will be in the issue after next, I
think) about the historical novelist Alfred Duggan. One of Duggan’s novels
is titled THREE’S COMPANY, and deals with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the third
man in the Second Triumvirate (the other two being Mark Antony and Octavian,
later the Emperor Augustus). Duggan draws a brilliant portrait of a man
whose own conception of himself and his possibilities is disastrously at
odds with his actual qualities. Lepidus is, for example, a charisma-free
zone; so no sooner has he got a few legions behind him & is ready to act,
the legions all desert en masse to some more glamorous leader.
Anyway, Lepidus is a true Roman gentleman, stuffed full of gravitas. He is
always determined to do the right Roman thing. In particular, he is
determined to make a good death, whatever befalls him. When the moment
comes, however… Well, you should read the book for yourself — I won’t
spoil it for you.
The Oxford Classical Dictionary has an entry for Lepidus, of which the
final paragraph reads thus:
“Lepidus lacked the character and energy to use the opportunities which high
birth and Caesar’s favour placed in his way…”