Tacitus Incognito: Opera as History in "L'incoronazione di Poppea" Author(s): Wendy Heller Source: Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 52, No. 1 (Spring, 1999), pp. 39-96 Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the American Musicological Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/832024 . Accessed: 26/08/2013 14:34 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . University of California Press and American Musicological Society are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of the American Musicological Society. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Tacitus Incognito: Opera as History in L'incoronazione di Poppea WENDY HELLER ith Monteverdi's and Busenello's di Poppea, the telling of history. This opera embarked upon a new project:L'incoronazione was a novel enterprisefor the young genre, which until then had drawnits inspirationprimarilyfrom mythologicalrealms.Singing had been acceptable in worlds populated by nymphs and shepherds,demigods and goddesses, allegorical figures, and even the pseudo-historical Homeric and Virgilian epic heroes-worlds in which the will of the deities determined man's fate. History, however, was the realm of earthlymen and women, for whom song was less readilyjustified.It maywell have been the allureof representing the past that persuadedcomposersand librettiststo relaxthe strictures of verisimilitude and to shift their focus from the immortals-for whom singing was merely another divine endowment-to the mortal heroes of Herodotus, Thucydides, Plutarch, Lucan, and Tacitus.1Moreover, history had the power to bring opera directlyinto the realmof politics,where the fear of tyranny,the claimsof republicanism,the ambitionsof imperialism,and the glory of absolutismwere fairtopics for operaticexploitation.From the shores IWXY Versionsof this paperwere delivered at the Seventh Biennial Conference on Baroque Music in Birmingham,England (August 1995), as well as at colloquia at the Universityof North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Minnesota, Princeton University, and the Columbia University Society of Fellows, and at the InternationalSociety for the ClassicalTraditionat the Universitit Tiibingen (July 1999). I am grateful to Laurie Blunsom, Mauro Calcagno, Tim Carter, Eric Chafe, Helen Greenwald,Robert Holzer, Robert Ketterer,Ethan Kroll,JamesMirollo, and Ellen Rosand for their comments on earlierdrafts. Research for this project was carried out under the support of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. 1. On operatic verisimilitude,see Ellen Rosand, Opera in Seventeenth-CenturyVenice:The Creationofa Genre(Berkeleyand Los Angeles:Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1991), 40-45. The question of verisimilitudeis particularlyimportant in understandingfundamentalgeneric differences between epic and history and their significancefor opera. In L'incoronazionedi Poppea, love, jealousy,vengeance, and pity-and the consequences thereof-are, despite the interference ofAmor, a resultof human emotions and desires.In the earlieroperasbased on the epics ofVirgil (Didone, 1641) and Homer (II ritornod'Ulissein patria, 1641), however,the gods and goddesses play a farmore centralrole in generatinghuman emotions and destiny. [JournaloftheAmericanMusicological Society1999, vol. 52, no. 1] ? 1999 by the AmericanMusicologicalSociety.All rightsreserved.0003-0139/99/5201-0002$2.00 This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 40 Journal of the American Musicological Society of the Adriatic,to the Habsburg court, to the ParisianAcademie royale de musique, men and women of power-who may have sought to represent themselveson the stage-adeptly manipulatedemerging operaticconventions to promote desiredideologies. This essay will consider opera's use of a particular history in midseventeenth-centuryVenice:the Annals by the first-centuryRoman historian Cornelius Tacitus, as transformed in Monteverdi's and Busenello's L'incoronazionedi Poppea.Tacitus'sAnnals, which deals with the reigns of the Roman emperors Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero (albeit with some gaps), contains the earliestsurvivingand most detailed exposition of the historical events recounted in L'incoronazionedi Poppea:Nero's affair with Poppaea Sabina (A.D. 58), his repudiation and eventual murder of his wife Octavia(A.D.62), and the suicide of Seneca (A.D.65). Busenellowas also evidently familiarwith laterhistoricalaccounts of the episode, which likelydrew upon the same sources as did Tacitus: Dio Cassius'shistory of the Roman Empire and Suetonius's biographyof Nero from his Livesof the Caesars(De vita Caesarum) as well as the tragic play the Octavia, long attributed to Seneca.2Nonetheless, it is only Tacitus-an authorwhose writingsprofoundly influenced historical,political, and moral thinking in earlymodern Europewhom Busenello both cites in the argomentoto the libretto ("all this according to Cornelius Tacitus") and contradicts ("but here we represent things differently"),thus announcing his intention to reinventhistory.3 My point of departureis arguablythe most importantsource of inspiration for Busenello's interest in Tacitus and reinvention of the historicalrecord in L'incoronazionedi Poppea:the VenetianAccademiadegli Incogniti, that notorious and influential society of Venetian patriciansand authors-including Busenello-whose links to the Venetianopera industryhave been well documented, and whose philosophies have been invoked to explain the slippery moral universein which this opera resides.4My reassessmentof the Incogniti 2. RonaldMellorobservesthat"Tacitus goes beyondthiscommonsourceto providea level of detailandanacutenessof politicalperception thatis uniqueto hisversion.... [H]isresultis so differentthatwe mustattributethe finalproductto his own craftandintelligence ratherthanto hisrawmaterial" (Tacitus[London:Routledge,1993], 33). 3. GiovanniFrancescoBusenello,Dellehoreociose(Venice:Giuliani,1656). The argomento beginsas follows:"Neroneinnamoratodi Poppea,ch'eramogliedi Ottone,lo mand6sotto in Lusitania CornelioTacito. pretestod'Ambasciaria pergodersila caradiletta,cosirappresenta Maquisi rappresenta il fattodiverso." 4. On the connectionsbetweenthe Incognitiandthe Venetianoperaindustry,see Rosand, Venice,37-40, 88-124; LorenzoBianconiand ThomasWalker, Operain Seventeenth-Century "DallaFintapazzaalla Veremonda: Rivistaitalianadi musicologia 10 Storiedi Febiarmonici," (1975): 379-454; LorenzoBianconi,Musicin theSeventeenth Century,trans.DavidBryant Perunastocantante: (Cambridge: Press,1987);andPaoloFabbri,IIsecolo Cambridge University ria dellibrettod'operanelSeicento the (Bologna:IIMulino,1990). EllenRosandhasconsidered betweenIncognitiphilosophies andL'incoronazione di Poppea,in "Barbara relationship Strozzi, virtuosissima The Composer's cantatrice: Voice,"thisJournal31 (1978):241-81; and"Seneca andthe Interpretation of L'incoronazione di Poppea," thisJournal38 (1985): 34-37. See also lain Fenlonand PeterMiller,TheSongof theSoul:Understanding "Poppea" (London:Royal This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions TacitusIncognito 41 influence on L'incoronazionedi Poppea,however, does not reveal covert endorsementsof conventionalmorality,conjugal love, or even Stoic philosophy in the operatic representationof Seneca's suicide and Nero and Poppaea's love. In contrast with recent hypotheses linking the Incogniti, Tacitus, and Poppeato Neostoicism, I propose that the members of the Accademiadegli Incogniti used Tacitus'shistory of imperialRome in a highly specializedmanner that went far beyond mere anti-Romanpropaganda,expressingVenetian concernswith politicalpragmatismratherthan moralcensure,with civicvirtue rather than withdrawaland solitude, and with the fulfillmentof naturalinstinctsratherthan their suppression.'After consideringIncogniti philosophies in the context of republicanpoliticalidealsin mid-seventeenth-centuryVenice and the influence of Tacituson historicalthought in earlymodern Europe, I will demonstratethat L'incoronazionedi Poppeais only one manifestationof a fascinationwith Tacitus and the workings of the Roman Empire shared by severalof Busenello'scolleaguesassociatedwith the Accademiadegli Incogniti and exploredby them in a seriesof Tacitisttravestiesbased on the same historical narratives.6In all of these works, as well as in L'incoronazionedi Poppea, imperial Rome and the erotic and political intrigues of the Julio-Claudians participatein a complex discourseon empire, reason of state, and a broad assortment of republican freedoms that concerned even the most licentious Incogniti writers. MusicalAssociation,1992), esp. chap. 3. On Incogniti attitudestowardwomen and sexualityand their impact on the conventions of Venetian opera, see Wendy Heller, "Chastity,Heroism, and Allure:Women in the Opera of Seventeenth-CenturyVenice" (Ph.D. diss., BrandeisUniversity, 1995), 66-152; and Wendy Heller, "'O castiti bugiarda':Cavalli'sDidone and the Convention of Abandonment,"in A WomanScorn'd:Responsesto the Dido Myth,ed. Michael Burden (London: Faberand Faber,1998), 169-225. 5. Ellen Rosandwas the firstto considerthe moralimplicationsof Seneca'sprominencein the opera as a key to the work's meaning by associatingthe amoralbehaviorof the other characters with anti-Romansentiment. Notably, however, Rosand sees a split between Monteverdi'ssympathetic renderingof Seneca and Busenello'smore cynicaltreatment,which reflectsthe influenceof the Accademiadegli Incogniti ("Seneca").The focus on Senecais carriedmuch furtherby Fenlon and Miller,who, noting the link between Tacitusand Senecain the earlymodern period, identify the Incogniti as covert Neostoics and propose an interpretationof Poppeaas a "strictTacitisttext" that condemns the emphasison physicalbeauty,appearances,and sensuallove celebratedby Nero and Poppea, and extols the virtues associatedwith Neostoicism: true friendship,constancy,withdrawal,and restraint(Songof theSoul). For an opposing view, see Robert Holzer, reviewof The R. Song of the Soul: Understanding "CPoppea," by LainFenlon and Peter Miller, CambridgeOpera Journal 5 (1993): 79-92. On the question of Seneca'srepresentationin the opera and for an insightful reconsiderationof the readingsprovidedby both Rosand and Fenlon and Miller,see Tim Carter, "Re-Reading Poppea:Some Thoughts on Music and Meaning in Monteverdi's Last Opera," Journal of the Royal Musical Association 122 (1997): 173-204; see also Robert C. Ketterer,"Neoplatonic Light and DramaticGenre in Busenello's L'incoronazionedi Poppeaand Noris's II ripudiod'Ottavia,"Musicand Letters80 (1999): 1-22. 6. These include three novelle: La Messalinaby FrancescoPona (Venice:n.p., 1628), Le due Agrippine by Ferrante Pallavicino (Venice: Guerigli, 1642), and L'imperatriceambiziosa by Federico Malipiero (Venice: Surian, 1642); as well as two plays by Pietro Angelo Zaguri: La Messalina(Venice:Guerigli, 1656) and Legelosiepolitiche,&amorose(Venice:Pinelli, 1657). This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 42 Journalof theAmerican Musicological Society More specifically,this uniquely Venetian perspective on Roman history plays itself out in one of Poppea'smost revealingdistortions of the past, the decidedly ahistoricaltreatment of two eminent figures active in the political and literarylife at Nero's court:Seneca LuciusAnnaeus,the philosopher,playwright, and imperialtutor whose death at the center of the opera precedes much of the subsequent amoral behavior, and, especially, Seneca's lesserknown nephew, the poet MarcusAnnaeus Lucanus (Lucan), whose intimate singingwith Nero in celebrationof his uncle's death and Poppaea'scharmsinspired some of Monteverdi's most sensual music. Monteverdi's discordant representationsof these two renowned Roman writers reveal much about the political concerns underlying the apparent inversion of morality in L'incoronazionedi Poppeaand the ways in which Tacitus, the quintessential historian of empire, was manipulated to satisfy republican desires in midseventeenth-centuryVenice. On a broaderlevel, however,this essayalso exploresthe ways in which the genre of opera functioned as a medium for the telling of history.As the first historicalopera, L'incoronazionedi Poppeaemergesjust decades aftera period of intense historiographicaland political activity,centered in the Veneto, in which the historicalwritings of Tacitusplayed a prominent role.7 In Poppea, the serioushistoriographicaldebatesthat had preoccupiedChurchand university authorities during the Counter Reformation and the aftermath of the papal interdictof 1606-7 collided with the capriciousworlds of carnivaland commediadell'arte.This was a realmin which realitywas elusive, appearances deceptive,power structuresinverted,and genders exchanged.Seeminglyantithetical to either the science or the art of history, opera provided a mode of recounting the past that was more capriciousand more compelling than conventional historiansmight have imagined. Through the power of music and the flexible conventions of earlyopera, the acknowledgedhistorical"truths" concerning the emperor Nero, the philosopher Seneca, and the poet Lucan were entirelyreconfigured,disguising Tacitus'sunique brand of historiography with a peculiar Incogniti mask. In L'incoronazionedi Poppea,infused with the seductivepower of Monteverdi'smusic and the civic-mindednessof Seicento Venice, morality plays second fiddle to politics, and even Tacitus travels"incognito." The Politics of Pleasure:The Accademiadegli Incogniti The relationshipbetween politics and moralitywas of primaryimportancein mid-seventeenth-centuryVenice, and of particularconcern to the membersof 7. On Venetianhistoriographical debates, see WilliamBouwsma, "Three Types of in Post-Renaissance Historiography Italy,"in his A UsablePast:Essaysin EuropeanCultural andLosAngeles:University of California History(Berkeley Press,1990), 295-307; andGiorgio The Art of Historyin the ItalianCounter-Reformation," in TheLate Spini,"Historiography: ItalianRenaissance, 1525-1630,ed. EricCochrane(NewYork:HarperandRow,1970),91-133. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions TacitusIncognito 43 the AccademiadegliIncogniti.Foundedin 1630 by the writerandVenetian noblemanGiovanniFrancescoLoredano,the Incognitiincludedmanyof the numberof of Venice,as well as a substantial prominentintellectual patricians non-Venetians who wereto playan activerolein thisvibrantliterary-intellectualworld.8The membersof the AccademiadegliIncognitidominatedliterary life in Venicein the middlepart of the century,publishingnumerous of the classicsthatranged histories,poems,letters,plays,novelle,andtravesties fromthe seriousto the seeminglyfrivolous.At the sametime,theyplayeda of theiroftencontroversial prominentrolein Venetianpoliticallife.Regardless literaryworks-manyof whichendedup on the Indexlibrorum prohibitorum -the Incognitiwere ardentpatriots,activein Venetiangovernmentand stronglycommittedto the preservationof the state and perpetuationof Venetianmythology.Operaandoperalibrettoswereamongtheirhobbiesas well, and they quicklyrecognizedthe powerof this new genreto influence audiencesandexpressVenetianpropaganda. The usesto whichthe Incognitiput TacitusandimperialRomein theirexpressionof Venetianmythologyshouldbe understoodfirstof allin the context of Venice'sgradually andpolitically, decliningpower,both economically which resultedin an essentiallyconservativepublicpolicythroughoutthe century.In an effortto protectthe statusquo at all costs, the government ratherthaninnovation,seekingto safeguard not only emphasized preservation Veniceherself,but alsothe Republic'sreputationas an upholderof political truths.The dissemination of numerousVenetianpoliticalandhistoricalwritings in the late sixteenthand earlyseventeenthcenturiesby such writersas GiovanniBotero,PaoloParuta,TraianoBoccalini,and PaoloSarpi(andthe latter'sbrilliantmanagementof the interdict)had earnedthis most famous Europeanrepublicacclaimfor her specialpoliticalwisdom,her disdainof and above all, her pragmatism.9 tyranny,her impenetrability, By the mid Seicento,Venice'sauthorityin matterspoliticalhad begunto fade,although hersuperiorgovernmentanduniquebeautycontinuedto be laudedwithvivid andsuggestiveimagery.Venicewasthe unconquerable maiden-impregnable and invincible,withstandingall attemptsto deflowerher.Busenellohimself refersto his nativecityasthe "Vergine andhisvisionis echoedby regnatrice," such foreignvisitorsas the EnglishmanJamesHowell, who declaredthat Venicewasa "MaidenCity,"both Christianandindependent,"whereofShe 8. On the Venetian academies, see Michele Maylender, Storie delle accademie d'Italia: Dissertazione storica (Bologna: Licinio Cappelli, 1926); Michele Battagia, Delle accademie veneziane:Dissertazionestorica(Venice:Orlandelli,1826). See also Monica Miato, L'Accademia degli Incogniti di Giovan FrancescoLoredano:Venezia,1630-1661 (Florence: Leo S. Olschki, 1998). On the Accademiadegli Incogniti in the context of seventeenth-centurylibertinism,see Giorgio Spini, Ricerca dei libertini: La teoria dell'imposturadelle religioni nel Seicentoitaliano (Rome: EditriceUniversale,1950; rev.ed., Florence:Nuova Italia, 1983), 149-76; see also Gino Benzoni, Venezianell'ett della controriforma(Milan:Mursia,1973). 9. See William Bouwsma, "Venice and the Political Education of Europe" (1973), in A UsablePast,266-91. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 44 Journal of the American Musicological Society Glorieth, and that not undeservedly,above all other States or Kingdomes."'o Ironically,much of this maiden'spuritywas attributedto the virtue and patriotism of her male citizens,who exclusivelydominated this elegantlystructured, aristocraticoligarchy. Howell, for example, observes that while individual Venetianmen contributedgreatlyto their nation's civic superiority,their true power was in theirconcerted efforts: Now, ther[e] are few or none who are greaterPatriottsthan the Venetian Gentlemen,theirprimestudyis publicgood and gloryof theirCountrey,and tradewhereuntotheyarrivein a high mesure; civilprudenceis theirprincipall Yet as it may be easilyobserved,though these Gentlemenare extraordinary takethemsingletheyarebutasotherMen."I wisewhentheyareconjunct, Venice might truly be a woman, but the wonder of her accomplishments,as many commentatorsimplicitlysuggested, was in her political system, which, unlike nearlyevery other government in Europe, banned women from even symbolicexhibitionsof power. The inherent supremacyof this politicalsystem, moreover,was manifestin relation not only to the other nations of Europe, but also to ones long since vanished.It is in this context that the history of the ancients,especiallythat of Tacitus'sRome as featuredin L'incoronazionedi Poppea,played such an important role in Venetianself-promotion.Venetianmythology had long designated The Most Serene Republic as the true heir of Rome's considerable glory--"un'altra Roma all'acque,"as Busenello himself once described.12Yet Rome could also be invoked to proclaimanother truth: that Venice, glorified by her unique form of governmentand thus immune to the many ills that had befallenher reveredpredecessor,was not merely Rome's equal but her superior; she was a bridge between the ancients and the moderns, displaying virtuesassociatedonly with the most noble elements of the Roman legacy.As William Bouwsma writes, Venice, "the embodiment of politicalreason,"was proof positiveto all of Europe that "ancientpoliticalvirtue could find effective expressionin the modern world."'3 But Venice had another reputation with which the Incogniti and all Venetianpatriotshad to contend as well. Foreign visitorssuch as Howell and Thomas Coryat may have praisedthe politicalVenice as an impenetrablevirgin, an ideal state within an increasinglysecularizedEurope, yet the Republic whose maidenhead had remained intact was also renowned for her lack 10. JamesHowell, S.PQ.V A survayof thesignorieof Venice,of heradmiredpolicy,and method ofgovernment... (London: R1Lowndes, 1651), cited in Bouswma, "PoliticalEducation,"280. 11. Howell, Survey,cited in Bouswma, "PoliticalEducation,"279. 12. See Giovanni Francesco Busenello, "All'inclitacitt? di Venezia," in I sonetti morali ed amorosidi Gian FrancescoBusenello,ed. Arthur Livingston (Venice:G. Fabbris, 1911), 20. The complete passagereads as follows: "Dunque, musa, di' pur che invitta nacque, / cinta con pari honor d'allorie d'ostri,/ una Roma allaterra,un'altraall'acque." 13. Bouwsma, "PoliticalEducation,"275. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Tacitus Incognito 45 thereof. Venice the Maid was lauded as the goddess Venus as well, a seductive siren born of the sea. She was the city of carnival,of prostitution,and of gaming, a veritableamusement park for Europe.14Thus, although she remained impervious to foreign occupation, tyranny, and absolutism, like the many courtesansfor which she was so famous,Venicewas applaudedfor her accessibility: she was the ultimate destination for the pleasure seeker, as well as a haven for those whose libertine thinking placed them at odds with the Inquisition. Yet this Janus-facedimage-Venice-Venus/maiden-courtesanwas essentialto the preservationof Venice'spoliticalstructureand socialstability: a seeminglycontradictoryicon that was readilymanipulatedfor a varietyof propagandisticand practicalpurposes. On the one hand, the maiden Venice kept a strong check on its femalepopulation. It was in the name of economic conservatism and pragmatismthat women were excluded from public life, wives kept to their houses, and noble marriageslimited. Female sexualitywas not so much suppressed as controlled, with two venerable institutionsmonacalizationand prostitution-operating as safetyvalvesfor the overflow.1'5 On the other hand, Venice's political wisdom was also apparentin the unmatched personalliberties and opportunitiesfor sexual license she bestowed on her male citizensand visitors;her moralpermissivenesswas even justifiedas an expedientto control the population.16 For the managementof this delicatebalancebetween politics and sexuality, the members of the Accademiadegli Incogniti did not look directlyto either Seneca or Tacitus, but rather to Aristotle and the last of the great line of Aristoteliansat the Universityof Padua, Cesare Cremonini.17Like his predecessors, Cremonini subscribedto a naturalisticbrand of Aristotelianismthat paid little heed to Christiantheological precepts concerning the creation of the world or the power of divine providence.The criticalissue-the one that nearlysealed his doom with the Inquisition-had to do with the mortalityof the soul. In Cremonini'sview, not only were the sensationsof the body necessaryfor the functionsof the soul, but the soul was intrinsicallytied to the body and could not exist without it as an individualentity.' Physicalurges were something to be satisfied,not suppressed,an essentialpart of the combined 14. See, for example, Thomas Coryat, Coryat'sCruditiesHastily GobbledUp in Five Months Travelsin France,Savoy,Italy (London: W. S., 1611), 264: "A most ungodly thing without doubt that there should be so much toleration of such licentiouswantons in so glorious, so potent, so renowned a city." 15. Guido Ruggiero, TheBoundariesof Eros:Sex Crime and Sexualityin RenaissanceVenice (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1985). On the practice of forcing young women into convents in Venice, see FrancescaMedioli, ed., L' "infernoMonacale"di Archangela Tarabotti(Turin:Rosenbergand Sellier,1990), 111-92. 16. Bouwsma, "PoliticalEducation,"283-85. 17. Giorgio Spini emphasizesthe broad influence of Cremonini'sphilosophieson this entire generationof Venetians (Ricercadei libertini, 155). 18. MariaAssunta Det Torre, "La trattazione'De Anima,'" in Studi su CesareCremonini: Cosmologiae logicanel tardoaristotelismopadovano (Padua:Antenore, 1968), 35-49. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 46 Journalof theAmerican Society Musicological workings of mind and body. And since the soul would perish along with the body, there was no need to feardivine retributionfor the sins of the flesh. This approachto sensuality,as we shallsee, is fundamentallyincompatiblewith the precepts of Stoicism preached by Seneca and early modern adherents to Neostoicism, whereby the immortalityof man exists in his reason, and the sensationsof the body are to be controlled by the rationalmind.19 It is no coincidence that Cremonini became the guiding star for an entire generationof Venetiannoblemen, for his teachingsprovidedthe ruling classes with a philosophythat justifiedtheir views regardingpoliticaland sexualmatters: a selective indifferenceto the Church and license to explore one's own sexualpredilections,all in the context of an intellectualtraditionthat had long rationalizedmisogyny. Cremonini's former students in the Accademia degli Incogniti did not necessarilypursue rigorous intellectual inquiries, nor did they contribute substantiallyto the body of political writings for which the preceding generation had been so renowned. Rather, Incogniti writerssuch as poet-librettist Giulio Strozzi, author of the epic poem Venetiaedificata (1624), moved seamlesslyfrom the patrioticto the erotic, and without sacriThis flexibileblend of hedonism and naficing either integrityor credibility.20 tionalismis certainlyapparentin the writingsof the lawyerGiovanniFrancesco Busenello, whose life and works were selected by Arthur Livingston as the ideal representativeof "la vita veneziana"of the era.21In addition to writing five opera librettos, which embroider plots drawn from Ovid, Virgil, Lucan, Plutarch,and Tacitus,Busenello craftedpoems of praisefor his nativecity and extolled her military triumphs in La prospettivadel navale trionfo riportato dalla republica(1656). Numerous poems also expressedthe same unambiguous interestin eroticismand disdainfor hypocriticalmoralizingthat is evident in both Cremonini'sphilosophies and the more eroticallycharged moments of L'incoronazionedi Poppea.22 In Busenello'spoem Lafecondith,for example, 19. See William Bouwsma, "The Faces of Humanism: Stoicism and Augustinianism in RenaissanceThought," in A UsablePast, 19-73. 20. On Strozzi's Venetiaedificataand other writings on the myth of Venice associatedwith the Accademiadegli Incogniti, see Rosand, Operain Seventeenth-Century Venice,128-31. 21. The standardwork on Busenello remains Livingston's La vita veneziana nelle operedi Gian FrancescoBusenello(Venice:Officine graficheV. Callegari,1913). On Busenelloas librettist, see also Paolo Getrevi, Labbra barocche:II libretto d'opera da Busenello a Goldoni (Verona: Essedue, 1987); and especiallyFrancescoDegrada, "Gian FrancescoBusenello e il libretto della Incoronazionedi Poppea,"in Congressointernazionale sul tema Monteverdie il suo tempo,ed. Raffaello Monterosso (Verona:StamperiaValdonega, 1969), 81-108. Busenello's poems, with the exception of those in Livingston'sedition (Isonetti morali ed amorosi), remainunpublished, although many are found in multiple sources. See Livingston, La vita veneziana, appendix 5, 411-39. 22. Busenello's erotic poems were certainlyinspiredby his contact with and support of the works of GiambattistaMarino; see Degrada, "Gian FrancescoBusenello." For a more negative view of Busenello's and Monteverdi'sadherenceto Marinistaestheticsin Monteverdi'sfinal operas, see GaryTomlinson, Monteverdiand theEnd of theRenaissance(Berkeleyand Los Angeles: Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1986). This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions TacitusIncognito 47 Jealousy,Incest, and Sodomy appearas defendantsin the court of Venus,who sits in judgment concerning the variouscauses of injusticein the kingdom of love. La fecondit?(Fertility)complainsabout the ways in which illicitlove and unnaturalpleasureshave blocked naturalreproduction.Venus, however, rules in favor of man's inherent right to sexual gratification,with or without the goal of procreation,and she notes that such activitieshave existed in all times, with the approval of both history and scripture.23Busenello's colleague FerrantePallavicino,author of one of the Tacitisttravestiesdiscussed below, expressedthis philosophywith particularfrankness.Anticipatingthe libertine philosophy and sexual appetiteof Da Ponte's Don Giovanni ("son necessarie pididel pan che mangio"), Pallavicinocomparedthe poisonous consequences of retaining sperm to other basic physical deprivationssuch as hunger and thirst.24 This celebrationof carnalityin poetry,prose, and operain mid-seventeenthcentury Venice thus reconciled politics and sexuality:it allowed for sensual self-expression,while affirming the most conservative tenets of republican government. In this particularversion of the myth of Venice, the public and private,the sensual and the political coexisted in an elegant balance.The repeated celebrationof the full range of pleasuresavailableto the Venetianwas not a sign of corruptionor politicalvulnerability(as might be said of imperial Rome); rather,it served to heighten the Republic'sreputationfor unmatched freedom and political wisdom. For the outside world, the Accademia degli Incogniti provided a vivid demonstrationof Venice's relativeautonomy from such absolute authoritiesas Church and Inquisition. The explorationof the erotic that characterizedso many of their writingswas an open declarationof man's inherent right to the pleasuresof the flesh, for these works-produced by and for men-boldly rejected religious hypocrisyand Stoic deprivation. The domination of the Venetian printing presses by Loredano and the Incogniti, and their frequentflirtationswith the Inquisition,were a highlyvisible advertisementof the many liberties,sexualand otherwise, enjoyed by men fortunate enough to live under this unique form of government. On a more privatelevel, too, the academycreatedfor its members an ideal space for sensual and philosophical self-exploration:a homosocial environment that insisted upon male primacy in private as well as public life. And while such societies existed throughout Italy,only in Venice-ruled exclusivelyby a male oligarchy rather than a court system-could such an organization reflect so closely the body politic. This was the Venetian Republic in miniature:an 23. I-Vmc, MSS Correr 1083, fols. 886-901. See also Livingston, La vita veneziana, 224-25. 24. FerrantePallavicino,La retoricadelleputtane, ed. LauraCoci (Parma:Fondazione Pietro Bembo/Guanda editore, 1992). Pallavicino'smost explicitstatement concerning man's right to sexual pleasureis included in the author'sconfession at the conclusion of the work (pp. 117-30, esp. 120-21). Don Giovanni'scomment on his sexual appetite is made to Leporello in act 2, scene 1. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 48 Journal of the American Musicological Society exclusivelymale sphere, a meeting place in which women were rarelyadmitted, yet one in which, as the survivingdebates attest, the vices, liabilities,and dangerous attractionsof women were among the most populartopics for discussion.25 role. Theywere In sucha climate,womenwere assigneda contradictory fantasies. Yettheirsexof a focus for some-but not objects desire, all--erotic a to was a for the threat maleautonalso distraction patrioticVenetian, uality their in life or activities was and anathema participation public academy omy; This is the was founded. to the veryprinciples which apparent Republic upon in the treatmentaccordedthose few women who managedto penetrate Barbara Strozzi,"adopted"daughter Incogniticircles.The singer-composer of Giulio Strozzi, attendedand even sang at occasionalmeetings of an Incognitisubgroup,the Accademiadegli Unisoni.Thoughpraisedfor her beautyand talent, she was also the subjectof brutalanti-femalesatire.26 Controversyand anti-femalepolemicslikewisemarkedthe literarycareerof the protofeminist nunArcangela who reliedon Incognitisupportin Tarabotti, orderto publishherworks,but who wasoftensharplycriticizedby academicians.Femalespeech,song, andotherformsof self-expression mayhavebeen a sourceof fascination andallure,buttheywereultimately regardedwithdeep This even diatribes. anti-female discourse,it suspicion, inspiringmisogynic must be emphasized,shouldnot be mistakenfor a moralisticinhibitiontowardillicitactivities,motivatedby Neostoicvirtues.Ratherit reflectsVenice's heightenedanxietyaboutwomen'ssexualityand physicalbeauty,as well as theirrhetorical andevenpotentialpoliticalpower,allof whichwereperceived asthreatsto thisRepublicconstructedasa maleentity.27 In the contextof thispervasive anti-female sentiment,desireformaleexcluand disdain for conventional moral strictures, sivity, Incognitiwriterstouched 25. See Discorsi academici de' Signori Incogniti (Venice: Sarzina, 1635); and Giovanni FrancescoLoredano,BizzarrieAcademiche(Venice:ad'istanzadell'Academia,1643). 26. Satire,et altre Raccolteper l'Accademiadegl'Unisoni in casa di Giulio Strozzi(I-Vnm, It. X, Cod. 115 [= 7193]). For a description of a meeting of the Accademia degli Unisoni, an Incogniti subgroupwith musicalinterests,see Vegliaprima de' Signoriacademici Unisonihavuta in Venetiain casa del Signor Giulio Strozzi (Venice: Sarzina, 1638). See also Rosand, "Barbara Strozzi," 241-81. 27. It is this underlyingcontradictionthat Fenlon and Miller have interpretedas "the conflicting demands between privateand public life" (Song of the Soul, 34). This presumablycaused the Incogniti to back away from patrioticinvolvement and embraceNeostoicism, as reflectedin their yearningsfor the inner beauty of the soul as opposed to the outward trappingsof physical beauty.Such a hypothesis,however,not only ignores the repeatedexpressionof patriotismon the partof Incogniti membersbut also overlooksan essentialpart of earlymodern thinkingon gender and sexualitythat was particularlyimportant within the highly masculinizedVenetian Republic (i.e., a cleardifferentiationbetween male and femalevirtuesthat forbadewomen the kind of sexual license permitted men). Indeed, this disdainof women, originatingin the Aristoteliantradition and reinforced by Venetian political structures, coexisted quite comfortably with a heightened interest in the erotic. See Paula Findlen, "Humanism, Politics and Pornographyin Renaissance Italy," in The Invention of Pornography:Obscenityand the Origins of Modernity, 1500-1800, ed. Lynn Hunt (New York:Zone Books, 1996), 49-108. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Tacitus Incognito 49 upon another avenue for sexual fulfillment:the homoerotic, a theme which can be identified in the encounter between Nero (Nerone) and Lucan (Lucano) in L'incoronazionedi Poppea,as will be discussedbelow, in the last section of the essay.28In severalof Busenello'serotic poems, for example, desire between men appearsin the hypotheticalrealmof the deities and allegorical figuresas an idealizedform of sexualself-expression,unmediatedby female interference.Sodomy, as noted above, playeda prominentrole in Lafecondit4 as one of the chief defendantsin Fertility'scharges concerning the displacement of procreativeforms of lovemaking.Busenello returnsto this subjectin such poems as Il rapimento di Ganimede, where Jove's attraction for the young Ganymede inspiresintense jealousy in a shrewishlyconstructed Juno, whose wifely demands were deemed incompatible with Jove's exercise of power and right to pleasure.29In the infamous novel Alcibiadefanciullo a scola, a work actuallycited by Busenello in La fecondit4, academy member Antonio Rocco carriesthis interest in physicalpleasure,religious skepticism, and misogyny to the only possible conclusion:the Greek tutor Filotomo, using a virtuosic display of logic and rhetoric, persuades his young student Alcibiadethat sodomy is the most ideal form of sexualcongress, as it not only produces unmatched pleasure for both partners,but also saves young men from the falsenessof femalevirtue and the horrorsof the femalebody.30 Rocco is particularlyresourcefulin adaptingthis pseudo-platonicversionof male love to suit Venetianconcerns,exploiting all of Cremonini'sspeculations about the mortalityof the soul and the politicaluses of religion, and brilliantly justifying even sodomy within a Christiancontext.31The condemnation of 28. On the use of twentieth-centuryterminologyconcerningsexualrelationsbetween men in the early modern period, see Michael Rocke, ForbiddenFriendships:Homosexualityand Male Culturein RenaissanceFlorence(New Yorkand Oxford: Oxford UniversityPress, 1996), 10-16. Eve KosofskySedgwick'sconcept of "homosocial desire"is particularlyuseful in describingthe ways in which homosocial relationships,ranging between "ideologicalhomophobia" and "ideological homosexuality,"function to maintain and solidify patriarchalsocieties such as Venice's Accademia degli Incogniti (see BetweenMen: English Literature and Male HomosocialDesire [New York:Columbia UniversityPress, 1985], 25-26). Survivinglettersand poems attest to the close relationshipsmaintainedby Incogniti members;nonetheless the interestin same-sex eroticism apparent in Busenello's writings and those of his colleagues seems somewhat closer to Sedgwick's"ideologicalhomosexuality." 29. I-Vmc, MSS Correr1083, fols. 143-48. 30. Antonio Rocco, L'Alcibiadefanciulloa scola (Orange: JuannVvart, 1652 [fict. publ.]), edited with an introductionby LauraCoci (Rome: Salerno, 1988). Alcibiades(born ca. 450 B.c.) was known for both his remarkablebeauty and his dissolute behavior.His life is discussed by Thucydides,Plutarch,and Nepos. Rocco's portrayalof Alcibiadeand Filotomo is a reversalof that found in Plato's Symposium,in which the formerfailsin his efforts to lure Socratesinto a physical relationship. 31. On Antonio Rocco, see LauraCoci's introductionto L'Alcibiadefanciulloa scola,7-34; and Spini, Ricercadei libertini, 161-66. Rocco, a student of Cremonini and a priest and lecturer in philosophyat San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice, publishedseveralessaysin Incogniti collections, including Discorsiacademiciand the Vegliaprima de'Signori academici Unisoni.Coci (p. 31) and Spini (p. 164) cite the substantialfile from the Santo Uffizio(I-Vas,Santo Uffizio Processi, 103) This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 50 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety Sodom and Gomorrah, Filotomo argues, was motivated by political expedience ratherthan any absolutesense of morality.Becausemen often preferboys to women, it has been necessaryto pass legislationagainstthese acts so as to ensure the continuation of the species. But consensual sex should never be prohibited. Since free will is a gift of God, why would God keep us from enjoying the activitiesthat we desire?Filotomo is quite clear about the political significanceof his instructionsfor the proper trainingof the young man. The proposed carnalrelationshipis an essentialpart of the way in which the tutor -older, wiser, and with full virile capacities-prepares the young man to assume his adult role as a citizen of the Republic.32At the same time, Filotomo has something to teach his readers-and, incidentally, the audience for L'incoronazionedi Poppea-about the nature of seduction, the power of the human voice, and the vulnerabilityof the ear,whether in the context of a natural or unnaturalact. The tutor insiststhat his attractionto Alcibiadeis based not only on the young man's beauty, but on the incomparablecharm of his melodious voice, which "in the guise of a siren enchanted the souls with sweetness,not to deprivethem of life but to torment them, alive,with love."33 This is a power that Filotomo (and Antonio Rocco) clearlyunderstood, for it is this ability to penetrate Alcibiade's ear with a compelling and powerful rhetoricthat eventuallygained Filotomo accessto yet anotherorifice. In Filotomo's seduction of the young Alcibiade,Antonio Rocco uses some of the most inflammatoryand graphiclanguage to be found in the Incogniti literature,but the lessons reiteratea familiarmessage that is surprisinglycompatible with even the most conservativeVenetian goals. Sexual fulfillment, even if experienced only abstractlythrough eye or ear, was desirableat all costs. Yetthe suppressionof women in public life and the appropriatechanneling of sexualitywere political ratherthan moral imperatives,essentialfor the properfunctioningof this unique and carefullystructuredgovernment,dominated exclusivelyby men who guardedjealouslyall of the privileges,pleasures, and responsibilitiesthat republicanlibertyoffered. denouncing Rocco not only for his writingson the mortalityof the soul, but also for his controversialviews regardingthe necessityof sexual pleasure(whether obtained in a "natural"or "unnaturalmanner")for receivingGod's grace. 32. On homosexualactivityin Venice, see Ruggiero, TheBoundariesofEros;PatriciaLabalme, "Sodomyand VenetianJusticein the Renaissance,"LegalHistoryReview52 (1984): 217-54; and di giusGabrieleMartini, II "vitionefando"nella Veneziadel Seicento:Aspettisociali e repressione tizia (Rome: Jouvence, 1989). Sexual relationshipsinvolving "active"adult males and "passive" adolescentswere also the most widely practiced--or prosecuted-form of sodomy in earlymodern Italy;see also Rocke, ForbiddenFriendships,89-111. 33. "Mala gioia inestimabiledi questo tesor eral'angelico dellafavella... che a guisa di sirena incantavagl'animi di dolcezza, non per privarlidi vita, ma per tormentarli,vivendo, d'amore" (Rocco, L'Alcibiade,41). Filotomo could also be referringto the potential of Alcibiade'smouth to provideanotherkind of delight. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Tacitus Incognito 51 Tacitisms: The Accademia degli Incogniti and the Uses of Tacitus In the contextof thisvisionof republicanlibertas,Tacitusandhisviewof imperialRome provideda uniqueappealfor the membersof the Accademia degliIncogniti.Thattheywouldhavebeendrawnto him in the firstplaceis forhiswritingswereinordinately popularin muchof certainlynot surprising, in seventeenth centuries.34 the late sixteenth and Yet,it mustbe early Europe no means that there was this anysinglepanby implies emphasized, popularity to of and his the of history view Tacitus understanding applications European andthe present.Thewritingsof Tacitus,morethanthoseof anyotherancient of meaningsandusesby a varietyof popuhistorian,weregivena multiplicity His prosewaspraisedforits brevityandeloquence,andwasparticulations.35 larlyadmiredby those who opposedthe dogmaticapproachand rhetorical excessof the Ciceronians. Taciteanmaximson countlesstopicswere a hallmarkof hisstyle;theywerepublishedin collectionsandservedasthe basisfor As a historian,Tacituswasapplauded(andcriticized)for his commentaries.36 in causesandmotives."He reportednot onlythe eventsthemselves "interests but their underlyingexplanations,exploring(as GirolamoCanininoted) "not only the outwardactions... but also the most secretof thoughts."37 It was this, no doubt, that earnedthe Romanhistorianhis reputationfor for anyhistoskepticismanddistrustof appearances-avaluableprerequisite rianof empirewhere,in the wordsof RonaldSyme,"aveildescends,andthe truthaboutmanymattersof high policy,more or less disguisedat the time, becameimpenetrable to posterity."38 Tacitus'sviewof historyas an examination of hiddenmotivesprovideda modelfor numerousseventeenth-century 34. Peter Burkerecordsover 110 authorswho publishedcommentarieson Tacitusin the seventeenth century alone, with more than half of them appearingin the firstfifty yearsof the century ("A Survey of the Popularityof Ancient Historians, 1450-1700," History and Theory5 [1966], 149). 35. This point was made by Robert Holzer in his review of Songof the Soul,where he noted quite correctlythat in the earlymodern period Tacitismmight more accuratelybe understood as "tacitisms."My thinking on this topic has benefited in countless ways from Holzer's insights, for which I am grateful. 36. Peter Burke, "Tacitism,"in Tacitus,ed. T. A. Dorey (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969), 149-72. Burke regardsthe appreciationof Tacitus'sstyle in the late sixteenth and earlyseventeenthcenturiesas part of a "generalanti-ciceronianmovement," led by Lipsius.This, he observes, was symptomaticof a drive toward a more naturalrhetoricalstyle, associatedwith "scientificideals of clarityand simplicity"("Tacitism,"152-53). On Taciteanmaxims,see Burke, "Popularity,"149-50. 37. Cited in Burke, "Tacitism,"154. Girolamo Canini (d. 1626) translatedTacitus from Spanishinto Italian;numerouseditions of Canini'stranslationswere publishedin Venicethroughout the firsthalf of the seventeenthcentury. 38. Syme, Tacitus(Oxford:ClarendonPress, 1958), 1:398. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 52 Journal of the American Musicological Society historians,most notably Venice's own Paolo Sarpi,whom Peter Burke aptly named the "Tacitusof the Papal-Court."39 Of particular relevance for interpretations (and misinterpretations) of L'incoronazionedi Poppea,however, is Tacitus'sdual role in the earlymodern period as moralistand politician.As a moralist,he did not refrainfrom passing often arbitraryjudgment on the conduct of his historicalsubjects.A number of his most quotable maximsdealt with morality,particularlywith the vices of imperialRome's most memorablewomen and their impacton men of insufficient strength.40Nonetheless, Tacitus's fame as a moral philosopher in the earlymodern period restsprimarilyon his associationwith one of his most articulate historicalsubjects:the Stoic philosopher and imperialtutor Seneca, who plays such a centralrole in L'incoronazionedi Poppea.The moral teachings of Stoicism-the pursuitof virtue, the power of reasonover the body and passions, and the necessity of accepting those things beyond one's control with constancyand patience--offered guidance in times of distressand was a welcome balm for those experiencingthe religiousand civil strifenorth of the Alps. Reconciling Senecan Stoicism with Christianprecepts, Justus Lipsius, and later Montaigne, codified "Neostoicism," and in so doing elevated the importance of Tacitus and Seneca for their political and ethical writings, respectively.41 Lipsiusutilized both Seneca and Tacitusto create a coherent system for the management of public and private life in war-torn northern Europe. Seneca provided the moral substance of Neostoicism, emphasizing the necessity for fortitude, virtue, withdrawal,sublimation of bodily needs, and inner peace in the face of all strife.Tacitus,on the other hand, as Lipsius himselfnoted in his finalyears,was an invaluableguide for anyone in the busi- 39. Burke, "Tacitism."On Paolo Sarpi, see William Bouwsma, Veniceand the Defense of RepublicanLiberty:RenaissanceValuesin theAge of the CounterReformation(Berkeleyand Los Angeles: Universityof CaliforniaPress,1968). 40. There is a substantialliteratureon Tacitus'streatment of women, which is describedas both sympathetic and misogynic. See especially Sandra R. Joshel, "Female Desire and the Discourse of Empire:Tacitus'sMessalina,"Signs21 (1995): 50-82. See also FrancescaSantoro L'Hoir, "Tacitusand Women's Usurpation of Power," Classical World88 (1994): 5-25; and KatherineGilmartinWallace, "Women in Tacitus, 1903-1986," Aufstieg und Niedergang der rdmischenWelt33 (1991): 356-74. 41. On Neostoicism and Lipsius,see MarkMorford, "TaciteanPrudentia and the Doctrine of Justus Lipsius,"in Tacitusand the Tacitean Tradition, ed. T. J. Luce and A. J. Woodman (Princeton:Princeton UniversityPress, 1993), 129-51; and GerhardOestreich, Neostoicismand the EarlyModernState,ed. BrigittaOestreichand H. G. Koenigsberger,trans.David McLintock (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 1982). Oestreich describespreciselythe kind of comfort that Lipsiusprovidedhis contemporariesin northernEurope:"In the triadconstantia,patientia, firmitas (steadfastness,patience, firmness),Lipsiusgave to his age, an age of bloody religious strife,the watchwordfor resistanceagainstthe externalills of the world" (p. 13). Montaigne, similarly,found Tacitus'sdescriptionof the moral failingsand trialsof imperialRome to be curiously appropriatefor seventeenth-centuryFrance, as it seemed "more suited to a disturbed and sick state, as ours is at present;you would often say that it is us he is describingand decrying"(Michel de Montaigne, Essays,3.8; cited in Mellor, Tacitus,146-47). This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions TacitusIncognito 53 ness of government and had much to teach the privatecitizen about ways of coping with politicalupheaval: forgreatpersons,thatis, [Tacitus]is a greatwriterwho is especially appropriate thosewho hold the tillerof the stateor thosewho give adviceandcounselto the helmsman.Whatpartof civilandmilitaryprudence,andwhatemotionsof men (evenconcealed),whatfortunesor eventsdoes he not openlyrevealor showundera veil?... Thereis none amongthe Greeksor Romans,andI will confidentlyassert,therewillneverbe any,who canbe comparedwithTacitusin the gloryearnedby hisprudenceof everysort.42 In Italy,however,Tacitushad alwaysbeen regardedprimarilyas an authority on politics, a persistentfigure in an Italianpoliticaldiscourse,but one that had little to do with Stoic philosophy or moral authority.In the fifteenthcentury, for example, such early political theorists as Leonardo Bruni and even Machiavellihimself were attractedby Tacitus's antimonarchicalobservations and pragmaticapproachto politics.43In the aftermathof the sack of Rome in 1527 and the apparentdefeat of republicanism,Tacitusexperienceda new popularity as the ultimate advisor for those compelled to live under monarchy.44His vivid descriptionof the inner politicalworkings of imperial Rome was seen to provide valuableinstructionfor those operating anywhere in the chain of command, regardlessof their claims to virtue or vice, and to encourage deception by both ruler and subject. This ambivalentposition was neatly summarizedin the sixteenth century by FrancescoGuicciardini,who noted that "CorneliusTacitus is very good at teaching subjects how to live and act prudently, just as he teaches tyrants how to establish tyranny."45 Tacituscould thus be viewed as a threatto the status quo-papal authorityor Spanishrule-at the same time that he was condemned for providinginstructions to despots by those who opposed these regimes.46 As RepublicanVenice replacedFlorenceas the epicenterfor Italianpolitical and historical theorizing in the late sixteenth century, Tacitus came to be 42. Justus Lipsius, "Adlocutio Itera," in C. Cornelii Taciti opera quae exstant (Antwerp, 1607), cited in Morford, "TaciteanPrudentia," 139. 43. Mellor, Tacitus, 139-45. While there is some controversy over the extent to which Machiavellihimselfused Tacitus(Livywas his preferredhistorian),the two authorswere linked in the minds of latercommentatorssuch as GiovanniBotero. 44. Such contradictionsamong earlymodern political commentatorsare undoubtedly a reflection of Tacitus's own ambivalencetoward the Roman Empire. For example, Joshel notes: "When Tacitusrecountsthe history of the earliestgenerationsof the Principateunder Augustus's successorsin the Annals, he does so from the complex point of view of a senator,a member of the ruling class whose actions and speech were constrainedby the power of the princeps,and of a provincial whose very position as a senator depended on the institution of the Principate" ("FemaleDesire," 53). 45. Francesco Guicciardini, Ricordi, in Opere di FrancescoGuicciardini, ed. Emanuella Lugnani Scarano(Turin:Unione Tipografico/Editrice Torinese, 1970), 1:732; cited and translated by Burkein "Tacitism,"163. 46. Mellor, Tacitus,145; Spini, "Historiography,"118-20. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 54 Journalof theAmerican Musicological Society associatednot just with the machinationsof empire, but with all that was political,and in particularwith the controversialpolitics of ragionedi stato (reason of state), whereby any action is deemed justifiableas long as it furthersthe preservationor expansion of the state.47GiovanniBotero, for example, used numerous citations from Tacitus in his influential treatise Dalla ragione di stato(1589), in which he defendsthe historian-and the politicallessons of his writings-from criticswho feared that even the most gifted politiciansworking for the good of the state would be tempted by absolutistideals. Tacitus, Botero claimed,had merely "describedthe arts that Tiberiusemployed to attain and preservehis empire." The "knowledge of the means appropriateto establish,maintain,and enlargea state," he argued, could safelybe left in the hands of a virtuousprince,who possessesjustice,liberality,and prudence,who recognizes the power of self-interestas the motivation for men's actions, and who, above all, maintainshis own reputationand that of the realm.48 For TraianoBoccalini(dubbed by WilliamBouwsmathe "ArtBuchwaldof the Renaissance"),the Taciteanlink with ragione di stato was highly suspect and worthy of satire.49In his infamousRagguagli di Parnaso(Venice, 1613), cast in the form of news accounts from the height of Parnassus,Tacitus and Seneca appearfrequentlyalong with numerous famous ancientsand moderns, neitherearningmuch creditfrom the omniscientApollo. Boccalini'spraisefor Tacitus'spolitics is drapedin irony:he "representsthe pure politician,who by nature is compelled to seek absolute power and measures all things by the standardsof reason of state."50The fallacyof Tacitus'sbrandof politics is amply demonstratedwhen he is calleddown from Parnassusto assumea new role as the princeof Lesbos.51Tacitusmodels his own governmenton those of the greatesttyrants,and under his rule, the secretsof politics can only be learned by princes.He devisesentertainments-comedies and the like-to distractcitizens from the workings of politics and encourage them to ignore their civic duty.52Eventually,Tacitusis drivenfrom Lesbos by a conspiracyand returns 47. See MaurizioViroli, FromPoliticsto Reasonof State (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversity Press, 1992). 48. Giovanni Botero, Dalla ragione di stato, dieci libri: Con tre libri delle cause della grandezza delleCittA(Venice:Gioliti, 1598); cited in Viroli, ReasonofState, 252. On Botero and Boccalini,see also Mellor, Tacitus,144-45. 49. Bouwsma, "Lawyersand EarlyModern Culture,"in A UsablePast, 137; and Bouwsma, "PoliticalEducation,"276-79. 50. Viroli, Reasonof State,258-59. 51. See Boccalini,"CenturiaPrima:RagguaglioXXIX:Cornelio Tacito viene eletto Prencipe di Lesbo; dove essendo andato, vi fece infelicissimariuscita,"in his Ragguagli di Parnasoe Pietra delParagonePolitico,ed. GiuseppeRua (Bari:Gius. Laterza,1934), 1:89-94. Boccaliniclearlyintended that this view of Roman politicsreflect favorablyon Venice, since he juxtaposesthis satirical send-up of the bumblingTacituswith a discourseon the superiorityof Venice'sgovernmentto any other. See Bouwsma, "PoliticalEducation,"273. 52. Boccalini,"RagguaglioXXIX,"92: "In order to eradicateall virtue from the minds of his subjects,he had magnificent,expensivetheatersconstructedin the city,where games, comedies, This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions TacitusIncognito 55 forcedto admithis own vulnerability to the allureof dejectedto Parnassus, is clear about the Tacitus's of Boccalini historiparticularly implications power. cal writings.Apolloand his Censordecideto ban the Annalsand Histories frommortals,for theyare"spectacles" (occhiali)thatrevealto ordinarycitizens the true natureof princesand theirpolitics.If citizenscould trulysee what questionablemeansa princeemploysto ensurethe well-beingof his state,the stateitselfwouldundoubtedlybe threatenedbysedition.53 A generationlater,the membersof the AccademiadegliIncognitireadily adaptedBoccalini'scynicalview of the politicalTacitusto accommodatethe and self-interest that characterized peculiarmix of libertinism,conservatism, Venetianpublicpolicyat midcentury. In some respects,thiswas a naturalalliance.Tacitus'sassociationwith seriouspoliticaltheorizingand conflicting of hiswritingsanairof respectability and pointsof viewlentanyappropriation a certainelusiveness thatwasconsistentwithVenice'sreputationfor bothpoliticalwisdomand chameleon-like Moreover,his oftennegative pragmatism. on imperialwomen resonatedstronglywith the Incogniti pronouncements treatmentof otherwomenof mythandhistory,who wereoftencitedin supportof one or anotheranti-female position.Nonetheless,theiruse of Tacitus differedconsiderablyfrom that of their Italianpredecessorsor northern Europeanneighbors.Incognitiauthorsshowedlittle interestin publishing translations of or commentaries on Tacitus.UnlikeBotero,theydidnot mine him for politicaltheories,andunlikeBoccalini,theydid not servehim up as the objectof satire.Nor weretheyinspiredto commendhis exemplarymen, suchas Germanicus or the doomedBritannicus, the heroof a near-contemporule by focusing Instead,theypraisedrepublican raryplayby JeanRacine.54 theirTacitus-like of ragionedi stato,asexemplispectacleson the mechanisms fiedin a Taciteannarrative involvingtwo of Rome'smostnotoriouswomen, MessalinaandAgrippina the Younger.Beginningin the yearA.D.49 andconcludingaroundA.D.59, this historyalsoincludedthe earlierportionsof the affair(seeTable1).55 Nero-Poppaea hunting matches, and other diverting entertainmentswere continuallypresented, so that by excess use of these the nobility would abandon their ancient concern with public matters and thoughts of militaryexercises"("di modo che per totalmentefino all'ultimaradicelevarogni virtit dall'animodei suoi sudditi,nellacitt? realecon spese immense fece fabbricarteatri,dove perpetuamente si rappresentavanogiuochi, commedie, e cacce e altre cose dilettevoli,per l'uso soverchio dei quali li popolo e la nobilit? abbandon6 l'anticacura delle cose pubbliche e pensiero degli il esercizi militari").Here, Boccalini is undoubtedly hinting at Tacitus's own portrayalof Nero, which linked artisticactivitiesto inattentionto empireand moraldegeneracy. 53. Viroli, Reasonof State,260-61. 54. Racine,Britannicus(Paris:C. Barbin,1670). 55. For the varioussources on Agrippinathe Younger, see Anthony A. Barrett,Agrippina: Sex,Power,and Politicsin theEarlyEmpire(New Haven, Conn.: YaleUniversityPress, 1996). This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Table 1 Chronology of SignificantRoman Events (A.D.41-65) with Incogniti Treatmentsof Tacitu Year Event 41 47 48 Exile of Seneca Nero and Agrippinaarrivein Rome Messalina,wife of Emperor Claudius,celebratespublic marriage with GaiusSilius and is put to death ClaudiusmarriesAgrippinathe Younger;Seneca is recalledfrom exile to tutor Nero Agrippinanamed "Augusta";Nero adopted by Claudius Nero marriesOctavia,daughter of Messalinaand Claudius 49 50 53 54 58 59 60 62 63 64 65 Death of Claudius(possiblypoisoned by Agrippina);Nero ascends to the throne Poppaea becomes mistress of Nero; birth of Tacitus Death of Agrippina,possibly afterattempted incest with Nero Lucan begins Pharsalia Seneca retires;Octavia exiled, killed; Nero marries Poppaea Lucan banned from speakingpublicly or publishing his works Lucancompletes Pharsalia Pisonianconspiracy;death of Seneca and Lucan This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Novelle Zaguri, La Messalina (1656) Zaguri, Legelosie politiche,& amorose (1657) TacitusIncognito 57 dedicatedto the founderof the Incogniti, FrancescoPona'sLa Messalina, Loredano,initiatedthe processof linkingbadempirewithfemalesexuality.56 PonafollowsTacitus'sversionof the story,in whichthe bumblingandinept Claudiusis unawareof Messalina's manyinfidelities.Yethe alsoplumbsthe otherhistorical sources-Juvenal,Suetonius,andDio Cassius-formorelurid detailsandintegratesgraphicdepictionsof Messalina's sexualadventures with clearwarningsregardingherpoliticalliabilities. WhilePona'sfascination with the eroticwaslikelyintendedto arousemorethanindignationin his readers, he is nonethelessunequivocalaboutthe politicalconsequenceof Messalina's most horrificdeed:herunconscionable publicmarriageto GaiusSiliuswhile stillwed to the emperorClaudius,an act thatthreatenedthe stabilityof governmentandsociety. The dire consequencesof femaleinterferencein government,however, couldbe moreexpedientlydemonstrated acby a Romanwomanuniversally knowledgedas a masterpolitician.In 1642, just priorto the premiereof L'incoronazione di Poppea,FerrantePallavicino and FedericoMalipieroeach followedPona'sexampleby publishinga novellaon the exploitsof Claudius's subsequentwife,Agrippinathe Younger,the motherof Nero. Theirstrategy wassimple:usingTacitusastheirprimarysource,theydescribedthe entirehisriseto powerand eventualmurderby her son Nero (intory of Agrippina's cluding the earlyportions of the Nero-Poppaeatale), emphasizingand her crimesthroughadroitinterpolations, whileminimizingand exaggerating evenomittingthe nefariousdeedsof othermembersof the court.57 mostfundamental sins,bothauthorspointout, wereherambiAgrippina's tion and lust for power-qualities as dangerousin women as they are admirablein men. Both authorsdescribean emasculatedClaudiuswith a feminizedheart,"littlesuitedto governance,andthe victimof a "completely sensual powerful appetitethatleft him utterlyvulnerableto the "thundering Yet,once marriedto Claudius,Malipierotells raysof herfemininebeauty."8" 56. On Pona, see Giorgio Fulco, "Introduzione,"in La Lucerna,by FrancescoPona (Rome: Salerno, 1973). A Veronese doctor and reputedlya "strictdisciple"of Cesare Cremonini, Pona gained enormous notoriety in Venice (and popularityamong the writerswho would eventually define themselves as the Accademia degli Incogniti) after the publication of his La Lucerna (Venice, 1628). While he spent much of his laterlife distancinghimselffrom La Lucerna,his immediate reactionto his new-found famewas to dedicatehis next work, La Messalina,to Loredano and to declarepubliclyhis devotion to Christianityand the Church. On Pona's Messalinaand her subsequent construction as an opera heroine, see Heller, "Chastity, Heroism, and Allure," 424-62. 57. On FerrantePallavicino,see Spini, Ricercadei libertini;and LauraCoci, "Introduzione," in La retoricadelleputtane, by Pallavicino.The latter includes an extensive bibliography(pp. cvi-cxix). Ellen Rosand was the first to note the similarities between the subject matter of Malipiero'snovelleand Monteverdi'sfinaloperas("Seneca"). 58. Malipiero,L'imperatriceambiziosa,25 ("un cuore tutto effeminato");and Pallavicino,Le due Agrippine,294 ("li raggi di feminile bellezza"). In yet another amplificationof Tacitus'stext, MalipieropresentsClaudiusas one in a long line of ill-fatedheroes who aredestroyedby beautiful women. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 58 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety us, Agrippina "left off her feminine weakness, and dressed her soul with masculine and virile thoughts."59 In this charge their guide was Tacitus, who himself had constructed Agrippina as masculine, thus distinguishing her from the more sexually voracious Messalina.6? Malipiero, however, is far more explicit about the political consequences of Agrippina's politics and policies: But in the end things done illicitlyserve no purpose except to ruin equalityand to corrupt the best habits of the Republic, because one who has used an indirect road to the throne cannot rule justly.Thus, with the mantle of marriage covering every one of Agrippina'slibidinous acts, she made herself an Iole to Claudius, depositing him (one could say) among the maidservantswith the distaff; and, taking the scepter away from him, with the first wielding, she demonstratedfor Rome a new form of governing. She regulated all things, all mattersof state, but not with the goal of lasciviousness,as with Messalina(who disdained the Roman Empire in order to live in decadence), but transformed feminine habitsinto masculineones with an ambitiousseverity,holding dominion not only over public concerns, but rigidlyruled the servants[freedmen] of the home, and proudly allowed herselfto be seen in the Fora, being in all other areasof her life an example of chastity,not ever making use of truly lascivious actions unless she found it necessaryin order to dominate.61 The unexpected and (perhaps) unconscious reference to republic in this passage ostensibly concerned with empire reveals something of Malipiero's real concerns. In Venice, individual power was carefully guarded and regulated through the structure of the republic, and any appropriation of it was perceived as a threat to the proper workings of government.62 Yet, in a society so 59. "Assicuratasi intantoquestagrandonnadel matrimonio del Principe,cominci6;(deposte le debolezzedonnesche)vestirsil'animode' pensierimaschi,e virili"(Malipiero,L'imperatrice ambiziosa, 30-31). 60. Tacitus,Annals,12.7;translations fromTacitus,AnnalsofImperialRome,trans.Michael Grant(London:Penguin,1956): "Fromthismomentthe countrywastransformed. Complete obediencewasaccordedto a woman--andnot a womanlikeMessalina who toyedwithnational affairsto satisfyher appetites.This was a rigorous,almostmasculinedespotism.In public, wasaustereandoftenarrogant.Her privatelifewaschaste-unlesspowerwasto be Agrippina gained." 61. "Main fine le cose illecitamente fattenon servono,che a rovinadell'equith,e a corruzionedegl'ottimicostumidelleRepubliche dominare,chipervie perchenonpubgiustamente indiretteascendeal trono. Cosi dunque copertaco'l manto di matrimonioogni libidine fattasiellaunaIole sopraClaudio,lo consign6(percosi dire)trale ancellecon la d'Agrippina, lo scettro,di primolanciofece provara Romauna novella connocchia,ed'essaprendendone formadi governo.Costeituttele coseregevatuttele materiedi statoordinava non giacon finedi lascivia comefeceMessalina; chesprezz6(perlussureggiare) l'imperoRomano,macon'unaseverit? ambiziosamutatili donneschicostumiin virili,teneva'ldominionon solo soprale publiche a Libertidi casa,e spessevoltesuperbamente lasciavasi vederene' cure,marigidamente imperava di castit6,non avvalendosi maidi tratto Fori,essendonellealtrecose dellavitasuaun'essempio verunolascivo,se non quantole eraispedienteper dominare"(Malipiero,L'imperatrice ambiziosa,52-53). 62. Veniceregarded herselfasinvulnerable to theillsthatbesetancientRome,in partbecause she had a politicalsystemdesignedto preventanyindividualfrom attainingexcessivepower This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Tacitus Incognito 59 accustomedto the complete exclusion of women from politicallife, what was most outrageousabout Agrippina'snovellaformadigovernowas the mutation of "femininecustoms into masculineones." Agrippinaruled bothin public and in the home, dressingherselfin the clothes of the emperorand sitting next to him at court.63In "all things imperial,soul, clothing, and domination," she presented herself as the equal of the emperor.64At the same time, it was Agrippina'ssuperiorpoliticalacumen-regardless of her gender-that placed her in the midst of the same contentious Venetian discourse on Tacitus and ragione di stato that had so engaged Boccalini'swit. Malipiero,for example, praisesher as "the most exquisite politician of her age," yet he claims that her fame was won "in the guise of a siren."65That she should also have been blamed for an incestuous relationshipwith Nero--likely intended to distract him from Poppaea-only magnified her political and sexual danger. Indeed, Nero's full recognition of Agrippina'sevils was praised by Incogniti writers, despite the fact that this led him to the even more heinous crime of matricide. Agrippina'sdeath on Nero's orders-by a blow to the womb-was a particularlyvivid means of wrenching empire out from under female control and an acknowledgmentthat Agrippinabore fall responsibilityfor Nero's sins as well as her own.66 In the decade following the publicationsof the Pallavicinoand Malipiero novelleand the firstperformancesof L'incoronazionedi Poppea,the association of this generation of Julio-Claudianswith ragione di stato is made still more explicit in a set of two plays by Pietro Angelo Zaguri. The first of these, La Messalina(1656), like Pona's Messalina,is dedicated to the founder of the Incogniti, Loredano. It focuses primarilyon Messalina'sadultery and illegal through improper channels. In Boccalini, a gentleman argues before the personification of Venetian Liberty that Venice's superiorityto Rome could be found in her system of conferring nobility,not by "skipsand leaps"but by gradations,and that anyone aspiringto high office must begin in youth from the lowliest of positions ("CenturiaPrima:RagguaglioV: La contesa nata tra molti letterati,quale nellafloridissimarepublicadi Vinegia siala pill preclaralegge politica ... ," in his Ragguagli di Parnaso,21-31). 63. "Appenaella entr6 nel palagio di Cesare,che la primanotte, che si coric6 nel letto nuziale (per dire secondo'l proverbio)si vesti con gl'abitidell'Imperadore"(Malipiero,L'imperatriceambiziosa,31). 64. "Bastaper6, ch'Agrippinainaffiatadi superbiain tutte le cose piil imperiali,d'animo, di vestimenti,e di dominio" (ibid., 87). 65. Ibid., 56 ("Ellaerala piuiisquisitapoliticadel suo secolo") and 64 ("che guisa di sirena"). 66. While Tacitusis reluctantto trust the variousreportson Agrippina'sincestuous activities, not dismissingthe possibilityof Nero's guilt (Annals, 14.2), Malipieroand Pallavicinonot only blameAgrippinaexclusively,but praisethe young emperorfor his rejectionand (implicitly)eventual murderof his mother. Malipiero,for example, attributesthe following remarksto Nero: "Io h6 una Madre terribilein ogni azione, e falsain'ogni trattamento,Madre che per oggetto d'ogni sua azione ha il solo proprio interesse,e che per dominare distruggerebbela stessa figliuolanza" (L'imperatriceambiziosa,131-32). In this, Malipieronotes, Nero demonstrates"greatsense and sensibility." This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 60 Journal of the American Musicological Society "marriage"to Gaius Silius, and concludes tragicallywith her death. The second, Legelosiepolitiche,& amorose(1657), begins afterthe death of Messalina and the marriage of Claudius to Agrippina. It deals with the anticipated marriageof Octaviaand Nero, and the variouspoliticalmachinationsenacted either to preventor to encouragethe union. As Zaguriindicatesin the preface to Legelosie,these playswere intended to form part of a trilogy,with the final play focusing on some aspect of Nero's cruelties and his love for Poppaea. Regrettably,this third playwas never published,and perhapsit was never even written.67 The two surviving Zaguri plays nonetheless representan important final stage in the encounter between the Accademia degli Incogniti and Tacitus, forming something of a hybrid between L'incoronazionedi Poppeaand the Tacististtravestiesof Pona, Malipiero,and Pallavicino,in which the Incogniti political ideologies could be explored without the constraintsof continuous music, yet with the selectiveappropriationof historyjustifiedby operaticconvention. Undoubtedly, these plays are closely related to operatic entertainments. Indistinguishablefrom librettos in terms of their printedformat, they are among the relativelyfew prose plays to have survivedin the nearlycomplete collections of Venetianlibrettosat the BibliotecaMarcianain Venice and the Universityof Californiaat Los Angeles.68Like librettos,they areorganized in three acts, and though writtenprimarilyin prose, they do containprologues in versiscioltiand occasional canzonettetexts that were likely sung.69Zaguri, who had also tried his hand at libretto composition, was far less hesitantthan either Pallavicinoor Malipieroto embroiderhistory for the sake of his drama. He not only exaggeratedthe crimes of his women, but created Tacitean-like subplots that exploitedmany of opera'salreadyubiquitousconventions:eavesdropping characters,interceptedlove letters, sleep scenes, laments, and comic servants. Zaguri's plays present the most unremittingly cynical vision of Tacitean court politics, where the scepter is wielded by the least competent, where power is up for grabsby the most ruthless,where one man's ragionedi statois another man's treason, and where women (in this case, Agrippina) are the chief political operatives.The numerous subplots, deceptions, and manipulations inserted by Zaguri into the Tacitean outline vividly demonstrate the mechanisms of ragione di stato whereby Agrippinacan ensure the death of Messalina,securethe marriagebetween Nero and Octavia,and deny the virtuous Britannicus(who himselfplots Nero's murder)his rightfulposition as heir to the throne. (All of this has unfortunaterepercussionsfor the courtierswho, 67. "Attendidi vedere con il proseguimentodell'Historiala crudelthdi Nerone per gl'Amori di Pop[p]ea in un Dramasecondo il tuo genio" (Zaguri, "A chi legge," in Legelosie[pp. 7-8]). 68. Irene Aim, Catalog of Venetian Librettosat the University of California (Berkeley: Universityof CaliforniaPress, 1993). 69. Legelosiepolitiche,& amorose,in particular,seems to have been elaboratelyproduced.The libretto calls for intermediand balli, and even mentions a set designer, despite the fact that the work was apparentlyproduced at a privatetheater,the CasaSanudo. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Tacitus Incognito 61 likeOttonein Busenello'slibretto,areoftenplacedin the uncomfortable position of beingaskedto commitone or anothermurder.)Agrippina,listedin as "aspirante the cast of characters all'Impero,"becomesthe chiefpolitical philosopher.In a seriesof speechesscatteredthroughoutthe two plays, in orderto commonplaces AgrippinaadaptsTaciteanaswellas Machiavellian in of monarchical necessities the context various murders as political justify forexample,beginswithAgrippina's rule.The firstsceneof La Messalina, unambiguouspronouncementsconcerningabsolutistpower: "Be bold, my heart,since the securityof a governmentwill waverif it fearsthe laws of conscience.The Princerecognizesno one but himself.His authorityappears mutilatedif his forcedoes not breakthe barriers thatwouldrestrainhis own satisfactions. "70 In Legelosie Agrippina goes on to redefinethe volatile politiche,c&amorose, natureof justiceforthe absoluteruler.Theoft-citedTacitean"suspicion of apis here as a to deceive courtiers-a pearances" acknowledged weapon guileless stunningdefeatforrepublican government: Theactionsof Princes do not succumb to thejudgment of subjects who,for themostpart,remain fooledbyappearances. in her Justiceholdsthebalance in herrighthandshebrandishes lefthand,easyto waver; thesword.Sheholds forcein greater esteemthanthedeliberation of justice..... ThePrinceknows no superior andhisdesireislaw.71 exceptcaprice, Priorto orderinganothermurder,Agrippinaarguesforpunishmentrather thancompassion.Once again,politicsarecalledupon as a meansof creating illusionsforcourtiers,andeven"reason"itselfis placedin oppositionto "reason of state": Unpunishedsins stir up new errors.The greatercrimeis often committed throughabsolutionratherthanpunishment.And evenwhen the sentenceappearsunjust,one callsuponpoliticsin ordernot to appearoverlycompassionate andthusinexpert.The artof rulingshouldnot be trappedin the gridsof reason.All of the linesof a well-stabilized empirecan be reducedto this sole point.72 70. "Ardire,mio Cuore, che vacilla la sicurezza di quel governo, che teme le leggi della Coscienza. II Principenon riconosce, che se stesso. Darebbe inditio di mutilataautorit?,se le sue forze non rompesserogli argini,che trattengono le propriecompiacenze"(Zaguri,La Messalina, act 1, sc. 1 [p. 2]). 71. "L'attioni de Prencipi non soccombono al giuditio de sudditi, che per lo pid restano delusi dall'apparenze.La Giustiziatiene le Bilancienella sinistrafacile a vacillare,nella destraimbrandisceil ferro. Fapid stima della forza, che dellaponderationedell'Equit .... II Prencipenon riconosceper superioreche il capriccio,e il suo desiderioper legge" (Zaguri,Legelosie,act 1, sc. 3 [pp. 27-28]). 72. "I Peccatiimpunitifomentano nuovi errori.Maggior delitto si commette tal volta nell'assolutione che nel castigo. E quando anche la sentenza appariscaingiusta,per non publicarsiappassionato, 6 inesperto cosi, richiedela Politica. L'Arte di regnarenon s'inviluppatrI puntigli della ragione. Tutte le linee d'un ben stabilitoimpero si riducono a questo solo punto" (ibid., act 2, sc. 5 [p. 64]). This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 62 Journalof theAmerican Society Musicological There is but one dissentingvoice that falls completely outside Agrippina's influence. As in L'incoronazionedi Poppea,where the pageboy provides the most explicit rejection of Seneca's philosophies, the servantNino is the only characterendowed with those Tacitist "spectacles"that allow him to discern the truth about empire and politicalmachinations,as he adroitlypuns on the double meaningsof the words corteand cortegiano. In conclusion,he who comparedthe courtto the seabecauseof itsinstability is he who callsit a scenefroma playthateasilychangesperspective not mistaken; tellsthe truth.I, however,believecourtto be an asylumforallthe majorevils, whereone studiesnothingin particular exceptthrowingtruthdownfromthe thronein orderto crowndeceptionand adulationas theirlegitimatekings. One considersin thisregardthe nameof Cortegiano, andseesthatit contains withinitselfGiano[Janus],whichmeansthatto succeedin courtyou mustbe andhe who wishesto liveonlya few [corte] double-facedanddouble-hearted; hoursandhavelittle[corte]tranquillity, let him cometo court[corte],whereit is not necessaryto haveshort[corte]legs,andwhereallthingsareshort[corte] exceptforhope.73 An overwhelming sense of the inevitabilityof historicaldestiny pervades the Zaguri plays. Driven by a political machineryand guided by fate, Agrippina will succeed and Nero will become emperor.Only a dramaticconvention familiarfrom contemporaryopera has the power to freeze the progressof history: the concluding love scene. In clearcontradictionto Tacitusand history, and with a strikingbow to L'incoronazionedi Poppea,the play concludeswith the happy marriagebetween Nero and Octavia that will eventually be destroyed by Nero's murderous impulses. Just as Busenello and Monteverdi conclude their opera with the Poppea-Nerone love duet, Zaguri ends Le gelosie with a disquieting lietofine, permissiblein the world of drama, but doomed in real life, where the story ends with the exile and murder of Octavia. Agrippina, Seneca, and L'incoronazione di Poppea Unfortunately,Pietro Zaguriappearsnot to have fulfilledhis promise to write a third play dealing with Nero's love for Poppaea, and we will never know how he conceived of this final episode in the trilogy. Perhaps, emulating 73. "In somma chi paragon6la Corte ad'un mareper la sua instabilitY,non prese errore;Chi la chiam6 una Scena, che facilmentemuta prospetto, disseil vero. Io perb stimo, che sii un asilo di tutte le maggiorisceleratezze,dove particolarmentead'altronon si studia, che aprecipitardal solio la verit?per incoronarvi,come loro legitimi R, I'inganno,e l'adulatione.S'osserviin gratiail nome di Cortegiano, e vedasi, che rinchiudein se quello di Giano, per dinotarciche per riuscirin Corte vi vuol doppia faccia,e doppio cuore; E chi bramaviver di sua quiete, e di sua vita l'hora corte, venghi in Corte, dove non bisogna haver le gambe corte; E dove tutte le cose sono corte fuor che le speranze"(Zaguri,La Messalina,act 2, sc. 9 [pp. 65-66]). This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Tacitus Incognito 63 Busenello'slibretto, this play also would have ended happilywith Nero in the armsof Poppaea.Or, as in La Messalina,Zagurimight have envisionedthis final episode as tragedy,concluding his trilogywith the death of Octavia,Agrippina, or even Poppaea. But even without a concluding episode, the Zaguri plays (along with the other Incogniti travestiesof Tacitus)revealmuch about the historian'srole in seventeenth-centuryVenice, and the intellectualand social circle that produced L'incoronazionedi Poppea.In their recastingof the rise and fallof Agrippinaand the events leading up to the Nero-Poppaeaaffair, the Venetians demonstrated the ways in which Tacitus's vision of empire united all that was contrary to republicanvalues: the threat of female rule, men's susceptibilityto feminine beauty, the gaining of power through improper channels, and the controversialpolitics of ragionedi stato,where selfinterestand self-promotionwere the basictools of an absolutistruler. While Agrippinaherselfnever appearsin L'incoronazionedi Poppea,she remains an indispensableelement in its background.As a well-known symbol in Venetianpolitical discourse on Tacitus, she is of primaryimportance for understandingthe complex relationshipbetween sexualityand politics that the operaexplores.On the most basiclevel, Agrippinaprovidedthe model for one importanttransformationof history enacted by the Incogniti: the highly critical representationof female power, ambition, and sexualitythat is characteristic of nearlyall the women in the opera. Ottavia,unlikeher innocent historical model, was readilyadapted so as to inherit Agrippina'sknack for vengeance and manipulation.Drusilla,with her heartysexual appetite and her eagerness to conspirein the murderof Poppea, also demonstratesfamilialtraits.74Even Poppea's nurse, Arnalta,provides at the opera's climax a stunningly satirical commentaryon female ambition.75 Most striking,of course, is the characterizationof Poppea herself.As describedby Tacitusand reconstructedby Incogniti writers,she was the embodiment of negative views about women, combining Agrippina'sambitionwith Messalina'sdisruptive sexual appeal. Ferrante Pallavicino,for example, had describedher in his novella Le due Agrippineas a woman who possessed no genuine virtue, who "lived according to the most fundamentallaws of the 74. Fenlon and Miller suggest that Drusillawas inspiredby a characterof the same name in Ariosto's Orlandofurioso,a woman who was particularlyrenowned for her constancy(Song of the Soul,42-43). This is, in fact, a centralelement of their thesispostulatingDrusillaas the true heroine of the opera due to her adherenceto the Neostoic virtueof constantia,which was presumably endorsed by the Incogniti. Drusilla,however, was also the daughter of Agrippinathe Elder and Germanicus,and sisterof Agrippinathe Younger (mother of Nero) as well a favoriteincestuous playmateof the emperor Caligula.This connection surelywould have been obvious to those familiarwith the Roman sources (Suetonius, Lifeof Calgula, 4.24). 75. Arnaltasings the following in act 3, scene 7, directlybefore Poppea'scoronation:"Today Poppea will be Empressof Rome. I who am her nursewill rise to the highest ranks.No no, I will not degrademyselfamong the common people" ("Hoggi saraPoppea / di Roma Imperatrice./ Io che son sua nutrice,/ ascender6delle grandezzei gradi:/ N6 n6 col volgo, io non m'abbasso pi5"). This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 64 Journalof theAmerican Musicological Society prostitutes," never loving unless it could satisfy some greed.76 His characteri- zation of her here might well have been the blueprintfor her subsequentrepresentationin L'incoronazionedi Poppea: Shewaslasciviousbut with suchartthatby presentingthe lusterof purityshe madeher wantonnessseeminglyless abominable.She livedin a retiringway; andif sometimesshewent out in publicshe suppressed herdissoluteness from thosewho sawherby keepingherfacehalf-covered, withapparentmodesty.In thisway,by not permittinglovers'glancesto gainsatisfaction, sheincitedtheir appetiteto searchher out wheretheycouldenjoyseeinghermorefreely.The lovelyscenethatwasherfacewasgreatlyenhancedbythatcurtain,andthe curiosityof the spectatorsgavethemthe hope of viewingthe beginningof that wasrevealedto them.77 delightfulcomedyoncethe fullperspective And he concludes this descriptionof Poppaea'sphysicalcharmsby praising the power of her speech: She did not open her mouthwithouthavingestablished with alluringappearance eithera most gracioussmileor the dictionof most amorouswords.In short, from the doors of the senses,she did not allow anything-gestures, speech,or charms-to escapethat would not ensurethe captureof Nero's soul.78 In Pallavicino'stransformationof Tacitus,Poppaea'sface is the stage, and the veil is the curtain that hides the proscenium, arousing, in the best Baroque fashion, both curiosityand wonder. Her veil conceals-and makestemptingnot only her face, but also her mouth, the source of female speech and male pleasure.Like Pallavicino,Monteverdiand Busenellopresent a new versionof the equation between woman and bad empire, for the political and sexual power wielded by Agrippinaare, in this formulation,transferredto Poppaea and embodied in her gestures,her manner,and, most significantly,her voice. Less obvious for the understandingof this particularIncogniti transformation of Tacitus, however, is the way in which Agrippina'sghost hovers over Seneca, revealingmuch about the philosopher'sdubious claimsto moral authority.This conflation of Agrippinaand Seneca is made possible by one of Busenello's most significantmanipulationsof history:the rearrangementand 76. Pallavicino,Le dueAgrippine,420 ("le pidifondate leggi delle meretrice"). 77. "Fu lassiva,ma con tal'arte,che dimonstrandoin apparenzail lustro dellapudicitia,faceva meno abominevolile sue libidini.Viveva ritirata,e se tal'horauscivain publico, tenendo il volto mezo coperto, sospendevacon apparentemodestiala dissolutezzadi chi la vagheggiava.Col non permetterein tal guisa che si satiasserogli sguardide gli amanti,promuoveval'appetitoal cercarla, ove pid libero fosse il goderne la vista.La vaga scena di quel viso, accreditavasimaggiormentecon quellacortina,e tormentandola curiosithde gli spettatori,davaloro speranzad'havereil principio d'un dilettevolecomedia, quando fosse loro concesso di mirarela prospettiva"(ibid., 418). 78. "Non aprivasila bocca, che con lusinghieroapparatogia non havessestabilitoqual fosse la forma d'una pidigratiososorriso,6 quale la dettaturadi piuiamorosaparola.Dalle porte insomma de' sensi, non faceasortitaalcuna,con gesti, con parole,o con vezzi, che non s'assicurassedi captivarel'animadi Nerone" (ibid., 424). This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Tacitus Incognito Table 2 65 Rearrangementof Chronology in L'incoronazionedi Poppea Year Event 58 59 65 62 58 Beginning of Nero's affairwith Poppaea [Death of Agrippinaeliminated] Death of Seneca Exile (and death) of Octavia Transferof Otho to Lusitania compressionof the chronology.By reorderinga seriesof disparateeventsfrom the years 58-65, so that they occur in close proximity,he is able to eliminate Agrippinacompletely from his libretto. In this retelling of history,Agrippina and her objectionsto the proposed marriagebetween Nero and Poppaeahave no significance, and the difficult issue of matricide is completely avoided. Instead, Seneca assumesthe role as the sole obstacle to the marriage,and it is his suicide-a full three yearsearlierthan provided for by history-that allows Nero to fulfillhis desires(see Table2). Busenello may well have decided to confer this particularrole on Seneca in order to differentiatehis libretto from the writingsof his Incogniti colleagues in 1642, or even to limit the weight alreadyaccordedthe anti-femalediscourse in this work. Nonetheless, the importanceof this particulartransformationof historycannot be overestimated,for it lies at the heartof the apparentamorality long associatedwith L'incoronazionedi Poppea.The centralissue has to do with the relative lack of moral authority with which both Agrippina and Seneca oppose Nero and Poppaea, and the extent to which their objections are based almost exclusivelyon political considerations.Tacitus'sAgrippina did not object to the Nero-Poppaea affair out of any concern for Nero's virtue; indeed, it was her jealousy of Poppaea's growing political power that (presumably)drove her to far more dubious behavior:the attempted seduction of Nero. (Malipieroand Pallavicino,we recall,certainlypreferredNero to his mother, regardlessof his many failings.)At the same time, the historicalreports provide only marginalevidence for Seneca'ssuperiorclaimsto morality. Dio Cassiusoffers the most criticalview of Seneca, accusinghim of hypocrisy, greed, and various sexual indiscretions, and commenting that "while denouncing tyranny,he was making himself the teacher of the tyrant."He even accusesSenecaof having a taste for "boys past theirprime, a practicewhich he also taught Nero to follow,"and hints at a possible affairbetween Seneca and Agrippina.79Tacitus,while somewhat less vehement in his criticismsof Seneca, nonetheless leavesno doubt that Seneca's few objections to Nero's sexualexploits, including the relationshipwith Poppaea,were based on politicalrather 79. Dio Cassius,Roman History,Epitomeof Book61, 10.1-4; translationsfrom CassiusDio Cocceianus, Dio's Roman History, trans. Ernest Cary, on the basis of the version of Herbert BaldwinFoster (Cambridge:HarvardUniversityPress, 1955). On Agrippina'spossibleaffairwith Seneca, see Barrett,Agrippina, 107. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 66 Journal of the American Musicological Society than moral considerations.Indeed, it was Seneca'spersonalcharismathat allowed him to maintain close ties with such emperors as Caligulaand Nero, and to behavein a mannerthat often seemed to contradicthis teachings.80 Modern commentators,eager to justifythe opera'sseeminglyamoralconclusion, have regarded the expansion of Seneca's role as evidence of the philosopher'ssuperiorvirtue or of Venetianadherenceto some form of Stoic Yet our examination philosophyin the context of earlymodern Christianity.8' of the Incogniti writings, and particularlythe travestiesof Tacitus,suggests a ratherdifferent conclusion. As noted earlier,the Incogniti views on the primacy of naturalinstinct, the mortalityof the soul, and man's right to sexual gratificationstand in direct opposition to Stoic and Neostoic philosophies. Notably, no editions of Seneca arelinked to the group, despite the widespread involvementof the Incogniti in publishing,and no commentarieson or translations of the essayson moralityor politics were published in Venice prior to 1643.82 Yet the most strikingevidence of the attitude toward Seneca can be found in the opera itself. Monteverdi and Busenello provide a vivid demonstrationof the insufficienciesof Seneca's brandof philosophy:with a remarkable show of insensitivityand lack of perception, Seneca urges the rejected Ottavia to embrace her misfortune and thank heaven for the blows that will only serve to increaseher purity,nobility,and virtue (act 1, scene 6): la Fortuna, Givethanksto fortune, Ringrazia Che con i colpisuoi Thatwithherblows Ti crescegl'ornamenti. Increases yourornaments. Lacote non percossa The flintthatis not stricken Non pubmandarfaville; Cannotproducesparksof fire; Tu daldestincolpita Butyou,woundedbydestiny, Producia te medesimaaltisplendori Yourself producethe highestvirtues Di vigor,di fortezza, Of strength,of vigor, Gloriemaggioriassai,chela bellezza. Gloriesmoreprizedthanbeauty. 80. On the inconsistenciesbetween words and deed in Seneca'smoral and politicalwritings, see VasilyRudich, Dissidenceand Literature Under Nero: ThePrice of Rhetoricization(London and New York:Routledge, 1997), 17-106. 81. Fenlon and Millernote the many criticismsof Senecaoffered in the historicalsources,but argue that "the actualoperaticcharacteris the embodiment of neostoic philosophy,whose words and deeds arecompletelyconsonant" (Songof theSoul,47). This interpretationdifferssignificantly from that offered by Rosand, who sees a disjunctionbetween Busenello'sironic tone, associated with Incogniti thought, and Monteverdi'smore empatheticsetting of Seneca'sdeath ("Seneca"). 82. Francesco Baba's 1643 Latin edition of Seneca was preceded in seventeenth-century Venice only by a publicationof Seneca'stragedies.I-Vas,Arti, busta166, fol. 31r contains Baba's applicationfor the privilegeto publish the works of Seneca and Tacitus in October of 1641 to compensatefor their lack of availability.Baba'sclaimswould appearto have some merit. A survey of publicationsof Seneca between the years1600 and 1640 revealseditions publishedin Antwerp, Lyons, Geneva, London, Paris,Madrid, Billaume,and Rouen, while the only Venetianpublication of any Seneca during that period was of the tragedies. I am gratefulto Robert Holzer for sharingthis document with me. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Tacitus Incognito 67 is Seneca'sonlyopportunity withinthe opera This,it mustbe emphasized, to demonstrate the efficacyof Stoicismforthe alleviation of suffering,and--as the pageboytrenchantly remarks--hefailsutterly.We havealreadynoted the extent to which Stoicism conflictedwith Incogniti views on sensuality. Monteverdimakesthatpointstillclearer.Senecafailsto persuadeor comfort Ottavianot onlybecauseof the apparentfutilityof his arguments,but alsoby his utterinabilityto musterhisfamedrhetorical powersin the serviceof a coherentoration(see Ex. 1). Suchblatantcontrivances as the melismaon the word "faville"(mm. 39-43), the syncopationson "colpita"(mm. 44-47), andthe ascentillustrating "Glorie"(m. 52) seemmorelikeacademicexercises in madrigalesque imitation.This catalogof musicaldevicesdissuadesrather thanpersuades,distracting the listenerfromthe intentionof the speechas a whole andraisingsuspicionsnot only aboutSeneca'soratorybut alsoabout the validityof his philosophical stance.The meaninglessness and inappropriatenessof suchgesturesis particularly in the apparent absurdlylong melisma in measures54-57, placed on the article"la"ratherthan on the noun "bellezza."Seneca,obliviousto the natureof beauty,is an incompetent rhetorician andmusician.Unableto coordinatewordandsound,he is thusan unlikelyheroforanoperabyMonteverdi.83 83. Susan McClary links Seneca's impotence and passivityin the opera with these "silly madrigalisms"that "destroy the rhetoricaleffect of most of his statements"("Constructionsof Genderin Monteverdi'sDramaticMusic,"in her FeminineEndings:Music,Gender,and Sexuality [Minnesotaand Oxford:Universityof MinnesotaPress, 1991], 49). Indeed, Monteverdi'ssetting of this passage(as well as the pageboy's subsequent comments about Seneca's "golden maxims" as "mere inventions") is strikinglysimilarto Quintilian'scriticismsof the "corruptstyle" in the Institutionesoratoriae(12.10.73) associatedwith Seneca: "[It] exults in the license of words or runs riot with childish epigrams ... or swells with unrestrainedpomposity or rages with empty commonplacesor glitterswith ornamentationthat will fall to the ground if lightly shaken,or regardsextravaganceas sublimityor ravesunder the pretext of free speech" (cited and translatedby William J. Dominik in "The Style Is the Man: Seneca, Tacitus and Quintilian's Canon," in Roman Eloquence:Rhetoricin Societyand Literature,ed. WilliamJ. Dominik [London and New York:Routledge, 1997], 55). Notably, Quintilian'scomments are also reminiscentof Tomlinson's criticismsof the "fragmentary"musical speech typical of Monteverdi's late style: "a discourse in which individualwords and images tend to be singled out by abruptchanges of style in the music setting them" as opposed to the "seamless emotional evolution characteristicof Ariadne'slament" (Monteverdiand the End of the Renaissance,218-19). In this instance, however, I would suggest that Monteverdi understood precisely how to translate this "corrupt" rhetoricalstyle into music in order to demonstrateSeneca'sapparentinabilityto persuadehis followers or feel any genuine empathyfor Ottavia.Fenlon and Miller,on the other hand, interpret Seneca's problems with self-expressionas evidence of Ottavia'slack of philosophicalsophistication: "In this context Seneca's long virtuosic melisma on the word 'bellezza' is not merely an adaption of a madrigalesqueconvention, but is also deeply ironic. That irony consists of the fact that while the concept of beautyis dramaticallyillustratedthrough a form of directrepresentation, namely sudden elaboratevocal ornamentationdeliveredin a largelysyllabicambiance,it actually comes from the mouth of Seneca who is busilyengaged in attackingits significance.For Seneca, as with the Incogniti, the beauty of the soul is one with the entire body and with the purpose of beauty, a condition that is clearlynot met by Ottavia"(Song of the Soul, 64-65). The curiosity here, however,has to do with Seneca'sinappropriateplacementof the melismaon the article"la." It is indeed hardto fathom preciselyhow Seneca'sinept rhetoricreflectsnegativelyon Ottavia. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Journal of the American Musicological Society 68 Example 1 Monteverdi, L'incoronazionedi Poppea (I-Vnm, It. IV 439 [= 9963]), act 1, scene 6, mm. 20-58 (fols. 28r-29v) 20 Seneca w - Rin- Che con icol- - pi gra- i zia, rin- col- gra- pi zia la For- tu- na, suo- i Ti 29 non per- cos- sa, Non pui man- dar, non puT man-dar 39 fa- vil- 42 r196 - le. tu dal des- tin col- pi- This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ta, dal Tacitus Incognito 69 Example 1 continued 46 1 I de-stin col-pi- ta, Pro- du- te me-des- ma al- ti splen- ci.a I I ' 50 do- ri Di vi - gor, gio- rias- sai che di for- tez- za, rie mag- Glo- la 56 bel- lez- za. An importantclueasto the politicalbondunitingSenecaandAgrippina in L'incoronazione di Poppeacan be foundin yet anotherdramatictreatmentof imperialRome:the Octavia,a tragedylong attributedto Senecahimself,and certainlyBusenello'smodel for a dramaticrenditionof the Nero-Poppaea Believedto havebeenwrittenby anothermemberof Nero'sliterary story.84 circlein the aftermathof his death,the Octaviapresentsa view of imperial RomethatpredatesTacitusandis thusoutsidehis directinfluence.The play featureslittleof the chronological of Busenello'slibretto,for it manipulation dealswith eventssecurelyassociatedwith the yearA.D.62: the marriageof 84. On the relationshipbetween L'incoronazionedi Poppeaand the Octavia, see Rosand, "Seneca,"43. Busenello'smost overt borrowingfrom the Octaviais the scene between Nero and Seneca, in which the tutor tries to dissuadeNero from banishingOctaviaand marryingPoppaea. Fenlon and Miller dismiss the relationshipbetween these works due to the "one-dimensional" characterizationsof Octaviaand Poppaeathat "makeit inconceivablethat Busenello could have relied on it for his descriptionsof these centralcharacters"(Songof the Soul, 10). For an opposing view, see Holzer's reviewof Songofthe Soul,80. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 70 Journalof the American Society Musicological Nero and Poppaea, opposed by Seneca, and the divorce and eventualmurder of Octavia.The author also expandsor invents elements not found in Tacitus or Busenello, including the monologues of a guilt-ridden Poppaea and the ghost of Agrippina(d. 59), who condemns Nero for his many crimes against Rome. Not only was the author apparentlyan admirerof Seneca, modeling his own play afterSeneca'stragedies,but he made Seneca both a centralcharacter and the primaryadversaryto the fulfillmentof Nero's desires.This not only made for a tidy dramatic structure (a fact that likely did not escape Busenello's notice), it also had political implications.Octavia'stragedy provided the backdropfor a brutal condemnation of empire far less ambiguous than that provided by Tacitushimself.85 As J. P. Sullivannotes in his study of the literatureof Nero's court, the Octaviais be understood as a "politicaldocument," specifically"a diatribeagainstNero" that "risksdramaticimplausibility and even tedium in cataloguing his crimes of cruelty,tyranny,vengeance, and sexualpassion, however dispersedthe narrationis among the differentactors in the drama."86Thus, the confrontation between Nero and Seneca, which Busenellolateremulatedin his opera (act 1, scene 7), is presentedas the conflict between empire and republic,with Seneca taking on the role of the Roman people and senate against the power of the principate. (This was scarcely a role that could have been undertaken by Agrippina, who had worked assiduouslyduring her reign to weaken the senate and consolidateimperial power.) Seneca's opposition to Nero's relationshipwith Poppaea also had to do with his concern with the sanctityof marriageand Octavia'swifely virtues ("A wife's fidelity,honor, purity and goodness should be all her husband's joy"). Most important, however, Seneca argued that Nero should relinquish his illicit bond with Poppaeabecause it was an offense to the Roman people and theirlaw: Seneca: The scruplesandabhorrence of thepeople Willgivethatbondno countenance; Nor doesthe lawof sanctitypermitit. Nero:Am I forbiddento do whatallmaydo? Seneca: Fromhighrankhighexampleis expected. (Octavia,572-75) The anxiety about female power that was to become so central in the Incogniti travestiesreceivesrelativelylittle mention in the Octavia.Becauseof the necessityof vilifyingNero, the anonymousauthortreatsPoppaea,Octavia, and even the deceasedMessalinawith considerablymore charitythan they receive in Monteverdi'sopera or in any of the Incogniti travesties.Octaviais entirely sympathetic, attempting no vengeful acts on her own behalf. Even Poppaea has support from the people, and her conscience is far more active 85. J. P. Sullivan,Literatureand Politicsin theAge of Nero (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1985), 60-73. 86. Ibid., 71. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions TacitusIncognito 71 than it is in Tacitus or Busenello's libretto. Agrippinais relegated to ghostly focuson primarily monologuesthat,althoughtheyreferto hermanyvillainies, Nero's crimesand the day when he will "paywith his poisoned life" and "bow his head beneath his enemy's sword." L'incoronazionedi Poppeacertainlyborrowselements of its dramaticstructure from the Octavia. Their political messages, however, are entirely differ- ent. In Poppea,the treatmentof womenandempireis completelyconsistent with that in other Incogniti adaptations of Tacitus. Nerone is scarcely the opera's sole villain. He faces serious competition from Poppea and at least some challenge from Ottavia, Drusilla, and Ottone, all of whom indulge in various amorous and political machinationsto achieve their respectivegoals. Indeed, Nerone's generous behavior toward Ottone and Drusilla reflects rathermore on his virtue than theirs.87Surprisingly,this Nerone is endowed with some sense of princelymagnanimityand justice. More important, the operatic Seneca is scarcelya stalwartdefender of either republicanismor wifelyvirtue.While Busenello may have imitatedthe dialogue between Nero and Seneca in the Octavia,the ideological implications of this encounter are profoundlydifferent.88Busenello'sSeneca begins somewhat conventionally, arguing for reason over passion: "Emotion is an evil advisorthat despiseslaws and disdainsreason" ("Consiglierscelleratoil sentimento / Ch'odio le leggi e la ragion disprezza").Yet, unlike his counterpart, he is completely silent on the subject of Ottavia:he makesno mention of her name, offers no defense of her virtue, and shows no concern about the sanctity of marriage.Nor can Seneca'swarningto Nerone that he may "annoythe senate and the people" be construed as any but the feeblest gesture towardrepublicanism.Indeed, this Seneca'strue politics are clarifiedin his penultimate speech to Nerone (act 1, scene 9): Sianoinnocentii Regi, sol di colpeillustri; O s'aggravino S'innocenzasi perde, Perdassisol perguadagnare i Regni, Cheil peccatocommesso Peraggrandir l'Impero Si assolvedase stesso; Rulersshouldbe guiltless Orguiltyonlyof illustrious wrongs; Innocenceshouldbe impaired Onlyforconqueringrealms, Forthe sincommitted To extendan empire Absolvesitself; 87. Fenlon and Milleruse Nerone's magnanimityin orderto present Drusillaas a representative of Neostoic constantia and thus establish her as the opera's heroine (Song of the Soul). Drusilla,however, is scarcelyan unambiguous representativeof virtue:she conspiresin a plot to kill Poppea and openly enjoysphysicalpleasurewith Ottone (despite the fact that he is marriedto another.) Moreover, Nerone's commendation of Drusilla's"costanza"to Ottone has an important qualifier-she is to be an example to hersex (emphasisadded). Given the cleardifferentiation between male and femalevirtuesin Incogniti writings,it is highly improbablethat Drusillawould have been held up as a model of behaviorfor the virtuousmale. 88. See Rosand, "Seneca." This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 72 Journalof theAmerican Society Musicological Macheunafemminella habbia possanza Di condurtiaglierrori, Non e colpadi Rege,e Semideo, E un misfattoplebeo. Butwhena hussyis able To leadyou into error, Sucha wrongis not worthyof a PrinceandDemigod, Butis a plebiancrime. The view of empire suggested here is no less than an endorsement of ragione di stato.Seneca'sposition could not be clearer:guilt or innocence, right or wrong is determinednot by the nature of the crime itself, but ratherby its politicalconsequences.Any sin committed in the name of empireis thus justified, and had Nerone ignored the senate and banished or killed Ottavia to benefit Rome, there would have been no objections offered.89But Nerone's sin is much greater,as Seneca's finalwords to him indicate. For by using the derogatory "femminella"-scarcelya dignifiedchoice for so famous an orator -Seneca condemns Nerone for a cardinalsin that necessarilycripplesempire: vulnerabilityto the power of a woman. It scarcelymattersthat Busenello uses Senecaratherthan Agrippinain this scene, for the messageabout women, empire, and ragione di stato is reiteratedthroughout the Incogniti travestiesof Tacitus. In this context, Monteverdi'sidiosyncraticsetting of Seneca's advice to Ottaviaseems all the more appropriate:the political necessityof ensuring that she will accepther lot with nobilityand silenceis in no smallpart basedon her gender-as is her lack of willingness to do so. When Nerone dismisses Seneca only to lose himselfin the admirationof Poppea'sbreastsin the following scene, it is apparentthat Seneca'sphilosophicalteachingsfalterin the face of eroticism and pleasure.Indeed, it is not surprisingthat at his most heroic moment-his death-Seneca is firstmourned movingly by followerswho, like the members of the Accademiadegli Incogniti, repeatedlyreject his philosophy of withdrawaland abstinencewith joyful song.90In this construction of 89. On Seneca'spolitics as representedin the opera, see also John Bokina, Operaand Politics: FromMonteverdito Henze (New Haven, Conn.: YaleUniversityPress, 1997), 32-40. 90. For complementaryreadings of Seneca's representationin the opera, see Carter, "ReReading Poppea";Ketterer,"Neoplatonic Light"; and Robert Ketterer,"Militat omnis amans: Ovidian Elegy in L'incoronazionedi Poppea,"Journal of the International Societyfor the Classical Tradition4 (1998): 381-95. Both Carterand Kettererinvoke differingaspectsof the classicaltradition to supporta nonseriousview of Seneca. Carterquestions the "emotionalveracity"of "Non morir, Seneca," comparing it to the somewhat frivolous "madrigaleamoroso" in Monteverdi's EighthBookofMadrigals,"Non partir,ritrosetta."Carter'sinvocationof Lucien and the paradoxical encomia as a source of the opera's ironic tone is certainlycompatiblewith the Incogniti perspective. Kettererfinds irony in the inversion of Neoplatonic imagery and the influence of the Ovidian elegy. Rosand notes the ambiguityin the music of Seneca's followers:"Seneca'ssuicide had very specialresonance,particularlyin the context of his earliercharacterizationas an ambiguous mixtureof the lascivious,mercenary,pedanticsophist and the ascetic,moralproponent of reason againstpassion. It is an ambiguityintensifiedby the ambivalentreactionof Seneca'sfollowers to the prospect of his death-their lamentationall too soon giving way to dissociationfrom the act and renunciationof the tenets of stoicism"("Iro and the Interpretationof Il ritornod'Ulissein patria,"Journal of Musicology7 [ 1989]: 159). This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Tacitus Incognito 73 the politicalSeneca,there is little persuasiveendorsementof the Neostoic moralprogram,as arguedby FenlonandMiller,or supportof the republican cause that one findsin the Octavia. "Hor che Seneca e morto": Lucan, the Republic, and the Art of Song With the death of Seneca and the apparentdefeat of Senecan morality and politics, the final episode of the Tacitist narrative explored in the other Incogniti writingsis set in motion: Nerone, free to fulfillhis desires,banishes (and eventuallymurders)Ottavia;and Poppea, protected by love and empowered by her voice, realizesher Agrippinianambition and becomes empress.As in the other Incogniti treatmentsof Tacitus,bad empire and imperialpolitics are linked to female sexuality. Only the troubling moral void of imperial Rome, with its scarcityof worthy heroes and heroines, appearsto remain. It is into this ethical vacuum-the immediate aftermathof Seneca's death -that Busenello and Monteverdichoose to place what is perhapsthis opera's boldest and most scandalousdistortionof history:a scene that unites all of the most important themes explored in the writings of the Accademia degli Incogniti and, at the same time, demonstratesthe power of music to contradict the historicalrecord and construct alternativemoral and ethicallessons of the past. Nerone appearswith anothercourt writer,Lucano (the poet Lucan), a hedonistic counterpartto his uncle Seneca. Notably, his rhetoric has a far greater influence on the young emperor. The two men rejoice in Seneca's death, exulting in Nerone's desire and Poppea's beauty,and transgressingthe hazy boundariesof operaticverisimilitudewith actualsong. These are the first twenty-two lines of act 2, scene 6 as they appearin the 1656 libretto:91 91. This discussionis based on the music and text as they appearin the Venice score (I-Vnm, It. IV 439 [= 9963]) and Busenello'slibrettoprintedin Delle horeociose(1656); the versiontransmitted in the Naples score (I-Nc, Rari6.4.1) contains, in a differenthand, additionalmusic and text for two other membersof Nero's court, Tigellinusand Petronius.While this extramusic was likelynot composed by Monteverdi, Busenello did include the dialogue involvingTigellinusand Petroniusin the only printedversionof the librettopublishedunder his own supervisionas partof Dellehoreociose.For a modern edition that collatesthe Naples and Venetianmanuscripts,and for a discussionof the authenticityissues, see Monteverdi, L'incoronazionedi Poppea,ed. Alan Curtis (London: Novello, 1990); and Curtis, "La PoppeaImpasticciataor, Who Wrote the Music to L'incoronazionedi Poppea(1643)?" this Journal 43 (1989): 23-54. On tonal allegory and authenticityin Poppea,see Eric Chafe, Monteverdi'sTonalLanguage (New York:Schirmer,1992), 289-308. On the various versions of the libretto, see also Paolo Fabbri, "New Sources for Poppea,"Musicand Letters74 (1993): 16-23. It would appearthat the "earliest"versionsof the scene included only Lucan and Nero. Petroniusand Tigellinus are not mentioned in the printed scenarioof the opera (Venice:Pinelli, 1643), nor do they appearin the newly discoveredUdine libretto (La coronationedi Poppea,Udine, Biblioteca Comunale, 55), which Fabbrisuggests may have been copied from a score (p. 23), as opposed to the "literarytradition"transmittedby Busenello's publishedtext in the 1656 Venetianlibretto and the other survivingmanuscriptlibrettos. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 74 Society Musicological Journalof theAmerican Nerone: Hor che Senecae morto Cantiam,cantiamLucano Amorosecanzoni In lode d'unbelviso, Chidi suamanoamornel corm'hi inciso. Nero: Now thatSenecais dead Letus sing,Lucan,let us sing Amoroussongs In praiseof thatbeautifulface, Whichlove'sown handhasengraved in myheart. Lucano: Cantiam,Signor,cantiamo Di quelvisoridente, Chespiraglorie,& influisceamori, Di quelvisobeato In cuil'Ideamigliorse stessapose, E seppesdile nevi Con novamaraviglia, la granatiglia. Animar,incarnar Lucan: Letus sing,Sir,let us sing Of thatlaughingface, Thatinspiresgloryandcausesloves; Of thatblessedface In whichthe bestideaalights, Andcolorsthe snowywhiteness Withnewglory, To animateandembodythe passion flower. Nerone: Cantiamdi quella bocca, Nero: Let us sing of that mouth A cuil'India,e l'Arabia To whichIndiaandArabia Le perle consacrb,don6 gli odori. Bestowed their pearlsand gave their Bocca, ahi destin, che se ragiona, 6 ride, Con invisibilarme punge, e all'alma Dona felicita,mentre l'uccide. Mouth, ah destiny,that if speaking and laughing, Woundswith invisibleweapons, And gives joy to the soul while killing Bocca, che se mi porge Mouth, that when it seductively offers me Its tender redness perfumes. it. Lasciveggiandoil tenero rubino M'inebriail cordi nettareDivino. withdivinenectar. Inebriates Despite the repeated mention of singing, Busenello organizes his text in three discretespeeches and caststhem in straightforwardversisciolti,the standard poetry for speech, with no specificindicationsto the composer for lyric expansion or duetting. First, Nerone reports the death of Seneca, invites Lucano to sing with him, and suppliesthe subject:Poppea'sbeautyand allure. Second, Lucano echoes Nerone's praise of Poppea's beauty. And third, Nerone elaborateson this idea. After lauding Poppea's face, he then-invoking a familiartrope on Poppea explored by Pallavicinoin the passage cited above--comments on the danger of Poppea's mouth, which both pleasures and killsthe soul (see Ex. 2). This is the most shocking scene of the entire opera. The finality of the philosopher'sdeath is acknowledgedby a celebrationof sensualitymanifestin the act of singing. Yet, while Busenello's text is suggestive, it is Monteverdi who exploits the latent eroticism in the dialogue between Lucano and This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Tacitus Incognito Example 2 75 Monteverdi,L'incoronazionedi Poppea,act 2, scene 5, mm. 1-33 (fols. 62r-63r) Nerone Or Lucano che Se- ne-cu mor- Can- tiam, to, can- 3 tiam Lu- ca - can- no, tiam, Can- tiam, can- tiam, 5 7 can-tiam Lu- ca- no . 7 . ... s . .. A- mo- a-z-n se can- zo- ro. n1-edu ni In lo-de . . sCed blv- d'un bel . vi- .sop u anA so, Che di sua ma-no A- This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 76 Journal of the American Musicological Society Example 2 continued 12 A ---------~ mor nel cor, nel cor, nel cor, nel cor 15 m'ha in-ci- so. Can- tiam, can- tiam, Lucano Can- tiam, can- tiam, si- gno - re, 18 can- tra- 2d -mo Di quel vi- so ri-den- te, ri- den- -mo Di quel vi- so ri-den- te, ri- den- This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Tacitus Incognito 77 Example 2 continued 22 - te, Che spi- ra -te, rie, glo- 24 P t, Che L ' spi- ra w- It rie, glo- che # ed rie, glo- rie, glo- [, ,v spi- ra rie, glo- # 26 I J II i- sce, in- flu- glo- rie, in- flu- i- scea-mo- che spi- ra ri, che spi- ra rie, glo- glo- rie, glo- i- sceea mo- ri, i- scea mo- ri, che spi- ra rie, ed 28 rie,ed in- flu- glo- in- flu- i- sce, in- flu- che glo- This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions spi- ra rie, 78 Journalof theAmerican Society Musicological 2 continued Example 30 rie, glo- ed rie, glo- in- flu- i- sce, in- flu- . che spi- ra rie, glo- rieced in- flu- i- sce, glo- 32 i- ri a- mo- ri; in- flu- i- sce-a-mo- ri; can- tiam, sce.a-mo- can-tiam, Nerone, alteringthe text (as he does so often in this and other works) almost beyond recognition.92In Monteverdi'srecompositionof Busenello'slibretto, Lucano must bear the responsibilityfor the most salaciouselements of the scene; he is transformedby the composer from a perfect courtier-a flattering yes-man who jovially mimics imperial heterosexual desire-into a veritable source of erotic stimuli. From the outset, Monteverdi contrives for Nerone and Lucano to share far more than their pleasurein Poppea; they also trade off much of the text that Busenello had assignedindividually.The imperative "cantiamo,"with which each speech begins, is transformedinto a sort of refrainaroundwhich the entirepassageis organizedand given literalrepresentation in the form of the duet between the two young men. Although Nerone is the first to sing, it is Lucano who more often than not leads the emperor, even supplying the burst of coloratura illustrating the word "cantiamo" that Nerone eagerlyadaptsin his solo exaltationof Poppea'scharms.In mea92. See, for example, Rosand, "Iro and the Interpretation,"141-64. Notably, all of the surviving librettos feature this same distribution of the Nerone-Lucano speeches, except for the aforementionedUdine libretto,which follows the organizationin the score. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions TacitusIncognito 79 sure16, Lucanojoinsin, andsingingtheirwaythroughLucano'sentiretext aswellasthe firstthreelinesof Nerone'ssecondspeech,the two companions imitateeachotherclosely,echoingcadencesat the fifth,comingtogetherfor intensitywithathgenuineparallelduetting,matchingeachother'sincreasing the twinpleasuresof songandsexuality. leticvigor,andacknowledging andunWiththe cadenceat measure73 (seeEx. 3), the boyishenthusiasm qualifiedpraiseof Poppeacometo an abrupthalt,asdo allvestigesof convena new,slower tionalvirtuosicdisplay. Alwaysthe instigator,Lucanoestablishes pace and deftlyaimsNerone'sattentionat the imageof Poppea'smouth. Mesmerized,the youngemperoris arousedalmostto the pointof speechlessover a descendingtetraness, as he repeatsthe word "bocca"hypnotically chordbetweenC andG (mm. 78-81). Thusstrandedin midphrase, Nerone is leftin agoniesof anticipated pleasure,asLucanonot onlytakesoverthe enthe tetratirespeechoriginallydesignatedforNerone,but alsocommandeers chord,compellingit to movebetweenG andD, the dominant(mm.81-84). with its inherentlackof resoluHere,the insistentmotionof the tetrachord, Lucanoention, surelyservesas a musicalequivalentfor eroticstimulation.93 couragesNeronein the pursuitof pleasure,alertinghimto the dangersof the femalemouth,all the whiledemonstrating his considerable rhetoricalskillas he progressesfrom largelysyllabicsingingto increasinglyextravagantand floridvocalism.Throughoutthis passage(mm. 81-122), Nerone is completelyin Lucano'spower,still frozen,punctuatingeach repetitionof the tetrachord with a high-pitched,syncopatedmoanon d' andthe cry"ahidestino"thatascendsstepwiseto g' beforeresolvingdownstepwiseon f#' to coincidewiththe arrival of the basson D (mm.92, 100, 112, 122). The destiny to whichNeronerefersis surelynot only thatdeterminedby historyor the willof the gods. Lucano'sacceleration to quarternotesandfinalascentto the high g' (mm. 113-15) seemto propelNeroneto stillgreaterexcitement:for thesefinaltwo statementsof the tetrachord (mm. 113-22), Nerone'scriesoccurwithgreaterregularity, markingthe tetrachord's midpointaswellasits descent (mm. 114, 118). As Lucano reachesthe goal of the speech-the inebriating powerof the "divinenectar"-he ceasesabruptlyin the midstof the penultimatenote of the tetrachord, an E now expandedto fillthreemeasures(mm. 119-21). Thusstimulatedby Lucano,Neroneis left to finishby 93. On Monteverdi'suse of the minor descending tetrachordfor laments, see Ellen Rosand, "The Descending Tetrachord:Emblem of Lament," Musical Quarterly 65 (1979): 346-58. Rosand observesthe waysin which "frustrationof expectation"and the resulting"heighteningof tension" served Monteverdi and others so well in the craftingof laments (p. 349); this was no doubt equallysuitablefor the representationof sexual arousal,perhapsanother form of lamentation. See also ReinhardMiiller, "Bassoostinato und die 'imitationedel Parlare'in Monteverdi's Incoronazionedi Poppea,"Archivfiir Musikwissenschaft 40 (1983), 17-18. Miiller arguesthat the ostinato servesas a "rhythmicallyneutralbasis"over which Monteverdican then createspeech appropriatefor drunken characters.This interpretation,however, takes no account of the highly controlled and calculatedmannerin which Lucano directsNerone toward the climax. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 80 Journal of the American Musicological Society Example 3 Monteverdi,L'incoronazionedi Poppea,act 2, scene 5, mm. 66-122 (fols. 64r-65r) 66 * Nerone . can- tiam Lucano can- 68 di quel- la boc- ca, A cui tiam Irn di quel- la - - boc- ca, A cui -R= 70 l'In - dia el'A- ra- bia Le per- 'In - dia el'A- ra- bia Le per- A 72 •:- - •'ve ke le do- crb le con- sa- cr do- II?jI ..I.'_ _ ,IT, - nb glio- do- ri nb do- ri glio- con- sa- Boc- Boc- ca This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions ca I . Tacitus Incognito 81 Example 3 continued 78 boc- ca, boc- ca boc- ca boc- ca boc- ca, boc- ca, na ri che 83 Ahi se ra- gio- na se ra- gio- o 88 Ahi Ahi Con in- vi- de, si- bil ahi des- tin ar- me pun- ge, e- all' al- 94 Ahi -ma Do- na fe- li- ci- ta This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions men- 82 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety Example3 continued 98 A- hi des - tin r tre ci- 1'uc- de. Boc- ca boc- ca, che se mi 103 Ahi por- ge La- sci- veg- gian- 106 Ahi j 1WIj &1 -do- I il 109 Ahi te- ne- ro te- des- ne- ro ru- tin bi- This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions no M'i- Tacitus Incognito 83 Example 3 continued 113 Ahi ne- 115 A Ahi Ahi briai ne- briail cor di net- ta- re, net- tar- re 119 Ahi net- ta- re di- vi- Ahi Ahi des- ti- no no himself, and with one final drawn-out seriesof cries--"ahi, ahi, ahi destino," gaspingand pulsatingon the upper G-he finallyarrivesat the cadence.94 This is no ordinarytreatmentof a ground bass. Monteverdi'sunexpected prolongationof the dominant for the penultimatenote of the tetrachordsupporting Nerone's feverish,syncopatedcriescreatesan unmistakableeffect: anticipatingmodern musicalprocedures,Monteverdihas provided Nerone and Lucano with the musical representationof a sexual climax. Moreover, this is 94. EricChafe callsattention to the peculiarityof this passage,noting that this scene is "in my opinion the most erotic composition in Monteverdi's oeuvre." He also observes that Lucano's sudden turn to D minor in the subsequentpassage(ratherthan a returnto G major)has the effect of "cooling" Nerone's passion (Monteverdi'sTonal Language, 304-5). Indeed, by this point Nerone seems to have no need for furtherstimulation. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 84 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety the only instancein the operawherea systematicintensification of tensionis thus followedby an ecstaticrelease.The love duets betweenNerone and or anticPoppeaor DamigellaandValetto,ladenastheyarewithremembered ipatederoticpleasure,featureno such gradualbuildupto a point of arrival Monteverdihasmarkedthe deathof suggestiveof actualsexualgratification. of maleintimacy,in whichhe celebrates Senecawitha uniquedemonstration the sensualin a homosocial-if not blatantlyhomoerotic-worldwhilesimultaneouslyprovidingsubtlewarningsaboutthe dangerof femalesexuality. For membersof the AccademiadegliIncogniti,alreadyfamiliar with such eroticizedclassicsas Pona'sMessalina, thisscenewouldhavebeena provocativeimprovisation on variousstrandsof the historicaltradition.The treatment of Nero is particularly justifiedby the sources,allowingMonteverdiand Busenello to demonstratetheir sensitivityto the problems of operatic verisimilitude andat the sametimethumbtheirnosesat Tacitus'sown moral code. Nero, who singsso beautifullyin his duet with Lucan,was himselfa singer,a factthatwon him littlepraisefromTacitusor othercontemporary chroniclers. Tacitus,Suetonius,andDio Cassiusallmakefrequentmentionof Nero'spatronageof andparticipation in literary,artistic,andmusicalevents, but theylinktheseendeavorsto sexualdepravities andinattentionto empire. Suetonius,who includesNero'smusicalstudiesunderthe categoryof "follies and crimes,"providesthe most detailabouthis trainingand obsessionwith singing:the enemasandemeticsthathe usedto keephisweightdown,hisrelativelyweakvoice,andthe variousroles-both maleandfemale-thathe undertookin hisown ofteninterminable theatrical productions: Musicformedpartof hischildhood andhe earlydeveloped a taste curriculum, forit. Soonafterhisaccession, he summoned the Terpnus, greatest lyre-player of theday,to singto himwhendinnerhadended,forseveral nightsin succession,untilverylate.Then,littlebylittle,hebeganto studyandpractice himself, andconscientiously undertook alltheusualexercises forstrengthening anddethe voice. His first was at veloping where,disrestageappearance Neapolis .... whichshookthetheater, he sanghispiecethroughto gardinganearthquake the end.95 In Dio Cassius'sdescription of Nero'spresumably vocalperundistinguished the is cheered both Burrus and who stoodbeformances, emperor Seneca, by sidehim,promptinghim and"wavingtheirarmsandtogasat everyutterance of hisandleadingothersto do the same."96 TacitusalsoassociatesNero'smusicalinterestswiththe "wildestimproprieties,"manyof whichhe hadat leastcontrolledwhilehis mother,Agrippina, wasalive.He condemnsthe "effeminate gesturesandsongs,"the presenceof prominentwomen in "indecentparts,"and the constructionof tavernsand 95. Suetonius, Life of Nero, 20.1-3; translationsfrom Suetonius, The TwelveCaesars,trans. Robert Graves(London: Penguin Books, 1957). 96. Dio, Roman History,61.20.3. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions TacitusIncognito 85 placesof assignationthatwent handin handwith theater,whereeven good peoplewereunableto behavewith modesty.97Tacitusdeploredallof Nero's nonimperial pastimes,includingchariotracingaswell as playingthe lyreand singing.Theseactivitiesalsohadan unsavoryinfluenceon the imperialtroops andwereassociatedbyTacituswithNero'stendencyto surroundhimselfwith admiringyoungmen: Hereeveryformof immorality forattention, andno chastity, modcompeted Theclimaxwastheemperor's stage esty,orvestigeof decencycouldsurvive. notesto thetrainers debut.Meticulously betuninghislyre,he struckpractice sidehim.A battalion attended withitsofficers. Now,too,wasformedthe ....Thesepowerful knownastheAugustiani. corpsof Romanknights youngmen, a dinof applause maintained bynatureorambition, impudent dayandnight, divineepithets onNero'sbeautyandvoice.98 showering Moreover,Nero'ssingingwas,for Tacitus,the naturalconduitfor unnaturalsexualacts: Atnightfall thewoodsandhousesnearby echoedwithsingingandblazedwith Nero was andunnatural. Buthe lights. already corrupted byeverylust,natural nowrefuted thatno further waspossible forhim.For anysurmises degradation a fewdayslaterhewentthrougha formalweddingceremony withoneof the calledPythagoras. Theemperor, in thepresperverted gang[theAugustiani] enceof witnesses,put on the bridalveil. Dowry,marriage bed,wedding waspublicwhichevenin a natural torches,allwerethere.Indeedeverything unionis veiledby night.99 Tacitus'soutrageat Nero's participation in such activitiescould not be more evident.The art of singing,demonstrated so vividlyin the duet with withthe practiceof sodomy,a historical detailthatcerLucano,wasassociated would not have and his as Busenello tainly escaped colleagues they experienced Monteverdi'srealizationof this scene. Followingso directlyon the heelsof Seneca'sdeath,the implications of the Nerone-Lucano duet--froma strict"Tacitist" With pointof view-seem relatively straightforward. the eliminationof Seneca,all restraintsupon Nerone appearto havebeen removed. Reasonyields to passion,which leads to the repudiationand murderof Ottaviaand the coronationof Poppea;Nerone'sduet with Lucanomerely hints at the numerousother imperialdebaucheriesof which Tacitusso The improperbehaviorof the two young men, their stronglydisapproved. sheerdelightin singing,andtheirembraceof hedonismreflecttheirwholesale of Stoicrestraint. repudiation Yetit is preciselythis link betweensong and eroticismthat demonstrates the utterincompatibility of suchmoralizingwith Incognitiphilosophiesand Venice'sself-imageas a sanctuaryof eroticdelights.Are we to believethat 97. Tacitus,Annals, 14.15. 98. Ibid. 99. Ibid., 15.37. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 86 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety both composerandlibrettist,emulatingTacitus'smoralstanceandpreaching someVenetianvarietyof Stoicism,wishedso vehementlyto condemnNerone for morallaxitythattheywouldalsocondemnthe artof singingwithwhich thatsensuality wasassociated? Thisscene,so ofteninterpreted andstagedas a bit of naughtyfrat-househorseplay, commemorates not only Seneca'sdeath but-more important-the momentin whichNerone'sheterosexualdesire forPoppeais mostgraphically fulfilled,notablyin the contextof a homosocial bond.100 It is the unmatchederoticismof Monteverdi's musicthatmagically transforms a momentof lyricreflectionbetweentwo courtiersinto an almost perfectmusicalrealizationof the sensualistdesires,patriarchal politics,and invokedin the writingsof theAccademia misogynicwarningsrepeatedly degli Incogniti.As in the seductionof the youngAlcibiade,the earprovesto be the mostdirectrouteto the pleasuresof the flesh.101 Nero andhis eroticpastimes,however,arebut one factorin thisunseemly di Poppeawouldalsohaveknown equation.The audienceof L'incoronazione the complexhistoricalsignificance of Nero'spartnerin vice,MarcusAnnaeus Lucanus,who holdswithinhisidentityandreputationthe finalcluesasto the fullrangeof Venetianidealsevokedin thisoperaticdistortionof Tacitisthistory.Bornin Cordoba,Spainin A.D.39, Lucanwas broughtto Romeat an earlyage. Knownas a brilliantstudent,he wasin a particularly advantageous positionwhen his uncleSenecawas calledbackfromexile by Agrippinathe Youngerto be tutorto her son Nero. Giventhe proximityin age of the two boys,it wasonlynaturalthattheywouldbe throwntogether,withLucanbenefitingfrom Seneca'sprominentpositionat court.Whileprecisedetailsof theirrelationship areunknown,it is evidentthatLucanheldNero'sfavorand waslikelyhis closefriendthroughoutthe earlysixties.An activeparticipant in the socialandliterarycirclesthatNero cultivated in the earlyyearsof hisreign, he sangthe emperor'spraisespubliclyandwasrewardedby politicalappointmentsunusualfor a manso young,allthe whileproducingpoetryandliteratureat a rapidrate.102 100. Nerone and Lucano's shared desire for Poppea can also be viewed as a reflection of Nerone's attractionto Ottone's wife Poppea (a fundamentalimpetus for the plot), as stated by Busenello in the argomento.In both cases, the result is what Sedgwick would describe as an "erotic triangle"-i.e., a close bond between two men expressedthrough the desire of the same woman (BetweenMen, 21-27). 101. This points out a fundamentalflaw in Fenlon and Miller'slogic. As Tim Carternotes perceptively,"Fenlon and Miller never quite come to terms with a major problem of 'their relianceupon the musicalityof the human voice to ascertainthe true dispositionof the soul' " that is deceived by falselove ("Re-ReadingPoppea,"186). If, as Fenlon and Millerargue,it is only "song that cannot mislead" (p. 40)-a point surprisinglycompatible with aspects of Antonio Rocco's views-then one cannot ignore the explicitendorsementof eroticism(and rejectionof Stoicism) manifestin Monteverdi'ssetting of the duet between Nerone and Lucano. 102. Frederick M. Ahl, Lucan: An Introduction (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1976), 36-37. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions TacitusIncognito 87 There are, nonetheless, severalunsettling undercurrentsto this idyllic vision of male bonding that highlight the politicalimplicationsof Lucan'spresence in this highly sensual scene. First, the audience would have recognized that Lucan'sintimacywith Nero was destined to be short-lived:he fell out of Nero's favorin the year A.D.64, was banned from publishinghis own works or speakingin public, and finally,like his uncle, was forced to commit suicide in the aftermathof the Pisonianconspiracyin which he likelyplayeda primary role.103Second, the use of Lucan in this scene with Nero is a strikingdistortion of Tacitus.Though Tacitushimselfwas clearlyno fan of Lucan's,expressing little respect for the young man's talent or courage, he presents Lucan only as Nero's enemy, never linking him with any decadent activities.14With less violence to history,Busenello could have chosen or invented any number of charactersto join Nero in debaucheryand rejoicein Seneca'sdeath. In fact, his addition of Petronius and Tigellinus to the second part of this scene in the 1656 edition of the libretto was closer to Tacitus'sversion of the story. Petronius,in particular,was a more likelycandidatefor Nero's partnerin sensual excess.105 This, however, was no casualhistoricalmiscalculation.For unlike Seneca, the eternalmonarchistand stand-infor Agrippinain this opera, Lucanwas the arch republicanand a declaredenemy of absolutism,whose politics were intrinsicallylinked to his poetry, and who, as a result, was to sufferthe harshest sort of repression.Lucan's most famous survivingwork, Pharsalia (an epic poem on Caesar'sdefeat of Pompey at Pharsalus),depicts the "death of the Roman Republic."It is a document that has been describedas "subversive," written from the standpointof an "emotionalRepublican"whose increasingly anti-imperialisttone certainlycost Lucan his freedom of speech and perhaps his life as well.106Indeed, the differencein the politics of Lucan and Seneca would scarcelyhave been lost on the Venetians.Seneca, as J. P. Sullivannotes, wielded his influence within established institutions and believed (at least theoretically)that imperialpower could be tempered by "mercy,compassion, and moderation." Lucan, however, suffering under Nero's persecutions, "projected in the Pharsalia a return to the oligarchic role of the upper 103. Tacitus,Annals, 15.48-74. 104. Ahl, Lucan, 37-38; on Nero's ban of Lucan, see also pp. 333-53. Tacitustells us, for example, that Lucan willingly betrayedhis mother along with the other co-conspirators,yet he also admitswith grudging admirationthat in his finalmoments Lucanrecitedpoetry for posterity (Annals, 15.56-57 and 15.70.1). 105. Tigellinus,one of the commandersof the guard, rose to prominence afterthe death of his predecessor,Burrus,in A.D.62 and is condemned by Tacitusfor leading Nero into furtherevil (Annals, 14.57). Petronius, who is credited with the authorshipof the earliestsurvivingLatin novel, Satyricon,is noted by Tacitusfor hedonism and, in particular,his role in Nero's circleof intimates as the "Arbiterof Taste,"instructingNero on all that was smartand elegant, and achieving fame through laziness ratherthan energy. Petroniuswas eventuallydenounced by a jealous Tigellinus(Annals, 16.18-19). 106. Sullivan,Literatureand Politics,143. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 88 Journalof the American Society Musicological classes."'07Identifying himself with the senatorialclass and opposed to the principate,Lucan was the one figure in this opera whose political stance was most compatiblewith Venetiansensibilities. For Monteverdi and Busenello's contemporaries,Lucan, whose name was synonymouswith the triumph of republicover empire, invoked far more unHe also appealed ambiguouslypatrioticsentimentsthan Tacitusor Seneca.18os to writers in the Accademia degli Incogniti; a contemporary translationof Lucan's Pharsalia by Alberto Campani (1640) is even dedicated to the founder of the Incogniti, GiovanniFrancescoLoredano.Yet members of the Accademiadegli Incogniti do not repeatedlysubject Lucan'swritingsto travesty and exaggeration,as they did the works of Tacitus.Campani'stranslation of Pharsaliais consecratedto the Republic of Venice, with effusivepraisefor her perpetual peace, tranquillity,and invincibility.109Campani emphasizes Lucan's importance as a political force in Nero's court and describeshim as the idealinstructorfor all those committed to the preservationof the Venetian Republic. For Venetian readerswho may have known the details of Lucan's life only through Tacitus'slimited and unenthusiasticdiscussion,Campaniincludes a brief biographicalsketch of the poet based on Suetonius's Life of Lucan, Statius'sSilvae,and Vacca'sLife of Lucan, describingNero's jealousy of Lucan and the young poet's superiorityto the emperor both as oratorand as poet.110Indeed, if Campaniwas fortunateenough actuallyto attend a per107. Ibid., 119. In Dissidenceand Literatureunder Nero, VasilyRudich presents an elegant formulation of the differences between Seneca and Lucan: Seneca is the "immoral moralist" (chap. 2), Lucanthe "moralimmoralist"(chap. 3). 108. Latin editions of Lucan's Pharsaliawere published in Venice beginning in the late fifteenth century,includingAnnei Lucani Bellorumcivilium scriptorisaccuratissimiPharsaliaautea temporuminiuria difficilis (1511) and Annei Lvcani Bellorumciuilium scriptorisaccuratissimi Pharsalia:Antea temporuminiuria difficiliset mendosa,nouissimeautem expolita(1520). Italian translations appear in Venice beginning with Alberto Campani's Farsaglia poema heroicodi LucanoDi M. Anneo Lucano(Venice:Sarzina,1640). Campani'sedition was followed in 1668 by Paolo Abriani'sLaguerra civile,overoFarsagliadi M. Anneo Lucano(Venice:Hertz, 1668). 109. The title page to Campani'sedition readsas follows: "FARSAGLIA/ Poema Heroico / DI M. ANNEO LUCANO / di Corduba / Divisa in Libri Dieci. / Trasportatain Lingua Toscana/ in verso sciolto / DA ALBERTO CAMPANI/ FiorentinoLet. Pub. di Padova/ Con la Vita di esso Lucano raccolta da diversi, / e con un breve Discorso dell'Eccellenza / sua comparato a Virgilio, e di / questo suo Poema. / All'Illustrissimo, Sig. il Signor / GIO. FRANCESCO LOREDANO / Nobile Veneto. [device] IN VENETIA, M DC XL. / [rule] Presso il Sarzina/ Con licenza de' Superiori,e Privilegi."Campaniincludes the following consecration to Venice: "L'AUTORE / APPENDE, E CONSACRA DIVOTO, / QUESTA SUA OPERA, / AL TEMPIO DELLA PERPETUA CONCORDIA, / E TRANQUILLA ETERNITA, / DELLA REPUBLICA VENETA; / INVITISSIMA, POTENTISSIMA, SERENISSIMA. / PER SEGNO / DI DOVUTA SERVITU; / PER TESTIMONIO / DI RIVERENTE OSSERVANZA;/ E PER APPLAUSO, DI PERPETUA FELICITA."The edition includes numerous poems of praise for Campani by severalIncogniti members, including Giulio Strozzi. 110. Campanitells us, for example,that it was Lucan'srecitationof his poem Orpheusthat incited Nero's jealousy.On the sourcesfor Lucan'sbiographyand the controversiesconcerning the dating of Vacca'sbiography,see Ahl, Lucan, 333-53. As Ahl notes, Tacitus scarcelymakes any This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Tacitus Incognito 89 di Poppea,he likelywould not havebeen surformanceof L'incoronazione prisedby Lucan'svirtuosityin the opera,forhe consideredLucanto be an exemplaryrhetorician,his "splendid,sumptuous,and vehement" style a of Virgil.ForCampani,Lucanwas,as complementto the "richmagnificence" both poet andorator,a "maestrodi eloquenza"whosememorablestylewas instructivefor all those involvedin Venetiangovernment: Whereforeone can easilydeduce that Lucan certainlyhas the conceits, the amplifications,and the affects of Orators,thus one can call him an Orator;but he has expressed them in verse, in phrases, and with episodes and poetic digressions; thus one can call him Poet. And thus for Senators,Lucan can be the master of eloquence with this advantage:that his maxims, models, and figures of speech can be all the better impressedupon the memory, because the mind retains poetry much more easilythan prose. ... For, because of the useful things that senatorscan learn from Lucan, he certainly,in my opinion, deserves to be called the SenatorialPoet."' Campaniwent on to define unequivocallyLucan'simportanceas a political advisor for Venice and Venetians. In his translator's note to the reader, Campaniexplainsthat he was drivento publish an Italianedition of Lucan because "of the particularusefulnessthat the intelligence of Lucan can bring to free republics,"among which Venice herselfwas foremost. Lucan'sintention in this poem ... is to restrainthe dignitariesof the city from the civilwar with the exampleof Caesarand Pompey which so agitatedthe senate and the Roman people with discord and fury that they destroyed the foundations of that Republic. And one could say that this work [Pharsalia] flows from that part of philosophy called politics, where it acts almost as a perpetual invective againstthe desire to dominate that gives birth to sacrileges,assassinations, rapes,fires,destruction, and other innumerableevils."2 Busenello evidently admired Lucan for his republicanviews, for he was later to use Lucan's Pharsalia as the primary source for his most blatantly mention of Lucan'spoetry or politics. Busenello, however, would likely have been familiarwith the detailsof Lucan'sbiographyeitherfrom these sourcesor directlyfrom Campani. 111. "Donde facilmentesi pu6 dedurre,che Lucano ha bene i Concetti, e l'amplificationi,e gli affetti de gli Oratori,onde si pu6 chiamareOratore;ma gl'ha spiegati in verso, e frase,e con episodii, e digressioniPoetiche, onde pu6 chiamarsiPoeta. E cosi Lucano pu6 essere a i Senatori Maestro di Eloquenza con questo vantaggio;che i suoi precetti, e gli esemplari,e artificiidel suo dire tanto meglio possono restareimpressenella memoria,quanto pidifacilmentela memoriasuol ritenere il verso, che la prosa.... Che certo per queste utilitY,che possono da Lucano trarrei Senatori questo Poeta al mio parere merita d'esser chiamato il Poeta Senatorio" (Campani, Farsaglia,translator'snote to the reader). 112. "L'intentione di Lucano in questa Poema ... di ritiraregl'ottimati delle Citti dalle guerrecivilicon l'esempio di Cesare,e Pompeo, che con la discordia,e furoreagitaronotalmente il Senato, e popolo Romano, che destrusseroda i fondamenti quellaRepublica.E si pub dire, che quest'Operasia un rivo di quellaparte di Filosofia,che si chiamaPolitica,dove e interferitaquasi una invettivaperpetua,contro al desiderio di dominare, il quale a i cittadinipartorisceseditioni, sacrilegii,ammazzamenti,rapine,incendii,destrutionidi cittadi,e altrimali innumerabili"(ibid.). This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 90 Journalof the American Society Musicological anti-imperialistlibretto, La prosperitiinfelicedi Giulio Cesaredittatore."3The referenceto Caesaras dictatorrevealsthe opera'spoliticalprogram:a staunch support of republicanismon the eve of the birth of empire, in which Pompey is the worthy hero and Caesar'skiller,Brutus, is elevated to the heavens for ridding Rome of her dictator.The connection between republicannostalgia and Venetian patriotism is made explicit in the epilogue, in which Libertl (Liberty) and Nettuno (Neptune) praise the invincible and unconquerable Venice.114 Thus, in L'incoronazionedi Poppea, Lucano's republicanism stands for Venice's own, a fact that lends his voice an oratoricaladvantagegranted no other characterin the opera. Lucano is not only an accomplishedsinger and Nerone's tutor on the pleasuresand dangersof the female mouth (surpassing Seneca's pedantry and Poppea's considerableskill at both virtuosic singing and sexualstimulation);he also carrieshis historywith him: that of a dissenting politicalvoice silencedby a tyrant,a covert championof republicanlibertas in the midst of a corruptempire.His personaland public historythus provide a strident counterpoint to Tacitus himself. With the duet of Nerone and Lucano, the sexual and the political briefly merge in a single orgiastic encounter and are linked unforgettablyby Monteverdito the art of singing. We should not be surprisedthat only Seneca'sdeath permitsthis complete sensual and artisticfilfillment. As even the most Stoic commentatorsmust concede, the pleasurablesensationsgeneratedin the ear by Lucano's shamelessarousal of Nerone were intended for the listener'senjoyment, regardlessof Seneca's ineffective interferenceor the apparentlack of an appropriatemoral frame. That Nerone achieves a climax unmatched elsewhere in the opera certainly more than hints at the Incogniti interestin the homoerotic as an alternativeto the dangersof the female mouth. Indeed, the complete absence of a woman from the scene seems to have allowed a certainpurity of expression-a brief respite from the consequences of female power. As in Alcibiadefanciullo a scola,this is the most plausiblesolution to the Venetiandilemma:both desire and song without the danger of the female voice or body. Yet Lucano's appearancein this scene remindsus that the Venetiansstill regardedTacitusas a politicaladvisor,and it is in this curiousmesh of politics and sexualitythat we see the consequencesof history'sfirstencounterwith opera. In the context of this operaticdiscourseon woman and empire, Nerone and Lucano construct, albeit only momentarily,an alternativesociety,not unlike the Incogniti themselves:a male republic,devoted to artistryand sensualpleasure,dedicated to freedom of expressionand patrioticservice,and committed to the exclusionof women-however desirableor dangerous. 113. Busenello, Delle hore ociose.Giulio Cesarewas probably written after Poppea,for the 1646 season at the TeatroGrimani,but it was not publisheduntil 1656, when Busenellobrought it out in Delle horeociose.It is unlikelythat it was performed,as the Venetiantheaterswere closed in 1646. See Rosand, Operain Seventeenth-Century Venice,136n. 114. Rosand, Operain Seventeenth-Century Venice,136-37. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Tacitus Incognito 91 Ellen Rosandhas wiselysuggestedthat Poppeacan be understoodas a 115The happyending,the celebrationof the coronationof tale."" "cautionary Poppea,andthe lackof punishmentforviceor rewardforvirtueimpartmoral lessons,properlyunderstoodonlyagainstthe backdropof history.Yet,which historyis it to be?The versionretoldin thisoperais not properlyTacitus,nor is it in anystrictsensea "Tacitisttext."Rather,it is Tacitus"incognito."An of the finalepisodein a familiar andoft-toldhistorical Incognitireconstruction narrative in Incogniticircles,it describestwo generationsof corruptionand in whichthe absolutismso anathemato theVenetians was politicalexpediency linkedinextricably to the powerand sexualityof suchwomen as Messalina, Agrippina,and Poppaea,and throughwhichthe Republic,by contrast,was identifiedandcelebrated asa masculineentity.Indeed,it is perhapsfittingthat the dangersof empirefoundexpressionthroughone of the Republic'smost visibledemonstrations of its manyfreedoms:opera.JustusLipsius,it turns was in out, prophetic describingTacitusas the idealinstructorfor those involvedin staterule,thoughhe couldscarcelyhaveanticipated allthe waysin whichVenetianmythologywouldhavesoughtto use him:to giveinstruction on the appropriate virtuesfor civic-mindedmen, to reaffirmthe political of the of womenin publiclife,to celebrateman'sright necessity suppression to artisticand sensualfulfillment,and to proclaimto the entireworldthat Venice'spoliticalwisdomanderoticenticementssurpassed all,eventhe glory thatwasancientRome. 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Abstract Thisessayconsidersopera'suse of a particular historyin seventeenth-century Venice:CorneliusTacitus'sAnnalsof theRomanEmpireas transformed in Monteverdi's andBusenello'sL'incoronazione di Poppea.In contrastwitha recent hypothesislinkingTacitus,Poppea,and the VenetianAccademiadegli Incogniti with Neostoicism, this essay argues that the membersof the Accademia aspart degliIncognitiusedTacitus'shistoryof the Julio-Claudians of a highlyspecializedrepublicandiscourseon Venetianpoliticalsuperiority andsensualpleasures. AfterconsideringIncognitiphilosophiesandinterestin the erotic in the context of Venetianpoliticalidealsand the influenceof Tacituson politicaland moralthoughtin earlymodernEurope,this essay di Poppeain the contextof severalothertreatmentsof placesL'incoronazione Tacitusproducedduringthe mid-seventeenthcenturyby Busenello'scolleaguesin the Accademiadegli Incogniti,in whichempireand the liabilities of femalepowerare contrastedimplicitlywith Venice'smaleoligarchy.The Venetianrejectionof Stoic philosophyand fascinationwith the erotic and the patrioticplaythemselvesout in one of the opera'smost peculiardistortions of the historicalrecord-the scene followingthe death of Senecain This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 96 Journalof the AmericanMusicologicalSociety whichthe philosopher's nephew,the poet MarcusAnnaeusLucanus,known in Veniceforhisrepublican ideals,joinsthe emperorNeroin songto celebrate his uncle'sdeathandPoppea'scharms.As transformed sexubyMonteverdi's sensual allyexplicitmusic, Lucan'sendorsementof artisticself-expression, freedom,and republicanidealsprovidesa criticalcounterpointto Senecan andmoralrestraint-aviewthatwasfarmorecomsupportof the principate patiblewithVenetianconcernsatmidcentury. This content downloaded from 128.112.141.86 on Mon, 26 Aug 2013 14:34:11 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions