Commentary Examples
credit: not me
Explain ONE way that Eutropius emphasises the unpleasant nature of Nero's potential punishment.
Eutropius uses vivid imagery of the emperor being punished naked "nudus" to show the extent of embarrassment that Nero would have to face leading up to his death.
- could've quoted "nudus" and "furca capiti eius inserta" but you don't really need the latter
- [ vivid imagery of the emperor being punished naked "nudus" ] is better than just [ vivid imagery ]
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Eutropius uses cumulative listing "ductus...inserta...caederetur...praecipitaretur" to emphasise the number of different punishments Nero would have to suffer.
- quote the verbs instead of the whole passage to make it more specific
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Eutropius includes the detail of Nero's suicide "se interfecit" to show the lengths he went to avoid his punishment.
Explain TWO ways that Eupropius portrays Otho negatively in this extract (4 marks)
Eutropius describe Otho as soft "mollis" to portary him as being weak and not fit to be emperor.
Eutropius frames the start of Otho's reign negatively with "insidiis" and "invasit" to show that Otho trangressed moral codes in order to become emperor.
Eutropius compares Otho's parents "materno...paterno" to display the lack of Otho's nobility and suggest he was unfit for the throne.
Explain ONE way that Tacitus makes Agrippina's actions appear wrong in this extract.
Tacitus uses strongly negative words "temulento...lasciva...flagitii" to show how Agrippina's actions are influenced by drunkeness and lust
- word choice by itself is a bit vague, so add a comment, e.g. "strongly negative words" instead of "word choice"