Classical Influences on Anti-Federalism in Late18th-Century America: An Analysis of References to The Roman Republic, “Cato,” and Caesar in the Anti-Federalist Papers

Author

Anastasia Kaliabakos, College of the Holy CrossFollow

Date of Creation

5-31-2023

Document Type

Thesis

First Advisor

Timothy Joseph

Abstract

As a classics major, connecting antiquity to the modern era has always been important to me. Studying the past as a way to inform our perspective on the present is often valuable: as Patrick Henry said, “I know of no way of judging the future but by the past.” Relating classics with the founding and constitutional periods of the United States of America is particularly revealing in one’s endeavor to explain the ideas and decisions from that time. A group of figures undoubtedly influenced by Greek and Roman antiquity was the Anti-Federalists. The Anti-Federalists were, in short, opposed to the creation of a stronger, more centralized, U.S. federal government and also opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution. In my thesis, I set out to uncover the reasons why the authors of the Anti-Federalist Papers chose to include various references to classical antiquity. My first chapter will focus on general allusions to the Roman Republic. My second chapter discusses the influence of Cato the Younger on the Anti-Federalists and how they used him as a model for opposition to a central government. My third chapter will be about Julius Caesar and his treatment as an anti-model by the Anti-Federalists.

Comments

Reader: SoRelle Wyckoff Gaynor

Recommended Citation

Kaliabakos, Anastasia, "Classical Influences on Anti-Federalism in Late18th-Century America: An Analysis of References to The Roman Republic, “Cato,” and Caesar in the Anti-Federalist Papers" (2023). College Honors Program. 81.
https://crossworks.holycross.edu/honors/81