Mirolyubov Ivan Andreyevich – Candidate in History, associate professor, Chamber of History, National Research Nuclear University MEPhI
The term “tyrant”, which was used to denote the sole rulers-legislators of ancient Greek cities, began to denote cruel rulers in ancient times. The authoritarian nature of the regimes of some Greek tyrants, coupled with their personal qualities, contributed to the formation of a negative image of the tyrant in ancient literature. One of the characteristic features of the tyrant was loneliness – in political activity and in life. The motif of the tyrant’s loneliness was also in demand by ancient Roman authors, who developed it in the biographies of emperors. The article provides several variations of this motif: political loneliness, loneliness as a way of life, loneliness at the table (as a reflection of certain aspects of the regime of the tyrant emperor) and painful loneliness, which symbolizes the result of the reign and life of the tyrant emperor.
Suetonius; Tacitus; Cassius Dio; Lactantius; Historia Augusta; ancient Roman prose; ancient Roman historiography