Clocking in at 43 lines, the last vignette in in Tuesday's reading (l. 559-602) is the longest we've encountered so far in DRS. This passage narrates Rutilius' own former offices and the offices of his father. The only other passage approaching this length is the encomium for Rome, measuring 38 lines. I was surprised to find Rutilius lingering so long on his discussion of the Tuscans. He even mentions that his father's governorship of Tuscany outweighed the pleasure of his prefecture in Rome! In visiting his father's statue, and being so welcomed by the people, there's a sense of homecoming in these lines - one that even challenges the sense of home in the city of Rome. Is Tuscany close enough to Rome to be a home-away-from-home, with villas of the elite, etc, or should we think of Rome as Rutilius' "cultural" but not physical home? When Rutilius dreams of Rome, is he thinking of the city center, or of "Rome" in all its familiar provinces?
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