Two contemporary texts in different languages, Plutarch’s Precepts and Tacitus’ Agricola , display remarkable commonalities in how they present elite political activity. Specifically, both texts idealize figures who do work for their communities that is useful but apparently lacks glory and requires subordination to superiors in the imperial hierarchy. The authors attempt to reconcile these activities with the traditional aristocratic ethic, while at the same time characterizing overt resistance to the hierarchy as useless display. This article will trace this rhetoric through both texts and place it in its immediate historical setting (alongside contemporary authors including Dio Chrysostom) and in the larger context of Roman imperial discourse.

中文翻译：

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Inglorius的劳动？：普鲁塔克的戒律和塔西佗的阿格里科拉中的荣耀和功利修辞

两种不同语言的当代文本，普鲁塔克的戒律和塔西佗的阿格里科拉，在他们如何呈现精英政治活动方面表现出显着的共同点。具体而言，这两个文本都理想化了为社区工作的人物，这些人物有用但显然缺乏荣耀，并且需要从属于帝国等级制度中的上级。作者试图将这些活动与传统的贵族伦理相协调，同时将公开抵制等级制度描述为无用的展示。本文将通过这两个文本追溯这种修辞，并将其置于其直接的历史背景（与包括 Dio Chrysostom 在内的当代作家一起）和罗马帝国话语的更大背景中。