Archive and <i>Acervus</i>: Heaping Exempla in Valerius Maximus and Frontinus

Many Roman authors writing under the Principate describe themselves as torn between two conflicting drives: the impulse to pile up as much information as possible, and the compulsion to set clear boundaries on tautly structured texts. This paper treats two Roman compendia of exempla written in the first century CE: Valerius Maximus’ Facta et dicta memorabilia and Frontinus’ Strategemata. I will track both authors’ metaphorical use of the word “heap” (acervus) to describe the process of collecting examples. I will argue that, through their heap imagery, Valerius Maximus and Frontinus mediate between the fantasy of unbridled accumulation and the commitment to brevity and restraint.