Pietas in Patriam: Milton’s Classical Patriotism

Abstract

The subject of this essay is the relation between Milton’s classical patriotism and his English nationalism. It has two principal aims. First, it sets out to examine the degree to which the affective or emotional quality of Milton’s patriotism was shaped by the classics, especially Cicero and Virgil. For all the energy that has gone into studying Milton’s classical republicanism, there has been relatively little interest in that political movement’s central concern with patriotism: few, for instance, have shown much interest in David Norbrook’s acknowledgment that “English republicanism emerged in part as a vehicle for English nationalism.” And second, through this focus on the classical aspect of Milton’s patriotism, it argues that far from being neutralized or undercut, Milton’s nascent nationalism was actually enabled and intensified by his internationalism, an internationalism that is most graphically illustrated by his engagement with Italy and its role in recovering the classics.