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Domitian's Rome and the Augustan Legacy
Edited by Raymond Marks and Marcello Mogetta
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The legacy of the Roman emperor Augustus and the culture of his age was profound and immediately evident after his death in 14 CE. His first four successors based their claims to rule on kinship with him, thus establishing the Julio-Claudian dynasty (14–68 CE), and plied an evolving form of the Principate, the political arrangement Augustus carved out for himself. His building and restoration programs gave the city an "Augustan" appearance that remained relatively unchanged throughout subsequent reigns. And, among literary luminaries of his age, figures such as Horace and Ovid left an indelible mark on the poetic practices of future generations while Virgil insinuated himself still more deeply into the Roman psyche. But it was after the reigns of Augustus' own descendants, oddly enough, that we witness the most spirited and thoroughgoing engagement with the Augustan past; during the reign of the emperor Domitian, the third and last ruler of the subsequent Flavian dynasty (81–96 CE), there was a veritable Augustan renaissance.
This volume represents the first book-length treatment of the reception of Augustus and his age during the reign of Domitian. Its thirteen chapters, authored by an international group of scholars, offer readers a glimpse into the fascinating history and culture of Domitian's Rome and its multifaceted engagement with the Augustan past. Combining material and literary cultural approaches and covering a diverse range of topics—art, architecture, literature, history, law—the studies in this volume capture the rich complexity of the Augustan legacy in Domitian's Rome while also revising our understanding of Domitian's own legacy. Far from being the cruel tyrant history has made him out to be, Domitian emerges as a studious, thoughtful cultivator of the Augustan past who helped shape an age that not only took inspiration from that past, but managed to rival it.
Cover
Title Page
Copyright Page
Contents
Contributors
Figures
Introduction
Part I. Urban Narratives
1. Assemblages and Appropriation of Augustan Art and Topography in Flavian Rome
2. Domitian and the Augustan Altars
3. Legacy Revisited
Part II. Gods and Models
4. Identifying Demigods
5. Arachne and Lucretia
Part III. From Nero to Augustus
6. Looking Back When Foretelling the Future
7. Parce, Pater
8. The Return of Jupiter
Part IV. Poetic Journeys
9. Revisiting Ovid’s House of Somnus in Statius’ Thebaid
Fig. 1.1. Restored aerial view of the central Campus Martius. Domitian’s Divorum complex, his Temple of Minerva Chalicidica, and the Iseum/Serapeum structure are at the bottom in the foreground. The Stadium and Odeum of Domitian are located in the top center in the background, north of the much earlier Theater of Pompey. Virtual 3D image by Altair4 Multimedia, Rome, Italy. https://www.altair4.com
Fig. 1.2. Restored aerial view from the Arch of Titus to the western end of the Forum Romanum. The facade of the Temple of the Divine Vespasian and the Divine Titus is center, in front of the multistoried, arcaded facade of the first-century BCE Tabularium. Virtual 3D image by Altair4 Multimedia, Rome, Italy. https://www.altair4.com
Fig. 1.3. Restored aerial view from the western end of Forum Romanum (the Temple of the Divine Vespasian and the Divine Titus) to the Arch of Titus. The attic of the arch is visible to the right of the second-century Temple of Venus and Roma. Virtual 3D image by Altair4 Multimedia, Rome, Italy. https://www.altair4.com
Fig. 1.4. Restored aerial view from the Quirinal to the Capitoline and Palatine. The Temple of the Flavian Family (Templum Gents Flaviae) stood close by the early fourth-century Baths of Diocletian, seen here in the bottom center. The Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus (extensively restored by Domitian) on the Capitoline is top right, while the massive, multistoried palace built by Domitian sits atop the Palatine in the top center. Virtual 3D image by Altair4 Multimedia, Rome, Italy. https://www.altair4.com
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