The Personae of Augustus

THE PERSONAE OF AUGUSTUS The Emperor Augustus, during his lifetime, 'wore many hats', that is, appeared to various people in different capacities at various times. One of the arcana imperii was certainly his ability to mix and match these personae as needed, to achieve the maximum political and social effect upon Romans and their subjects. These functions were often carried out through intermediaries, praefecti and procuratores: see H.-G. Pflaum, Abrégé des procurateurs équestres (Paris : E. de Boccard, 1974), or his articles in PaulyWissowa, Realencyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, for details and citations. PERSONAL: • • • • • • • 'Young Caesar': family priest of the Julii (at Bovillae, Alba Longa, in Rome) Patrimony: personal finances, large estates, villas (later: Chersonese, Capri, etc.) The Domus in Rome the household staff the Amici Caesaris and the Clientes (including tens of thousands of exsoldiers and liberti) his tomb, the Mausoleum Augusti his personal security, his guards and attendants RELIGIOUS: • Member of priestly colleges: Pontifex, Augur, Quindecimvir sacris faciundis, and, from 12 B. C., Pontifex Maximus, with responsibility for the cult of Vesta and for the Vestal Virgins. • • • involvement in the worship of the Divus Iulius worship of the Genius Augusti, Numen Augusti, and other forms of superhuman honors to his person. worship of Roma and Augustus, as part of the Imperial Cult and provincial patriotism MAGISTERIAL: • The Praetorian Guard • City Security: -fire protection: Vigiles -police: Cohortes Urbani • Food Supply: -Administration of the annona Urbis -warehouses: erection and maintenance (Rome/Ostia/Puteoli) -shipping and distribution networks -supervision of public slaves • Water Supply: -aqueducts (through Procurator Aquarum) -public fountains -bathing establishments -sewers -banks of the Tiber River • Entertainment: -circuses -theaters -naumachia -ludi (circenses, theatrales, etc.) -parks and porticoes (Horti Caesaris, Horti Maecenatis, etc.) -libraries • Religion: -Supervision of activities of the priestly colleges (e.g. in connnection with the Ludi Saeculares -care of temple buildings, shrines and altars -funeral monuments -religious ceremonies and pageants (regular and extraordinary) • Administration: -court space (e.g. Basilica Julia) and judicial administration (Augustus appointed, or recommended, half the Praetors) -ward and district administration (through the Magistri vicorum, created by Augustus) -maintenance of facilities: streets, walls, gates, etc. (Augustus appointed half the Aediles) POLITICS: • • • The Senate The Comitiae and the Concilium Plebis The Provincial Governors (Proconsuls and Legati Augusti pro praetore) Food Supply • • • • • • • • • • • • • Berucci, M., "L' archittetura degli Horrea Agrippiana, Pall. 4 (1954) 145159. Shipley, Fred., Agrippa's Building Activities in Rome (St. Louis 1933). Rickman, Geoffrey, Roman Granaries and Store Buildings (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1971.) Mommsen, Theodor, "Die Praefecti frumenti dandi," Gesammelte Schriften IV (Berlin 1905) 193-199 [=Hermes 4 (1870) 364-370.]. Cassola, F., "Note sul praefectus alimentorum," Studi in onore di Eduardo Volterra (Milano: Giuffre 1971) III, 495-504. Ensslin, W., "Praefectus annonae," Pauly-Wissowa-MittelhausKroll, Realenzyklopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft 22 (1954) columns1275 ff. Van Berchem, Denis, Les distributions de blé et d' argent à la plèbe romaine souos l' Empire romain (Genève 1939). Brewster, E. B., Roman Craftsmen and Tradesmen of the Early Empire (dissertation U Pennsylvania: Philadelphia 1917). Nash, Ernest, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rome I, pp. 475-480 (Horrea Agrippiana). Reinhold, Meyer, The Golden Age of Augustus pp. 28-29; 94, 97 (Suetonius Augustus 35-37; Res Gestae Divi Augusti 5, 18.) Astolfi, F., "Horrea Agrippiana," Archeologia Classica 30 (1978) 31 ff. Nicolet, C., "Le temple des Nymphes et les distributions frumentaires à Rome à l' époque républicaine," Comptes rendus de l' Académie des inscriptions et Belles Lettres (1976) 29 ff. Dudley, Donald, Urbs Roma pp. 28, 77 (macella). • Nabers, N., "The Architectural Variations of the Macellum," Opuscula Romana IX. 20 (1978) 173-175. Water Supply: • • • • • • • • • • • • Frontinus, Sextus Julius, Strategems and Aqueducts [Loeb Classical Lubrary] (Cambridge: Harvard 1925), 338-467. Ashby, Thomas, The Aqueducts of Ancient Rome (Oxford 1935). Van Deman, E.B., The Building of the Roman Aqueducts (Washington DC 1934). Lanciani, Rodolfo, The Ruins and Excavations of Ancient Rome 47-58. Shipley, Fred, Agrippa's Building Activities in Rome (St. Louis 1933), 47-53. Nash, Ernest, Pictorial Dictionary of Ancient Rome I, p. 35 (Alsietina), 47-48 (Julia), 55-56 (Virgo); II, pp 429-33 (Thermae Agrippae). Rodriguez Almeida, Eduardo, Forma Urbis Marmorea: Aggiornamento generale two volumes (Roma 1980). Hodge, A. Trevor, Roman Aqueducts and Water Supply (London 1992). Steinby, E. M (editor), Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae I (Roma 1993); II (1995); III (1996); IV (1999); V (1999); VI (2000). Evans, Harry, Water Distribution in Ancient Rome: The Evidence of Frontinus (Ann Arbor 1997). Taylor, Rabun, Public Needs and Private Pleasures: Water Distribution, the Tiber River, and the Urban Development of Ancient Rome (Roma 2000). Peachin, Michael, Frontinus and the curae of the Curator Aquarum (Wiesbaden: Steiner 2004) [HABES, 39].