Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1 - The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution

Popular Politics at Rome 

beenleftbyPompeyasthefirstgovernorofSyria,withtheanomalousrank
ofproquaestore propraetore,in–,immediatelyafterithadbeenconquered.
ThelegendarymonsterfromJaffa,likethecoinsofnamingbothScaurus
asaid(ilis)cur(ulis)andKingAretasofNabataea(whichhehadinfactinvaded,
butthenretreated),wasthusanothercomfortingremindertothepeopleof
therapidrecentextensionoftheboundariesofRomanpower.^51
Thisextensionwasaptlymirroredalso,inthes,bymajorbuildingproj-
ects instituted and paid for by the great conquerors out of the profits of
conquest.Thesebuildingshavemanylevelsofsignificance,butoneispre-
cisely the channelling for public benefit of profits which could have been
spentprivately.Pompey’spermanentstonetheatre,thefirsteverconstructed
inRome,wassaidbyPlinytohaveseated,spectators;thetruefigure
isperhaps,,whichisstrikingenough.Thistoowasalsoasymbolof
Romanexpansion:thedesignwascopiedfromthetheatreatMitylene;and
inandaroundthetheatrestoodfourteenstatuesofpersonifiednations,evi-
dentlythoseconqueredbyPompey.AbovethecaveastoodatempleofVenus
Victrix, and in theory the seats of thecaveawere merely the steps leading
uptothetemple.InhisedictaddressedtothepeoplePompeyinvitedthem
tothededicationofthistemple‘‘towhichwehavesubjoinedseatsforthe
shows.’’Likehistriumphofsixyearsbefore,butinpermanentform,thethe-
atreofferedtheRomanpeopleasymbolof his,andits,victory.Beforethe
battleofPharsalusPompeywastodreamthathewasenteringthetheatreto
makeofferingstoVenusVictrix,andreceivingtheapplauseofthepeople.^52
Apermanentinscription,withPompey’sname,wasplacedonthetheatre
onlythreeyearslater,duringhisthirdconsulshipin.^53 Bythattimehewas
alreadyindangerofbeingoutdone.ForCaesar’sbuildingprojects,financed
byhisvictoriesinGaul,wereplannedtooccupyanevenmorecentralplace
inthepoliticallifeoftheRomanpeople.Thesumofmillionsesterces
fromthespoilsofwarinGaulwasusedmerelytopurchasethegroundfor
hisnewForum.^54 BymidCicerohimself,asherecordsinalettertoAtti-
cus,wasinsomewayinvolvedinplansforextendingtheForumasfarasthe
Atrium Libertatis, and  million sesterces had already been spent. In the

. Broughton,MRRII,,;M.Crawford,Roman Republican CoinageI(),
no..
. Pliny,NH,(,spectators);(nationes).Tertullian,Spect.,(edictum);
Plut.,Pomp. ,  (dream). See E. Frézouls, ‘‘La construction dutheatrum lapideumet son
contextepolitique,’’inThéatre et spectacles dans l’Antiquité (Colloque Strasbourg ,),.
SeeP.Zanker,Augustus und die Macht der Bilder(),ff.
. AulusGellius,NA,,.
. Suet.,Div. Jul..