Cornelius Nepos, ‘‘Atticus,’’ and the Roman Revolution publicoffices(honores)theyhadgainedatwhatdates(,–).Inthesame
way,Nepossays,ClaudiusMarcellusaskedhimforahistoryoftheMarcelli,
and Cornelius Scipio and Fabius Maximus forone of the Aemilii and the
Fabii(,).Perhapsitisnotanaccidentthatthisgenealogicalelementinthe
historyof Romecamesodefinitelyintofashionjustatthemomentwhen
powerwaspassingoutofthegraspofanetworkofprominentfamiliesand
intothehandsofasuccessionofindividualrulers.
Therewerehoweverotherreasonsfortakinganinterestinthedeedsof
famousmeninthepast.Onewassimplythepleasureofrecallingthem.As
Neposputsit,‘‘nothingcanbemorepleasurablethanthesebooks—i.e.,Atti-
cus’books—forthosewhohaveanylongingforknowledgeoffamousmen’’
(,).ItseemstohavebeeninaseparatevolumethatAtticusfurthersatisfied
thislonging,firstly,bypresentingportraitsofmenwhohadexcelledother
Romansinhonourandinthegrandeur(amplitudo)oftheirdeeds;and,sec-
ondly,byaccompanyingeachoftheseportraits(imagines)byfourorfivelines
ofverseinwhichtheessentialsoftheirachievementsweresummedup(,
–).Heretoohewasfollowingafashionofthetime.Forhisfamouscon-
temporaryVarro, among his manyother historical and antiquarian works,
publishedonewhichcontainednolessthanimaginesoffamousmen,both
GreekandRoman(Pliny,NH,).Thesetooseemeachtohavebeenac-
companied by both a prose text and an epigram in verse; the evidence of
AulusGelliusseemstoshowthattheworkwasproducedin..,under
theTriumvirate(NA,).^21
Once again a literary and antiquarian fashion of the late Republic was
taken up by Augustus, immortalized in stone, and (in this case) put to an
explicitlypropagandistpurpose.Forthegreattempleof MarsUltor,dedi-
catedin..,formedthecentre-pieceofAugustus’newForum,theForum
Augustum.^22 Infrontofthetemplestoodafour-horsechariot(quadriga)dedi-
catedtoAugustushimself.AlongthetwosidesoftheForum,bothopening
intowide,semi-circularapses,stoodalineofstatuesoffamousfiguresfrom
thehistoryofRome:ontheonesideAeneas,thekingsofAlbaLonga,and
. Forthedetails,seeP-W,Supp.VI(),cols.–;Rawson(n.),–;–
.IfweknewwhatVarro’s‘‘literarypicture-gallery’’was(Cicero,Att.,,),wemight
havetoconcludethatsomeversionoftheHebdomadesorDe imaginibuswasincirculation
in..
. OnthisP.Zanker,Forum Augustum: das Bildprogramm(Tübingen,);J.C.Ander-
son,The Historical Topography of the Imperial Fora, Collection Latomus (Brussels, ),
chap..Fortheelogia,thestandardeditionbyA.Degrassi,Inscriptiones ItaliaeXII.:Elogia
(),withS.R.Tufi,‘‘FrammentidellestatuedeisummivirinelForodiAugusto,’’Dial.
di Arch.():.