The Augustan Revolution
of Romewho took a stroll round Augustus’ Mausoleum would be able to
readintheRes Gestae()thathehadaddedEgypttotheimperiumofthe
Romanpeople.Thereisacertaincontradictionhere,andonewhichneither
canbenorshouldberesolved.ButthewordsinwhichtwopeopleinEgypt
datedthepurchaseofacowconstituteafactinthemselves.Sodothewords
whichthelamplightersofOxyrhynchushadusedintakinganoathfouryears
earlier, in /..This document is particularly important, for it takes
ustoalevelofsocietywhichourevidenceelsewheresystematicallyfailsto
reach;twoatleastofthefourlamplighters,threewithEgyptiannamesand
onewithaGraeco-Egyptianone,wereilliterate.Theysworetosupplyoilfor
thetemplelampsforthecurrentfirstyearofCaesar‘‘inaccordancewithwhat
wassupplieduptothendyearwhichwasalsotheth’’(P.Oxy.).Life
anditsobligationswenton;butonemonarch,Cleopatra,hadgivenplaceto
another,calledCaesar.
Itiseasytoobjectthat,howevertheworldwasconstruedinEgypt,the
onlymajorHellenisticmonarchytopassdirectlyintothe‘‘dominion’’ofa
singleRomanruler,thisisnothowthingswillhaveseemedinRome.This
viewhassometruth;butonlysome.CorneliusNepos,concludinghisbiog-
raphy of Atticus, recorded Atticus’ awareness that Octavian and Antonius
each desired to beprinceps,‘‘notjustofthecityof Romebutofthewhole
world’’(Att.,).Thisdispassionateneutrality,clearlysharedbyNeposhim-
self,wastobeperfectlymatchedintheattitudesshownbyoneofthecom-
mon people of Rome when Octavian returned in .., two years after
Actium.AsOctavianapproachedRome,amongthecrowdwhichcameout
tomeethimthereappearedamanwithacrow,whichdulycalledout‘‘Ave
CaesarVictorImperator’’(HailCaesar,victoriousImperator).Suitablyim-
pressed,Octavianboughtthedutifulbird(officiosa avis)for,sesterces.
Itwasthenthattheman’spartnerreportedtheexistenceofasecondcrow,
which when produced emitted the words ‘‘Ave victor imperator Antoni’’
(HailAntonius,victoriousImperator)(Macrobius,Sat.,,).Thestory
hasalottotellus.First,theestablishedritualofgreetingimportantpersons
couldbeeasilyappliedtothenewsituation.Secondly,thesinglevictorwho
wasduetoappearcouldbeexpectedtodistributelargessewhenhonourre-
quiredit;thesumwhichtheman’spartnerfailedtoshareisdescribedasa
liberalitas.
Butthereisalsoamuchmoreimportantmessagetobegainedfromthis
anecdote.Whatthemanexhibitsisloyalistbehaviour,ofasortwhichhebe-
lievestobebothappropriateinapubliccontextandadvantageoustohim-
self.Butinhiscase,andperhapsinhiscasealone,weknowthathedidnot
feel loyalty, that hewas indeed quite indifferent. It is important therefore