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

 The Augustan Revolution

dedicatedin..Iftheylookedfurtherroundtotherighttheycouldsee
theBasilicaIulia,begunbyCaesarandcompletedbyAugustus.Directlybe-
hindthemstoodtheoldRostra,shiftedtoanewpositionbyJuliusCaesar.
Thoseattheback,ifalargeenoughcrowdhadcome,couldseeontheirleft
thenewSenatehouse,theCuriaIulia,begunbyCaesarandfinallydedicated
byOctavianin..,whichwasattachedtotheoutsideofoneofthepor-
ticoesofthevastnewForumIulium.^51 Fromfurtherovertotheirleftthey
mighthavebeenawareofworkgoingontocompletetheForumofAugus-
tus with the temple of Mars Ultor; as yet, however, they had been spared
itsprogrammaticre-readingofRomanhistoryintermsoflegendaryances-
torsandkings,togetherwithhistoricalsummi viri(foremostmen),thatisto
say, thoseduces(generals) whose individual achievements had brought the
imperiumoftheRomanpeoplefrominsignificancetogreatness.^52
If they were still unclearas towhat symbolic messagewas being deliv-
ered,theycouldalwayshavetakenawalktothenorthendoftheCampus
Martius,pasttheSaeptaandPantheonbuiltbyAgrippa,pasttheAraPacis,
dedicatedinJanuaryofthatveryyear(..);andparallelwithit—probably
dedicatedatthesametime—themonstroussundialmarkedoutbyAugus-
tusoversomemetresoftheCampus,itsshadowprovidedbyanobelisk
broughtfromHeliopolis,whichstood,withitsbase,somemetreshigh.^53
TheycouldthenhavecontemplatedthehideousmassofAugustus’Mauso-
leum;^54 atsomemetresacrossthebase,itwasthelargestRomantombso
far known, begun perhaps in the late s orat the latest in .., that is,
justbeforethechancewassolemnlyofferedforSenateandPeopletoexer-
cisetheirdiscretion(arbitrium).By..theMausoleumalreadycontained
theremainsoftwomembersoftheimperialfamily,MarcellusandAgrippa,
andwouldverysoonreceivethoseof Drusus.Aquarterofacenturylater,
onceAugustus’asheshadalsobeenplacedthere,thepasser-bywastohave
thechancetoreadhisRes Gestae,inscribedonbronzetabletsattachedtopil-

. SeeP.Zanker,Forum Romanum: die Neugestaltung durch Augustus().
. See P. Zanker,Forum Augustum: das Bildprogramm(); Degrassi,Ins. It.XIII.:
Elogia().SeeS.R.Tufi,‘‘FrammentidellestatuedeisummivirinelForodiAugusto,’’
Dial. di Arch.():.Fortheduces,Suet.Aug..
. SeeE.Buchner,Die Sonnenuhr des Augustus().
. FortheMausoleum,see,e.g.,R.A.CordingleyandI.A.Richmond,‘‘TheMauso-
leumofAugustus,’’PBSR():;K.Kraft,‘‘DerSinndesMausoleumsdesAugustus,’’
Historia():GesammelteAufsätzezurantikenGeschichteundMilitärgeschichte(),
 (for theview that building began in the late s and was complete by ..); J.-C.
Richard,‘‘‘Mausoleum’:d’HalicarnasseàRome,puisàAlexandrie,’’Latomus():.
SeeJ.M.C.Toynbee,Death and Burial in the Roman World(),–.