Ovid and the Domus Augusta thusre-evaluatinghowweshouldreadhim,notonlytoseparatehimfrom
theearlier,lessthantruly‘‘Augustan’’writers,buttore-attachhimtoothers,
whose adult lives or whoseworks also bridge the divide between Augus-
tus’ regime and what one might think of as the ‘‘post-Augustan’’ phase of
Tiberius’ reign, that is, the years dominated by Livia, up to her death in
...This period of approximately three decades, from the dedication
of the temple of Mars Ultor in ..to the death of Livia, and the dis-
graceofthewidowandchildrenofGermanicus,ismarkedbythemostem-
phaticpublicassertionsof‘‘Augustan’’valuesandhistoricalclaims,alongwith
theirproclamationaslessonsforfuturegenerations,andsimultaneouslyby
systematicuncertaintyanduneaseabouttheroleofothermembersofthe
imperial house—and (given the deaths of manyof them) by the repeated
necessitytoreflectonwhatmighthavebeen.Thecombinationoftriumphal-
ismandanxietyisperfectlycaughtbyVelleiusPaterculus,comingtowards
theendoftheHistorywhichhededicatedtoM.Vinicius,consul ordinariusof
..;forheemphasisestheunhappycoincidence,in..,ofthededica-
tionofthetempleofMarsUltorwiththedisgraceoftheelderJulia:^8
At in urbe eo ipso anno, quo magnificentissimis gladiatorii muneris
naumachiaequespectaculisDivusAugustus,abhincannostriginta,se
etGalloCaninioconsulibus,dedicatoMartistemploanimosoculosque
populiRomanirepleverat,foedadictamemoriaquehorrendainipsius
domotempestaserupit.
ButintheCity,intheyear,thirtyyearsago,inwhichDivusAugustus,
inhisownandGallusCaninius’consulship,markedbythemostmag-
nificentshowsofgladiatorialgamesandaseabattlethededicationof
thetempleofMars,andsatedthemindsandeyesoftheRomanpeople,
a storm, foul to speak of and horrible to recall, broke out under his
ownroof.VelleiusPaterculushimselfoffersthemostilluminatingcomparisontoOvid,
andoneofthechiefpurposesofthischapterwillbepreciselytosuggestthe
significanceofthisthirty-yearperiodasembracingthemboth.InLatinepi-
graphylikewise,this‘‘late-Augustan’’and‘‘post-Augustan’’periodmightalso
beseenasrepresentingadistinctphase,markedbytheproductionof long
andcomplexinscribedtexts,whichcanbeseennotmerelyascounterpoints
to the literature of the period, but as a sub-branch of literature in them-
selves.Theytooexhibitthatsamecuriousmélangeoftriumphalism,anxiety,
. Velleius,,.ForhisrepeatedallusionstotheconsulateofM.Vinicius,seePIR^1
,.