The Augustan Revolution
formulationofearlyimperialideologyisthefactthatitsauthorhardlyreveals
anythingofhimself,whetherasregardsgeographicalorigin,socialstanding,
orlife-history.Preciselytheoppositeistrueofthewriterwho,inpartfor
thatveryreason,offersbyfarthemostrevealingcomparisontoOvid(and
indeed toValerius Maximus), namelyVelleius Paterculus. His work, dedi-
catedaswesawtotheconsulof..,M.Vinicius,alsogainsitsimportance
preciselyfromitsdeliberateconventionality,fromitsattemptbothtoretell
the main events of Roman historyand to give due emphasis to its salient
features.
But in this case there is an extra dimension, in that he gives sufficient
prominencetohisancestorsandhisowncareer,torevealhimselfastheper-
fect example of what Syme saw as a fundamental feature of ‘‘the Roman
revolution’’:thelong-delayedabsorptionof Romeby‘‘thewholeof Italy’’
(tota Italia), or in other terms, the large-scale entry of ‘‘the local nobility’’
(dominobiles)ofItalyintotheequestrianorderandtheSenateitself.^22 Velleius
ought to have been the hero,oranti-hero,ofThe Roman Revolution,asthe
local dignitary who entered the Senate in the last part of Augustus’ reign,
afterequestrianmilitaryservice;andthen,inwritinghisHistory,didhisbest
to direct adulation appropriately to both successive emperors, sometimes
withunintentionallycomiceffects.^23 Lookinginanotherdirection,wecould
seeVelleiusasthesuccessfulcounterparttoOvid,hisoldercontemporary—
thatis,astheItalianlocaldignitarywhofollowedthecareerwhichOvidre-
jected,reachedtheSenate,wrotewhatattherelevantmoment(justbefore
thefallofSejanus)seemedtoberequiredbytheregime,andleftdescendants
whorosetotheconsulship.Tosuggestthesignificanceofthefamilyandthe
man,onlythebarestdetailsneedbegivenhere.^24
AremoteancestoronthematernalsidehadbeenDeciusMagius,apro-
Roman Capuan who played a part in the Second PunicWar; by the early
first century..the family was settled in Aeclanum, and Velleius’ great-
great-great(?)grandfather,MinatiusMagius,foughtontheRomansidein
the Social War; his two sons became praetors in Rome; a later memberof
thefamily,acontemporaryofVelleius,willbetheMarcusMagiusMaximus
fromAeclanumwhowaspraefectusAegyptiintheperiod..–.Onthe
. SeeG.V.Sumner,‘‘TheTruthaboutVelleiusPaterculus:Prolegomena,’’HSCPh
):;A.J.Woodman,Velleius Paterculus: The Caesarian and Augustan Narrative (.–)
(),andThe Tiberian Narrative (.–)().
. Contrastthemuch-quotedpassageonthe‘‘restoration’’oftherespublicabyAugustus
(,)withthatonthesameachievementonthepartofTiberius(,).
. S. Demougin,Prosopographie des chevaliers romains julio-claudiens(), no. (the
father);no.(Velleiushimself).