Author’s Prologue buildingsonit.^8 Buttheprimecase,extremelyrelevanttoatleastsomeof
theessaysinthisvolume,mustbethestudyofancientRomeitself.Interms
ofstyleofapproachandof interpretation,thetonehasbeensetbyFilippo
Coarelli,whoseworkisnotessentiallyarchaeological,inthesenseoftheex-
cavationandanalysisofobjects,butinterpretative,incombiningveryde-
tailedtopographicalknowledge,andaprofoundsenseofplace,withtheuse
ofwrittenevidence.This,aboveall,hasbroughttheRomanForumtolifeas
neverbefore.^9 Inparallelwiththishascomethenewdirectiongiventothe
studyofRomanhistorybythecombinationofhistory,architecturalhistory,
arthistory,iconography,andtopographyinPaulZanker’sclassicworkonthe
powerof imagesinthereignofAugustus.^10 Thisapproachhasnowfound
itsmostsystematicexpressioninthetriumphantproduction,allwithinthe
lastdecadeofthecentury,ofthesixvolumesofMargaretaSteinby’sLexicon
TopographicumofthecityofRome.^11
Ifthereaderweretolookatthearticlescollectedinthisvolumeinthe
orderofthedatesoftheiroriginalpublication,andnot,astheyareinfact
arranged,inthechronologicalorderofthesubjectswhichtheycover,heor
shewouldseeatleastapalereflectionoftherevolutionofperceptionwhich
hasaffectedRomanhistory.Thatistosay,theearlierpapersarewhollyde-
pendentonwrittenevidence,literaryordocumentary,andshowabsolutely
nosenseofthephysicalorsymbolicenvironmentagainstwhichthenarra-
tiveof Romanhistoryisset.Ihopeatleastthatthereaderwoulddetecta
changeinthemid-s,asadirectconsequenceofamonthspentinat
theBritishSchoolinRome,walkingaroundthecitywithFilippoCoarelli’s
Guida Archeologica di Romain hand.The effect is (I hope) clearly visible in
chapter , ‘‘The Political Characterof the Classical Roman Republic, –
..,’’andchapter,‘‘StateandSubject:TheImpactofMonarchy,’’both
publishedin.
Thelatteressaymakessomeallusionstonumismaticevidenceandusesthe
excellent British Museum pamphlet on Augustus, published in .^12 But
here the scene has been completely transformed in the s by the pub-
lication of a work whose significance has perhaps still not been fully felt.
. J.M.Hurwit,The Athenian Acropolis: A History, Mythologyand Archaeology from the Neo-
lithic Era to the Present().
. F.Coarelli,Il Foro RomanoI–II(–).
. P.Zanker,Augustus und die Macht der Bilder(),translatedasThe Power of Images
in the Age of Augustus().
. E.M.Steinby,ed.,Lexicon Topographicum Urbis RomaeI–VI(–).
. SusanWalker,Augustus: Handlist of the Exhibition and Supplementary Studies().