The Augustan Revolution
granthimcapablesuccessors:‘‘destinatesuccessoresquamserissimos,sedeos
quorumcervicestamfortitersustinendoterrarumorbisimperiosufficiant,
quamhuiussuffecissesensimus,consiliaqueomniumciviumautpia[fovete
autimpiaopprimite?]’’(markoutsuccessorsasfaraspossibleinthefuture,
butoneswhoseshouldersarebroadenoughtobearthegovernmentofthe
worldasbravelyaswehaveseenhisdo,andwhatevertheplansofallcitizens,
ifpious[promotethem,ifimpioussuppressthem?]).
OvidinRome
TherewereofcourseatleastthreeprofounddifferencesbetweenVelleiusand
anotherlocaldignitaryoftheAugustanperiod,OvidiusNasofromSulmo.
Firstly,Ovidthoughhebeganacareerasasenator,didnotpursueit;sec-
ondly,hisveryprominentpositioninRomeendedsuddenlyindisgraceand
exile,fromwhich(sofarasweknow)hewasnevertoberecalled;and,thirdly,
hewasawriterofgenius,capableofthehighestachievementsinasuccession
ofdifferentpoeticgenres.
Buttheundeniablefactofhisliterarygenius,combinedwithhiseventual
fallandexile,shouldnottemptustoseehimasalwayshavingbeen,insocial
andpoliticalterms,atsomedistancefromtheregime,ashavingpreserved
arealspiritualandartisticindependence,orashavingbeeninsomesensea
rebelwhosenon-compliancewasultimatelypunished.Thischaptersuggests
thatthetruthisotherwise:thatOvidshouldbeclearlycontrastedwiththe
great‘‘post-Triumviral’’writersoftheearlierpartofAugustus’reign;andthat
hebelongsnotwiththembut,insocialorigin,inattachmenttoastrongly
loyalistsenatorialfamily,andintheovert‘‘Augustanism,’’foundinsomeof
hislaterworks,withthe‘‘post-Augustan’’Velleius.Farfrombeingexpres-
sionsofspiritualresistance,thepoemsofexileshouldbereadastheprotests
ofarejectedloyalist,whoserightfulplace,inRomeandinrelationwithlead-
ing senatorial families, has wrongly been denied him.The poetry both of
thedecadebeforehisexilein..,andofthedecadeafterit,incorporates
‘‘Augustan’’features,inawayinwhichtheworksofthe‘‘post-Triumviral’’
writersdonot.
Thisis,ofcourse,noplacetorehearseallthatisknownofOvid’sorigins,
career,andearlierworks.^25 Butitisimportanttostresshowprominentan
exampleheisofthelocaldignitarywhomighthaveascendedtotheheartof
thesenatorialorderinRome.Asweallknow,aninscriptionoftheAugustan
. Onlythekeyreferenceswillbegiven.Theevidencehasoftenbeencollected,most
recentlyinPIR^2 .