The Augustan Revolution
Ascountlessexamplesshow,comfortably-offpersonsofequestrianorigin,
whether from Rome itself, like Atticus,or from amunicipium, like Cicero,
belonged,insocial,economic,andculturalterms,tothesamebroadband
ofeducatedlandownersasdidsenators,eventhosewhowerenobiles.Inthe
crucialyear..,whichitissuggestedshouldbeseenasbeginningthe‘‘late-
Augustan’’phaseofLatinliterature,itwasMessallaCorvinuswhoproposed
intheSenatethatAugustusshouldreceivetheappellation‘‘PaterPatriae.’’^28
ButitisAugustushimselfwhorecordsthatitwasnotonlytheSenateand
theRomanpeoplewhoawardedthishonour,butalsotheequestianorder,
actingasacorporatebody(RG).Ifthispieceof loyalisminvolvedsome
form of vote or resolution, it is the only such act attested on the part of
theorder,andmustthushavebeenofgreatsignificance.IntheFastiOvid
doesnotfailtonotethisalso,carefullyusingthefirst-personpluraltosig-
nalhisownparticipation(Fasti,–):‘‘Sanctepaterpatriae,tibiplebs,
tibi curia nomen/hoc dedit, dedimus nos tibi nomen, eques’’ (Reverend
fatherofthefatherland,theplebs,thesenateandwe,theequites,gaveyou
this name)—and goes on to a laborious comparison of Augustus first to
Iuppiterand then to Romulus, in which the latterclearlycomes off worse
(–).
These sameyears witnessed the emergence of Ovid as a poet in whose
worksemphatic,unambiguous,andhighlydevelopedexpressionsofloyalty
totheregimewouldplay(atleast)averymarkedpart.Itwouldbeabsurd
to claim that other currents, or ambivalences of attitude, can nowhere be
foundinOvid’spoetryofthisperiod;criticalingenuitycaninanycasedis-
cover these in any text.What is claimed as significant here is simply that
Ovid’swritingofthisperiodismarkedbydeliberate,highlydeveloped,and
overtexpressionsof loyalism.Forinstance,intherevisionoftheArs Ama-
toria,which seems to belong in ..,^29 Ovid inserted, as Glen Bowersock
hasshown,areferencetotheseabattleof ‘‘AtheniansandPersians,’’which
Augustusputonin..inthenewlycreatednaumachia(anartificiallakefor
givingwaterbornedisplays);andhewentontoexpounditsconnectionwith
Gaius’ mission to the East to confront the Parthians (AA, ff.).^30 Ovid
doesnotforget(–)tobringinbothMarsandtheprospectivedeification
ofAugustus:‘‘MarsquepaterCaesarquepater,datenumeneunti:/namdeus
evobisalterest,altereris’’(FatherMarsandFatherCaesar,sendhimoffwith
. Suetonius,Div. Aug..
. Forthedates(asinallthatfollows),Syme(n.),–.
. G.Bowersock,‘‘AugustusandtheEast:TheProblemoftheSuccession,’’inMillar
andSegal(n.),.