Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1 - The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution

Ovid and the Domus Augusta 

role, alluded to only in the ‘‘triumphant foot of Caesar’’ (Caesareum...
pedem) of line . More prominence is given to the two sons of Messalla
themselves,evidentlytakingpartinthetriumph,andtothetraditionalset-
ting in the Forum—the temple of Castor and Pollux (to whom the two
brothersarecompared),and(asbefore)thetempleofDivusIulius(–):

quempiavobiscumprolescomitaviteuntem,

dignaparentesuonominibusquedatis,

fratribusadsimiles,quosproximatemplatenentis

divusabexcelsaIuliusaedevidet.

Withhimrideyouandyourpiousprogeny,/worthyoftheirfather

andthenamestheybear,/likethetwinbrotherswhooccupythe

temple/nexttotheloftyonefromwhichDivusJuliuslookson.

The‘‘triumph’’poemsareanotherreminderofthefact,onlypartiallymodi-
fiedbythearrivalofmonarchy,thatRomewasatraditionalpublicstageon
whichtheactors(nowincludingthefemalemembersoftheimperialhouse)
playedouttheirrolesinpublic,intheopenair,beforeanaudiencemadeup
oftheRomanpeople.Withinthatsamecontexttheholdersofthetraditional
magistracies also played their roles; in the newcontext of monarchy, they
couldbeassumedontheonehandtobeinapositiontoinfluencetheruler,
buttheywereknownontheothertobesubjecttohispatronage.Theinter-
playof public ceremonial and private influencewas well known to Ovid,
who(onceagain)canevokeitinadvance,withoutwaitingformerereports.

ConsulsandtheEmperor

So,ifweturntothesecondofthethreethemespickedoutfromtheexile
poetry,theoccupationoftheconsulate,wefindOvidin..lookingfor-
wardtotheconsulateasordinariuswhichSextusPompeiusistoholdthrough-
out..(Ex P.,,–).HeimaginesthecrowdonJanuaryfilling
Pompeius’housetobursting;theprocessiontotheCapitolandthesacrifice
ofoxen;theentrytotheSenatehouseandthecustomaryspeechbythenew
consul;andthenthereturntohishouse,accompaniedthroughthestreetsby
thewholeSenate.Heretoo,thepublicframeworkisprofoundlytraditional,
andmuchofwhatisimaginedcouldhavetakenplacecenturiesbefore.But
one element may be new.Was it already acknowledged, in formal public
ceremonial,thattheconsulatewasagiftfromtheemperor?Whatiscertain
isthattheanticipatedspeechintheSenatebythenewconsulwastoinclude
expressions of thanks both to the gods and to the emperor (): ‘‘egeris et