Imperial Ideology in the Tabula Siarensis oursforGermanicusCaesarbepresentedtothepeople.’’AsJ.S.Richardson
pointsouttome,thispartofthenewtextcanalsobeseenfromtheoppo-
siteperspective.Thatistosay,itshowsthat,evenasregardsthemostformal
aspectsofprocedure,theSenatecannowactasiftheconsentofthepeople
couldbeassumedinadvance.Asthepassagewhichprecedestheselinesalso
shows, the measures also included provisions for honours to be offered by
orinthenameoftheurbanplebs,includingstatuesofGermanicus‘‘withan
inscriptionoftheRomanplebs’’(Tab. Siar.fr.b,,ll.–).Nonetheless,
itremainssignificantthattheseprovisionswerestill,inhowevercursorya
fashion,tobeembodiedbytheconsulsinalawandputbeforethepeople.
Whatthepeoplesubsequentlyvotedhadadualcharacter,inthisrespect
presumablymirroringtheLexValeriaCorneliaof..:thatistosaythe
peoplebothvotedhonoursforthedeceasedandinstitutedanovelelementin
theconstitution,thenewcenturiescomposedofsenatorsandequites,which
wouldhenceforthformapartofthecenturiateassemblyasanelectoralas-
sembly.We know from Cassius Dio (, , –; , , –) that the cen-
turiateassemblycontinuedtomeetontheCampusMartiusatleastuntilhis
owntime,theearlythirdcentury.Thereisnoreasontosupposethatthenew
centuries did not continue to form a part of what Pliny theYounger was
tocallthesanctissimum carmen(themostsacredritual)oftheassembly(Pan.
,).AsIindicatedearlier,whatisatissuehereistheformalstructureof
theres publicaandtherelationsof itscomponentparts,notthequestionof
thereallocationofpoliticalpower.AstheevidenceofOviditselfshows,as
earlyastheendofAugustus’reignandthebeginningofthatofTiberius,it
wasopenlyacknowledgedthattheconsulateatleastwasinfactinthegiftof
theemperor.Inthesamepoemwhichwasmentionedearlier,addressedto
PomponiusGraecinus,consuldesignatefor..,andconcerningthepro-
spectiveconsulateof hisbrother,PomponiusFlaccus,in..,Ovidsays:
‘‘Grandastheconsulis—andRome,thecityofMars,seesnoimperiumhigher
thanthatofthesupremeconsul—nonethelessthedignity[gravitas]ofthe
author[auctor]increasesthehonour,andthatwhichisgivenpartakesofthe
majestyof the giver’’ (Ep. ex Ponto, , –). Few texts more perfectly
expressthedelicateambiguityoftheearlyimperialstate.
Theformalstructureofthecenturiateassembly,whichwastocontinue
tomeetontheCampusMartiustoelectconsulsandpraetorsforatleasttwo
centuriesmore,wasonecomponentofthelaw(rogatio)tobeputforwardin
January...Theotherwastherangeofhonoursandformsofcommemo-
rationforthedeceasedGermanicus.Thoseclauseswhichsurviveinthelast
partoftheTabulaHebanainclude,firstly,permanentprovisionsforchanges
intheannualritualsofthecity,suchastheputtingoutofthecurulechairsof