Imperial Ideology in the Tabula Siarensis priatetoanimperatorpopulus.Butthepeoplenonethelesscomparedthemore
extravagantandopenmourningforGermanicus’fatherDrususin..:on
thatoccasionthebodyhadbeensurroundedbytheportraits(imagines)ofthe
ClaudiiandtheIulii,therehadbeenpubliclamentationintheForum,and
afuneralorationfromtheRostra.Where,thepeopleaskedin..,were
theancientcustoms,theeffigylaidonthepyre,thesongs(carmina)andeulo-
gies(laudationes)designedtopreservethememoryofhisvalour(admemoriam
virtutis)(Tacitus,Ann.,–)?
AsthepopularreactionsreportedbyTacitusimplied,theRomanfuneral
wasdesignedbothtorecallthepastandprovideexhortationforthefuture.
IftheintermentceremoniesforGermanicuswereindeed,asTacitusimplies,
regarded as not meeting the expected standards for public commemora-
tion,evenTacitusadmitsthatthefuneralprocessionofTiberius’sonDrusus,
threeyears later,was of exceptional splendour; it was marked by portraits
ofAeneas,theoriginator(origo)oftheIuliaGens;ofalltheAlbankings;of
Romulus, the founderof the city; and of the Sabine aristocracy (nobilitas),
AttusClaususandthelaterClaudii(Ann.,).Thislistcomesverycloseto
thatoftheforemostmenwhosestatuesadornedthetwoapsesoftheForum
Augustum.TheideologyoftheAugustanregimestilldominatedthepub-
licimageofthenextreign,andformedthestandardbywhichitwouldbe
judged.
Indeed,itwaspreciselythecomparisonbetweentheelderDrusus’funeral
in ..and that of Germanicus which, as Tacitus implies, so struck the
peopleofRomein...But,astheTabulaSiarensisnowshows,Tacitus’re-
portofofficialreactionsonthenewsofGermanicus’death,beforetheashes
arrived,isveryabbreviatedandincomplete.Itisnotonly,aswesaw,thathe
omitsaltogetherthelawpassedbytheconsulsearlyin.Evenhisbriefac-
countofthehonoursforthedeceased(Ann.,)hardlydoesjusticetothe
complexityofwhattheSenatevotedinDecemberof...Themeasures
whichwerethentakenincluded,forinstance,thelayingdownofadetailed
sculpturalprogrammeforthenewarchwhichwastobeerectedintheCircus
Flaminius(Tab. Siar.fr.a,,ll.–).Theselinesrepresenttheonlydocu-
mentaryaccountwhichwehave,whichrecordsthedecision-makingprocess
bywhichtheideologicalandpropagandafunctionofanarchinRomewas
consciously determined. Apart from the statues representing the defeated
peoples (devictae gentes) and the commemorative inscription, already men-
tioned,thearchwastobesurmountedbyastatueofGermanicusinatri-
umphalchariot(currus triumphalis),andoneithersideof himtherewereto
bestatuesofhisfatherDrusus,hismotherAntonia,probablyhiswifeAgrip-
pina,hissisterLivia,hisbrotherClaudius(herecalledTiberiusGermanicus),