Humanities 110
February 21, 2000
William Diebold

"The Representation of the Emperor" 

Texts

1) With many tears and sighs he feeds
His soul on what is nothing but a picture.
(Vergil, Aeneid, 1.658f) 

2) That day was her first day of death and ruin.
For neither how things seem nor how they are deemed
Moves Dido now.
(Vergil, Aeneid, 4.224ff) 

3) He was decreed every honor which love or ingenuity could devise. His name was introduced into the Salian hymn; curule chairs, crowned by oak-wreaths, were to be placed in his honor among the seats of the Brotherhood of Augustus; his statue in ivory was to head the processions at the Circus Games; his posts of priest of Augustus and augur were to be filled by members of the Julian family only. The knights of Rome gave the name "Germanicus" to the block of seats in the theater which had been called the "junior block"; and they laid down that on July 15th every year his likeness should head their parade. There were to be arches at Rome, on the Rhine bank, and on Mount Amanus in Syria, with inscriptions recording his deeds and his death for his country. Antioch where he had been cremated, was to have a sepulchre; Epidaphne, where he died, a funeral monument. His statues and cult-centers were almost innumerable. It was also proposed to place a huge golden medallion-portrait among the busts of the great orators. (Tacitus, Annals, 2.83; p. 117)

4) So great was their zeal that, not content with surrounding Otho with their persons in close array, they elevated him to the pedestal, on which a short time before had stood the gilt statue of Galba. (Tacitus, Histories)

5) Less vividly is the mind stirred by what finds entrances through the ears than by what is brought before the trusty eyes and what the spectator can see himself. (Horace, Ars Poetica, 180-82)

6) The consul's proposal was that Piso's name could be deleted from the calendar; that half his property should be confiscated and the other half allowed to his son Cnaeus, who should change his first name. (Tacitus, Annals, 3.17; p. 127)

7) [Seeing Nero Drusus was] a welcome experience to his listeners, whose still fresh memories of Germanicus created the illusion that it was he whom they were seeing and hearing. (Tacitus, Annals, 4.15; p. 165)

8) Meanwhile at Rome consuls, senate, knights precipitately became servile. The more distinguished men were, the greater their urgency and insincerity. They must show neither satisfaction at the death of one emperor, nor gloom at the accession of another: so their features were carefully arranged in a blend of tears and smiles, mourning and flattery. (Tacitus, Annals, 1.7; p. 35)

9) The effigies of twenty highly distinguished families, Manlii, Quinctii, and others equally aristocratic, headed the procession. But Cassius and Brutus were the most gloriously conspicuous--precisely because their statues were not to be seen. (Tacitus, Annals, 3.76; p. 156)

10) Besides, what Tiberius said, even when he did not aim at concealment, was--by habit or nature--always hesitant, always cryptic. And now that he was determined to show no sign of his real feelings, his words became more and more equivocal and obscure. (Tacitus, Annals, 1.11; p. 39)

11) Now of all his self-ascribed virtues Tiberius cherished none more deeply than dissimulation. (Tacitus, Annals, 4.71; p. 192)

12) Tiberius's health and strength were now failing. But his stern will and vigorous speech and expression remained. So did his powers of dissimulation. (Tacitus, Annals, 6.50; p. 226)

13) One thing only needs to be untiringly worked for--a fair name for the future. Contempt for fame (fama) means contempt for goodness. (Tacitus, Annals 4.38; p. 176)

14) Every word, every look he twisted into some criminal significance--and stored them up in his memory. (Tacitus, Annals, 1.7; p. 36)

Monuments and Terms

damnatio memoriae (condemnation of memory)--the deletion of a Roman's name from the public record and the destruction of images of him

Augustus of Prima Porta, shortly after 21 BC (Rome, Vatican Museums)

Doryphoros (Spear Carrier) by Polykleitos, Greek original c. 440 BC