Augustus

“After a sacrifice was completed” Old CAH, p. 477.

“Goddess [Diana], make strong our youth” Hor Cent 17–20.

“Now Faith and Peace” Ibid., 57–60.

XX. LIFE AT COURT

Most of the material in this chapter derives from anecdotes in Suetonius (with additional material about Livia from Barrett, and general information on daily life in ancient Rome from Carcopino, Dupont, and Smith). Suetonius seems usually reliable or at least plausible, for he had access to the imperial archives and quoted from documents, as well as to contemporary (but now lost) memoirs. Many of the anecdotes are undated and doubtless refer to different times in Augustus’ reign.

“remarkable neither for size” Suet Aug 72 1.

“Whenever he wanted” Ibid., 72 2.

“would hardly be considered fit” Ibid., 73 1.

“Anyone would think” Ibid., 53 3.

a court developed This section is indebted to Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, “The Imperial Court,” CAH, pp. 283–308.

they may have been loosely arranged This judgment is based on the departments known to have been established by later emperors.

“stink of far-fetched phrases” Suet Aug 86 1.

Letters of his seen by Suetonius Ibid., 87 1.

“What in the world has become of Ajax?” Ibid., 86 5.

the last letter “X” was the last letter for Latin words. “Y” was employed for foreign words; “Z” appeared in the earliest Roman alphabet, but ceased to be written. From the first century B.C. it returned into use when transliterating the letter ? in a Greek word.

“I take it, of course” Ibid., 33 1.

When appearing in public Ibid., 53 1–2.

“I had some bread” Ibid., 76 1.

“On the way back” Ibid., 76 2.

“He who has been engaged” Celsus 125–7.

“Don’t suppose you’ll ever catch her” Ovid Pont 31142.

a certain standard See Barrett, pp. 105–6. Livia’s personal servants are recorded late in her life, but there is little reason to suppose that her household was much different at an earlier date.

“simplex munditiis” Hor Odes 155.

the wine she habitually drank Pliny 14 60.

recipes for various ailments Barrett, pp. 110–12.

“noble and undaunted spirit” Plut T & C Grac 19 1.

“Among their number” Sall Bell Cat 23 3.

a feminine bully Tac Ann 14.

“to enjoy the fun” Suet Aug 45 1.

“modest enough” Ibid., 72 3.

the unappetizing Publius Vedius Pollio Dio 54 23.

“though refulgent with portraits” Ovid Trist 2 521–24.

dragging a former consul’s wife For this paragraph, see Suet Aug 69 1–2, 71 1.

“still to have harboured a passion” Ibid., 71 1.

when Cato vowed Plut Cat Min 56 4.

advisory inscription The inscription is at the “House of the Moralist.”

XXI. GROWING THE EMPIRE

Dio and Suetonius are the main sources, albeit somewhat thin.

“the existing number” Dio 54 9 1.

“I enlarged the territory” Res Gest 26.

“whose empire” Virg Aen 186–89.

“guard our young swarm” Hor Odes 13529–32.

This three-part plan of action This strategic analysis is indebted to J.F.C. Fuller’s classic study, The Decisive Battles of the Western World. See vol. 1 of the abridged edition (1970), pp. 167ff. For a more ad hoc–ist interpretation, see Erich S. Gruen, “The Expansion of the Empire Under Augustus,” CAH, pp. 147–97.

“Your brother Drusus” Suet Aug 71 3.

“My state of health” Suet Tib 21 6.

a plot against the princeps This is one of those tiresome incidents that bedevil the literary sources for the second part of Augustus’ life. It is reported twice, in Sen Clem 19 and in Dio 55 14–22 (where Livia delivers a long curtain-lecture). Cinna’s first names are given differently; Seneca probably dates the episode to 16–13 B.C. and Dio to A.D. 4. The whole affair sounds as if it could simply be a rhetorical exercise mistaken for a historical event. The truth? We shall never know.

The length of a legionary’s service Decided in 13 B.C. on Augustus’ return to Rome.

“state of tranquillity” Strabo 469.

unendurable pain from gout Pliny 23 27.

he strongly disapproved of Julia Suet Tib 72–3.