Augustan Reconstruction and Roman Memory
Eric Orlin, University of Puget Sound
This paper argues that the reconstruction of eighty-two temples by Augustus played a critical role in reshaping Roman memory and creating the possibility of a new Roman identity in the wake of the civil wars. The Romans felt that there was a deep connection between place a memory, and Catharine Edwards and Alain Gowing have highlighted the ways in which this sense is evident both in their theoretical musings on the subject (see the Ad Herennium and Quintilian) and in the practical way in which the buildings in the city of Rome served simultaneously as monuments of the past. Yet scholars have not sufficiently appreciated that the temples played an important role in this regard, for Roman temples served not only as sites for religious activity, but also as lieux de memoire, where memories of the events and men who had shaped the history of the Republic could be stored. Augustus’ reconstruction of those temples thus allowed him to replace the connections of the original building with new assocations that commemorated the emperor and his family. The effacement of the original temple in some instances was made more complete by shifting the date on which the temple was rededicated and thus the date on which the annual festivities would be held. The temple of Concordia Augustae and the temples in the area of the Porticus Octaviae provide illustrative examples of this phenomenon. I argue that this reordering of Roman topographical and chronological state finctioned to direct attention away from the conquests and divisions of the Republic and toward the unifying figure of the emperor.
Prof. Douglas Boin
