Chapter 1 - Si licet et fas est: Ovid’s Fasti and the Problem of Free Speech Under the Principate

Summary

Ovid’s Fasti explores the way that the Roman calendar organises time and regulates occasions for speech. The old religious calendar was being systematically reorganised by Augustus, and the poem uses this reorganisation as the starting point for an exploration of the way that Augustus is putting ever tighter curbs on free speech. The poet’s own exile becomes the main example of how Augustus attempts to silence opposing or threatening voices.