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AUGUSTUS SENEX: OLD AGE AND THE REMAKING OF THE PRINCIPATE*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2017

Mary Harlow  and
Ray Laurence
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Extract

In September ad 1, on the occasion of his birthday, Augustus wrote to Gaius, his adopted son and grandson by Julia and Agrippa, complaining about his age, stating that he had

passed the climacteric common to all old men, the sixty-fourth year. And I pray the gods that whatever time is left to me I may pass with you safe and well, with our country in a flourishing condition, while you are playing the man and preparing to succeed to my position.

(Gell. NA 15.7)

Type
Research Article
Information
Greece & Rome , Volume 64 , Issue 2 , October 2017 , pp. 115 - 131
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 2017 

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Footnotes

*

We thank Penny Goodman for persuading us to write this article, and also thank all those who offered constructive comments at its airings at the Universities of Leeds (2013) and Göttingen (2014) and finally at Commemorating Augustus: A Bi-millennial Re-evaluation, Leeds, 18–20 August 2014. All translations quoted in the text are from the Loeb Classical Library editions: J. C. Rolfe (ed. and trans.), Aulus Gellius. Attic Nights, Volume I. Books 1–5, Loeb Classical Library 195 (Cambridge, MA, 1927); J. W. Basore (ed. and trans.), Seneca. Moral Essays, Volume II, Loeb Classical Library 254 (Cambridge, MA, 1932); H. R. Fairclough (ed. and trans.), Horace. Satires. Epistles. The Art of Poetry, Loeb Classical Library 194 (Cambridge, MA, 1926).

References

1 The immediate family of Augustus at this point, consisted of his wife, Livia, four years younger than himself; his step-son, Tiberius, who was living on Rhodes (Suet. Tib. 10); his daughter, Julia, exiled to the island of Pandateria in 2 bc (Dio Cass. 55.10.14; Suet. Aug. 65); and his grandsons, Gaius and Lucius (Suet. Aug. 56.2; Dio Cass. 54.27, 55.9).

2 Parkin, T., Old Age in the Roman World (Baltimore, MD, 2003), 30 Google Scholar.

3 For Augustus’ climacteric, see Stevenson, T., ‘The Succession Planning of Augustus’, Antichthon 47 (2013), 135 CrossRefGoogle Scholar. On the negative consequences of the emperor being unable to resign, see Winterling, A., Politics and Society in Imperial Rome (Chichester, 2009), 2–3 Google Scholar.

4 On discussion of Augustus and new imagery, see Zanker, P., The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus (Ann Arbor, MI, 1988)Google Scholar; Favro, D. E., ‘Making Rome a World City’, in Galinsky, K. (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Augustus (Cambridge, 2005), 234–63CrossRefGoogle Scholar. But note that the imagery is sustained by Tiberius in ad 10 with the rebuilding of the Temple of Concordia, as shown by Kellum, K. A., ‘The City Adorned: Programmatic Display at the Aedes Concordiae Augustae ’, in Raaflaub, K. A. and Toher, M. (eds.), Between Republic and Empire. Interpretations of Augustus and His Principate (Berkeley, CA, 1990), 276–308 Google Scholar. The period is considered as a time of consolidation, but few details in Favro, D., The Urban Image of Augustan Rome (Cambridge, 1996), 139–40 and 252–80Google Scholar, dwell on the more recent past as seen in ad 14 by an old man. There was similarly little sense of the ageing emperor in the 2013–14 exhibition, Augusto, held in Rome: see Rocca, E. La et al. , Augusto (Milan, 2013)Google Scholar.

5 See, for example, Galinsky, K., Augustus. Introduction to the Life of an Emperor (Cambridge, 2012)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, or Galinsky, K., Augustan Culture. An Interpretative Introduction (Princeton, NJ, 1996)Google Scholar. The idea of a succession is seen as anachronistic by Vout, C., ‘Tiberius and the Invention of Succession’, in Gibson, A. C. G., The Julio-Claudian Succession (Leiden, 2013), 59–77 Google Scholar.

6 Many books feature a focus on Tiberius and a denial of Augustus’ agency to exercise power. See papers in Gibson (n. 5) for critique of the very notion of succession. The invisibility of Augustus is seen clearly in Severy, B., Augustus and the Family at the Birth of the Roman Empire (London, 2003), 187–205 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, with the chapter entitled ‘Inheriting the Res Publica: Tiberius’. See Lott, J. B., Death and Dynasty in Early Imperial Rome (Cambridge, 2012)CrossRefGoogle Scholar, for discussion of sources honouring Gaius and Lucius after their deaths. On coins, see Sutherland, C. H. V., Coinage in Imperial Policy 31 b.c.–a.d. 68 (London, 1971), 53–78 Google Scholar, who interprets the coinage as a device for creating a successor.

7 Levick, B., Augustus. Image and Substance (London, 2010), 96–7 and 154Google Scholar.

8 Dio Cass. 56.30; Parkin, T., Demography and Roman Society (Baltimore, MD, 1992)Google Scholar; Parkin (n. 2), 36–56, esp. 50–2 on model life tables. See also Saller, R., Power, Patriarchy and Death (Cambridge, 1994)Google Scholar; R. Laurence and F. Trifilò, Mediterranean Timescapes. The Geography of Age in the Roman Empire Mediterranean (forthcoming).

9 Parkin (n. 2), 50, estimates a population of 60 million, with 4 million over the age of sixty.

10 See the New Dynamics of Ageing project, <http://www.newdynamics.group.shef.ac.uk/>, accessed 15 May 2017.

11 For a succinct summary, see Parkin (n. 2), 17–21; Parkin, T., ‘Life Cycle’, in Harlow, M. and Laurence, R. (eds.), A Cultural History of Childhood and the Family in Antiquity (London, 2010), 97–114 Google Scholar.

12 The schema is reproduced in Censorinus, De dies natalis.

13 Powell, J. G. F., Cicero. Cato Maior de Senectute (Cambridge, 1988)Google Scholar. For discussion of attitudes to the elderly, see Parkin (n. 2); Cokayne, K., Experiencing Old Age in Ancient Rome (London, 2003)Google Scholar; Payne, T., The Ancient Art of Growing Old (London, 2015)Google Scholar.

14 The notion that Augustus introduced a ‘retirement age’ for senators at sixty depends on an interpretation of Dio (55.3.1) in connection to Lex Julia de Senatu Habendo (9 bc): see Talbert, R. J. A., The Senate of Imperial Rome (Princeton, NJ, 1984)Google Scholar; also Cokayne (n. 13), 95 with 199, nn. 24–27; Parkin (n. 2), 124–9. For the age of sixty in Augustan marriage laws, see Parkin, T., ‘On becoming a parent in later life’, in Dixon, S. (ed.), Childhood, Class and Kin in the Roman World (London, 2001) 221–36Google Scholar.

15 Harlow, M. and Laurence, R., Growing Up and Growing Old in Ancient Rome (London, 2002), 1–15 Google Scholar.

16 Cooley, A. E., Res gestae divi Augusti. Text, Translation, and Commentary (Cambridge, 2009), 42–3Google Scholar, dates composition between the start of the thirty-seventh grant of tribunician power on 26 June ad 14 and Augustus’ death on 19 August, both of which are referred to in the Res Gestae itself.

17 Ageing crops up in scholarly discussion of the Augustus in relationship to his grandsons from as early as 17 bc. See Parker, E. R., ‘The Education of Heirs in the Julio-Claudian Family’, AJPh 67 (1946), 35n.Google Scholar: ‘The ageing Augustus took on a new lease of life with the arrival of his grandsons’.

18 For commentary on Dio, see Swan, P. M., The Augustan Succession. A Historical Commentary on Cassius Dio's Roman History Books 55–56 (9 b.c.–a.d. 14) (Oxford, 2004)Google Scholar; and Rich, J. W., Cassius Dio. The Augustan Settlement (Roman History 53–55.9) (Bristol, 1990)Google Scholar.

19 For discussion of coins, see Buxton, B. and Hannah, R., ‘ OGIS 458, the Augustan Calendar and the Succession’, in Deroux, C. (ed.), Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History XII (Brussels, 2005), 290–309 Google Scholar. On the age of the portraits, see Pollini, J., The Portraiture of Gaius and Lucius (New York, 1987), with 89–94Google Scholar for the relationship of statues to their age; see also Lott (n. 6) on their commemoration. For coinage minted at Lugdunum with obverse legend CAESAR AUGUSTUS DIVI F PATER PATRIAE (‘Caesar Augustus, son of a god, father of his country’) and reverse legend C L CAESARES AUGUSTI F COS DESIG PRINC IVVENT (‘Gaius and Lucius Caesar, sons of Augustus, consuls designate, princes of youth’), see Sutherland, C. H. V. and Carson, R. A. G., The Roman Imperial Coinage Volume I. From 31 bc to ad 69 (London, 1984), 55 Google Scholar.

20 Clarke, M. L., ‘Three Notes on Roman Education’, CPh 63 (1968), 42–4Google Scholar. See also Morgan, M. G., ‘Suetonius and Swimming: A Note on Div. Aug. 64.3’, CPh 69 (1974), 276–8Google Scholar; Parker, E. R., ‘The Education of Heirs in the Julio-Claudian Family’, AJPh 67 (1946), 35–8Google Scholar.

21 Suet. Tib. 44; Suet. Dom. 22; Cameron, A., ‘Sex in the Swimming Pool’, BICS 20 (1973), 149–50Google Scholar.

22 On swimming, see Sanders, H. A., ‘Swimming amongst the Greeks and Romans’, CJ 20 (1925), 566–8Google Scholar; Sanders, H. A., ‘Swimming among the Greeks and Barbarians’, CJ 29 (1934), 609–12Google Scholar.

23 Suet. Jul. 57; Caes. B Alex. 21.

24 Hor. Sat. 2.1.8. Compare crossing the Danube under Hadrian: Speidel, M. P, ‘Swimming the Danube under Hadrian's Eyes’, AncSoc 22 (1991), 277–82Google Scholar, and also the Tiber: Speidel, M. P., ‘Maxentius and his Equites Singulares in the Battle at the Milvian Bridge’, ClAnt 5 (1986), 253–62Google Scholar.

25 Harlow and Laurence (n. 15), 65–78; Eyben, E., ‘Antiquity's View of Puberty’, Latomus 31 (1972), 677–97Google ScholarPubMed; Eyben, E., Restless Youth in Ancient Rome (London, 1991)Google Scholar. Compare the critique of Julia for associating with young men and her response that they would grow old with her, Macrob. Sat. 2.5.6.

26 Lott (n. 6), 54–77.

27 D. Favro (n. 4 [1996]), 132.

28 The situation of Tiberius’ return in Suetonius (Tib. 13–15), Dio (55.9) and Velleius Paterculus (2.99, 2.102–4) expressly includes the discussion with Gaius and cites the precedent of Agrippa's withdrawal from public life as Marcellus became Augustus’ primary heir. For discussion of these years with a focus on Tiberius, see Levick, B., Tiberius the Politician (London, 1976), 35–50 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and specifically on Suet. Tib. 23, B. Levick, ‘Atrox Fortuna’, CR n.s. 22 (1972), 309–11; Res Gestae, 14.

29 Gorski, G. J. and Packer, J. E., The Roman Forum. A Reconstruction and Architectural Guide (Cambridge, 2015), 168–9Google Scholar, for factual discussion and sources.

30 Ferroni, A. M., ‘ Concordia, Aedes ’, in Steinby, M., Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae I (Rome, 1993), 317–18Google Scholar, based on the Fasti Prenestini and Verulani.

31 Levick (n. 28), 36–7.

32 Kellum (n. 4), 276–307.

33 Levick (n. 28), 40, on the significance of the statue of Vesta. On the collection as a whole, see Isager, J., Pliny on Art and Society (London, 1991), 159–60Google Scholar; Bounia, A., The Nature of Classical Collecting (Aldershot, 2004), 184–5Google Scholar.

34 It is possible to compare this project to Agrippa's construction of the Pantheon. On the use of windows and coloured marble internally in the Temple of Concordia, see Kellum (n. 4); Bradley, M., ‘Colour and Marble in Early Imperial Rome’, CCJ 52 (2005–6), 1–22 Google Scholar.

35 Bounia (n. 33), 202; Isager (n. 33), 83–4; Laurence, R., Roman Passions. A History of Pleasure in Imperial Rome (London, 2009), 141–5Google Scholar. For the period in Rhodes, see Levick, B., ‘Tiberius’ Retirement to Rhodes in 6 b.c.’, Latomus 31 (1972), 779–813 Google Scholar.

36 Dio Cass. 56.42; Ov. Fast. 6.637–48; Cokayne (n. 13), 132. Note that, in 7 bc, Tiberius dedicated his mother's Porticus Liviae, while she dedicated a shrine to Concordia. The connection between these two actions is debated: see Flory, M. Boudreau, ‘ Sic exempla parantur: Livia's Shrine to Concordia and the Portraits of Livia’, Historia 33 (1984), 309–30Google Scholar; Panella, C., ‘Porticus Liviae’, in Steinby, M. (ed.), Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae IV (Rome, 1999), 127–9Google Scholar.

37 Gorski and Packer (n. 29), 288–9.

38 Nielsen, I. and Poulsen, B., The Temple of Castor and Pollux I. The Pre-Augustan Temple Phases with Related Decorative Elements (Rome, 1992), 51, 57Google Scholar; Poulsen, B., ‘The Dioscuri and Ruler Ideology’, SO 66 (1991), 119–46CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

39 CIL 6.40339 for reconstruction of the inscription; AE 1992 no. 159.

40 The location became associated with honouring Tiberius, Germanicus, and Drusus: Plin. HN 10.60.121, and compare text with Macrob. Sat. 2.4.29–30. In terms of precedents for Tiberius as the absent general building monuments in Rome, we can look to Caesar in the 50s bc: although in Gaul, he was developing his new forum. Augustus was frequently absent from Rome earlier in his life, but it was at those times that building projects that have become iconic images of his power were underway.

41 Sande, S. and Zahle, J., The Temple of Castor and Pollux III. The Augustan Temple (Rome, 2009), 253 Google Scholar.

42 Robertson, A. S., Roman Imperial Coins in the Hunter Coin Cabinet (Oxford, 1962), 46–7Google Scholar, and 43n. for coins of ad 13–14 with legends CAESAR AUGUSTUS DIVI F PATER PATRIAE (‘Caesar Augustus, son of a god, father of his country’) on the obverse and TI CAESSAR AUG F TR POT XV (‘Tiberius Caesar, son of Augustus, holder of the tribunician power for the fifteenth time’) on the reverse: both Augustus and Tiberius depend on their adopted father for their identities. See also Mattingly, H., Coins of the Roman Empire in the British Museum (London, 1923), cxvi–cxvii Google Scholar. Compare inscriptions dedicated to Lucius and Tiberius in the Basilica Aemilia: see Panciera, S., ‘Iscrizioni onorarie dalla Basilica Emilia’, Epigraphica 31 (1969–70), 104–12Google Scholar.

43 For a narrative of events, see Crook, J. A, ‘Political History, 30 b.c. to a.d. 14’, in CAH, vol. 10 (Cambridge, 1996), 105–12Google Scholar.

44 Suet. Tib. 15: ‘he ceased to act as head of a family (pro patre familias), neither made gifts, nor freed slaves and did not even accept inheritances or receive legacies’.

45 Levick (n. 7), ch. 2.

46 Note the role of adoptions in ad 4: see Levick, B., ‘Drusus Caesar and the Adoptions of ad 4’, Latomus 25 (1966), 227–44Google Scholar.

47 Harlow, M. and Laurence, R., ‘ De Amicitia: The Role of Age’, in Mustakallio, K. and Krötzl, C. (eds.), Passages from Antiquity to the Middle Ages III. De Amicitia, Acta Instituti Romani Finlandiae 36 (2010), 21–32 Google Scholar; Harlow and Laurence (n. 15), 111–15, on Cicero and Octavian.

48 Levick (n. 7), 96–100.

49 Crook, J. A., Consilium Principis. Imperial Councils and Counsellors from Augustus to Diocletian (Cambridge, 1955), 31–6Google Scholar.

50 Joseph, BJ 2.25, 2.81, and AJ 17.229, 17.301; Crook (n. 49), 32–3. See also Winterling (n. 3), 58–102, on the distinction of public/private and princeps/privatus.

51 Crook (n. 49), 33.

52 Treggiari, S., Roman Marriage (Oxford, 1991), 60–80 Google Scholar, for a summation of the nature of the law.

53 Harlow, M. and Laurence, R., ‘Age, Agency and Disability: Suetonius and the Emperors of the First Century C.E.’, in Krötzl, C., Mustakallio, K., and Kuuliala, J. (eds.), Infirmity in Antiquity and the Middle Ages (Farnham, 2015), 15–28 Google Scholar.

54 Wardle, D., Suetonius. Life of Augustus (Oxford, 2014), 470–7Google Scholar. On the latest interpretation of the phenomenon, see Gladhill, B., ‘The Emperor's No Clothes: Suetonius and the Dynamics of Corporeal Ecphrasis’, ClAnt 31 (2012), 315–48Google Scholar.

55 Galinsky (n. 5 [1996]), 28–41, 164–79, identifies changes in imagery, but these peter out long before Augustus’ final decade.

56 As can be so clearly seen, if we read the Res Gestae as a text written by an old man in his seventies.

57 Langlands, R., ‘Exemplary Influences and Augustus’ Pernicious Moral Legacy’, in Power, T. and Gibson, R. K. (eds.), Suetonius the Biographer (Oxford, 2014), 111–29CrossRefGoogle Scholar; E. Gunderson, ‘E.g. Augustus: exemplum in the Augustus and Tiberius’, in Power and Gibson (this note), 130–46.

58 Suet. Vesp. provides numerous examples, as does the return to verism from the Republic in representing Vespasian's face on coins and in statues.

59 Cicero's De senectute demonstrates the disjuncture that was seen to exist between middle age and old age.

60 Crook (n. 49), 36–9; Levick (n. 28), 93–4.