Imperial Image Scholarship

‘One of the major problems… of Suetonius is that of generalisation… which results in exaggeration’

Wardle (on Suetonius as a source)

‘an altogether more humane, human, agreeable princeps presented to us’

Horsfall (on Suetonius)

‘Never before had a Roman citizen allowed himself to receive the honours and marks of distinction normally reserved for the gods’

Bradley (the honours that Julius Caesar granted himself - reason for his assassination)

‘Caesar was Octavian’s passport to power’

Beard

‘There is no better way for Octavian to legitimise his claim to rule than by using Julius Caesar’s name’

Marsh (Octavian’s use of images in his rise to power)

‘As Julius Caesar’s adopted son, he was hugely popular with the masses’

Everitt

‘After Julius Caesar’s deification - Octavian’s standing was considerably enhanced, for he could style himself as divi filius, the son of a god’

Everitt (Octavian as Divi Filius)

‘By focusing on her (Cleopatra) rather than Antony, Octavian could represent the war as one fought against a foreign rather than a Roman enemy’

Beard (presentation of Actium)

‘the account of the achievements might be highly selective’

Brunt and Moore (the Res Gestae and the reliability of the account)

‘The Res Gestae… were carefully drafted in such a way that everyone could find ‘his’ emperor represented in the text’

Witschel (Res Gestae)

‘Apollo stood first of all for discipline and morality’

Zanker (Octavian’s association with Apollo)

‘The mausoleum was first of all a demonstration of its patron’s power’

Zanker (Mausoleum)

‘poets like Virgil and Horace wrote only for of that minority - a highly educated elite’

Jenkyns (the audience of contemporary poets such as Virgil and Horace)

‘his face does not altar with the years: he is godlike in his immutability, superbly monarchical, aloof’

Jenkyns (Augustus’ portrayal in statues over time)

‘It fits with contemporary and later discussion of the Augustan golden age of peace and plenty in some of the Augustan poets’

Nicholls (the Ara Pacis)

‘the Parthian motif is surely most elaborately expressed on the cuirassed statue’

Zanker (the prima porta)