Kelly E. Shannon-Henderson
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- December 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780198832768
- eISBN:
- 9780191871283
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198832768.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Prose and Writers: Classical, Early, and Medieval, Ancient Religions
After a brief assessment of how the lost portions of the Annals covering the reign of Caligula might have affected our understanding of the importance of religion within the work, this chapter ...
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After a brief assessment of how the lost portions of the Annals covering the reign of Caligula might have affected our understanding of the importance of religion within the work, this chapter considers the reign of Claudius as described in Annals 11–12. Claudius is depicted as an antiquarian-minded reformer whose attempts to revive Rome’s cultic traditions are nevertheless destined to fail to improve Rome’s poor relationship with its gods. Claudius revives the augurium salutis and the college of the haruspices, celebrates a lustrum to conclude his censorship, and holds the Secular Games. Yet none of these changes is enough to restore a true spirit of cultic memory to Rome, since Claudius’ reign also sees the abuse of rituals by his wives Messalina and Agrippina the Younger that threaten to anger the gods. It is also during his reign that the gods first send prodigies to convey their anger explicitly, an anger that Claudius’ attempts to revive tradition cannot mitigate.Less
After a brief assessment of how the lost portions of the Annals covering the reign of Caligula might have affected our understanding of the importance of religion within the work, this chapter considers the reign of Claudius as described in Annals 11–12. Claudius is depicted as an antiquarian-minded reformer whose attempts to revive Rome’s cultic traditions are nevertheless destined to fail to improve Rome’s poor relationship with its gods. Claudius revives the augurium salutis and the college of the haruspices, celebrates a lustrum to conclude his censorship, and holds the Secular Games. Yet none of these changes is enough to restore a true spirit of cultic memory to Rome, since Claudius’ reign also sees the abuse of rituals by his wives Messalina and Agrippina the Younger that threaten to anger the gods. It is also during his reign that the gods first send prodigies to convey their anger explicitly, an anger that Claudius’ attempts to revive tradition cannot mitigate.
Michael C. J. Putnam
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300083330
- eISBN:
- 9780300130454
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300083330.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Poetry
This is the first book devoted to Horace's Carmen Saeculare, a poem commissioned by Roman emperor Augustus in 17 bce for choral performance at the Ludi Saeculares, the Secular Games. The poem is the ...
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This is the first book devoted to Horace's Carmen Saeculare, a poem commissioned by Roman emperor Augustus in 17 bce for choral performance at the Ludi Saeculares, the Secular Games. The poem is the first fully preserved Latin hymn whose circumstances of presentation are known, and it is the only lyric of Horace we can be certain was first presented orally. The book offers a close and sensitive reading of this hymn, shedding new light on the richness and virtuosity of its poetry, on the many sources Horace drew on, and on the poem's power and significance as a public ritual. A rich and compelling work, this poem is a masterpiece, and it represents a crucial link in the development of Rome's outstanding lyric poet.Less
This is the first book devoted to Horace's Carmen Saeculare, a poem commissioned by Roman emperor Augustus in 17 bce for choral performance at the Ludi Saeculares, the Secular Games. The poem is the first fully preserved Latin hymn whose circumstances of presentation are known, and it is the only lyric of Horace we can be certain was first presented orally. The book offers a close and sensitive reading of this hymn, shedding new light on the richness and virtuosity of its poetry, on the many sources Horace drew on, and on the poem's power and significance as a public ritual. A rich and compelling work, this poem is a masterpiece, and it represents a crucial link in the development of Rome's outstanding lyric poet.
T. P. Wiseman
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198718352
- eISBN:
- 9780191787645
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198718352.003.0009
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
In the restored republic, the games were where Augustus Caesar reported to the Roman People on what he had done in their name. Horace in his Epistles used the elections as an analogy for poets ...
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In the restored republic, the games were where Augustus Caesar reported to the Roman People on what he had done in their name. Horace in his Epistles used the elections as an analogy for poets getting their work selected for the ludi scaenici; he himself preferred to perform for small private audiences, venues for which are attested archaeologically. Tibullus and Propertius, privileged equestrians, wrote for public occasions as well as private, and Propertius and Cynthia were famous ‘all over town’. Ovid’s autobiographical poem records how young he was when he first recited his poems to the People. The ‘Secular Games’ of 17 BC may have included poets and prose authors among the many types of entertainment on offer, including perhaps Virgil’s long-awaited Aeneid. Horace’s fourth book of Odes and Ovid’s Amores, Heroides, Ars amatoria, Remedia amoris, and Fasti all seem to have been written with public performance in mind.Less
In the restored republic, the games were where Augustus Caesar reported to the Roman People on what he had done in their name. Horace in his Epistles used the elections as an analogy for poets getting their work selected for the ludi scaenici; he himself preferred to perform for small private audiences, venues for which are attested archaeologically. Tibullus and Propertius, privileged equestrians, wrote for public occasions as well as private, and Propertius and Cynthia were famous ‘all over town’. Ovid’s autobiographical poem records how young he was when he first recited his poems to the People. The ‘Secular Games’ of 17 BC may have included poets and prose authors among the many types of entertainment on offer, including perhaps Virgil’s long-awaited Aeneid. Horace’s fourth book of Odes and Ovid’s Amores, Heroides, Ars amatoria, Remedia amoris, and Fasti all seem to have been written with public performance in mind.
