In this series, we’ll deepen our insight into the ancient world by approaching different kinds of evidence from new perspectives. Today, we will consider inscriptions, using the case study of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti.
Inscriptions were everywhere in the ancient world, but perhaps the most famous is the Res Gestae Divi Augusti. This monumental text provides classicists with a rare chance to read the personal testimony of the first Roman emperor Augustus, as he carefully describes his establishment of Pax Romana and subsequent surrendering of ‘official power’ for exceptional personal influence. Yet this source’s attraction exceeds its written content. As an inscription, the Res Gestae was engraved variously in bronze and stone, and distributed throughout the Mediterranean. By considering the materiality of this text, we can enrich our understanding of its place in the ancient world, and develop some valuable lenses through which to understand other inscriptions.
Augustus produced the Res Gestae towards the end of his life, proclaiming the peaceful prosperity he had brought to the Empire, formulating the basis of his power, and listing his various public works. This record of things done (or, in Latin, Res Gestae) served not only to mark the end of the emperor’s life, but to smooth the transition to his successor, a goal that the format of inscription inherently aids. The main copy of the Res Gestae, situated in Rome, was carved in bronze. This long-lasting material connoted a commitment to posterity; Augustus’ life may have ended, but his legacy lived on. Before even reading the content, its materiality conveyed a message. We must understand inscriptions as more than texts, then: they were monuments.
Augustus, of course, was not the only person in the ancient world producing inscriptions. Messages cut into metal or stone were remarkably common. Their monumentality made them perfect vessels for the pronouncement of laws or notable deeds, with many elites using imposing bronze to advertise their patronage and thus assert their legitimacy. The durability of engraving also led to inscriptions in religious settings, accompanying votive offerings as lasting records of piety. Some enslaved people were even able to leave hidden inscriptions in the building material they worked with (an example here), showing how this material format was accessible across the social spectrum. Keep this variety in mind throughout the rest of this article: how might geography, materiality and accessibility allow inscriptions to uniquely reveal the ancient world?
One useful approach to epigraphy is to consider its surrounding context, as shown by the Res Gestae’s instantiation in Rome. The text was engraved on bronze columns either side of Augustus’ mausoleum, situated in his complex on the Campus Martius. During the Late Republic, this site was where Roman generals traditionally built monuments to their war victories, a crucial part of Republican political competition. Augustus’ complex was the pinnacle of this: alongside his mausoleum was an obelisk, symbolising victory in the East, and the Ara Pacis, symbolising victory in the West. This complex dominated the Campus Martius, joining the Augustan poets in proclaiming absolute peace, and thus ending opportunities for senators to build their own monuments. This context unlocks a new layer of the inscription’s meaning. Whereas the Res Gestae’s text proclaimed Augustus had restored the Republic, its context dominating the Campus Martius reveals the Republic could never function the same again.
If this is a message of the text specifically in Rome, how might the same text read differently elsewhere? Another instantiation of the Res Gestae, found in Antioch in the Eastern reaches of the Empire, provides insight. Here, the Res Gestae was carved on a gateway on the Roman road system amid symbols of Augustan peace, announcing the glory of Empire to those who used its infrastructure. Curiously, despite being 1,700 miles from Italy, it still appears in Latin. One explanation for this is that Antioch was a colony for veterans of the 5th and 7th Legions - the Latin appealed to them, and provided a link to home. Clearly then, the text’s emphasis changed depending on its context: whilst restoring the Republic mattered in the political centre of Rome, in the provinces the inscription was a monument to Empire. For Roman soldiers, it was a reminder of what they’d fought for. For local peoples, the inscription might appear as a resented symbol of domination.
That said, some provincials could benefit from the inscription, as shown by language choice in the Res Gestae’s appearance in Ancyra. Here, the Res Gestae appeared in a Temple of Provincial Cult, a space designed to commemorate the relationship between province and Rome. On the exterior of the temple, the Res Gestae was inscribed in Greek, appealing to locals and passersby. Within the temple, meanwhile, the Res Gestae was inscribed in Latin, implying locals participating in imperial practices. This inscription of the Res Gestae, and this temple, was organised and paid for by local elites, their names inscribed alongside the Res Gestae’s text. Their motive was likely to legitimise themselves through association with imperial power; the Greek text conveyed this to locals, whilst the Latin text appealed to fellow multilingual elites or visiting Romans. Either way, the text’s monumentality was its own language, conveying local appropriation of imperial power before a word was read. The Res Gestae in Ancyra reveals that the same inscription could appeal to various audiences, and convey various messages, within the same space.
Bringing all this together, we can see that inscriptions convey much more than just their content. Consideration of context, language and materiality reveals how inscriptions conveyed meaning to a multitude of possible audiences simultaneously. Whereas classicists have traditionally used the Res Gestae to study Augustus, we can employ these approaches to reach beyond the Emperor to local elites, Roman soldiers, provincials, the illiterate and the multilingual, thus accessing the wider social fabric of the ancient world.
How can you apply these ideas next time you come across an inscription?
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