Michigan (2015) p/b 378pp £42.50 (ISBN 9780472036660)
This magisterial volume traces the development of the public interface between the Roman elite and the urban plebs from the years preceding Caesar’s assassination until the death of the first princeps, Augustus. Focusing on six major state ‘ceremonies’ (as he calls them)—contiones (public meetings), quaestiones (law courts), state funerals, ludi (theatrical performances, athletic games, animal hunts and gladiatorial contests), religious festivals and pompa (triumphs and processions of arrival and departure from Rome)—all of which existed in some form or another under the Republic, S. discusses how each was adapted and at times appropriated in the immediate aftermath of Caesar’s death by both his heirs and his assassins. S. concludes by spotlighting Augustus’ genius in bestowing on all these ‘ceremonies’ a new perspective, viewed through the prism of a deep respect for Caesar and appropriate to the imperial age, by skilfully melding ancestral pride with aspirations for the future, all centred on the persons of the princeps and his family.
Part of the skill of this book is S.’s ability to anchor both the history of the late Republic and early Principate firmly within the physical context of urban Rome, and specifically the building programme begun by Caesar and completed by Augustus. Temples, fora and statuary become stage sets against which many of the key events of the period are played out, and in many cases the chief protagonists are quite self-consciously acting a part. Theatricality is everywhere: in Cicero suggesting that, seen from afar, the performance of a skilled orator could easily be mistaken for that of a fine stage actor; in Antonius’ whipping up the crowd before exhibiting a waxen effigy ex machina at Caesar’s funeral; in Augustus’ dying words, ‘Since well I’ve played my part, all clap your hands. And from the stage dismiss me with applause.’ Yet every actor needs an audience. The plebs urbana, though essentially spectators or ‘extras’, were not always passive, and their response to these ‘ceremonies’ acted as an important barometer of public opinion which could not be ignored.
Although compellingly written, this book assumes a fair degree of knowledge and is thus not for the neophyte. For historians, teachers and more advanced students, however, it provides a stimulating perspective on how important events played out in a key period of Rome’s transition, and how tradition, ritual and ceremony were manipulated by ambitious men to further their careers before being moulded by Augustus into the quintessence of Romanitas.
David Stuttard