Ceremony and Power Ceremony and Power

Performing Politics in Rome between Republic and Empire

Geoffrey S. Sumi

the university of michigan press Ann Arbor Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2005 All rights reserved Published in the United States of America by The University of Michigan Press Manufactured in the United States of America c Printed on acid-free paper 2008 2007 2006 2005 4321

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sumi, Geoffrey S., 1963– Ceremony and power : performing politics in Rome between Republic and Empire / Geoffrey S. Sumi. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-472-11517-4 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-472-11517-0 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Political customs and rites—Rome. 2. Rites and ceremonies—Rome. 3. Rome—Politics and government—265–30 B.C. 4. Rome—Politics and government—30 B.C.–68 A.D. I. Title. DG254.2.S86 2005 937'.04—dc22 2005012550 Parentibus optimis Shuzo Mark and Sandra I. Sumi

In Memoriam Michael Akio Omotani 1954–1989 Acknowledgments

his book is a substantial revision of my doctoral dissertation submit- ted to the University of Michigan. I owe a debt of gratitude to the Tmembers of my doctoral committee, in particular my adviser, David Potter, who was instrumental in getting the project started and remained a source of sage counsel and encouragement throughout the long process of transforming it into a book. I have accrued a number of other debts over the years, both institutional and personal. Bruce Arnold, Bettina Bergmann, Cynthia Damon, Paula Debnar, John Ramsey, and Carole Straw all read ear- lier versions of some or all of the manuscript, saved me from many errors, and provided encouragement at crucial stages. The anonymous readers of the Press also offered helpful comments and suggestions. Earlier versions of some of the material contained in the book were pre- sented at Mount Holyoke College, Bard College, Williams College, Smith College, and Wesleyan University as well as at meetings of the New England Ancient Historians Colloquium, the Classical Association of New England, and the American Philological Association. The questions and comments from the audiences on those occasions helped redirect my thinking on some crucial points. I had the good fortune to participate in a National Endow- ment for the Humanities Summer Seminar at the American Academy in Rome led by Bettina Bergmann and Christine Kondoleon, which helped shape many of the ideas contained in the book. Mount Holyoke College pro- vided a faculty grant at an opportune time for another trip to Rome. Com- pletion of the project was greatly facilitated by a Blegen Research Fellowship in Classics at Vassar College. I would also like to thank the editorial staff at the University of Michigan Press, especially those who helped this book see viii acknowledgments the light—Ellen Bauerle, Collin Ganio, and Christopher Collins. Needless to say, I bear responsibility for all remaining errors. This book is dedicated to three people: to my parents, who always preached the value of a good education, although I don’t think they could have anticipated where their advice would lead me; and to the memory of my cousin, Michael, who (I ›atter myself in thinking) would have enjoyed reading this book. Finally, to my children, Katherine and Christina, for enduring a father whose attention was too often divided, and to my wife, Jennifer, who suffered the most, I can offer only my love and appreciation for their support and understanding.

All translations of Latin and Greek passages quoted in the text and notes are my own unless indicated otherwise. The map that appears as ‹gure 1 is from Fergus Millar’s 1998 The Crowd in Rome in the Late Republic. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press (Frontispiece). Reprinted by permission of the publisher. The plan that appears as ‹gure 2 is from John E. Stambaugh’s 1988 The Ancient Roman City, p. 112, Fig. 8 ©1988. Reprinted with permission of The Johns Hopkins University Press. The plan that appears as ‹gure 3 is from R. B. Ulrich’s 1993 “Julius Caesar and the Creation of the Forum Iulium.” AJA 97:49–80, at p. 52 (‹g. 1). Reprinted by permission of the author and publisher. The map that appears as ‹gure 4 is from L. R. Taylor’s 1966 Roman Voting Assemblies. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press (Frontispiece). Reprinted by permission of the publisher. Contents

Acknowledgments vii List of Abbreviations xi

Introduction 1 Ceremonial Politics 1 Consensus and Con›ict 16 A Typology of Roman Republican Ceremonial 2 Dictator Perpetuo 47 Public Ceremonial under Caesar’s Dictatorship 3 Standing in Caesar’s Shadow 74 The Ides of March and the Performance of Public Oratory 4 Caesar ex machina 97 Ceremony and Caesar’s Memory 5 The Arrival of Octavian and the Ascendancy of Antonius 121 6 Politics and Public Entertainment (July 44 BC) 142 7 Rivalry and Reconciliation 159 Ceremony and Politics from Autumn 44 to the Formation of the Second Triumvirate 8 The Performance of Politics in the Triumviral Period 186 Opposition and Consolidation 9 The Princeps as Performer 220 Creating Court Ceremony Conclusion 263

Notes 269 References 329 Index 347 Plates 361 Abbreviations

bbreviations of Latin authors and their works are as indicated on pp. ix–xx of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (Oxford 1982) and of Greek Aauthors and their works, on pp. xvi–xxxviii of Liddell, Scott, and Jones’ A Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford 1968) (with the exception of Cassius Dio, to whom I refer in text and notes simply as Dio). Full titles of scholarly journals cited by abbreviation in the bibliography can be found in L’Année Philologique. The following special abbreviations are also used in the notes:

AE L’Année Épigraphique BMCRR Coins of the Roman Republic in the British Museum. Ed. H. A. Grueber. 3 vols. London 1910. CAH Cambridge Ancient History. 12 vols. Cambridge 1923–39. [2nd ed. 1970–.] CIL Corpus Inscriptionarum Latinarum. Berlin. 1863–. D-G2 Geschichte Roms. 2nd ed. Eds. W. Drumann and P. Groebe. 6 vols. Berlin-Leipzig. 1899–1929 (Repr. Hildesheim 1964). D-S Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines. Eds. C. Darem- berg and E. Saglio. 5 vols. Paris 1877–1919. FrGH Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker. Ed. F. Jacoby. Berlin and Leiden 1923–58. HRR Historicorum Romanorum Reliquiae. Ed. H. W. G. Peter. Leipzig 1914–16. ILLRP Inscriptiones Latinae Liberae Rei Publicae. Ed. Attilio Degrassi. Florence 1957–72. xii ceremony and power

ILS Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae. Ed. H. Dessau. 3 vols. Berlin 1892–1916. Inscr. Ital. Inscriptiones Italiae. vol. 13. Ed. Attilio Degrassi. Rome 1947. LTUR Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae. Ed. E. M. Steinby. 5 vols. Rome 1993–2000. MRR Magistrates of the Roman Republic. Ed. T. R. S. Broughton. 2 vols. New York 1951. Vol. 3 (Supplement). Atlanta 1986. OLD Oxford Latin Dictionary. Ed. P. G. W. Glare. Oxford 1968–82. ORF2 Oratorum Romanorum Fragmenta Liberae Rei Publicae. 2nd ed. Ed. E. Malcovati. Milan 1955. RE Pauly’s Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft. Eds. G. Wissowa, E. Kroll, et al. Berlin and Stuttgart 1893–1978. RIC2 The Roman Imperial Coinage. Rev. ed. Eds. C. H. V. Sutherland and R. A. G. Carson. London 1984–. Röm. StR3 Th. Mommsen. Römisches Staatsrecht. 3rd ed. 3 vols. Leipzig 1887–88.