Discursive images about Augustus in biographies and histories of the Roman Principality (i BC to iii AD centuries)

Abstract

In this new academic trajectory, we propose to analyze the discursive images of Augustus in Biographies and Histories of the Roman Principality , between centuries I BC to III AD. For this, we selected the work of Velleius Paterculus, Roman History (centuries I BC to I AD), the Plutarch biographies, Caesar and Antony (first and second centuries AD), the Suetonius biographies, The Divine Julius and The Divine Augustus (first and second centuries AD), the writings of Lucius Florus, Epitome of Titus Livy (first and second centuries AD), and finally, the Dion Cassius work, Roman History (II and III century AD). Through this documentary corpus, it becomes possible to compare the discursive images of Julio-Claudian Emperor, which images have been developed in different contexts, through different approaches and, in our view, from multiple motivations of these authors. Still, it is possible to understand how the figures of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony are used in these creations of Augustus, the first of which happens to represent the model to be followed, while the second, its antithesis. In this analysis, we assume that the elements of Roman society in the Principality are not homogeneous and that the differences between the accounts, as well as the similarities, also lead us to the legitimacy of the political structure of the Roman Principality. Thus, the goal of our internship in the Faculty of Classics at the University of Oxford, under the supervision of Dr. Cristina Kuhn is to deepen our understanding of the period examined by us, stimulating our knowledge about the structure of political, social, cultural and economic Roman Principality. We believe that these reflections are essential to a fruitful analysis of our documentation and the development of our main project at the doctoral level. (AU)