THE LEGENDS OF EARLY ROME USED AS POLITICAL PROPAGANDA IN THE ROMAN REPUBLICAN AND AUGUSTAN PERIODS.

Format:

Book

Thesis/Dissertation

Author/Creator:

Evans, Jane DeRose, 1956-

Contributor:

University of Pennsylvania.

Subjects (All):

Archaeology.

0324.

Local Subjects:

0324.

Physical Description:

418 pages

Contained In:

Dissertation Abstracts International 46-09A.

System Details:

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

text file

Summary:

The problem of familial propaganda in the Republican and Augustan periods is explored in relation to a specific theme--that of the legends of early Rome. A brief survey is made of familial propaganda as it is recorded in tomb paintings in Vulci and Rome into the Augustan period, as well as in triumphal paintings and funeral processions. After a general discussion of the means and goals of propaganda, the question of when propaganda, and especially familial propaganda in the form of figures from the early history of Rome, began to appear on the coinage is addressed; it was discovered that this type of propaganda rarely appeared until the very end of the Republic.

The following chapters attack the problem on a motif-by-motif basis; the coin types depict Titus Tatius, the Rape of the Sabines, Tarpeia, L. Brutus, Numa and Ancus Marcius. It is clear at several points in the discussion that scholars have often been too quick to assign the types to representations of familial propaganda, which is said to take the form of a claim of descent from heroic figures in Rome's past. A careful combination of the literary evidence with the material remains demonstrated that the coin types cannot be considered sufficient evidence for such a claim on the part of moderns. When appropriate, other explanations are put forward for the appearance of the figures on coins.

The motives of the wolf and twins, Romulus, and Aeneas had a long history of use as propaganda in Rome, beginning in the third century B.C., as evidenced in sculpture, coins, and literary sources. Propaganda involving Romulus, Aeneas, and to a lesser extent, the wolf and twins took on renewed importance under Augustus' patronage, although Augustus avoided using the coin types to depict the myths of early Rome (probably in deference to a wider audience, who may not have understood such propaganda) in favor of building projects in Rome, decorated with depictions of the founders of the city.

The wolf and twins were a symbol of Rome itself and cannot be demonstrated to have been linked to a specific family or individual until Augustus himself used the motif as part of his propaganda concerning Romulus. Although there are abundant literary sources detailing the use of Romulus' myth during the Republic, Romulus does not appear (save for representations of him as a babe in the wolf and twins) in the figural arts until the principate of Augustus.

A section on unique or doubtful representations of persons or stories from early Rome and a chapter on the Basilica Aemilia frieze completes the thesis.

Notes:

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-09, Section: A, page: 2730.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1985.

Local Notes:

School code: 0175.

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.