Jerome Jacobson
The city of Rome stands out as one of the grandest and most achieved urban centers of Western culture. The imperial metropolis is well known for its great size and ornamental magnificence from the numerous pieces of iconic architecture and public art found throughout the city. Temples, public houses, obelisks, colossal statues, baths, and various other grand buildings and monuments filled every urban area. Rome was a very epigraphically active city, and inscriptions could be found on almost structure. These inscriptions were often made to honor the elites of Roman society for their patronage. However, no one contributed more directly to the building of Rome to its status as the crown jewel of the Roman world more than the Emperor.
The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Roman World describes how “Senators could sponsor public games, but could never compete with the lavishness of imperial entertainments. Senators could also erect buildings, but never on a scale which could serve the whole city” (CIHRW 153). Each Emperor thus served as a supreme patron to the city of Rome. There were many responsibilities and expectations associated with this role. Emperors served the religious community and priesthoods of the city by patronizing the traditional cults. They accomplished this by erecting new temples and dedicating them to specific gods. In addition to their role as a religious leader, the people of Rome looked to the emperors to provide them with entertainment. In the imperial period it was expected for the emperor to put on special games to commemorate victories or anniversaries (CIHRW 160). In 29 BC Rome began to see the construction of more permanent amphitheaters to regularly accommodate the festivals and games. This movement led to the construction of the Colosseum, Rome’s first official permanent amphitheater. Each emperor was also known to construct grand forums. Started by Julius Caesar, this trend consisted of each emperor building a new forum which was closely linked to each donor’s family. These Imperial fora were dynastic monuments, designed to advertise the achievements of the individual and their families (CIHRW 153). Essentially the emperor was directly related to any new major structure, which gave the city’s architecture a very politically charged feeling.
The secondary reading describes how the emperors would compete with their predecessors by building bigger and better monuments, forums, temples, etc… (CIHRW 158). If being the best patron of Rome was a contest, the Augustus certainly was one of the top competitors. From looking at the articles of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, he clearly excelled in every role expected of him as the supreme patron of the city. Article 17 describes how it was from his personal wealth that he aided the treasuries of the city. Article 20 is a prime example of Augustus’ patrimony to Rome. He rebuilt the theater of Pompey, he rebuilt and improved the aqueducts, he finished the Forum of Julius, and he rebuilt 82 temples of the gods. In addition, article 21 and 22 clearly demonstrate his fulfillment as a religious leader and provider of entertainment. According to his life record, it was as an individual patron that Augustus accomplished all of these constructions and achievements. There is hardly any shared credit found anywhere in the Res Gestae. From this document it would appear that without Augustus the city of Rome would look nothing like the metropolis it turned into during the imperial period. It almost seems like he is not only trying to prove his superiority as a patron over all his predecessors, but to prove his dominance over any possible future emperors as well.
The city of Rome stands out as one of the grandest and most achieved urban centers of Western culture. The imperial metropolis is well known for its great size and ornamental magnificence from the numerous pieces of iconic architecture and public art found throughout the city. Temples, public houses, obelisks, colossal statues, baths, and various other grand buildings and monuments filled every urban area. Rome was a very epigraphically active city, and inscriptions could be found on almost structure. These inscriptions were often made to honor the elites of Roman society for their patronage. However, no one contributed more directly to the building of Rome to its status as the crown jewel of the Roman world more than the Emperor.
The Cambridge Illustrated History of the Roman World describes how “Senators could sponsor public games, but could never compete with the lavishness of imperial entertainments. Senators could also erect buildings, but never on a scale which could serve the whole city” (CIHRW 153). Each Emperor thus served as a supreme patron to the city of Rome. There were many responsibilities and expectations associated with this role. Emperors served the religious community and priesthoods of the city by patronizing the traditional cults. They accomplished this by erecting new temples and dedicating them to specific gods. In addition to their role as a religious leader, the people of Rome looked to the emperors to provide them with entertainment. In the imperial period it was expected for the emperor to put on special games to commemorate victories or anniversaries (CIHRW 160). In 29 BC Rome began to see the construction of more permanent amphitheaters to regularly accommodate the festivals and games. This movement led to the construction of the Colosseum, Rome’s first official permanent amphitheater. Each emperor was also known to construct grand forums. Started by Julius Caesar, this trend consisted of each emperor building a new forum which was closely linked to each donor’s family. These Imperial fora were dynastic monuments, designed to advertise the achievements of the individual and their families (CIHRW 153). Essentially the emperor was directly related to any new major structure, which gave the city’s architecture a very politically charged feeling.
The secondary reading describes how the emperors would compete with their predecessors by building bigger and better monuments, forums, temples, etc… (CIHRW 158). If being the best patron of Rome was a contest, the Augustus certainly was one of the top competitors. From looking at the articles of the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, he clearly excelled in every role expected of him as the supreme patron of the city. Article 17 describes how it was from his personal wealth that he aided the treasuries of the city. Article 20 is a prime example of Augustus’ patrimony to Rome. He rebuilt the theater of Pompey, he rebuilt and improved the aqueducts, he finished the Forum of Julius, and he rebuilt 82 temples of the gods. In addition, article 21 and 22 clearly demonstrate his fulfillment as a religious leader and provider of entertainment. According to his life record, it was as an individual patron that Augustus accomplished all of these constructions and achievements. There is hardly any shared credit found anywhere in the Res Gestae. From this document it would appear that without Augustus the city of Rome would look nothing like the metropolis it turned into during the imperial period. It almost seems like he is not only trying to prove his superiority as a patron over all his predecessors, but to prove his dominance over any possible future emperors as well.