After ten books that were primarily devoted to narrating the Hannibalic War in detail, at the very end of his thirtieth book Livy gives an account of Scipio Africanus and the return voyage of his victorious armies to Italy in 201 BCE. In the aftermath of Carthageâs defeat at Zama and its eventual surrender, peace in Africa was established by land and sea â terra marique â as Livy specifically underlines. In order to prepare the logistics of their grand arrival at home, Scipio and his legions first landed in Sicily, where the general and his armies took different routes towards Italy. In his account of this episode, Livy insists on the exultation that was widely savoured by people in Italy when peace was finally secured, which was even greater than after Romeâs victory over the Punic enemy itself. After Scipio had been acclaimed by crowds who wished to share their joy with the successful general, he finally headed to the celebration of his distinguished triumph in the city. Since it is implied here that Italy deserved to enjoy peace on all fronts after defeating Carthage in a global conflict, it is hardly surprising that Livy quotes a leitmotiv (terra marique) that directly relates to the peace ideology behind the Principate of Augustus, during which his History of Rome was written. Yet, it does not need to be stated here that the difficulties surrounding the civil wars urged for a lasting peace among Romans. Such a true emotion was conveniently fuelled by Augustus and particularly by his extraordinary propaganda machine.1
Livyâs sources were probably accurate in recording the hard facts of Scipioâs return voyage and his magnificent triumph. However, there were two interconnected phenomena at play in his narrative which one needs to bear in mind. Firstly, the judgement of a historian from the Augustan Age such as Livy was clouded by projecting â on to the remote past â a cliché of what a general state of peace on all fronts (terra marique) symbolised in his own time.2 When an almost two-hundred-year-old atmosphere of exulted peace was to be significantly depicted in a history book, a re-creative narrative that echoed both the writer and the present-day reality of its readers â based upon Augustusâ reborn conception of peace â seemed to be far more effective in literary terms. Secondly, at the beginning of the Principate there was no living soul at Rome who had personally experienced another life than the brutality of civil strife and the fight for hegemony among dynasts and triumvirs during the last decades of the old Republic. Although Livy was thus portraying a certain narrative of peace from Scipioâs time, the historian could hardly evoke any direct memory of peace from his own recent past, or from any of the Romans of his time. Such a memory â now conveniently disguised as an âinvented traditionâ â ought to be eventually reconstructed from its building blocks and then projected back to the distant past. As a result, tradition and memory were both recreated in such history books on purpose with the common goal of legitimising the new imperial regime.
In this chapter we shall explore more deeply a single feature of the newly recreated Augustan peace ideology which allows us to better understand how exactly the use and abuse of Romeâs tradition and memory from the remote past â both mythical and historical â was sometimes unofficially conducted. In particular, we shall tackle how the memories of peace were eventually recreated through the history of the foundation of the urbs in the Augustan Age. Then, the role of Roman women in peacebuilding will also be addressed, together with their mythical role models as mediators. Finally, we shall focus on the unconventional forms of conflict mediation and diplomacy that were carried out by certain Augustan women of unquestionable repute and real political influence. This chapter intends to argue that it was the involvement of such women in Romeâs most traditional perceptions of peace that not only vindicated the roots of Roman power and their memories, but also ultimately helped the Augustan peace ideology to become entrenched in Roman society.3
1 Peace-Making, but What Sort of Peace?
Many ancient voices, both contemporary and from later periods, including Augustusâ own views through his Res Gestae, spoke about his extraordinary goals and achievements. In his monumental political testament, Augustus himself provided a detailed account of his efforts to restore the res publica.4 This task was huge, as the civil wars in the first century BCE had turned Roman society upside down. The last period of the Republic was undoubtedly highly traumatic in terms of social stress and overexposure to violence, and it affected several generations. The very idea of restoration â res publica restituta â reinforced the perception that the Romans had lost both oral and visual memories of relatively recent historical events from the past, which were clouded by the bloody struggles of the more recent civil wars.5 Therefore, Augustusâ entourage had to renew or even recreate such memories in order to build up his regime. However, the memory loss suffered by Roman society was not limited to the last decades of the Republic. In the Augustan Age, there was no reliable memory left to support an accurate historical narrative for most events from earlier Roman history. The surviving accounts about the remote past, which were preserved by ancient authors and especially by poets, were distinctly idealised and scarcely focused on the emotional expressions of memory but rather on its exemplary and notably epic perspectives.6
In the Augustan Age, it was often publicly stated that permanent peace was a completely new construct that Augustus himself gave to the Romans. Accordingly, Rome had never enjoyed proper peace before, although increasing Roman involvement in wars in Italy and overseas during the third and second centuries BCE managed to keep actual violence away from the City.7 Romeâs success at war was celebrated in triumphal ceremonies as well as through the waves of foreign captives who gradually poured into Italy. However, apart from the fallen on the battlefield and the difficulties of soldiers to return to civilian life after such long and continuous military campaigns, the actual experience of war for Romeâs non-combatants was either physically distant or almost non-existent. Moreover, Plautusâ comedies from the early second century BCE depict ridiculous and conceited soldiers whom society could mock, because they were always engaged in distant and exotic military ventures that they never stopped boasting about.8 Apart from a few significant examples such as the Sack of Rome by the Gauls in 390 BCE, the first military defeats against Hannibal in 218â216 BCE and the Cimbrian advance into Italy in 102â101 BCE, external military threats to Rome became less frequent during the Middle and Late Republican periods. Instead, it was political dissent which raised civil strife and extreme violence to unheralded levels from the Gracchan crisis onwards.9 The experience of long periods of peace, tranquillity and prosperity had been erased from the memories of Romans during the troubled times of the Civil Wars. As war and violence were so common in Italy for decades, the ideal of peace simply vanished.10 No one still remembered what it meant to live in peace for a long period. Gone, too, was the memory of who had been responsible for peacekeeping and restoring Romeâs urban fabric, institutions, society, customs, finance, and foreign affairs. Augustus was in charge of promoting a new culture of peace, or rather of recreating it. Although a peace scenario had been formally achieved when the Civil War was finally over in 31 BCE, peacekeeping needed some more time to culturally settle in Roman society.11
The Romans who lived in the last century of the Republic had no direct memories of peace, as their families had been torn apart by betrayal and proscriptions during the civil wars. Accordingly, through the perception of Augustusâ political machinery the peace and quiet which was finally achieved reminded the Romans of an old time. According to the history books, in such a remote period Romans managed to survive and even to enjoy life despite the serious threats posed by their powerful neighbours. Augustusâ public role as a re-founder of Rome and his use of Roman history served this very purpose. Moreover, the Augustan peace was not only related to peacekeeping in general terms but also to reconciliation. The new regime faced the challenge of reconciling a profoundly divided society through an inclusive narrative which also included peace. Augustusâ main goal was thus to create an acceptable narrative of peace and reconciliation that was suitable for those who were willing to embrace a new era of social integration and change. This entire ideology was based upon the idea that tranquillity and harmony would be enduring if associated with the princeps and his idea of Empire.12
Ideally, Rome and particularly its leaders would have emerged united and strengthened from a crisis that was without precedent in history. Augustus was surrounded by politicians, historians, poets, and all sorts of writers and artists who devoted their works to constructing such a peace narrative. It was no easy task to look back through Roman history for periods of tranquillity that could include national reconciliation. For instance, the first century BCE hardly provided clear examples of consensus, since the aftermath of the Social War was often understood as a prelude to the violent conflicts that followed it. At this point, in the absence of any direct memories the narrative turned to historical exempla such as prominent figures who according to Roman tradition had decisively sought peace in order to keep Rome safe since foundation. It is also noteworthy that Augustus embraced the main landmarks of Romeâs history and used them in a visual recreation of the tradition in the porticoes of the temple of Mars Ultor in his own forum, where the statues of the Summi viri were placed.13 According to recent archaeological research, these porticoes were larger than previously thought. The monument is believed to have consisted of over one-hundred statues, from Aeneas to Drusus, yet most of it has been lost. Only a few fragments of the inscriptions still survive.14
To a certain extent, the statues of the summi viri illustrated a review of Romeâs history, as they were apparently displayed in chronological order from the cityâs foundation up to 9 BCE. As the name suggests, the selection of the most outstanding contributors to Roman history consisted entirely of men. Therefore, according to the choice of statues, those who had made Rome great through wars and battles were exclusively male.15 Both classical literature and modern scholarship, however, emphasise how involved aristocratic women â matronae â were in mediation, seeking conciliation and concord between opponents. This task â traditionally attributed to women â became essential for reaching the consensus that was needed to understand the Principate as a new beginning. Even so, womenâs agency in mediation was never considered by Augustan ideology as sufficient for them to share in that same glory with men, although the former had certainly contributed to keeping the res publica in one piece and ultimately to the enjoyment of peace.16
It is generally agreed upon that the lack of recognition of relevant women in the Augustan forum has to do with the positions of such matrons in Roman political life as much as with the unofficial nature of their activities. The legal relegation of aristocratic women from public office meant that they also lacked any official capacity. This does not mean, however, that such women were politically inactive, but on the contrary, there is evidence to prove that they were sometimes entitled to conduct sensible assignments under the radar.17 Since Romeâs early days, some women had been progressively empowered by its rulers and by Roman society itself to negotiate on their behalf, particularly when there was no alternative. Mediation was thus understood as a middle road taken to resolve conflicts with a non-confrontational approach. As a result, aristocratic women became aware of their political relevance from the Middle Republic onwards. Although matrons began to openly disagree with policies that affected wealthy womenâs interests such as the Lex Oppia, non-confrontational strategies were still followed, leading to the restoration of public concord and a widespread desire for an enduring peace. Such women were empowered to contribute to the common good by bringing about peace and reconciliation among Romans.18
Alongside the Augustan reforms that recreated an era of peace, women from the imperial household performed very similar roles in mediation as the aristocratic female agents from the monarchical and the early Republican periods.19 Their new positions and legitimation were reinforced by the exemplary historical narratives taken from the ancient literature. As there was no public exhibition of important women in Rome, historians, poets, and scholars in Augustusâ inner circle recreated a gallery of women who had embraced mediation in their quest for reconciliation and peace in the past. Such narratives embellished the prominent women from the past in an epic way, providing a credible background that was based on tradition.20 As a result, these women were entitled to act as non-institutional sponsors of Romeâs concord, peace, and stability.21
2 Models of Mediation within Roman Tradition: Hersilia and the Sabine Women
As established, since peace was absent from the living memory of the Romans in the Principate, the Augustan entourage fabricated a framework of enduring peace, the model for which was taken from the history books, going back to the very origins of Rome. Such a peace model needed a narrative of consensus that was recreated from the participation of women, both those close to power and others from its outer circle. For instance, the recreation of a myth such as the rape of the Sabine women as a model of conciliation has a twofold perception. Firstly, the myth highlights the role played by Hersilia, the wife of Romulus. Secondly, she was surrounded by other women from the Roman elite, often understood as matrons who act together with the same goals despite not belonging to the inner circle of power. Furthermore, there is no indication that the female characters in the entire myth were of humble origins. In Livyâs narrative, for instance, the Sabines who came to Rome on the invitation of Romulus were lodged privately, suggesting that they were wealthy women. Cicero agrees, stating that the Sabines belonged to the local aristocracy. Moreover, the ancient sources always insist on their extraordinary beauty which ultimately would lead them to the best houses in Rome after their abduction. In fact, in Livyâs exempla beauty was often a feature that was directly associated with women of high birth.22
Moreover, the Sabines were suitable as an exemplum for both internal and external reasons. On the one hand, it was a question of seeking historical parallels to the conciliatory role that women had played since the Middle Republic, but particularly in the Triumviral era. The mere evocation of such examples served the purpose of justifying a similar position for the women from the Augustan household. On the other hand, since the beginning of the Augustan Principate the legend of the Sabine women and their role in the founding of Rome had been progressively connected with the myth of the Amazons and their role in the founding of Athens. Their association mainly came about through the iconography and visual dissemination of both episodes across Roman tradition, from the Republic and up to Late Antiquity.23
The imagery of the Sabines in public spaces is directly related to the episode of their abduction and rape. Since this was a recurring motif in Roman ludi, a similar origin for both Rome and its games is generally presumed. Similarly, the iconographic dissemination of the Amazon myth turned out to be deeply rooted in Roman visual culture. The battles of the Amazons â Amazonomachy â also became a recurring motif in any kind of media, as was the abduction and rape of the Sabines.24 Such motifs represented groups of captured women who suffered extreme violence and were subdued. They eventually became popular both in the decoration of the buildings where the games took place and in the shows performed in a theatrical form. Women were conceptualized as war trophies, but also as the building block of any community and ultimately of permanent peacekeeping. Moreover, in the Amazonian myth, the marriage between Theseus and the Queen of the Amazons contributed to strengthening Athensâ identity, just as the marriage between Sabines and Romans encouraged the foundation of Rome. In Livy, for instance, the Sabines are depicted as an âarmy of womenâ.25 Therefore, the stereotypes that are often conveyed by the classical sources regarding men as exclusively devoted to war and women as mediators of concord do not always work.
The rape of the Sabines is most extensively reported by historians such as Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Livy.26 In their narratives, women from early Rome played active roles beyond their traditional duties as mere guarantors of peace through marriage.27 For the first time, Sabine women could exercise a different and active role in diplomacy, becoming mediators and ambassadors. One still wonders, however, how both historians managed to turn the literary roles that were usually conferred on the Sabines into a presence on the Roman political stage, since women only occasionally held official positions such as in embassies.28 Indeed, it has not perhaps been sufficiently emphasised that unlike in magistracies there was no legal barrier that prevented women from taking part in legationes. According to Polybius, for instance, when Romans received foreign representatives in the senate during second century BCE, women were sometimes present among them, although nothing seems to suggest that they played leading roles, either within the embassies or during the talks.29
As stated above, in Livy and Dionysius, womenâs positions and their role in diplomacy and peacekeeping were often connected to marriage.30 However, as far as the Sabine episode is concerned, the particular case of their arrival in Rome brings us to a slightly different scenario. The repeated attempts to recover the women who had been captured by the Romans progressively increased war stress within the region. This episode of extreme violence that took place during the reign of Romulus might perhaps evoke the turmoil that was experienced by Romans during the Civil Wars, when their brutality was still fresh. As a result, Romeâs mythical past served the purpose of evoking already forgotten memories of peace-making strategies. For instance, the Sabine women requested that Romulusâ wife Hersilia should be their representative when they presented their case to the king, resulting in a woman at the head of a diplomatic mission for the first time in Romeâs history.31
This peace initiative not only reveals their discomfort with such a prolonged period of war but also discloses how the Sabine women were embodied with enough legitimacy to act as mediators, although they were not allowed any official capacity.32 In particular, they claimed to be legitimate wives and mothers of many Romans through marriage. Moreover, in order to conduct their mission properly and be heard by the king, the Sabine women embraced diplomacy as their political language, which was open to female participation. In practical terms, this means that their discourse about peace and reconciliation intended to meet halfway not only those in favour of unconditional surrender but also those facing total war between the Sabines and Rome. In other words, through mediation the Sabine women also claimed their right to negotiate about controversial issues such as the integration of non-Romans in Rome, without ever questioning the legitimacy of its political system. The extreme novelty of this argument relies on the re-creation conducted by the Augustan historians of a rhetoric about peace and reconciliation whose mythical origins owed much to the unofficial position of women in diplomacy.33
In fact, there is evidence for arguing that attributing such an almost official role to the Sabines in an exclusively female delegation reinforced the goals of their peacekeeping mission. Both Hersilia and the initially abducted Sabine women would eventually be considered as matrons who took part in the embassy. As Hersilia was Romulusâ wife, her role was that of its natural leader since every delegation had to have a princeps legationis. As was the case with her male counterparts, she was chosen for her position, her experience, and probably for her age. In this passage there is no room for doubt that both Hersilia and her Livian character were very familiar with Roman diplomatic practices. For instance, her actions took place precibus raptarum fatigata, that is after exhaustingly hearing the abducted womenâs pleas. Livyâs use of a verb such as fatigare is revealing since this is often the case when embassies are reported in his work. On this basis, pleas, pursuits, and supplications were common practices for foreign delegates who were willing to engage with Roman magistrates.
Hersiliaâs speech draws particular attention to a pardon that was requested for the Sabinesâ relatives and to the concord that was the ultimate goal for any delegation.34 Pleading for clementia from the Romans also turned out to be usual procedure for foreign embassies that aimed at talking to their counterparts. As might be expected, showing mercy was the main feature that was attributed to any Roman imperator, and needless to say to Romulus as well, while Hersilia pleaded for concord. More illuminating is the fact that according to Dionysius it was Hersilia herself who dispatched the Sabine women as members of a diplomatic mission on behalf of their husbands, acknowledging both the position and activities of Romulusâ wife.35 While the Sabine women are specifically called presbeutai (= ambassadors), Hersiliaâs leading role within the delegation is particularly emphasised in Dionysiusâ narrative when she was made the main person responsible for achieving reconciliation.36
When the delegation of Sabine women was created, selecting the right moment to put forward their claim was Hersiliaâs own choice, as she was its natural leader. Since this was normal procedure for all embassies that arrived in Rome later than February every year, Hersilia chose a date that coincided with her husbandâs celebration of a double victory. In the narrative of this episode, the rest of the delegation adopted a typically supplicant gesture, a commonplace in the ancient sources when foreign ambassadors sought Romeâs allegiance and protection, or they simply exhibited their loyalty before Roman officials. When foreign embassies were summoned before the Roman senate, a formal speech full of diplomatic rhetoric was often delivered.37 Similarly, in the Sabine delegation, the speech focused on soliciting pardon for the enemies and granting them citizenship with the aim of achieving reconciliation. Later versions of this episode which are preserved in sources from the second century CE onwards portray Hersilia as a supplicant, emphasizing that her plea was an ultimate plea for peace.38 As a result, according to both Livy and Dionysius, the diplomatic rhetoric of the Sabine women in front of men from their families was eventually successful.
The setting for this legatio was the battlefield itself, where the Sabines physically intervened between the armies of the two contenders. This was a literary recreation of the usual presentation of embassies before the Roman senate, placing the Sabine women in the political heart of the City. Their initiative was finally rewarded, as it resulted in a treaty (foedus), which led to peace, concord and reconciliation between the Sabines and the Romans. From that moment onwards, the peace-making mission led by the Sabine women remained in Romeâs social memory as an integral part of its legendary foundation myths. Hence, the Augustan Ageâs recreation of an ideal state of peacekeeping from early Rome necessarily pointed to the Sabine episode.39
3 Womenâs Peace
As seen above, the historical account of the Sabines reinforced the idea that womenâs role as mediators had been essential to achieving peace in early Rome and throughout its long history. Mediation thus became one of the traditional avenues for their unofficial participation in Roman politics as shown by women from the domus Augusta. The historical reasoning behind their efforts in securing concordia and the survival of the Empire was widely displayed in the visual imagery of the City in the Augustan Age. The Ara Pacis was a monument dedicated to worshipping peace in Rome but showed a genuinely distinct approach to celebrating peace.40 In the visual narrative of the Ara Pacis, peace was not associated with men alone, but with the imperial family as a whole. Obviously, the political and military leadership of the Empire continued to be menâs jobs, although women played an essential role in perpetuating the dynasty. They also contributed to the renewed representation of power in Rome which was based on an empowered single family. In this âdomesticâ agenda, which was majestically portrayed in the altar of peace, women of the imperial household acquired central roles when their traditional management function of the domus was extended to their public presence alongside the princeps.41 Accordingly, it was not only Augustus but also his entire family who ruled the new Roman Empire and who guaranteed perpetual peace to everyone.42
The iconography of the Ara Pacis was linked to the new visual language displayed in most public monuments from the Augustan Age. Such imagery conveyed an ulterior message: men and women from the imperial household were closely associated with the narrative of the Augustan peace. To be more precise, by depicting the procession of the imperial family on the reliefs of the altar, the active involvement of Augustusâ own family in achieving that same peace is implied.43 In monumental terms, moreover, this message was displayed in the Roman public space, and particularly in the Temple of Concordia, which was now politically attributed to and represented by the imperial family itself.44 Worshipping Concordia as an extension of the imperial household even impacted foreign policy, since it was not uncommon for diplomatic relations to be established through the females of the Augustan family, particularly with their counterparts from the Eastern Hellenistic dynasties. We know, for instance, that Queen Dynamis of Bosporus was on friendly terms with both Augustus and Livia Drusilla. Dynamis, a true client queen, raised statues to Augustus at Panticapeaum and Phanagoria,45 where he also dedicated a statue to his wife in 9â8 BCE. The latter was kept in the Temple of Aphrodite, and its inscription specifically describes Livia as a benefactor. This probably indicates that she was acknowledged as someone who was worth talking to.46
The primary function originally attributed to women in Roman diplomacy was their involvement in arranged marriages. The women of the Augustan household were no exception in this regard. As an illustration, the marriage between Cleopatra Selene â the daughter of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII, and raised by Octavia herself â and King Juba of Mauretania was primarily aimed to forge an alliance with a client king, and as such bring about regional stability. Such actions showed the new positions that were reached by women close to power which clearly surpassed the roles played by the wives of Roman magistrates during the Middle Republic. For the latter, it was sufficient to project the fame and pride of their families through the achievements and opulence of their most distinguished family members and especially through the public display of their riches and their best clothing, which was similar to that regularly worn by senators and the male ruling classes.47
Paradoxically, women became representatives of their familyâs triumphs and dignity which they were associated with, despite having not directly performed in any of the military or political actions that were celebrated. However, this conferred very symbolic roles on women from the highest social echelons, in addition to political capital for either legitimising or sanctioning male members of their family, if need be. This growing political capital undoubtedly helped to create an area of influence for women that was close to official representation. Accordingly, these women contributed to creating negotiation and mediation channels. Although they did not ever question the legitimacy of the (male) official political system, proposing alternatives and promoting mediation in social conflicts and internal power struggles were now feasible options.48
In order to secure its legitimacy, the narrative of the Augustan Age needed to be associated with Romeâs collective mind. This was often accomplished when remarkable historical figures and role models were identified and vindicated. As an illustration, the leading women from the Augustan household were re-enacting actions that had been attributed to any women close to power since the foundation of Rome itself. In these accounts, for instance in Livyâs first pentad, top women had already promoted peace and reconciliation as the mothers, wives, and daughters of those men who were currently in office or in command of the armies.49 The message was clear: such women encouraged reconciliation through the legitimacy that was conferred on them by their role as wives and mothers, but they had no clear institutional status. In fact, some of the issues that were raised by Augustusâ own constitutional position also extended to the women from his family. Securing concord and peace among the Roman aristocracy had been the rule to follow for women from the ruling classes in Roman history. Although this goal remained unchanged under the Julio-Claudians, a progressive âinstitutionalisationâ of such top womenâs roles was underway. Since they could not hold public office, womenâs contributions to the common good and to the management of the Empire needed to take place unofficially.50 To channel such unofficial messages in favour of peace and concord, the most appropriate approach was probably to make use of institutional wording that was already in use in regular diplomatic channels. Women could be thus heard politically. Their opinions about issues such as the management of the Empire carried some weight, but they did not always agree with their male counterparts, particularly when peacekeeping was at risk.
The recreation of the history of Rome with the aim of contributing to the idea of its re-foundation was always present in historians and writers from the Augustan Age onwards. Both Virgilâs Aeneid and Livyâs History give names to a large number of women who were involved in the foundation of the city. In the Aeneid, for instance, they are first introduced in a war context as the archetype of the female warrior represented by Camilla the Amazon. Secondly, in diplomacy women serve the purpose of securing agreements between polities. As a result, women were understood as symbols of peace by promoting unity and progeny. That is at least Laviniaâs goal in this poem, as she was King Latiumâs daughter. Although all such women were clichés at the service of the classical literature, it cannot be denied that they probably reflect daily practices in several periods of Roman history as well.51
In Livyâs historical narrative, women are not particularly associated with the military scenario but with diplomacy. In addition to their traditional functions as guarantors of peace through marriage alliances, women also play a relevant role here in mediation, as they aim to achieve reconciliation and concord.52 According to Livyâs account of Romeâs foundation, individuals are committed to responding collectively to their challenges in order to create a united community, choosing concord over initiatives of discord. For instance, Livyâs first book fully discusses how to address concord and reconciliation with the aim of achieving a peaceful community. Perhaps not surprisingly, when in Livyâs narrative mediators are needed to reach reconciliation, such roles are mainly played by female characters.53
4 Conclusion
No one will deny that the Principate meant an overall rearrangement of the Roman traditional power structures, particularly for the political and social actors who needed to relate themselves to the new regime after surviving the bloodshed of the civil wars. Through tradition and custom, some wealthy women deserved social appreciation for their discreet involvement in certain activities which also contributed to the stability and survival of Rome. The new political and diplomatic visibility shown by the women from the Augustan household somehow echoed the position progressively acquired by the matronae since the beginning of Romeâs history. Although female mediation became a new resource at the disposal of such influential women who successfully used it, this was hardly an invention from the Augustan Age, but a reinvention mostly based upon tradition.
Behind Livyâs and Dionysiusâ historical recreation of one of Romeâs founding myths â the abduction of the Sabine women â lay historical legitimacy on the new role performed by top women from the Augustan household. Since attributing any institutional role to the Sabine women was not appropriate, their âofficialâ position as mediators resembled regular diplomatic practice. Such influential women were able to position themselves in politics as representatives of an alternative to either confrontation or submission. Such a third party called for negotiation in order to achieve reconciliation. When the exemplum of the Sabines was successfully recreated through history books and the iconography from the Augustan Age, women from the imperial household stood up for the rhetoric of peace and concord in Rome. Interestingly, their discourse supplemented but never questioned the official Pax Augusta, advocating instead non-confrontational approaches, whenever it was applicable.
Liv., 30.45.1â2 (trans. and ed. Loeb Classical Library, Yardley 2018): per laetam pace non minus quam victoria Italiam. J.F. Lazenby, Hannibalâs War. A military history of the Second Punic War (Oxford 2007, repr. 1978), 232; M.R. Pelikan Pittenger, Contested Triumphs. Politics, Pageantry, and Performance in Livyâs Republican Rome (Berkeley and Los Angeles 2008), 166â167; A. Kubler, La mémoire Culturelle de la deuxième guerre punique. Approche historique dâune construction mémorielle à travers les textes de lâAntiquité romaine (Basel 2018), 67â70; H. Cornwell, Pax and the Politics of Peace. Republic to Principate (Oxford 2017), 81â120, and esp. 87â90.
Augustusâ ritual closing of the doors of the Janus temple, as the third and ultimate occasion when peace over land and sea was brought about in Romeâs history, is reported with identical terminology (terra marique) in Livyâs first book (Liv., 1.19.3) and also in Augustusâ Res Gestae, II. 13, in the same context. P.G. Walsh, Livy. His historical aims & methods (Cambridge 1961, repr. 1989); T.J. Luce, Livy. The Composition of His History (Princeton 1976, repr. 2019), 288; B. Mineo, âIntroduction: Livyâ, in: B. Mineo, ed., A Companion to Livy (Malden & Oxford 2015), xxxiv.
R. Vial Valdés, âPax y mos maiorum en la primera péntada de AUCâ, Livio Ad Urbem Condendam. Riletture del passato in età augustea (Bologna 2021), 167â203; P. Keegan, Livyâs women. Crisis, Revolution, and the Female in Romeâs Foundation History (London & New York 2021).
C.H. Lange, âCivil War in the Res Gestae Divi Augusti: Conquering the World and Fighting a War at Homeâ, in: E. Bragg, L.I. Hau and E. Macaulay-Lewis, eds., Beyond the Battlefields: New Perspectives on Warfare and Society in the Graeco-Roman World (Cambridge 2008), 185â204; N. Rosenstein, âWar and peace, Fear and Reconciliation at Romeâ, in: K.A. Raaflaub, ed., War and Peace in the Ancient World (Oxford 2007), 226â244.
F. Hurlet, B. Mineo, âRes publica restituta. Les pouvoirs et ses représentations à Rome sous le principat dâAugusteâ, in: F. Hurlet, B. Mineo, eds., Le principat dâAuguste: Réalités et représentations du pouvoir. Autour de la Res publica restituta (Rennes 2009), 9â22; P. Desideri, âIl principato di Augusto come restaurazione della res publicaâ, in XXXVI Colloquio del GIREA, Lo viejo y lo nuevo en las sociedades antiguas (Besançon 2018), 95â102. See also for Livy: G.B. Miles, Livy: Reconstruction of early Rome (Cornell 1995), 8â74.
I. Lana, La concezione romana della pace nel mondo antico. Antologia di testi greci e latini (Torino 1967), 47â103; G. Woolf, âRoman Peaceâ, in: J. Rich & G. Shipley, ed., War and Society in the Roman World (London & New York 1993), 171â194, esp. 172â178; G. Sumi, âCivil War, âWomen and Spectacle in the Triumviral Periodââ, Ancient World 35 (2004), 196â199; H. Cornwell, âNegotiating ideas of peace in the civil conflicts of the late Republicâ, in: P. Moloney, M.S. Williams, eds., Peace and Reconciliation in the Classical World (London and New York 2017), 86â101, esp. 92 ff.; J. Fletcher, âRepresentations of Peaceâ, in: S.L. Ager, ed., A Cultural history of Peace in Antiquity (London 2020), 89â105 and 169, esp. 99â104.
A. Gowing, Empire and Memory. The Representation of the Roman Republic in Imperial Culture (Cambridge 2004), 132â150; K.J. Hölkeskamp, âHistory and Collective Memory in the Middle Republicâ, in: N. Rosenstein, R. Morstein-Marx, eds., A Companion to the Roman Republic (London 2006), 478â495.
P. Cagniart, âLe soldat et lâarmée dans le théâtre de Plaute Lâantimilitarisme de Plauteâ, Latomus 58, 4 (1999), 756â760; P.J. Burton, âWarfare and Imperialism in and around Plautusâ, in: G.F. Franko, D. Dutsch, eds., A companion to Plautus (London 2020), 301â316.
A.W. Lintott, Violence in Republican Rome (Oxford 1968), 175â203; F. Hinard, âLa terreur comme mode de gouvernement aux cours des Guerres Civiles du Ier siècle a.C.â, in: G. Urso, ed., Terror et pavor. Violenza, intimidazione e clandestinità nell mondo antico (Pisa 2005), 247â264; N. Barrandon, Les massacres de la République romaine, (Paris 2018), esp. 218â224.
C. Walde, âLucanâs Bellum Civile: A Specimen of a Roman âLiterature of Traumaââ, in: P. Asso, ed., Brillâs Companion to Lucan (Leiden 2011), 281â302; J. Osgood, âEnding Civil War at Rome: Rhetoric and Reality, 88 B.C.E.â197 C.E.â, American Historical Review 120:5 (2015), 1683â1692; C. Ando, âLaw, violence of trauma in the triumviral periodâ, in: F. Pina, ed., The Triumviral Period: Civil War, Political Crisis and Socioeconomic Transformations (Zaragoza 2020), 477â481.
Cornell, T.J., âThe end of Roman imperial expansionâ, in: J. Rich & G. Shipley, ed., War and Society in the Roman World (London & New York 1993), 139â170, esp. 160â168; J. Rich, âAugustus, war and peaceâ in: L. de Blois et al. eds., The Representation and Perception of Roman Imperial Power. Third Workshop Impact of the Roman Empire (Amsterdam 2003), 329â357, esp. 329â342.
P.-M. Martin, âLa mémoire du triumvirat: entre censure, autocensure et devoir dâoubliâ, in: A. Coppolani, Ch.-Ph. David, J.-F. Thomas, eds., La fabrique de la paix. Acteurs, processus, mémoires (Université Laval 2015), 3â14.
M.B. Flory, âLivia and the History of Public Honorific Statues for Women in Romeâ, Transactions of the American Philological Association 123 (1993), 287â308; T. Itgenshorst, âAugustus und der republikanische Triumph: Triumphalfasten und summi viri-Galerie als Instrumente der imperialen Machtsicherungâ, Hermes 132:4 (2004), 436â458; A. Valentini, âNovam in femina virtutem novo genere honoris: le statue femminili a Roma nelle strategie propagandistiche di Augustoâ, in: C. Antonetti, G. Masaro, A. Pistellato, Linguaggio e communicazione (Padova 2011), 191â201; T, Stevenson, âThe Forum of Augustus. Reshaping collective memory about war and the stateâ, in: M. De Marre, R.K. Bhola, eds., Making and Unmaking ancient Memory (London 2022), 73â94.
P. Zanker, The Power of Images in the age of Augustus (Ann Arbor 1988), 211â215; see also, more recently J. Shaya, âThe Public Life of Monuments: the Summi Viri of the Forum of Augustusâ, American Journal of Archaeology 117, 1 (2013), 83â110, esp. 84â95; D. Hinz, âEroberung, Expansion, Erinnerung. Neue Ãberlegungen zu den summi viri des Augustusforumâ, Hermes 150:3 (2022), 307â350.
R.G. Cluett, âRoman women and triumviral politics 43â37 BCâ, Ãchos du monde classique 42.17.1 (1998), 67â84; J.-M. Paillier, âDes femmes dans leurs rôles: pour une relecture des guerres civiles à Romeâ, Clio. Femmes, Genre, Histoire 5 (1997); F. Rohr Vio, âDux femina: Fulvia in armi nella polemica politica dellâetà triumviraleâ, in: T.M. Lucchelli, F. Rohr Vio, VIRI MILITARES. Rappresentazione e propaganda tra Repubblica e Principato (Trieste 2015), 61â89; C.E. Schultz, Fulvia: playing for power at the end of Roman Republic (Oxford 2021).
L. Webb, âFemale Interventions in Politics in the libera res publica: Structures and Practicesâ, in: R.M. Frolov and Ch. Burden-Strevens, eds., Leadership and Initiative in Late Republican and Early Imperial Rome (Leiden/Boston 2022), 151â188, esp. 167â174 (womenâs intercession).
P. Pavón, ââFeminae ab omnibus officiis civilibus ver publicis remotae suntâ (D. 50.17.2, Ulp. 1 âSab.â): Ulpiano y la tradición a propósito de las mujeresâ, in: P. Pavón, ed., Marginación y mujer en el imperio romano (Roma 2018), 33â62.
E. Pyy, âSabine Successors. The failure of feminine Mediationâ, in Women and war in Roman Epic (Leiden 2020), 235â260; L. Lizarzategui, âLa controverse sur lâinclusion des femmes dans le système fiscal romain pendant la République (195 av. n. è.â39 av. n. è.)â, Studia Historica. Historia antigua 20 (2022), 176â178.
L. Brännstedt, Femina princeps. Liviaâs position in the Roman state (Lund 2016) 24â32; E. Hemelrijk, âMasculinity and femininity in the Laudatio Turiaeâ, Classical Quarterly 54:1 (2004), 81â97; J. Osgood, Turia, A Roman womanâs Civil War (Oxford 2014), 135â150.
Ph. Akar, âLa Concordia dans les récits de fondation de la fin de la République romaineâ, Politica antica 1 (2014), 30â32; A.M. Keith, Engendering Rome, Women in Roman Epic (Cambridge 2000), 65â101; D. Morelli, âGli usi liviani di concordia: dallâetà augustea alla Repubblicaâ, in: A. Roncaglio, ed., Livio Ad Urbem Condendam. Riletture del passato in età augustea (Roma 2021), 123â133; C. Martinez, C. Ruiz, âEntre pax y Concordia. Las mujeres y las virtudes de paz ligadas al poder en la Roma Antiguaâ, Journal of Gender Studies in Antiquity 12 (2022), 72â75.
The famous bronzes of Caligula portrayed his three sisters as two of these ideals (Concordia, Securitas, and Fortuna): RIC i2 Gaius/Caligula 33.
Liv., 1.9.9â11; Cic., Rep.2.7. P. Keegan, Livyâs Women. Crisis, Resolution, and the Female in Romeâs Foundation History (London & New York 2021), 71â80.
F.C. Albertson, âThe Basilica Aemilia Frieze: Religion and Politics in Later Republican Romeâ, Latomus 49 (1990), 801â815; A. Holden, âThe Abduction of the Sabine Women in Context: The Iconography on Late Antique Contorniate Medallionsâ, American Journal of Archaeology 112:1 (2008), 121â122.
G. Miles, âThe first Roman marriage and the theft of the Sabine womenâ, in: R. Hexter, D. Selden, eds., Innovations of Antiquity (London 1992), 181â189.
Liv., 1.13.
B. Poletti, âThe enemyâs brides. Dionysius of Halicarnassus on the abduction of the Sabine womenâ, Histos 15 (2021), 214â219.
Ph. Akar, âLes Romains avaient-ils besoin des femmes pour établir la concorde entre eux?â, in: V. Sébillotte, A. Ernoult, eds., Problèmes du genre en Grèce ancienne (Paris 2007), 250â253.
S.E. Smethurst, âWomen in Livyâs historyâ, Greece & Rome, 19:56 (1950), 83â84; R. Brown, âLivyâs Sabine Women and the Ideal of Concordiaâ, Transactions of the American Philological Association 125 (1995), 291â292.
Plb., 33.18.
D.H., 2.30â47, Liv., 1.1â29. Other sources: Cic., Rep. 2.7; 2.12â13, Ov., Ars. 1.34; Fast. 3.167â258; Plu., Rom. 14â20, Varro L., 6.20, Val. Max., 2.4.4, Gel., 13.23.13, Just., 43.3.2, D.C., 1.5.4â7.
Liv., 1.11. See, R.M. Ogilvie, A Commentary on Livy. Books IâV (Oxford 1965), 73â75.
K. Mustakallio, âLegendary women and Female Group in Livyâ, in: L. Savunen, P. Setälä, eds., Female Networks and the Public Sphere in Roman Society (Helsinki 1999), 55â58.
Brown 1995, op. cit. (n. 28), 306â310; L. Landolfi, âConsilium vobis forte piumque (Ov. Fast. III 21.2). Ersilia, le Sabine e le risorse della diplomazia femminileâ, Hormos. Ricerche di Storia Antica 1 (2008/2009), 157â162.
Liv., 1.11.2â3: âThey were therefore routed at the first charge and shout, and their town was taken. As Romulus was exulting in his double victory, his wife Hersilia, beset with entreaties by the captive women (precibus raptarum fatigata), begged him to forgive their parents and receive them into the state; which would, in that case, gain in strength by harmony. He readily granted her requestâ. (transl. Loeb Classical Library, Forster 1919).
T.P. Wiseman, âThe wife and children of Romulusâ, Classical Quarterly 33 (1983), 445â452.
D. H., 3.1. Brown 1995, op. cit. (n. 28) 300â303; Poletti 2021, op. cit. (n. 26) 224â228.
M. Bonnefond-Coudry, âLa loi Gabinia sur les ambassadesâ, in: C. Nicolet,, Des ordres à Rome (Paris 1982), 61â92; J.-L. Ferrary, âLes ambassadeurs grec au Sénat romainâ, in: M. Sot, eds., Lâaudience: rituels et cadres spatiaux dans lâAntiquité et le Haut Moyen Ãge (Paris 2007) 113â122; F. Battistoni, âUne diplomatie informelle ? Quelques remarques sur les affaires des ambassadeurs grecs à Romeâ, in: B. Grass, Gh. Stouder, eds., La diplomatie romaine sous la République: réflexions sur une pratique. Actes des rencontres de Paris (21â22 juin 2013) et Genève (31 octobreâ1er novembre 2013) (Besançon 2015), 176â184; J.F. Claudon, âLes ambassadeurs des cités dâAsie mineure envoyés à Romeâ, in: B. Grass, Gh. Stouder, eds., 127â138.
Gel., 11.
D.H., 2.45.1â46.1, Liv., 1.13.1â2.
A. Momigliano, âThe Peace of the Ara Pacisâ, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 5:1 (1942), 228; S. Weinstock, âPax and the Ara Pacisâ, Journal of Roman Studies 50 (1960), 44â58; R. Billows, âThe Religious Procession of the Ara Pacis Augustae: Augustus suplicatio in 13 BCâ, Journal of Roman Archaeology 6 (1993), 80â92; D.T. Ionescu, âThe Ara Pacis Augustae and the Campus Martius: Peace and War, Antinomic or Complementary Realities in the Roman Worldâ, in: K. Ulanowski, ed., The Religious Aspects of War in the Ancient Near East, Greece, and Rome (Leiden 2016), 305â357, esp. 350â355.
M. Corbier, âPoder e parentesco: a familia JulioâCláudiaâ, Revista Classica (1992/1993), 167â203; L. Foubert, âThe Palatine dwelling of the mater familias: houses as symbolic space in the Julio-Claudian periodâ, Klio 92,1 (2010), 69â73; A. Tamanini, âDomus Liuiae: famÃlia, gênero e identidade na gens imperialâ, Ãgora. Estudos Clássicos em Debate 17 (2015) 215â228; H. Fertik, The Rulerâs House. Contesting Power and Privacy in Julio-Claudian Rome (Baltimore 2019), 39â59: R. Cortés, âEspacios de poder de las mujeres en Romaâ, in: J.M. Nieto, ed., Estudios sobre la mujer en la cultura griega y latina [XVIII Jornadas de FilologÃa Clásica de Castilla y León] (Valladolid 2005), 198â199.
Zanker 1988, op. cit. (n. 14), 172â179; M.J. Hidalgo de la Vega, âEsposas, hijas y madres imperiales: el poder de la legitimidad dinásticaâ, Latomus 62 (2003), 47â72; F. Cenerini, âIl ruolo delle donne nell linguaggio del potere di Augustoâ, Paideia 68 (2013), 105â129.
The Ara Pacis, Augustusâ altar to peace, was dedicated on Liviaâs birthday â the actual date of her birth, January 30th.
M. Boudreau Flory, âSic exempla parantur: Liviaâs shrine to Concordia and the Porticus Liviaeâ, Historia 33 (1984), 309â30.
IGRom 1.902. IGRom 901; 1.875. A. Coskun, G. Stern, âQueen Dynamis and Prince Aspurgos in Rome? Revisiting the South-Frieze of the Ara Pacis Augustae (139 BC)â, in: A. Coskun, ed, Ethnic Constructs, Royal Dynasties and Historical Geography around the Black Sea Littoral (Memmingen 2021), 216â225; J. Wilker, âSociae et amicae populi Romani: Women and the Institution of Client Kingshipâ, in: H. Cornwell, G. Woolf, eds., Gendering Roman Imperialism (Leiden 2022), 165â184.
IGR I, 875, 901, 902
D.W. Roller, Cleopatraâs Daughter and other Royal Women of the Augustan Era (Oxford 2018), 33â44; A.C. Harders, âAn imperial family man: Augustus as surrogate father to Marcus Antoniusâ childrenâ, in: S. Hübner, D.M. Ratzan, eds., Growing up Fatherless in Antiquity (Cambridge 2009), 217â240, esp. 231â235.
M. White Singer, âOctaviaâs Mediation at Tarentumâ, The Classical Journal 43, 3 (Dec. 1947), 173â178; J. Dangel, âLes femmes et la violence dans le Bellum Civile de Lucain: Ãcriture symbolique des deviances de lâhistoireâ, in: Deviller & Franchet dâEspèrey, eds., Lucain en débat (Bordeaux 2010), 91â104; G.A. Vivas, âMucia Tercia: Matrona romana, mediadora polÃtica. Un estado de la cuestiónâ, Fortunatae 29 (2019), 169â171.
Liv., 1.13.
L. Foubert, Women going Public: ideals and Conflicts in the representation of Julio-Claudian women (Nijmegen, 2010), 72â96; M. Corbier, âMale power and legitimacy through women: the domus Augusta under the Julio-Claudiansâ, in: B. Levick, R. Hawley, eds., Women in Antiquity: New Assessments (London & New York 1995), 178â193; F. Cenerini, âJulio-Claudian imperial Womenâ, in: E.D. Carney, S. Müller, eds., The Routledge Companion to Women and Monarchy in the Ancient Mediterranean World (London 2020), 399â410.
A. Keith, âWomenâs Networks in Vergilâs Aeneidâ, Dyctinna 3 (2006) 1â14; A. Sharrock, âWarrior women in Roman epicâ, in: J. Fabre-Serris, A. Keith, eds., Women and war in Antiquity (Baltimore 2015), 150â173; K.R. De Boer, âArms and the Woman: Discourses of Militancy and Motherhood in Vergilâs Aeneidâ, Arethusa 52:2 (2019), 132â134.
Poletti 2021, op. cit. (n. 26), 214â218; D. Arya, âIl ratto delle Sabine e la guerra romano-sabinaâ, in: A. Carandini, R. Cappelli, eds., Roma: Romolo, Remo e la fondazione della città (Milano 2000), 302â306.
T.J. Luce, âThe dating of Livyâs first decadeâ, Transactions of the American Philological Association 96 (1965), 209â240; L.J. Piper, âLivyâs portrayal of early Roman womenâ, The Classical Bulletin 48 (1971), 26â28; D. Konstan, âIdeology and narrative in Livy. Book Iâ, Classical Antiquity 5 (1986), 197â215; J.M. Claassen, âThe familiar other: the pivotal role of Women in Livyâs narrative of political development in early Romeâ, Acta Classica 41 (1998), 83â85; T. Stevenson, âWomen of early Rome as Exempla in Livy, Ab Urbe condita, Book Iâ, The Classical World 104:2 (2011), 177â179.