This chapter really blew my mind--it's an amazing analysis of Augustus' attempts to unify the political and physical fabric of Rome, using a fairly narrow range of imagery and concepts. There's a lot here to compare and contrast with Vergil's approach to Roman history in the Aeneid.

SO! Your task is to read the chapter (split into two parts), and write a 5-6 page, double spaced set of answers to the questions below. Essay format is not necessary. We will use your answers as the basis for a classroom discussion next Tuesday (the last day of class) on Vergil's "Rome" vs. Augustus' Rome. THIS ASSIGNMENT IS WORTH 50 PTS.

LINKS to the CHAPTER:

The Augustan Program of Cultural Renewal (Part One)

The Augustan Program of Cultural Renewal (Part Two)

QUESTIONS:

1. How many temples did Augustus claim to have restored in his Res Gestae? In restoring temples, how did Augustus combine Greek and Roman features? Which structures received the most money and embellishment?

2. What happened to the status of the Capitoline Jupiter as a result of Augustus' emphasis on Apollo and Mars Ultor?

3. What strategy did Augustus adopt with respect to "foreign" and "oriental" cults, and how was this reflected in the (re)building of temples?

4. What artistic/stylistic limits were imposed on artists as they designed and decorated Augustus' new temples and facades? What stories from mythology were used?

5. How did Augustus also manipulate the festival calendar to his advantage? Why did sacrificial imagery assume such a prominent role in the Augustan period?

6. What are bucrania, and how are they used in Augustan decoration?

7. How did Augustus reorganize the Arval Brethren? Which priesthoods are represented on the Ara Pacis?

8. What tension exists in the Augustan period between the prestige of the major priesthoods and their actual power in the Augustan period?

9. Though it contains no figures, only sacrificial instruments and equipment (and some key political imagery), how does the frieze from the Porticus Octaviae reinforce the message of the Ara Pacis?

10. What priesthoods did Augustus himself hold? How is he often depicted on coins and sculpture?

11. How were even freedmen brought into the renewed religious hierarchy of Augustus?

12. How did the Porticus Liviae and Agrippa's buildings in the Campus Martius address the needs of Rome's poorer citizens?

13. What was the "Solarium Augusti," and what relation did it have to the Ara Pacis?

14. How did Augustus use theater to both express "traditional" Roman status distinctions and confirm his position as patron of all Romans?

15. How did Augustus manage to include even the family in his plan to reinvigorate Rome? How was this reflected even in dress?