Empire and Memory

The memory of the Roman Republic exercised a powerful influence on several generations of Romans who lived under its political and cultural successor, the Principate or Empire. This work explores how that memory manifested itself over the course of the early Principate. Making use of the close relationship between memoria and historia in Roman thought, and drawing on modern studies of historical memory, the author offers case studies of several major imperial authors from the reign of Tiberius down through that of Trajan (AD 14-117). The memory evident in literature is linked to that imprinted on Rome's urban landscape and special attention is paid to the Forum of Augustus (dedicated in 2 BC) and the Forum of Trajan (AD 113) as particularly suggestive physical reminders of the transition from a time when the memory of the Republic was highly valued to one when its grip had begun to loosen.