The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing: Invention of Ritual in the Augustan Archaizing Mode

Abstract

By examining the content and language of three fragmentary texts from the early Principate (the Acta sacrorum saecularium celebratorum, the Fasti fratrum Arvalium, and the Acta Arvalia), this thesis argues that Augustus and his followers employed an archaizing mode in the reconstructed rites of the Saecular Games and Arval Brethren to achieve two critical objectives: to simulate a religious revival without the requisite archaic evidence, and to legitimize an Augustan political agenda through the trappings of tradition. Moreover, this thesis shows that, in achieving these two objectives, Augustus deftly integrated himself both into Rome’s past—as a new Romulus or Numa—and built himself into Rome’s future—by having state religion predicate the city’s prosperity on his and his family’s well-being.