Monumentum Ancyranum: The Deeds of AugustusAugustus, Emperor of Rome
History
Monumentum Ancyranum: The Deeds of Augustus
Augustus, Emperor of Rome
Augustus, Emperor of Rome, 63 B.C.-14 A.D.; Rome -- History -- Augustus, 30 B.C.-14 A.D. -- Sources
[109] The sons of Augustus were Gaius, adopted in 737, died in 757;
Lucius, adopted at the same time, died in 755; Agrippa Postumus,
adopted in 757, exiled in 760. These were the sons of Agrippa and
Julia. On the death of Gaius in 757, Augustus adopted Tiberius. With
him Germanicus, nephew and adopted son of Tiberius, and Drusus,
Tiberius’ own son, became the legal grandchildren of Augustus. None of
these could celebrate games in his own name after adoption, as they had
no property rights, but were absolutely dependent on the head of their
house, according to the _patria potestas_ of the Roman law. See
this very plainly set forth in Suetonius, _Tib._ 15: “After his
(Tiberius’) adoption he never again acted as master of a family, nor
exercised in the smallest degree the rights which he had lost by it.
For he neither disposed of anything in the way of gift, nor manumitted
a slave; nor so much as received an estate left him by will, or any
legacy, without reckoning it as a part of his _peculium_, or
property held under his father.” Tiberius was forty-six years old when
he was adopted.
Seven of these exhibitions can be traced. 1. In 725, on the dedication
of the temple of the Divine Julius. Dio, LI, 22. 2. In 726, in honor
of the victory of Actium. Dio, LIII, 1. 3. In 738, in accordance with
a decree of the senate. This was in the name of Tiberius and Drusus.
Dio, LIV, 19. 4. In 742, at the Quinquatria held March 19-23, in honor
of Minerva. This was in the name of Gaius and Lucius. Dio, LIV, 28, 29.
5. In 747; funeral games in honor of Agrippa. Dio, LV, 8. 6. In 752,
at the dedication of the temple of Mars. Vell. II, 100. 7. In 759, in
honor of Drusus, in the name of his sons Germanicus and Claudius. Dio,
LV, 27; Pliny, _Hist. Nat._, II, 26, 96; VIII, 2, 4. Possibly the
eighth occasion may be found in Suetonius, _Aug._, 43.
[110] Cf. Dio, LIII, 1; Suet. _Aug._, 43. Wooden seats were
erected in the Campus Martius for gymnastic contests in 726. Whether
Germanicus or Drusus is the grandson mentioned here is unknown.
[111] These were the lesser games of the circus and theatres, given
ordinarily by magistrates holding the lower offices, which Augustus
never filled. He took upon himself the care and expense where the
proper magistrates were absent or too poor. Cf. Dio, XLV, 6; C. I. L.,
I, p. 397.
[112] The charge of the Secular Games, celebrated supposedly once in
a century, though in reality oftener, fell to the quindecemvirs. Cf.
Eckhel, VI. 102, for a coin with _imp. Cæsar Augustus lud. saec. XV
S. F._ This was in 737. Cf. also C. I. L., I, p. 442. The college
evidently gave the presidency to Augustus and Agrippa, since it was
very convenient that these two members of the sacred body also held the
tribunitial power, and so the games came into the charge of the two
greatest men of the state in a perfectly natural way. Cf. C. I. L., IX,
p. 29, No. 262, for confirmation of Agrippa’s membership in the college
of quindecemvirs.
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