VIRGILIO E STESICORO Una ricerca sulla Tabula Iliaca Capitolina *

SUETONIUS AND AUGUSTUS’
‘PROGRAMMATIC EDICT’*
In his Life of the first princeps, in a chapter dealing with
Augustus’ ‘retention of the state’, Suetonius includes a verbatim
quotation from an edict of Augustus which we know from no
other source. 1
De reddenda re p. bis cogitavit: primum post oppressum statim Antonium,
memor obiectum sibi ab eo saepius, quasi per ipsum staret ne redderetur;
ac rursus taedio diuturnae valitudinis, cum etiam magistratibus
ac senatu domum accitis rationarium imperii tradidit. sed reputans
et se privatum non sine periculo fore et illam plurium arbitrio temere
committi, in retinenda perseveravit, dubium eventu meliore an voluntate.
quam voluntatem, cum prae se identidem ferret, quodam etiam
edicto his verbis testatus est: ita mihi salvam a c sospitem rem
p. sistere in sua sede liceat atque eius rei fructum percipere,
quem peto, ut optimi status auctor dicar et moriens
ut feram mecum spem, mansura in vestigio suo
fundamenta rei p. quae iecero. fecitque ipse se compotem voti
nisus omni modo, ne quem novi status paeniteret.
Various aspects of the edict have been discussed, but the form of
the edict, the precise language employed, the translation of these
words and the overall significance of the pronouncement require
further comment, not least because of the importance of any firsthand
statement by Augustus on his political position or aspirations,
but also to do justice to Suetonius, who later in Augustus
comments on the care which Augustus took over the wording of
his pronouncements. 2 I propose (i) to offer a commentary on the
*) The comments of J. E. Atkinson, M. T. Griffin and J. W. Rich have greatly
improved this piece; the remaining infelicities are mine.
1) Suet. DA 28.1–2. H. Malcovati, Caesaris Augusti Imperatoris operum
fragmenta, Turin 5 1969, edicta X.
2) DA 86.1: praecipuamque curam duxit sensum animi quam apertissime
exprimere. The major dedicated discussion of this edict is by P. Ceausescu, Das programmatische
Edikt des Augustus – eine mißverstandene Stelle, RhM 124, 1981,
348–53, accepted by U. Lambrecht, Herrscherbild und Principatsidee in Suetons