Volume 19, 2007 - Brown University

90 Curtis Steyers
Now the last age of Cumae’s prophecy has come;
The great succession of centuries is born afresh.
Now too returns the Virgin; Saturn’s rule returns;
A new begetting now descend from heaven’s height.
O Chaste Lucina, look with blessing on the boy
Whose birth will end the iron race at last and raise
A golden through the world; now your Apollo rules. (Virgil, 1980: 57)
Virgil predicts a profound transition to the golden age of Saturn, a stage in the
mythical cycle of the ages characterized by peace, lack of fear, and virtue.
Augustus’ moral reforms embraced Virgil’s prophetic hope. He attempted to
bring about this new Saturnian age by legislating morality. Augustus was a
shrewd politician and had a brilliant propagandist in Maecenas. He knew that his
success depended on both securing political stability and promoting the image of
a restored republic. His moral reforms thus functioned in two important ways:
On the one hand, they were intended to influence behavior such that the radical
and corrupt activity lamented by the historians would be scarce, thereby
protecting the state from political upheaval. On the other hand, they functioned
as a visible acknowledgement and condemnation of the moral decline of the late
republic and symbolized a transition into the new, peaceful, and virtuous golden
age of Saturn. In such a way, Augustus at once entrenched himself in his role as
the sole ruler of Rome and engendered a genuinely grateful reception by the
war-weary Roman populace.
References
Cicero. 1967. On Moral Obligation. Trans. J. Higginbotham. Berkeley: Univ. Calif.
Press.
Livy. 2002. The Early History of Rome, trans. A.de Selincourt. Introduction R.M.Ogilvie.
Preface S.P. Oakley. London: Penguin Books.
Sallust. 1963. The Jugurthine War. Trans. S.A. Handord. London: Penguin Books.
Virgil. 1980. Eclogues. Trans. G. Lee. London: Penguin Books.
Ward. 2003. A History of the Roman People, 4 th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.