Tacitus, Annals, 15.20­-23, 33­-45. Latin Text, Study Aids with Vocabulary, and Commentary, 2013a

ludicrum circense ut Iuliae genti apud Bovillas ita Claudiae Domitiaeque
ludicrum circense ... ederetur is the second part of the
ut-clause, in asyndetic continuation of Fortunarum effigies ... locarentur. At
issue are races in the circus, which already were established at Bovillae in
honour of the gens Julia (see Map of Italy). (The town of Bovillae, about ten
miles from Rome, was a colony of Alba Longa, which in turn was founded
by Aeneas’ son Iulus.) Now Antium was to receive games as well, in honour
of the gens Claudia and the gens Domitia (the dative singular genti is to be
supplied with both Claudiae and Domitiae). Nero shared ancestors with all
three gentes. His mother Agrippina was the daughter of Agrippina maior
(who in turn was the daughter of Augustus’ daughter Julia and his general
Agrippa) and Germanicus (the son of Nero Claudius Drusus); Nero’s father
was Cn. Domitius. But the extraordinary honour he now accorded to
Antium – in implicit rivalry with Bovillae – suggests a deliberate attempt
to step outside the shadow of Augustus. John Humphrey’s analysis of the
stone circus at Bovillae is suggestive here: 113
Fully-built stone circuses will be seen to be very rare outside Rome at such
an early date. Undoubtedly it was the special connection of the Julian gens
with Bovillae that prompted the construction of this circus, for the reputed
origin of Julus was at nearby Alba Longa whence the ancient cults had been
transferred to Bovillae prior to the Augustan period. Under Tiberius at the
end of AD 16 a shrine to the Julian gens and a statue of the divine Augustus
were dedicated at Bovillae. Augustus may have established a college of
youths (collegia iuvenum) at Bovillae, while in AD 14 Tiberius established
the sodales Augustales which administered the cult of the gens Iulia. Both
organizations may have been involved with the games at Bovillae. Circus
games are specifically alluded to in AD 35 ... and in AD 63 (circus games given
in honour of the Julian cult) [with reference to our passage]; by implication
these circus games had also been held in previous years. Thus the circus was
probably used chiefly for games held under the close auspices of the emperor
or the cult of the emperor, and it may have been located in close proximity to
the shrine (sacrarium) of the Julian gens. ... It is hard to resist the conclusion
that the monumental entertainment buildings of Bovillae, like some of its
other public buildings, were a special project of Augustus and Tiberius.
The passage also should put into perspective the sacral investment on the
part of both Nero and the senate. Nero’s predecessors and in particular
Augustus had set high benchmarks in terms of honours received and
self-promotion, and if he wanted to stand out against them – a virtual
113 Humphrey (1986) 565–66.