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Last updated: September 2007
In AD 14, the emperor Augustus had died and been succeeded by his adopted
son and heir, Tiberius. I take the view that Strabo started writing out the
manuscript of the Geography some three years later, starting book one
in AD 17 and finishing the last book (book seventeen) in AD 23. Page numbers
in brackets below are references to Pothecary
(2002), unless otherwise noted; see also Dueck (1999).
The key events to which Strabo makes reference are, in the order in which
they appear in the narrative:
- the disposition of
legions by Tiberius in Hispania (Pothecary
[2005b] 166-7)
- the thirty-third year
of peace in the Alps, reckoned from
Tiberius’ military campaigns of 15 BC (398-9)
- the existence of the
tomb of Augustus, as well as the tombs of his relatives and friends,
within the Mausoleum in Rome
(388, n. 3)
- the extinction of the
Cappadocian royal line in AD 17 (405)
- the fact that Tiberius
has succeeded Augustus, and that Tiberius is helped by his sons Drusus
and Germanicus (400)
- the celebration by
Germanicus of his military success in Germany,
a celebration which took place in Rome
in AD 17 (401, 427-9)
- Strabo’s uncertainty
over the contemporary situation in Cappadocia
following its establishment as a Roman province in AD 18 (401-5)
- the death of Archelaus
(which marked the extinction of the Cappadocian line already noted) in
AD 17 (403, 405-6)
- the widow Pythodoris,
who had been married to Archelaus and therefore became his widow in AD
17 (406)
- the widowing of
Pythodoris’ daughter, following the death of her husband, Cotys,
in AD 18 or 19 (12.3.39 – overlooked in Pothecary [2002])
- the earthquake which
devastated several cities of Asia Minor
in AD 17 (407)
- the beneficence of
Tiberius following the earthquake in AD 17 (407-8)
- the enthronement of
Zeno/Artaxias in Armenia
in AD 18 (406-7, cp. 417-9)
- the inclusion of the
son of Theophanes of Mytilene among the closest associates of Tiberius
- the surviving sons of
the Persian king, implying the death of Vonones in AD 19 (424-5)
- the incorporation of
Commagene into Roman territory in AD 18 (408-9)
- the death of Juba, king of Maurusia, in AD 23 (409-13)
- Ptolemy’s
succession to the throne of Maurusia following Juba’s
death in AD 23 (411-2)
The recent succession of Tiberius should be borne in mind when
interpreting Strabo. For example:
The building programme in Rome
(Book 5.3.8)
- Strabo notes the
contributions of ‘the sons, friends, wife and sister of
Augustus.’ The phrase ‘sons of Augustus’ repays closer
scrutiny. Augustus had fathered no natural sons, but he had adopted
various relatives, who had then been treated as sons for inheritance and
succession purposes. Augustus had adopted his grandsons, Gaius and
Lucius Caesar, in 17 BC but they had died while still young, in AD 4 and
AD 2 respectively. The current emperor, Tiberius, had been adopted by
Augustus in AD 4. Strabo uses the phrase ‘the sons of
Tiberius’ (6.4.2) to mean Drusus and Germanicus, the former being
Tiberius’ natural son and the latter his adopted son.
Strabo’s two phrases – ‘the sons of Augustus’ and
‘the sons of Tiberius’ -- emphasise the legitimacy of the
dynastic position of all three individuals, Tiberius, Drusus and
Germanicus. Tiberius is the linchpin: Tiberius’ adoption as a son
of Augustus had brought both Tiberius and Drusus into the Julian family
of Augustus; and had enabled Tiberius to bring Germanicus likewise into
the Julian family by adopting Germanicus (also AD 4).
- As concerns buildings
in Rome
by Augustus’ ‘sons,’ Gaius and Lucius had been too
young to make any real contribution, although a colonnade had been
erected by Augustus in their names in 2 BC and possibly another in AD
12. The contribution of Tiberius was greater, including the rebuilding
of the temples of Castor and Concord
(while Augustus was still emperor) and several projects in the first few
years of his own reign. These latter projects were generally represented
as the completion of projects begun under Augustus: in AD 16, Tiberius
dedicated the temple of Fors Fortuna and an arch near the temple of Saturn; in AD 17, he dedicated
the three temples of Flora, Janus and Ceres. (It may be that the recent
completion of the latter lies behind Strabo’s cryptic remark on
the ‘recent disappearance’ of a famous Greek painting, taken
by the Romans after they sacked Corinth in 146 BCE; the painting had
hung in the temple of Ceres until the temple was burnt in a fire in 31
BC: 8.6.23; Pothecary [2005a],
13).
- Strabo notes that
Augustus’ Mausoleum in Rome
contains the tombs of Augustus’ ‘relatives,’ as well
as Augustus himself. Augustus had ordered the construction of the
Mausoleum in ca 28 BCE, well in advance (as it would turn out) of his
own death. There had followed a period of over forty years during which
relatives who died might, if Augustus wished it, be interred in the Mausoleum.
Marcellus (nephew and, briefly, son-in-law of Augustus) and Drusus
(Augustus’ stepson) were definitely interred in the Mausoleum.
Octavia (Augustus’ sister), Lucius (Augustus’ adopted son)
and Gaius (also adopted) were probably interred there. Thus, by the time
the remains of Augustus himself were laid in the Mausoleum, it already
contained the remains of those relatives who had predeceased him in 23
BC (Marcellus) and 9 BC (Drusus); and, probably, of those who had
predeceased him in 11 BC (Octavia), AD 2 (Lucius) and AD 4 (Gaius).
In AD 19, the Mausoleum was to receive the remains of Augustus’
grandson, Germanicus; and in AD 23, the remains of another grandson, Drusus.
These deaths lay in the future when Strabo wrote about the ‘relatives
of Augustus’ in Book 5; but they had come to pass by the time that
Strabo wrote the concluding book of the Geography in AD 23.
Strabo’s words in Book 5 thus came to have a greater compass than he
had originally intended.
- Strabo refers to a
‘wall of white marble around Augustus’ place of
cremation.’ It is likely that Augustus had chosen his future place
of cremation well in advance of his death, just as he had chosen the
place where his ashes would be interred and had built the Mausoleum for
this precise purpose. It is less certain that Augustus had himself built
the ‘wall of white marble.’ Andrew Gallia has drawn my
attention to an article by Boatwright (AJA 89, 485 ff), with its
observation that such monuments were probably built after, rather than
for, the cremation. Gallia thus raises
the possibility that the ‘wall of white marble’ was a
Tiberian construction. At any rate, Gallia considers it unsafe to
conclude that the wall of white marble must be of Augustan date purely
on the basis that Strabo mentions it: see Gallia’s
review (BMCR 2007.08.21) of Paul Rehak, Imperium and
Cosmos. Augustus and the Northern Campus Martius. Edited by John G.
Younger (Madison, WI:
The University
of Wisconsin Press,
2006).
- Strabo makes a general
reference to the amazement felt by ‘one’ (Strabo certainly
had the experience himself: Dueck
[2000a]) on seeing the fora, basilicas, temples, and works of art
housed on the Capitol and Palatine.
Strabo refers to the colonnade of Livia by name. Livia was, of course,
Tiberius’ mother. The colonnade had been dedicated in 7 BC as part
of the triumph celebrated by Tiberius in that year.
More generally, the Geography reflects Tiberian literary tastes. Tiberius
was known for his interest in and appreciation of literature written in
Greek, and for his predilection for geography, mythology and Homeric studies.
From a political point of view, Strabo’s omissions (for example, his
failure to mention Gaius Caesar at all, let alone his eastern campaigns of AD
1) are the result of the desire by Strabo to avoid subjects which might not
meet with Tiberius’ approval.
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