Author:
Gaius Stern Retired from the University of California, Berkeley, USA

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Abstract

Amor plays a curious and complicated role in the Augustan regime, and especially in Augustus's secret plans to create a monarchy, for on the one hand the princeps wished to regulate love for all citizens – allegedly for the common weal – but on the other hand he had little success in forcing his relatives to love and marry one another with often disastrous and adulterous consequences that threw overboard several plans for the succession. Augustus compelled Tiberius to divorce Vipsania Minor to marry Julia with the allure of the throne, and Tiberius sold his soul for power. But Tiberius found it impossible to love Julia and after their only child died, he separated from her. In contrast, Drusus must have refused to divorce Antonia but still turned out to be Augustus's preferred step-son, not to mention the hero of the nation.

The Senate voted to build the Ara Pacis Augustae on 4 July 13 BC in the consulship of Tiberius and Varus, and the inauguration proclaiming the successes of the Augustan regime in restoring peace and prosperity to the Roman people, occurred on 30 Jan. 9 BC in the consulship of Drusus and Quinctius Crispinus. Although several married couples appear on the Ara Pacis together, it is Drusus and Antonia who show the love between husband and wife, which Augustus later tried very hard to legislate, not that of Julia and Agrippa nor of Tiberius and Vipsania, and certainly not of Augustus and Livia, who appear separately. Val. Max. 4.3.3 says that Drusus loved his wife so much he never had sex with other women! This already famous story prompted the sculptors of the Ara Pacis to place Drusus and Antonia facing one another, not only as a role model and in deference to Augustus's natalism program, but also to add a touch of humanity to the frieze and to honor the daughter of Octavia and her husband, in whose consular year of office the monument opened.

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Senior editors

Editor(s)-in-Chief: Takács, László

Managing Editor(s): Kisdi, Klára

Editorial Board

  • Tamás DEZSŐ (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest)
  • Miklós MARÓTH (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Avicenna Institute of Middle Eastern Studies)
  • Gyula MAYER (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Classical Philology Research Group)
  • János NAGYILLÉS (University of Szeged)
  • Lajos Zoltán SIMON (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest)
  • Csilla SZEKERES (University of Debrecen)
  • Kornél SZOVÁK (Pázmány Péter Catholic University)
  • Zsolt VISY (University of Pécs)

 

Advisory Board

  • Michael CRAWFORD (University College London, prof. em.)
  • Patricia EASTERLING (Newnham College, University of Cambridge, prof. em.)
  • László HORVÁTH (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest)
  • Patricia JOHNSTON (Brandeis University Boston, prof. em.)
  • Csaba LÁDA (University of Kent)
  • Herwig MAEHLER
  • Attilio MASTROCINQUE (University of Verona)
  • Zsigmond RITOÓK (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, prof. em.)

László Takács
Acta Antiqua
Mikszáth tér 1.
H-1088 Budapest
E-mail: acta.antiqua.hung@gmail.com

Scopus
Current Contents - Arts and Humanities

2023  
Scopus  
CiteScore 0.2
CiteScore rank Q3 (Classics)
SNIP 0.532
Scimago  
SJR index 0.111
SJR Q rank Q3

Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
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Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae
Language English
French
(Latin)
German
Italian
Spanish
Size B5
Year of
Foundation
1951
Volumes
per Year
1
Issues
per Year
4
Founder Magyar Tudományos Akadémia   
Founder's
Address
H-1051 Budapest, Hungary, Széchenyi István tér 9.
Publisher Akadémiai Kiadó
Publisher's
Address
H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Responsible
Publisher
Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN 0044-5975 (Print)
ISSN 1588-2543 (Online)