The alternative Augustan Age

“The Augustan Age” is a dominant term in historical, literary, and cultural scholarship, not to mention teaching. This introductory chapter highlights some of the limitations of thinking of a period of many decades and constant change in terms of a single “Augustan age.” It makes the case for looking beyond conventional “key dates” and the figure of Augustus himself to recover the alternative contemporary perspectives and processes of negotiation and compromise. Doing so (as the following chapters demonstrate) reveals the resilience of Roman (republican) culture and the extent to which individuals other than Augustus were able to shape the Augustan principate.