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CONS 521- Review Assignment

Displaying the Res Gestae of Augustus: A Monument of Imperial Image for All/ Suna GOven

In this review, I will comment on the article written by Prof. Dr. Suna GOven, which focuses
on the marble inscription known as Res Gestae Divi Augusti, at the Temple of Augustus in
Ankara. It is possible to understand the importance of this inscription as a written source,
thanks to the fact that parts of the inscription are somehow brought together and
translated by experts. However, Suna GOven's assessment in this text is much more
comprehensive. And she also mentions that a successful study of the Res Gestae inscription
is only possible after a comprehensive process. She refers to this inscription as
"monumental text". The monumentality is not related to architectural or scalistic
dominance. What makes this inscription a monumental text is the effect it has on people
who have encountered it over the years.

While talking about the inscription in the text, Suna GOven uses the following words: "... it
presented the life of Augustus the way he wished to be remembered." (GOven,1998, p.30). It
is out of the question to expect an impartial narrative while listening to the history of the
empire during the years of his rule from the mouth of a ruler. When we look at it from this
aspect, although it is a great historical proof for the future, the main concern of this
inscription is not to record the correct information with all its details and to convey it as it is.
A Roman-era narrative, filtered through the monarch and weeding out negative events, is a
very powerful and clever way to scrape the glory of Augustus and to ensure the unity of
Roman citizens who remember all that the emperor did for his people through the presence
of this inscription. As mentioned in the text, the sample of this inscription found in Ankara is
one of the copies of the original. For the original of this text, in which he proudly describes
the Golden Age of the Roman period under his rule, the saeculum aureum {lJ, and all that he
had done for his people, Augustus chose an architecture that would reflect his unique and
personal splendor. And he decided to exhibit it in the Mausoleion in Rome. Thanks to the
display of this engraved inscription on a bronze base placed between the two columns that

1 As stated in the text it refers to the Golden Age of the Roman Empire under the rule of the Emperor
Augustus.

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frame the entrance of this structure, "the distinction between history and personal
achievement was obliterated. "r21

The fact that a copy of this inscription is found in Ankara shows the existence of the city in
the Roman period and that this city was the living space of a community where the voice of
the ruler was wanted to be heard. In other words, the Roman Ankara is the place where
these propaganda words of Augustus meet the people in Latin and Greek languages. Others
of our sources for the contents of the Res Gestae inscription also come from the Roman
province of Galatia in Asia Minor. As it was mentioned by Suna Given, there is a Latin copy in
Antioch in Pisidia, and a Greek one in Apollonia, both near Ankara. And thanks to this
inscription, the three cities became related. These three different sources were used to
transfer and understand the inscription to the next generations.

This copy of the inscription found in the Temple of Augustus in Ankara is the most
complete surviving among other examples. Ankara was a military center hosting different
cultures and communities in the Roman period. The Res Gestae inscription was an effective
tool to protect the loyalty of these different groups, to overcome physical distances, to
remind the existence of the emperor, and therefore to bring these different groups together
on a common ground. Also, the temple of Augustus, where the inscription is displayed, was
a place around which the daily lives of all these different communities took place.

When the temple of Augustus is examined, it is seen that the temple has the characteristics
of an ancient Greek structure called pseudodipteral, consisting of a single peristyle
surrounding the eel/a between two columns and at a distance of one column. ( 3 l

As a result of the inferences made, this provides the idea that the temple was built much
earlier than the date of the inscription. After that, the question should be asked to whom
the temple is dedicated. According to the article, the temple might have been dedicated to
Meter Theon, the mother goddess of Anatolia. By choosing this place carrying such an

2 Guven, S. {1998). Displaying the res gestae of Augustus: A monument of Imperial image for all. Journal of the
Society of Architectural Historians, 32.

3 Guven, S. (1998). Displaying the res gestae of Augustus: A monument of Imperial image for all. Journal of the
Society of Architectural Historians, 36.

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historical meaning as a display area of this inscription, " ...a sense of shared patrimony was
fostered. (Guven,1998, p.37).
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Augustus, who managed to address different times and different groups, made this
inscription a part of architecture because he was aware of the learning style of Roman
people. Because, as mentioned in the article, in ancient times and even today, the sense of
sight is the most important sense that supports learning and remembering. Buildings and
spaces were read like a book in ancient times and used as learning tools. Similarly, in the
example of Res Gestae, "By means of "visually written" narrative, the desired literacy of all
subjects of the empire, the elite and the masses, living in Rome and in far-flung Galatia,
could be achieved. (Guven,1998, p.40).
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Thanks to this inscription, Augustus and his works, his words engraved on the stone, have
reached today's world, which is also engraved in the collective memory of the society.