tristia y la política de augusto

8/13/2019 Tristia y la poltica de Augusto

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Los estudios literarios desde siempre han reconocido que los Tristia y las Espistolae ex Ponto no son slo expresiones

de emocin, sino tambin de expresin poltica. Estos poemas pretendan ser una splica de Oidio hacia !u"usto, el

hombre responsable de su exilio. Es decir, pretendan aminorar el casti"o. #alo al"unas excepciones, la mayor parte

de los acadmicos se han interesado m$s en la bsqueda de Oidio por %usti&icar la libertad de expresin de los

poetas apelando a los exempla m$s tempranos de la literatura "rie"a y latina y no toman en cuenta las luces polticas

que se arro%an sobre este poema que resaltan los sentimientos de Oidio en cuanto al r"imen de !u"usto. 'adically

di&&erent opinions hae been expressed on Oid(s attitude to !u"us)tus* on the one hand he has been described as a

political con&ormist +hose eulo"y o& the emperor at the end o& the etamorphoses-&o r example +as (the result o&

serious coniction(,s and on the other +e hae the ie+ that a lar"e part o& the etamorphosescou ld only beinterpreteda s (an anti)!u"ustanp oem(./ 0hether Tristia 1 +as simply an attempt by an isolated i& brilliant

intellectual to %usti&y the independence o& the artist, or +hether +hat the poet +rote may hae been in&luenced by

political considerations, is a question +hich belon"s to political history rather than literary criticism, and perhaps

the political context o& the years immediately be&ore Oid +rote this poem can thro+ some li"ht on the p


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POL2T23!L 4!356'O789 TO T'2#T2! 1 1/: Oid +as certainly not the only one to be discontented +ith !u"ustus(

rule a&ter his exile in 9ecember o& !.9. ;. uch o& the eidence &or opposition to !u"ustus( policies in these years is

associated +ith the attempts to introduce le"islation to encoura"e marria"e and the brin"in" up o& children)under)

standably unpopular +ith the propertied classes in 2taly, since the Lex 2ulia de aritandisO rdinibus o& may proide an ans+er. These years +ere extremely critical &or !u"ustus* they +ere years o&

military disaster abroad coupled +ith &amine at 'ome, and rumour had it that !u"ustus een contemplated suicideF

(iuncta deinde tot mala, inopia stipendii, rebellio 2llyrici, seritiorum delectus, iuentutis penuria, pestilentia urbis,&ames 2taliaeF destinatio expirandi, et quadridui inedia maior pars mortis in corpus recepta* iuxta haec Gariana

clades et maiestatis eius &oeda su""illatio.(/ Hor some years no+ the emperor had &ound it di&&icult to &ind recruits &or

his ap)parently neer)endin" +ars in the north,( in spite o& the ne+ conditions o& serice that had been instituted in

AB, B1:)/B* P. !. 4runt, 2talian anpo+er -Ox&ord, 2>= -p. ::;F (The !u"ustan arria"e La+s(. 1 #uetonius,

9i. !u". AB. 2. A 9io :/. 2O. i. B #uet. 9i. !u". AB. 1 (abolitionem -le"is publico spectaculo pertinaciter postulante equite . . .(. #ince 9io :/. i 2. 2 explicitlystates that 6ermanicus +as in 9almatia durin" the demonstration +hich he describes, there may -i& 9io(s chronolo"y is ri"ht hae been t+o

separate incidents. s Loc. cit. B::) / Pliny, 8.D. =. . = On the question o& +hether !u"ustus had any clear idea o& callin" a halt to 'oman

expansion at any particular point c&. P. !. 4runt, J.'.#. liii -/A,


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1// TDO!# 02E9E!88 part o& the peasants that he intended to conscript them &or serice in northern Europe.( 2n

the &ollo+in" year, un+illin"ness on the part o& the soldiers to sere &or lon"er than the term set in F the lac? o&

su&&icient olunteers and the need to enlist and train men in the shortest possible time meant that &reedmen and

others &rom 'ome itsel& +ere called up)a (ernacula multitudo( in Tacitus( +ords.A #uetonius re&ers to the t+o

occasions in !.9. / and >K


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POL2T23!L 4!356'O789 TO T'2#T2! 1 1/= 0ith this bac?"round o& increasin" taxation on senators and equites, it

is less surprisin" that a period o& military disasters in Pannonia and 6ermany should hae been the occasion &or the

opposition to express itsel& openly. 2n !.9. =, !u"ustus cancelled the traectio equitum()perhaps he +as a&raid o& %ust such a

demonstration as did actually occur in !.9. >.1 2t became clear to the emperor that he +ould hae to compromise.

#ince any concessions +ith re"ard to the ne+ taxes mi"ht impair the e&&iciency o& the armed &orces, the courses open

to him +ere ery limited. One thin" he could do +as remoe the least popular proisions o& his social le"islation

+hile +idenin" the scope o& the priile"es, and this +as +hat the Lex PapiaP oppaeain &act did.A !u"ustus( position

+as not assisted by the &amine &rom +hich 2taly +as su&&erin" durin" these years. 2n !.9. /, a&ter a particularly

serious &ire at 'ome, !u"ustus conscripteds een thousand &reedmen to &orm the i"iles*Ba lthou"h it +as o&&iciallyclaimed that their &unction +as merely to preent &urther con)&la"rations, and that they +ere soon to be disbanded,

the sudden realiCation that 'ome(s &ire)bri"ade required seen thousand men under the central control o& a

prae&ectusr esponsible directly to !u"ustus, rather than the six hundred slaes "ranted to the curule aediles &or this

purpose in 11 4.c.,: may +ell re&lect the need to control serious disorders amon" the disa&&ected urban population)as

our sources realiCe./ 'eynolds(s surprise= that the i"iles should &rom an early date hae had police &unctions li?e

the urban cohorts is surely misplaced. The same &ear o& ma%or disturbances as a result o& the &amine +ill hae lain

behind !u"ustus( decision to expel "ladiators, most cate"ories o& aliens, slaes on sale, and een some domestic slaes

&rom 'ome* arran"ements +ere made to enable as many senators to leae the city +ith their households as +as

possible +ithout disruptin" the business o& "oernment.; To symboliCe his concern &or the +ell)bein" o& the 'oman

people, !u"ustus thou"ht it adisable to dedicate an altar to 3eres and to the earth)"oddess under the title o& (Ops

!u"usta( on There +ere some +ho +ere not displeased at the &act that !u"ustus &ound himsel& in a

precarious position. There +ere disorders in seeral areas durin" these years, inolin" members o& the proincial

aristocracies.2x 2n 'ome too there are hints that the discontent +as &omented or at least exploited by those hostile to!u"ustus. !dmittedly +e do not hear o& the elimination o& a +hole "roup o& aristocrats as had occurred in 1 4.c.,

+hen, +ith !u"ustus( (climacteric( sixty)third year approachin", members o& seeral distin"uished &amilies tried to

ta?e adanta"e o& Tiberius( dis"race to manoeure into a position +here they could possess !u"ustus( dau"hter Julia

and throu"h her, a&ter the emperor(s death, control the &ortunes o& his "randsons and o& the empire. One at least 9io::. A2. 1 says that this +as due to the (needs o& the +ar(* in the context, it could be ta?en to re&er to the need to aoid unrest durin" the crisis. 1 3&.

9io :/. . 1)


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1/; TDO!# 02E9E!88 o& these conspirators actually +anted to ?ill !u"ustus.2 Later, a&ter the plot o& Pompey(s

"randson 6naeus 3ornelius 3inna a"nus,1 9io tells us that in !.9. / one Publius 'u&us +as inoled in or"aniCin"

a conspiracy, althou"h it is not clear on +hose behal& he +as operatin".A !nd then in !.9. = !u"ustus +as &orced to

remoe his "randson !"rippa Postumus out o& the reach o& any con)spirator +ho mi"ht use him as a &i"ure)head.B

Others too +ere exiled in this year, includin" the orator 3assius #eerus, +ho had +ritten erses attac?in" certain

aristocrats.s 2n the &ollo+in" year Julia the Noun"er +as sent into exile &or irtually the same reasons as her mother

had been. 2t is o& course concei)able that Liia(s machinations on behal& o& her son Tiberius played a part in these

eents* but surely only the &ear that his "randchildren mi"ht become &ocal points o& opposition can hae induced

!u"ustus to ta?e such drastic measures. Perhaps +e should not oerestimate the extent o& opposition to the policieso& the re"ime*/ it is su&&icient to note that, &or a ariety o& causes, discontent +as more +idespread than it had been

&or many years. 2n the eent, !u"ustus +as able to +eather the storm, and members o& his &amily and o& Liia(s con)

tinued to direct the destinies o& the empire &or a &urther sixty years. 4ut that may hae been &ar &rom obious to Oid

in !.9. >* and it +as in this context that he decided to circulate a ma%or +or? settin" out to sho+ that it +as un)

reasonable and un%ust &or !u"ustus to punish one particular poet on the "rounds that his erses +ere immoral. 2n

support o& his ar"ument, Oid ma?es a number o& interestin" re&erences to !u"ustus himsel&. 2t +ould be rash to

assume that eery rhetorical com)parison o& the princeps to Jupiter is bound to be sarcastic in intention, meant as an

attac? on a claim to +hich the emperor(s actual behaiour does not en)title him, rather than as a serious rhetorical

adornment. Thus he tells !u"ustus (utere more dei nomen habentis idem( -AA)B)it is not easy to ma?e up one(s mind

+hether this is meant to be criticism or &lattery.= This is equally true o& #empronius 6racchus, and a #cipio. 3&. eise, op. cit.-aboe p. 1/B n. A, :)1=. Pliny, 8.D. =. (consilia parricidae palam &acta(* #eneca, de bre. it. B. / con)&irms that !u"ustus +as threatened

-(iterum timenda cum !ntonio mulier(. 3&. 9io ::.


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POL2T23!L 4!356'O789 TO T'2#T2! 1 1/> the passa"e +here he says that, once !u"ustus had been deceied into

con)demnin" Oid by a personal enemy o& the poet(s, most 'omans had no choice but to accept his authority -==);;,

or the re&erences to !u"ustus( much)aunted clementia to+ards political enemies -BA &&., &&. ()althou"h he insists

that, since (causa mea est melior( -:, and he must be re&errin" bac? to the campai"ns o& 9rusus and

Tiberius many years be&ore. 2t is note+orthy that +hen Oid !u"ustus established a monopoly -9io. :/. 1:. /. 3&. 4o+ersoc? op. cit.

2 . x 3&. 'es 6estae 9ii !u"usti A. 2* AB) 1. 1 Odes A.


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1=I TDO!# 02E9E!88 describes !u"ustus( care &or 'ome, it should be precisely the moral le"islation +hich

encountered such opposition durin" these years that he mentionsF 7rbs quoque te et le"um lassat tutela tuarum et

morum, similes quos cupis esse tuis -1AA &.. 2n the next couplet o& this appeal, Oid leaes us +ith the impression

that !u"ustus( &orei"n policy has yet to be brou"ht to a satis&actory conclusionF nec tibi contin"unt, quae "entibus

otia praestas, bellaque cum multis inrequieta "eris -1A: &.. The implication is that the emperor is occupied +ith +ars

and social le"islation +hen he should rather be examinin" care&ully the cases he has ta?en it upon himsel& to %ud"eF

at si quod mallem, acuum tibi &orte &uisset -1A>. 2n the &ollo+in" section, Oid claims that, i& his poetry +as morally

unde)sirable, so +as the story o& 2lia in Ennius( !nnaleso r that o& Genus and !nchises re&erredt o in Lucretius( de'

erum8 atura.T here +ere other (semina nequitiae(* +hy had !u"ustus not acted a"ainst these -1;IF (tolli tota theatraiube( The temples are another source o& ice -a theme later ta?en up +ith "lee by 3hris)tian +riters)but !u"ustus

himsel& had built so many o& them -1>:F (tua munera(. Oid(s assertion may, as a matter o& &act, hae been true, but

it does seem peculiar that he should repeat many o& the points he had made as +itticisms in the !rs in a +or? in

+hich he is supposedly as?in" !u"ustus to pardon him &or +ritin" this carmen.( De "oes on to list all the &orei"n

+riters +ho had dealt +ith erotic themes and then says -B &. F suntque ea doctorum monumentis mixta irorum

muneribusque ducum publica &acta patent ))one o& these duces +as !u"ustus, +ho had &ounded a &amous library in

the temple o& !pollo on the Palatine. Oid then lists 'oman poets +ho had treated similar themes, endin" +ith

Tibullus -B/A &.F non &uit hoc illi &raudi, le"iturque Tibullus et placet et iam te principe notus erat. De then notes that

there +ere other pastimes (ad nostros non lee crimen aos( -B=1, includin" s+immin", ball "ames, playin" +ith a

hoop, and parti)cularly dice, all o& +hich had been described in erse. !s arache points out, this cannot but hae

reminded the reader that !u"ustus himsel& en%oyed "amin" immensely, in complete de&iance o& the standards

o&prisca irtusF (aleae rumorem nullo modo expait, lusitque simpliciter et palam oblectamenti causa etiam

senex . ..(1 4ut there are +orse thin"s een than "amin")mimes, &or instanceF nubilis hos ir"o matronaque irquepuerque spectat, et ex ma"na parte senatus adest -:I< &.. 2 2t may o& course be that in the absence o& opportunities &or research atTomi Oid had to ma?e as much use as he could o& his o+n +or?s. M #uet. 9i. !u". =


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POL2T23!L 4!356'O789 TO T'2#T2! 1 1=< 8ot only had !u"ustus not &orbidden mimes* they +ere actually paid

&or by state o&&icialsF quodque minus prodest, scaena est lucrosa poetae, tantaque non paro crimina praetor emit

-:I= &. and attended by the emperorF et mea sunt populo saltata poemata saepe, saepe oculos etiam detinuere tuos

-: &.. 8ot to mention porno"raphic pictures in the houses o& the aristocracy -+hether +e read (domibus estris(o r

(nostris(i n :1

tristia y la política de augusto

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