Abstract:
This thesis explores Rome’s built environment from its early republican foundation to
the period of the late republic and demonstrates that monumental construction
remained an embedded and integral element of Roman society throughout this period.
Public buildings and civic space played a significant role in shaping the cultural and
political identity of early republican Rome. As an outward manifestation of the
unification and urbanization of the city-state, these monumental structures represented
and advertised the civic superiority of the great city over the wider Mediterranean.
For the city’s elite, this monumental domain provided the ideal venue to display their
own civic superiority, advertising the dignitas, gloria, and honos of individual men
through the medium of Rome’s built environment. The embedded nature of Roman
religion and politics further augmented the importance of many of these public
buildings. In particular, temple structures provided magistrates with the platform from
which to express highly personal - yet legitimate - glorifying and propagandist
messages through the use of inscriptions, architectural innovation, and divine
representation. Increasing political competition in the late republic saw the
significance of public construction, both temporary and permanent, increase
dramatically as magistrates strove to outshine their peers through the provision of
public works. By the close of the republic, the city’s built environment came to
represent the individual power and superiority of a wealthy and select few, signalling
a new direction for Rome the city-state.
A closer look at the various building projects of individual men confirms the
significance of monumentalization for Roman republican society. Caesar’s forum
Iulium, for example, clearly illustrates the immense potential such spaces held for the
self-aggrandizement and personal glorification of these elite individuals. Situated at
the intersection between republican and imperial Rome, the Caesarian phase of the
forum Iulium provides a valuable insight into this important period of Roman politics
and cultural development. This thesis will also demonstrate that smaller individual
building projects, such as temporary theatres and temple refurbishments, served to
provide significant political utility for the less powerful, yet elite, men of Rome.
