Abstract

Using the example of the political activity of Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, the article examines one of the variants of the relationship between the old republican nobility and Augustus during his principate. Messalla Corvinus was a representative of the oldest Roman aristocratic family of Valerii, one of the leaders of republicans in the epoch of civil wars and, later, a prominent fi gure of political and cultural life of Rome. For the fi rst time, the authors attempt to contextualize his career in a diffi calt era full of change. Th e study demonstrates one of the models of how the relationship between Augustus and the republican aristocracy was structured. It attempts, on the one hand, to understand the tactics of the princeps, to determine the ratio of pressure and encouragement to cooperation, and, on the other hand, to establish the limitations of the republican nobility and their independence. Th e article evaluates Messalla’s actions in the provinces, his appointment as a prefect of the city (praefectus urbi) and subsequent refusal to fulfi l this position, Messalla’s performance of the offi ce of a water commissioner (curator aquarum), his memoirs, and his contribution to Augustus’ “building program”. Domestic and foreign researchers have oft en characterized Messalla Corvinus’ activities as a “bridge” between two epochs in the history of the Roman state. However, in the opinion of the authors, Messalla appears to be a more independent and extraordinary personality, who was capable of not only having his own opinion, but also making his own choices, which sometimes diverged from the policy of the princeps. Noble origin, outstanding talents, ambitious aspirations and at the same time moderate claims together with skillful political calculation could provide Messalla Corvinus not only with the highest social and political position, but also with the independence in the “restored republic”, when the course of events ruined some and elevated others.

References

Berkova E.A. Rimskaya elegiya. Tibull [Roman Elegy. Tibullus] // Istoriya rimskoy literatury [History of Roman Literature]. Vol. I / Ed. by S.I. Sobolevsky, M.E. Grabar’-Passek, F.A. Petrovsky. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo Akademii nauk SSSR, 1959. P. 418–428.

Burov A.S. O prave provedeniya i okhrany vody v Drevnem Rime (po traktatu Frontina De aquis urbis Romae) [On the Right of Water Supply and Protection in Ancient Rome (Based on Frontinus’ Treatise De aquis urbis Romae)] // IVS ANTIQVVM. Drevneye pravo. 1997. N 1. P. 56–59.

Crook J.A. Politicheskaya istoriya, 30 g. do n. e. — 14 g. n. e. [Political History, 30 B.C. — A.D. 14] // Kembridzhskaya istoriya drevnego mira [Th e Cambridge Ancient History]. Vol. X. Imperiya Avgusta 43 g. do n. e. — 69 g. n. e. [Th e Augustan Empire, 43 B.C. — A.D. 69]. Half-Vol. 1 / Ed. by A.K. Bowman, E. Champlin, A. Lintott. Moscow: Ladomir, 2018. P. 93–143.

Davies C. Poetry in the “Circle” of Messalla // Greece & Rome. 1973. Vol. 20. N 1. P. 25–35.

Drummond A.M. Valerius Messalla Corvinus // Th e Fragments of the Roman Historians. 3 vols. Vol. 3 / Ed. by T.J. Cornell. Oxford

Eder W. Augustus and the Power of Tradition: Th e Augustan Principate as Binding Link between Republic and Empire // Between Republic and Empire: Interpretations of Augustus and His Principate / Ed. by K.A. Raafl aub, M. Toher. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. P. 71–123.

Gasparov M.L. Dopolneniya. O znamenitykh lyudyakh [Supplements. On Famous People] // Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. Zhizn’ dvenadtsati tsezarey [Life of the Twelve Caesars]. Moscow: Nauka, 1993. P. 330–331.

Geiger J. Th e Augustan Age // Political Autobiographies and Memoirs in Antiquity / Ed. by G. Marasco. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2011. P. 233–266.

Gowing A.M. Empire and Memory: Th e Representation of the Roman Republic in Imperial Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 178 p.

Hanslik R.M. Der Dichterkreis Des Messalla // Anzeiger der Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaft en. Phil.–hist. Klasse. 1952. Vol. 89. S. 22–38.

Hanslik R.M. Valerius Messalla Corvinus // Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft : neue Bearbeitung. Zweite Reihe. Band VIII (A 1). Stuttgart: Alfred Drukenmüller verlag, 1955. S. 131–157.

Immisch O. Horazens Epistel über die Dichtkunst. Leipzig: Dieterich, 1932. 217 S.

Jeffreys R. Th e Date of Messalla’s Death // Th e Classical Quarterly. 1985. Vol. 35. N 1. P. 140–148.

Kenty J. Messalla Corvinus: Augustan Orator, Ciceronian Statesman // Rhetorica. 2017. Vol. 35. N 4. P. 445–474.

Knox P.E. Milestones in the Career of Tibullus // Th e Classical Quarterly. 2005. Vol. 55. N 1. P. 204–216.

Lowell Bowditch P. Tibullus and Egypt: A Postcolonial Reading of Elegy 1.7 // Arethusa. 2011. Vol. 44. N 1. P. 89–122.

Luk’yanets A.V. Dolzhnost’ praefectus urbi v kontseptsii rimskoy gosudarstvennosti Teodora Mommzena [Th e Offi ce of praefectus urbi in Th eodore Mommsen’s Concept of Roman Statehood] // Put’ v nauku [Path to Science]. Issue 7. Yaroslavl’: YarGU, 2002. P. 44–46.

Luk’yanets A.B. Institut gorodskoy prefektury v antichnom Rime [Th e Offi cium of Urban Prefecture in Ancient Rome] // Tabularium. Trudy po antikovedeniyu i mediyevistike [Works on Antiquity and Medieval Studies]. Vol. 2 / Ed. by V.V. Dement’eva. Moscow: Infomedia, 2004. P. 21–31.

Maltby R. Tibullus: Elegies. Text, Introduction and Commentary. Cambridge: Francis Cairns, 2002. 529 p.

McCracken G. Tibullus, Messalla and the via Latina // Th e American Journal of Philology. 1932. Vol. 53. N 4. P. 344–352.

Mezheritskiy Ya.Yu. “Vosstanovlennaya Respublika” imperatora Avgusta [Emperor Augustus’s “Restored Republic”]. Moscow: Universitet Dmitriya Pozharskogo, 2016. 991 p.

Moore T.J. Tibullus 1.7: Reconciliation through Confl ict // Th e Classical World. 1989. Vol. 82. N 6. P. 423–430.

Newman J.K. Tibullus and Augustan Politics // Art, Intellect and Politics: A Diachronic Perspective / Ed. by H.-C. Günther. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2013. P. 251–283.

Otis B. Horace and the Elegists // Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 1945. Vol. 76. P. 177–190.

Postgate J.P. Messalla in Aquitania // Th e Classical Review. 1903. Vol. 17. N 2. P. 112 - 117

Raaflaub K.A., Samons L.J. Opposition to Augustus // Between Republic and Empire: Interpretations of Augustus and His Principate / Ed. by K.A. Raafl aub, M. Toher. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. Р. 417–454.

Ranovich A.B. Vostochnyye provintsii Rimskoy imperii v I–III vv. [Oriental Provinces of the Roman Empire from the First through the Th ird Century]. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo Akademii nauk SSSR, 1949. 262 p.

Stern G. Women, Children and Senators on the Ara Pacis Augustae. PhD Thesis. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004. 549 p.

Syme R. Th e Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986. 494 p.

Syme R. Th e Crisis of 2 B.C. München: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaft en, 1974. 34 p.

Syme R. Th e Roman Revolution. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1939. 568 p.

Tansey P. Me ssalla Corvinus and the “Bellum Siculum” // Latomus. 2007. Vol. 66. N 4. Р. 882–890.

Tariverdiyeva S.E. Mark Agrippa: ot soratnika Oktaviana k sopravitelyu Avgusta: diss. … kanidata istoricheskikh nauk [Marcus Agrippa: From Octavian’s Associate to Augustus’ Co-Emperor: PhD Candidate Dissertation in History]. Yekaterinburg: UrFU, 2018. 274 p.

Ullman B.L. Horace and Tibullus // Th e American Journa l of Philology. 1912. Vol. 33. N 2. P. 149–167.

Valvo A.M. Valerio Messalla Corvino negli studi più recenti // Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt / H. Temporini, W. Haase (Hrsg.). New York: De Gruyter, 1983. Bd. 30.3. P. 1663–1680.

Vlasova O.A. Predshestvenniki magistratury pretora v Drevnem Rime [Predecessors of the Office of Praetor in Ancient Rome] // Legal Concept. 2018. N 2. P. 87–93.

Welch K. Alternative Memoirs: Tales from t he “Other Side” of the Civil War // The Lost Memoirs of Augustus and the Development of Roman Autobiography / Ed. By C. Smith, A. Powell. Swansea: Th e Classical Press of Wales, 2009. P. 195–223.