Abstract

ABSTRACT:

This article attempts to appraise the effect of the so-called clades Lolliana on Augustan Rome, as represented in contemporary poetry and later Roman historiography. Although this defeat of the Roman general Marcus Lollius against some German tribes in 17/16 was ostensibly regarded as harmless by later ancient and modern historians, when seen within a wider context of Roman memory culture, the clades Lolliana is likely to have provoked collective memories of traumatic Roman-German confrontations at the turn of the second century bce. The court of Augustus was evidently seriously agitated, as is reflected in Propertius’ Elegiae 4.1.95–97 and two poems by Crinagoras of Mytilene from the Anthologia Graeca. These assumptions have implications for the appreciation of Lollius’ political career, which was probably seriously impaired by his military discomfiture and hampered by negative perceptions as a result. Horace, Carmina 4.9 could well be an artful contemporary sample of these views.

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