Remembering Julio-Claudian Emperors as Patrons of Literature

Abstract

The Julio-Claudian period, beginning with the reign of Tiberius, is one of the more neglected, and even actively disparaged periods in ancient literary history. It tends to be defined exclusively in terms of Latin literature, and not of Greek, and to be considered less as a period than simply as an unstructured stretch of time between the Augustan and Neronian periods. The metaphors most often applied to it run from the relatively generous “fallow period” to the more pejorative “wasteland.” This common perception is badly in need of reconsideration. In this article, I will discuss some of the misconceptions that on which low opinions of the period have been based. I will also show that the efforts of Tiberius in particular, when properly understood, take on a much more favorable appearance. In particular, I will consider his sponsorship of major institutional and administrative projects to support literary activities, his promotion of literary scholarship, his role in continuing the management and development of the Greek literary canon, and his even-handed treatment of Latin and Greek writers and orators. When these factors are properly evaluated, a different picture of Imperial literature will emerge; and the Julio-Claudian period begins to look foundational, rather than as a kind of literary dead zone.