Augustus, Aediles and Censors in the Troubled Year of 22 BCE

Abstract

Roman historiography’s pervasive biographical tendency created a “biographical distortion field” wherein items of praise and blame bundled with the names of prominent individuals were passed down and recycled by authors. The affective potency of moral judgments in these rhetorical packages prompts readers to jump to simplistic explanations and distracts them from evidence supporting more holistic historical arguments. This article re-examines events of the year 22 BCE to demonstrate the impact of this biographical distortion. It seeks to show that, contrary to accounts blaming individual aediles and censors for problems in this year, popular unrest in Rome in response to various disasters and to Augustus’ retirement from the consulship necessitated adjusting the duties of certain magistracies to meet the crisis.