Under the aegis of Apollo Citharoedus, Augustus undertook a program to restore public order and religious tradition that also employed music. The present article demonstrates how this transformation involved all the forms of expression and portrayal of the Empire, including public spectacles, technological development and representation of the emperor. Studies on a ritualized language of a mainly sacred sphere, on public spectacles and on individual musical instruments have shown a similar function of music and of its representation, aimed at favouring actions of control over society and of propaganda by the Empire and the single emperor. In continuity with several studies begun in the last fifteen years, the article sheds further light on the role of music in amplifying the cultural and political identity of leaderships based on the concept of pre-eminence.
Music, Power, and Propaganda in Julio‐Claudian Imperial Rome (27 BC–68 AD)
Paola Dessì
2020
Abstract
Under the aegis of Apollo Citharoedus, Augustus undertook a program to restore public order and religious tradition that also employed music. The present article demonstrates how this transformation involved all the forms of expression and portrayal of the Empire, including public spectacles, technological development and representation of the emperor. Studies on a ritualized language of a mainly sacred sphere, on public spectacles and on individual musical instruments have shown a similar function of music and of its representation, aimed at favouring actions of control over society and of propaganda by the Empire and the single emperor. In continuity with several studies begun in the last fifteen years, the article sheds further light on the role of music in amplifying the cultural and political identity of leaderships based on the concept of pre-eminence.
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