Augustus through the Ages. Receptions, readings and appropriations of the historical figure of the first Roman emperor (original) (raw)

Conference organised by Marco Cavalieri & alii The scope of this conference was to assess more precisely the place of Augustus in the Western historical and cultural memory, from the Antiquity and the Middle Ages onwards. To this end, it could be interesting to highlight not only the presence, but also the absence of Augustus – or of some facets of this figure. Here are therefore some of the questions to which our conference brought answers: to what extent and for which reasons was the remembrance of Augustus relatively “discrete” in some cultural contexts? which features of his historical figure were highlighted or passed over in silence? and why? 24 scholars from 10 countries, specialists of fields of study as various as history, cultural history, literature, art history, semiotics, etc., brought together their skills and knowledge to give some answers to those questions – and to many others. During three days, the talks and discussions contributed to cast a new light on the multiple aspects of the posthumous portrait of the first emperor which was in permanent evolution and “re-creation” during two millennia. Belgium, France, Italy, from the Netherlands and from the United Kingdom, from Germany, Austria, and Poland, from Finland, even from the Canada, talks about the most various aspects of Augustus’ posthumous history.