Roman Religion and Augustan Poetry (organized by the Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions)

In the Fasti, Ovid gives a detailed account of the mysterious Robigalia. He describes his encounter with the Flamen Quirinalis performing the rites for Robigo, and quotes the priest's address to this destructive deity known for harming crops (Fast. 4.905–942). The Flamen Quirinalis entreats Robigo to cause weapons to rust, but to leave farm tools and crops unharmed (Fast. 4.921–930).

More than any other Latin poem, Ovid’s Fasti has been mined for evidence about the bizarre complex of beliefs and practices we call “Roman religion” (Hejduk 2009: 45-46). Yet those using Ovid as a source should consider not only the biases of a poet facing imminent or recent exile, but also the particular slant of the elegiac Fasti compared with its rough contemporary, the epic Metamorphoses (Hinds 1987: 99-134).

Religion, and in particular the cult of Apollo, loomed large in Octavian-Augustus' socio-political transformation of Rome.

This paper examines Horace’s exploration of his own and the emperor’s poetic image as priest and as a figure of connection to the divine. I argue that Horace’s works allow us a glimpse into a more dynamic reception of the Augustan takeover and transformation of religious powers among contemporaries in Rome.