Roman Calendars: Imperial Birthdays, Victories and Triumphs

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The revolutionary nature of Augustus’ politics manifested itself in numerous aspects of daily life. One of these was certainly the control of by introducing in the calendar numerous celebrations related to the Emperor and his family, Augustus reshaped the rhythm of city life. Among these new celebrations, a leading role was occupied by birthdays, military victories and triumphs. We will try to reconstruct their fame or oblivion through the analysis of the diachronic evolution of their record in the calendars, and to verify if these festivals really assumed a role of public anniversaries, exploring their reception by the various levels of Roman society as emerges from different sources. Particular attention will be given to the date of dedication of the inscriptions in which the day of the analysed recurrences were these the result of a deliberate or casual choice? Once again, the Roman calendars demonstrate their importance in the study of political history and their role as a mirror of society.