Politics and Divinization in Augustan Poetry

Politics and Divinization in Augustan Poetry offers a new interpretation of one of the most prominent themes in Latin poetry, the divinization of Augustus, and argues that this theme functioned as a language of political science for the early Augustan poets as they tried to come to terms with Rome's transformation from Republic to Principate. Examining an extensive body of texts ranging from Virgil's Eclogues to Horace's final book of the Odes (covering a period roughly from 43 BC to 13 BC), this study highlights the multifaceted metaphorical force of divinizing language, as well as the cultural complications of divinization. Through a series of close readings, this book challenges the view that poetic images of Augustus' divinization merely reflect the poets' attitude towards Augustus or their recognition of his power, and puts forward a new understanding of this motif as an evolving discourse through which the first generation of Augustan poets articulated, interrogated, and negotiated Rome's shift towards authoritarianism.

1 - Libertas, Peace, and Divine Dependence
2 - Divinization and the Transformation of Rome from Republic to Principate
3 - Conquest and Immortality in Horace's Odes
4 - Divinization and the Inevitability of Augustan Rome

Bobby Xinyue specializes in Latin literature of the Augustan age and its reception in the early modern period. He held teaching positions at the universities of Exeter and Warwick, before being awarded a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2018. He has also been the recipient of research awards from institutions including UCL, the University of Virginia, and the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute. Bobby Xinyue has published on the works of Cicero, Virgil, Horace, and Propertius, as well as a number of Renaissance Latin poets. He currently teaches and conducts research on Latin literature at Kings College London.