Confirmation of Augustus' power in images. Theater of Carthago Nova

Abstract

The founder of the Principate is one of the most controversial figures of all times. Octavian came to power at a very young age and inaugurated a period of peace and prosperity. At the same time he knew how to finally bury the Republic and establish an autocratic system far beyond what Caesar could have imagined, without suffering the political response that cost his adoptive father his life. Nowadays we are aware of the immense power of the image and the effects of visual advertising. This use of the images to establish symbols and sway the viewer in favour of certain positions is much older, and useful among a more illiterate population. In the same way, Emperor Augustus took advantage of the monuments and creations of his time to create the symbols that strengthened his power and brought society closer to his postulates. Augustus undertook an extensive cultural program which he developed for more than 20 years. He pursued a moral renewal at all levels, achieving an effective change of mentality. Along with pietas, as a unifying element of the nation, Augustus' political action focused on displacing the appetite for luxury from the private sphere to public spaces. Augustus had found a Rome of mud and transformed it into a marble city. The urban renewal focused on the city of Rome, but other cities of the Empire were also favoured by the renewal program of Augustus, such as the colony of Carthago Nova. The construction of the theatre in Carthago Nova, as an emblematic work of the whole process of renovation of the city, is framed in the symbology of the new order, transmitting to the contemporaries a clear message of consolidation of imperial power.