Vergil, Georgics 1.1-42 and the pompa circensis

Abstract

In this paper we attempt to show that the prologue of the first book of the Georgics, in which a series of deities is invoked to preside over the beginning of Vergil’s text, should be related to the pompa circensis, the grand procession of deities which preceded the celebration of the ludi circenses. The Vergilian passage is compared with the descriptions of the pompa to be found in Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities 7.72.1-18 and Ovid, Amores 3.2. It is also discussed in relation to the prologue of Georgics 3, where a pompa is explicitly mentioned. In addition, we relate the prologue’s prediction of Octavian’s apotheosis to the fact that the pompa circensis was Rome’s most remarkable display of images of the gods and hence a major focus for the categorization of the divine, particularly in Triumviral and early Augustan Rome.

Keywords

• Circus games
• Circus Maximus
• Georgics
• pompa circensis
• Roman Religion.
• Vergil