Disclosure and Discretion in Roman Astrology

In light of modern scepticism towards the practice, it is easy to underestimate how important a role horoscopic astrology played in ancient Rome. Entering the city from around the 3rd century BC onwards, astrology took hold gradually in Rome to assume its position as primary mode of divination by the early imperial period. The present study centres on a critical period in the development of horoscopic astrology at Rome, broadly speaking from 44 BC to AD 16, and the particular role that Octavian/Augustus played in putting the science at the heart of Roman political life. The ancient evidence points to an intriguingly contradictory, if politically comprehensible, approach to astrology on the part of Augustus. The Emperor’s enthusiasm for securing from astrologers a favourable horoscope, and for using astrological symbols to cement his own position of power, is matched by an equally forceful desire to restrict the use of these tactics by others. The current study is the first to take seriously this imperial complex as a key to understanding the diverse ways in which contemporary commentators handle the volatile topic of astrology. It shows how Roman writers engage in elaborate discourses of disclosure and discretion as they find creative ways to celebrate the power of astrology while bringing their discussions within the parameters of politically acceptable stellar enquiry in the early Empire. In so doing, the study puts particular emphasis on the understudied astrological poem of Manilius, which provides the clearest window onto this phenomenon.