(1) carpentum, -ī [2/n]: a two-wheeled carriage,
covered by a canopy or curved roof and sometimes enclosed with curtains; used
especially, but not exclusively, by high-ranking Roman women and also employed
in grand funeral processions.
(2) Suetonius on the ‘showmanship’ of Caligula:
Caligula’s mother, Agrippina the Elder, and his eldest
brother, Nero Julius Caesar, had been persecuted under the Emperor Tiberius,
exiled to remote islands, and left to die in confinement, while public mourning
for them was suppressed. Immediately upon his accession in 37 AD, the young
Caligula sought both to strengthen his legitimacy and symbolically rehabilitate
his family by recovering and publicly honouring the ashes of his mother and of
Nero, thereby distinguishing his rule from the perceived cruelty of his
predecessor.
… cōnfestim Pandateriam et Pontiās ad trānsferendōs mātris
frātrisque cinerēs festīnāvit, tempestāte turbidā, quō magis pietās ēminēret,
adiitque venerābundus ac per sēmet in urnās condidit; nec minōre scaenā Ōstiam
praefīxō in birēmis puppe vēxillō et inde Rōmam Tiberī subvectōs per
splendidissimum quemque equestris ōrdinis mediō ac frequentī diē duōbus
ferculīs Mausōlēō intulit, īnferiāsque is annuā religiōne pūblicē īnstituit, et
eō amplius mātrī circēnsēs carpentumque quō in pompā trādūcerētur.
He immediately hastened to Pandataria and the Pontian islands
to transfer the ashes of his mother and brother, in a violent storm, so that
his piety might be more conspicuous, and he approached with reverence, and
placed the ashes in urns with his own hands; he brought them to Ostia with a
flag fastened to the stern of the galley and then up the Tiber to Rome, borne
on two biers to the mausoleum by the most illustrious in the equestrian order
in the busy middle of the day. And he officially established rites in honour of
the dead with an annual religious observance, and furthermore, circus games for
his mother, and a ceremonial carriage in which she [i.e. her image]
would be escorted in the procession.
(3)
[i] … cōnfestim Pandateriam et Pontiās ad trānsferendōs mātris
frātrisque cinerēs festīnāvit, | he immediately hastened to Pandataria and the
Pontian islands to transfer the ashes of his mother and brother,
[ii] tempestāte turbidā, | in a violent storm,
[iii] quō magis pietās ēminēret, | so that his piety might be
more conspicuous
[iv] adiitque venerābundus | and he approached with reverence,
[v] ac per sēmet in urnās condidit; | and placed the ashes in
urns with his own hands;
[vi] nec minōre scaenā | and with no less theatricality
[vii] Ostiam … intulit | he brought them to Ostia
[viii] praefīxō in birēmis puppe vēxillō | with an ensign / a
military flag fastened to the stern of the galley [birēmis: specifically, a
ship with two banks of oars]
[ix] et inde Rōmam Tiberī, |
and then up the Tiber to Rome,
[x] subvectōs per splendidissimum quemque equestris ōrdinis |
(having been) borne by the most illustrious in the equestrian order,
[xi] mediō ac frequentī diē duōbus ferculīs Mausōlēō | on two
biers to the mausoleum in the middle of the day [i.e. at the time when Rome
would be the most crowded]
[xii] īnferiāsque is annuā religiōne pūblicē īnstituit, | and
he officially established rites in honour of the dead with an annual religious
observance,
[xiii] et eō amplius | and furthermore,
[xiv] mātrī circēnsēs | games in the circus for
his mother,
[xv] carpentumque quō in pompā trādūcerētur. | and a carriage
in which she [i.e. her image] would be escorted in the procession.
(4)
One feature of Classical Latin writing can be its intensity.
There is nothing superfluous in Suetonius’ description of Caligula’s
reverential treatment of the ashes. This is a calculated theatrical display,
not only of personal grief but also of imperial power and state-sanctioned
family rehabilitation.
[1] Displays of ‘filial duty’, personal grief and
determination:
- personal retrieval of the ashes
- undeterred by a violent storm
Bear in mind that -
although Suetonius does not state it - adverse weather conditions could imply
dissatisfaction on the part of the gods (a tactic of Tacitus). Likewise, the
action could convey Caligula’s manic obsession.
- reverential behaviour
- collecting the ashes personally, a powerful image since the
handling of human remains would have been shocking, a cause of religious
pollution especially for a Roman of such high rank.
[2] Political and military recognition:
- ashes carried by equestrian knights
- a military flag (vexillum) on, given the context, a military
ship (birēmis)
- official announcement of annual public acts of worship
[3] Maximum visibility for the Romans themselves:
- the transferring of the ashes by boat along the Tiber flowing
through the centre of Rome
- the timing of the event: at noon when the streets of Rome
would be packed
- the celebration of his mother at the most public of events,
namely the games
- the transporting of his mother’s image in a luxury carpentum
[4] In his ‘asides’ Suetonius leaves us in no doubt that all
of this was carefully planned to achieve a deliberate effect and was taken to
its extreme:
quō magis pietās ēminēret, | so
that his piety might be more conspicuous,
nec minōre scaenā | and
with no less theatricality
et eō amplius | and furthermore,
