Paratextual readings of imperial discourse in the Res Gestae divi Augusti

Abstract

It has long been clear that to understand Roman epigraphic culture we need to examine inscriptions not just as texts, but also as monuments. The monumentality and public display of texts inscribed on bronze and stone reflect an important investment by the person or body that chose to set them up. This paper explores a new approach to Roman epigraphy by examining inscriptions from the perspective of paratexts, developing the theoretical approach outlined by Gérard Genette in 1987. By looking at copies of the Res Gestae from a paratextual perspective, this paper will consider how paratextual features of the inscriptions may have had an impact upon the ways in which they were read by their audiences, reflecting how the original version of the RGDA at Rome was constructed and interpreted by those who set it up in the province of Galatia. It illustrates how imperial discourse created in Rome might be reinterpreted and appropriated in provincial contexts.