On the Intersignification of Monuments in Augustan Rome

Abstract

The erection of public monuments in Rome was an arena of aristocratic competition, as scholars have long recognized. Victorious generals, who set up temples, porticoes, statues, columns, and the like, typically selected these monuments’ appearance and location to create a studied contrast with preexisting monuments. This dynamic, which I call “intersignification,” bears fruitful comparison with the “intertextual” dynamics of Latin poetry. I offer two case studies comparing monumental intersignification in the Augustan era with literary intertextuality, and conclude with general reflections on how the signs in any given system of signification may be made to interact.