The tumulus Iuliorum: a tomb fit for a tyrant
The tumulus Iuliorum was built by Octavian before he toned down his monarchic ambitions. It was complete by 28 BCE before the first constitutional settlement later that year and in 27, when Octavian apparently gave up his blatant and illegal control over the state. This tomb would have been planned far earlier and was a monarchic monument that Augustus later attempted to soften.
This monument was first built with monarchic ambitions in mind. Octavian was building this tomb as a statement of expectation, that he would be buried lavishly. It was built on the Campus Martius and was part of the triangle of monuments built in this area by Augustus, (the other two were the Solarium and the Ara Pacis Augustae). It was placed to be highly visible to those approaching Rome from the north.
Roman citizens saw this as a monarchic tomb, as can be seen by the nickname they gave it, the Mausoleum. This was not due to the form being close to the original Mausoleum (the tomb of Mausolus) but because it looked like the tomb of a tyrant. Its construction was similar to the archaic tombs of Etruscan kings, which Octavian would have seen during his travels. The message was clear, Octavian was the new founder of Rome in the vein of the archaic kings of Rome like Romulus. Octavian was keen to associate himself with the founder of Rome. For example, he built his house on the Palatine next to the claimed location of Romulus’s hut. He also wanted to be called Romulus as part of the first settlement in 28/7 BCE but this was rejected because it was too monarchic, instead, he was given the title Augustus.
Later in his reign after the three constitutional settlements, as Augustus sought to represent himself as the best among equals rather than a monarch, he attempted to tone down the monarchic connotations of the tomb by displaying his Res Gestae at the entrance. This account of his life claims that he restored the res publica in 28/7 BCE. It also omits certain unsavoury details of his rise to power, like the civil wars (which are instead presented as external conflicts).
Despite this attempt, Augustus could not change the building which was monarchic in scale and form. It was built as part of Octavian’s attempt to show himself as a monarchic and was part of a larger scheme to achieve this. As a result, it is a monument to the old plan of Octavian compared to the more nuanced strategy of Augustus that became the Principate.
