The Bimillennium: Echoes of the Augustan Age in the 21st Century Introduction
Scholars used the occasion to ask how Augustus’ "equivocal and contradictory career" has been received across different cultural contexts.
The bimillennium serves as a "shared focus" that enables interdisciplinary dialogue. Whether through the lens of a "zombie" intertextual protocol or the mapping of Roman myth onto Chinese porcelain, these 2,000-year markers prove that the figures of the Augustan age remain in a state of "constant evolution". As the 21st century continues to hit these milestones, they offer a recurring opportunity to "smooth edges" or "accentuate continuities" between the ancient past and the global present. Ovid's Fasti: Historical Readings at its Bimillennium bimillennium
In 1929, scholars like Dr. MacVay addressed the "World Significance of the Bimillennium Vergilianum," framing the Roman poet as a figure of universal importance.
Investigations during this period highlighted how Augustus was often "Christianized" in later legends, such as the report of an oracle prefiguring the birth of Christ, which eventually linked him to the foundation of the Santa Maria in Aracoeli . The Ovidian Bimillennium (2017) The Bimillennium: Echoes of the Augustan Age in
The 2,000th anniversary of Ovid's death saw the first professional meeting in China dedicated to the poet, titled "Globalizing Ovid," which explored his influence on 18th-century Chinese porcelain.
The bimillennium of Ovid’s Fasti (a calendar poem) was celebrated by scholars like Geraldine Herbert-Brown, who noted that while the exact date of the poem’s "anniversary" is debatable, the bimillennial volume served as a critical "timely" update to Ovidian studies. The "Bimillennium Vergilianum" (1930) As the 21st century continues to hit these
A bimillennium is more than a chronological marker; it is a "purely notional" yet powerful opportunity for systematic reassessment. The early 21st century has witnessed a cluster of these anniversaries, most notably the 2,000th anniversary of the death of Augustus (AD 14–2014) and the death of Ovid (AD 17–2017). These milestones have sparked a "wave of new and creative scholarly interest," prompting historians and classicists to move beyond traditional hagiography toward more complex, "disfigured," or "globalized" interpretations of Roman legacy. The Augustan Bimillennium (2014)