1 Identifying tradition. Augustus and the constraint of formulating sole rule * Olivier Hekster Abstract: Traditions influence ways in which new systems of rule are communicated, contested and accepted in changing societies. This article addresses the question how power can be formulated in a society that is dominated by tradition, but politically and culturally in flux. It discusses the suitability of ‘invention of tradition’ as a concept to analyse this and focuses on the reign of the emperor Augustus as a crucial test case for the way presumed inventions of tradition provided a sense of continuity between past and present. It argues that traditions constrained Augustus in the way he could present his position. Traditions influence ways in which new systems of rule are communicated, contested and accepted in changing societies. This process directly relates to the way in which systems of rule become perceived as legitimate. But the process raises major historical questions: How can power be formulated in a society that is dominated by tradition, but politically and culturally in flux? Do traditions help or hinder those in power during a ‘state of exception’? 1 It appears that the issue of formulating exercising power as traditional is most pronounced for political systems in periods of change. It can therefore best be analysed by making an analysis of a system of rule in a time of instability and flux. Inventing tradition in the Roman world The Roman Empire is an ideal test case for analysing systems of rule in changing societies. Ancient Rome was dominated by tradition. Innovation was suspect – at least in literary * This article forms part of the NWO-funded research project Constraints and tradition. Roman power in changing societies (50 BC- AD 565). I am grateful for the insightful comments of Lien Foubert, Barbara Levick, John Rich and Miguel John Versluys on earlier versions of this paper. 1 For modern case studies, dealing with this issue: Singh 1998; Williams 2009. For an insightful analysis of how a society in flux functions as a ‘state of exception’, which influences the formulation of politics: Agamben 2005.