1 Dio Cass. 51.16.3-5; Suet., Aug. 18. 2 On the Solarium obelisk, its function, and its signif- cance, see Buchner 1982; Schütz 1990, 432-57; Rehak 2006, 62-95; Pollini 2012, 210-16. 3 Joseph., BJ 7.4. 4 See Lembke 1994; Vittozzi 2011, 243-50. Among the augmentations was a possible correction of Augustus’ Horologium, which had been out of alignment for roughly thirty years (Plin., HN 36.72-73). See Parker 2007, 216. See Chapter 9 and 10 in this volume. Egypt and the secret of Empire in Tacitus’ Histories Trevor Luke Abstract: Tis article explores how Tacitus, writing in the era of Trajan, reshaped the memory of Egypt in the rise of the Flavian dynasty and Vespasian’s interactions with the god of the Rhakotis Hill in Alexandria. Vespasian’s visit to Egypt actualizes in full the arcanum imperii of Histories 1.4, which has been associated primarily with Galba. Serapis emerges as a uniquely signifcant god in Vespasian’s rise to power, as the interaction between the usurper and the god constitutes a kind of miraculous coronation of Vespasian as pharaoh and emperor. Tacitus, however, ends his aetiology of the god of the Rhakotis Hill with an identifcation of that deity as Dispater. Tis choice may have sprung from his participation as a quindecimvir in the Secular Games of A.D. 88. Te historian’s representation of Egypt and Dis-Serapis in the Histories may thus be read as a reaction to Domitianic propaganda. Trough his depiction of Vespasian, Egypt, and Dis-Serapis, Tacitus crafts a rich and complex historiographical contribution to the Campus Martius as a lieux de mémoire evoking Egypt’s role in the construction of Roman empire and the making of emperors. Introduction Te Augustan empire was arguably born in Egypt when Octavian completed his victory over Cleopatra and Antony. Events following Egypt’s conquest, including Augustus’ visit to Alexan- der’s tomb and his speech to the Alexandrians, became iconic memories of accession to imperial power. 1 Te relationship Augustus forged between the emperor’s power and Egypt subsequent- ly found expression in Augustan monuments, images, and narratives, which celebrated Roman power over the land ruled by the pharoahs, including such rulers as Alexander the Great and the Ptolemies. Te Campus Martius, with its Egyptian obelisk – dedicated to Sol and placed near the Ara Pacis – and other Egyptian monuments and cult sites, served as a key lieux de mémoire of the role Egypt played in the birth of the principate. 2 A century later, during the civil war of A.D. 69, Vespasian visited Egypt to seize control of its grain supply, thus initiating a new chapter in Egypt’s relationship with Rome and the use of the Campus Martius as a site of community memory of that relationship. Vespasian paid Isis and Serapis their due when he spent the night before his triumph in the Iseum Campense, but he did not exert much efort thereafter in the cultivation of the memory of Egypt as the place where he entered upon his empire. 3 His youngest son, Domitian, whose passion for cultivating aegyptiaca in Italy and commitment to building in Egypt itself are well attested, was the Flavian emperor who chiefy promoted the miraculous origins of Flavian power in Egypt as he restored and augmented Egyptian monuments in the Campus Martius after the fre of A.D. 80. 4 Tis ar- ticle explores how Tacitus, writing in the era of Trajan, reshaped the memory of Egypt in the rise of the Flavian dynasty and Vespasian’s interactions with the god of the Rhakotis Hill. draft_01