Abstract
The Roman conception of the saeculum (“age” or “generation”) became charged with political significance from the Late Republic onward. The saeculum was linked with imperial authority during the reign of Augustus with his foundation of the ludi saeculares (“Saecular Games”). Augustus recalculated the saeculum and created a new chronology for his Games, which celebrated the princeps’ ability to lead Rome into a new era of peace and prosperity through divine favour and the establishment of his dynasty. Later emperors legitimised their political authority by utilising what I call “saeculum rhetoric” in official contexts across a range of media. By the end of the second century ce, Christian authors had started developing a new rhetoric that redefined the saeculum as “this present world”, in contrast with expectation of eternal life in a “world to come.” This survey reveals that in Roman conceptions of time, the saeculum was not used as a tool for formal periodisation or commemoration, nor can it be categorised using strict dichotomies (e. g. linear/cyclical time, progress/regress). The saeculum is best understood by observing its original ritual context, which emphasised above all the beginning of an emperor’s reign through competition with the past and promises for a bountiful future.
