The Architect of Ambiguity? A Study into Deliberate Ambiguity in th Augustan Era

Abstract

Scholars studying the age of Augustus have often characterized this period as one full of paradoxes, contradictions, and ambiguities. Their contributions, however, have often gone without deeper theoretical and empirical reflection on these concepts. In this thesis, I seek to address this void and present a first resolution. By building a framework of deliberate ambiguity, using previous scholarship of international relations and literary studies, I attempt to understand the nature and purpose of Augustan ambiguity itself, instead of using it as the final characterization. An exploration of the concept through its origins and Augustan architecture shows that the historical context of Augustus, rife with uncertainties and tensions, makes the use of deliberate ambiguity likely or plausible. The subsequent analysis, focusing on coinage and the Res Gestae, argues that Augustus’ course of action in some individual respects can indeed be termed deliberate ambiguity. However, these instances do not add up to a general strategy and prove to differ from one another as well. Augustus employed deliberate ambiguity to achieve conflicting aims, but also to achieve singular, non-conflicting aims. He also engaged with other strategies, such as confusion, vagueness, and silence. I also show how other actors employed deliberate ambiguity in the period of Augustus, both for their own sake and for Augustus’. This thesis’ framework helps to meaningfully differentiate between the relevant concepts and allows modern observers of the Augustan period to appreciate its historical complexity beyond the mere use of the name of concepts.