Novam in femina virtutem novo genere honoris: le statue femminili a Roma nelle strategie propagandistiche di Augusto

The essay analyses the occurrences in the literary tradition of the mention of women (Caia Cecilia, Caia Taracia, Lucretia, Tarpea, Cloelia, Claudia Quinta and Cornelia) honored by the granting of an effigy in a public place during the Roman Republic: the ancient texts allow to reconstruct a framework in which it is clear an interference in the historical memory due to Augustus and his entourage. This operation aimed to present the privileges granted to Octavia and Livia, sister and wife of the princeps, in 35 BC and in 9 BC as an act done in accordance with the tradition and at the same time to create a comparing relationship between the women of the gens of Augustus and the matrons that before them had obtained the privilege of being honored by a statue. The association of Octavia and Livia with these illustrious ancestors indirectly contributes to strengthen their public position (as for Augustus in his forum) and to allow them to be identified as exempla of feminine virtues by their contemporaries