Geese and Gauls – the Capitol in the Social Memory of the ‘Gallic Disaster’

Abstract

This paper examines some aspects of the ‘Gallic Disaster’ in Roman memory culture, especially the role of the capitol. The capitol as a symbol of Roman resistance against foreign enemies and her dominance over the Mediterranean is the result of a longer development of cultural traditions and included a stylization after Greek accounts of the Persian capture of Athens. It can be shown that the sight of the Capitol stimulated the invention of different versions of the course of events during the siege, the use of historical exempla in speeches, and the development of ritual processions. As a result, the capitol was integrated in the memorial landscape of the city, and the ‘Gallic disaster’ was remembered as an important part of the history of the religious and political center of Rome