Inventing Free Speech: Authority and Genre in the Historia August

Through clever invention and manipulation of genre, the anonymous author of the Historia Augusta creates a space to write honest political history under an authoritarian government. The Historia Augusta (HA) is a series of biographies written in the late fourth or early fifth century about the Roman emperors from Hadrian to Carinus (117-284 AD). As one of the few ancient narratives about the third century AD, the HA is an invaluable resource for scholars studying this historical period. The author's falsification of his time of composition complicates interpreting his political affiliations, but nevertheless the manner in which he represents the politics of his false chronology displays his understanding of the constraints under which he writes. Fabricating his patronage system allows the HA author to claim protection for free literary creation. Furthermore, intertextual engagements with other authors show that the HA uses stock features from a variety of genres, such as satire and panegyric, to construct a network of defenses-by-precedent for the author's version of the truth, intended to mollify the imperial powers of his day.