Shovels Out: Excavating Augustus and Partisan Historiography on the Palatine

Review of: T.P. Wiseman, The House of Augustus: A Historical Detective Story . This engaging and accessible book conclusively puts to rest the longstanding misidentification of grand ruins on Rome’s Palatine Hill as the ‘House of Augustus’. Wiseman defends the view that Augustus’ buildings on the Palatine carefully differentiated between private modesty and public munificence while aligning the princeps with Romulus through their various imprints on this storied landscape. Sound archaeological arguments are couched within a less convincing attempt to reframe Augustus as a populist hero.