This chapter discusses the role of law in the representational program of the emperor Augustus. First I consider a poem by Horace, in which Horace argues with the jurist Trebatius Testa about his potential liability for defamation, before claiming that the new emperor will protect him from legal judgments. I suggest that Horace casts Augustan order as superseding legal rules, but that he offers a language for imagining imperial judgment as better, or fairer, than law. I next discuss a coin that commemorates Augustus restoring leges et iura to the Roman people, and argue that this coin should be read in connection with an edict recorded in Cassius Dio that voided all illegal actions taken during the triumviral period. I then discuss the story of Vedius Pollio, an enslaver whose plan to feed a slave to lampreys was foiled by Augustus, and show how this story can be read as a justificatory folktale for imperial control over enslavement practice and for expanding imperial jurisidiction more broadly. I finally discuss the interplay between Augustus’ marriage legislation, with its extreme penalties for adultery, and his own punishment of his adulterous daughter Julia.

This chapter moves from painting to ’practice’. A particularly striking example both of theatricalised domestic space and activity is seen in the layout and decoration of dining rooms (triclinia), and in the range of entertainments presented within them. We examine how, responding to changes in the political, cultural and economic conditions of Roman society during this period, these private triclinium spaces and their decorative schemes were often systematic adaptations drawing upon the continuously evolving public discourse generated by theatrical entertainments. The chapter describes the range and nature of presentations that took place within the house, primarily as part of the dinner entertainments. Our focus is upon the likely venues as well as the decor of these spaces, and how, in combination, they created highly theatricalised and richly suggestive settings for performance and its reception. We include a detailed case study of the Pompeian House of Marcus Lucretius, detailing how these elements have been synthesised through the deployment of a pervasive theatricalism to create a highly appropriate setting for visitors as they move through its various rooms and spaces