Divine Commentary: Understanding Divine and Imperial Power in the Octavia

My research is focused on the Octavia, a Roman tragedy likely composed in the first century CE by an unknown author and long, though incorrectly, attributed incorrectly to Seneca the Younger. The play concerns the fall of the first wife of the emperor Nero, Octavia. I argue this play is structured around the questions of divine power and the nature of fat (fatum), and specifically how in a tyrannical imperial regime, divine power and fate may be conceived. This thesis examines how these questions are articulated in the play, analyzing debates on the nature of divinity and specifically how imperial power might be fashioned in the form of divine power. The structure and language will then be shown to answer these questions, underscoring how divinity can be underscored in an imperial regime. Finally, my work demonstrates how the author uses these conclusions to comment on the role of traditional conceptions of the gods in the context of this political system.