Continuity and innovation in imperial inscriptions. Augustus’ Res Gestae and the Stelae of the Qin First Emperor Compared

In the east under the Qin First Emperor and in the west under Augustus, who both established new regimes after a period of internal wars and expanded their territories enormously, an idea of universal ‘empire’ (orbis terrarum and ‘All-under-Heaven’) began to take shape. In this paper, I will compare two inscribed texts issued by these founders, the Res Gestae of Augustus and the seven stele inscriptions of Ying Zheng (First Emperor) who, having conquered all the other Warring States, unified China in 221 BC. The Res Gestae is a retrospective survey by Augustus of his own public achievements in restoring the res publica and conquering the world, framed in traditional language, which was published in Rome but whose only surviving copies were found in the new and distant province of Galatia. The stele inscriptions of the Qin First Emperor, which were set up on the top of seven venerated mountains, five in the Zhou homeland/oikoumene and two bordering with the non-Chinese/barbarian tribes to the northeast and southeast, when he toured the newly conquered eastern regions in 219-210 BC, are hymns with some variants, supposedly based on a main central text, which praise the Qin unification. I will compare how the two inscriptions present the regimes and their ideas of the new ‘empires’, and the achievements and roles of the rulers in establishing them. I will also consider how both of the texts, as symbolic representations of these ‘world empires’ in their public display, convey the imperial messages to their distant readers/audiences.