Augustus Bibliography

The tenor of his auto-biographical account is one of propaganda. Augustus, in truth maintained power for himself yet portrays his reasoning in Res Gestae that he ruled wisely and with the consent of his people. Augustus claims he “handed over the state from [his] power to the dominion of the senate and Roman people” and “had no greater power than the others who were colleagues with me in each magistracy.” He later proclaims he is awarded by vote the moniker father of Rome. Clearly the tone is one of propaganda since it is his perception of reality, thus a biased account of the actual methods in which he gained his title, Emperor of

Augustus had constantly gained control over Rome and the Empire. Through his political moving around & misleading and tricking. According to Tacitus, senator and history expert of the Roman Empire. This source points to show the

He preserved all of the traditional offices while slowly taking many of the offices for him self. He was both consul and tribune. Commander and chief of the military and the senate also gave him direct control of many provinces, these provinces supplied men for his armies and food for them also, not to the senate. Augustus knew the importance of religion in roman society, he then named himself pontifex maximus which means supreme priest. He encourages the construction of temples dedicated to Rome and Augustus. None of these innovations in his ruling method altered the Roman constitution. The laws he did change however were the laws of the provinces of Rome which made them more romanized, so Augustus could be open about his actions so the senate would not bring him down and be with him. The Romans had a strong sense of there traditions and were fascinated by there history they loved when they could point out how the gods operated in there empire and allowed them much conquest of the western world. Before Augustus it looked for the romans as if the gods had left them, for they killed each other in revolutions and civil wars. Augustus’s many military victories and expansion of the empire through land and a political sense, show that the gods where on his side. He glorified Rome by hiring painters, sculptures, architects, and painters to design and build beautiful structures. He has paved the way for future Roman emperors to come.

The major problems with most of the sources in the book are the sources themselves, because most are writers, or biographers, that were hired and paid to follow Augustus by Augustus. Although some were Augustus ' own biographers, some are also opponents of Augustus and his entitlement and takeover of the Roman Republic/Empire. These sources are also the only real documented information about Augustus that have been found or retrieved, and unknown to be based on facts, or just opinion and conjecture, or promoted by Augustus himself.

Augustus is known to be the first Roman emperor, and the founder of Rome, known for politically transforming the Roman republic to the early Roman Empire. During his rule his influence on artwork and architecture illustrated a classical style, and often they was a reflection of the “public image” of his rule, as well as his “new agenda”. (115) Augustus was quickly seen as a restorer of Rome. Augustus commissioned many large scale building projects such as the Campus Martius, as well as elaborate pieces of portraiture that illustrate his power and the peace of the new Rome under his rule. Augustus acknowledged his power and wealth but at the same time never formally declared himself emperor in order to maintain his citizenship. Although he was keen on denying title of emperor, he emphasized that he was a descendant of the great Julius Caesar considering himself his adopted son and his predecessor, in which he reinforces in some of the temples he commissioned. Overall Augustus was seen as a man of change and power, the one who brought prosperity to Rome when it became shaken by the assassination of Julius Caesar. The age of Augustus brought forth a classical style, influenced by Greeks, and the usage of marble and concrete to create complex buildings and sculptures. This was important because as a result of Augustus’ reign Rome obtained a very classical style, in which would later be reintroduced in order to mimic his greatness by other Emperors.

Augustus became the first emperor of Rome in 27 BC. During the time he served as emperor, he doubled the size of Rome, secured alliances, created the postal system, added more roads, and added fire and police departments.

Along with Augustus’s military skills, he was politically and economically successful. Augustus is a better leader due to his great amount of political and economic success, like the civil service, the new currency and free trade, reorganization of the government, and he was a true statesman. First off, Augustus reorganized the government, and made it more honest. Augustus was able to maintain an honest government after the war. He was able to develop an efficient postal service, and established colonies. (6). This demonstrates that

Augustus was the first emperor, and founder, of the Roman Empire. He was a generous leader, and had a sense of caution in mind with every decision. His document, Res Gestae Divi Augusti, notes all of his accomplishments during his reign. He established an especially impressive army during his time. In the first paragraph, he introduces the beginning of his kingship, “In my nineteenth year… I raised an army with which I set free the state, which was oppressed by the domination of a faction” (Res Gestae Divi Augusti, 1). In the second to fourteenth paragraphs he touches on the politics of his career and the events that transpired. In paragraphs fifteen through twenty-four, he notes his donations of money, land, public works, ect. Paragraphs twenty-five through thirty-three take his military and alliances into account. In the final two paragraphs, thirty-four and thirty-five, he discusses Roman people’s assessment of his reign. Augustus was a very powerful leader with his well planned strategies, and made the people of Rome very proud.

Augustus’ role as a political strategist is first seen when he initially gained access to the political hierarchy of Rome. His first act was to demand funds that had been allocated for war. He used these funds to raise an army against Mark Antony who was considered the greatest enemy by the Senate at the time (Everitt 7). Since Augustus had limited finances, he knew that one of the simplest ways to gain power was through acquiring wealth and another way was through acquiring a great army. With this move Augustus was able to kill two birds with one stone. His actions were not questioned since they seemed to be in line with the interests of Rome (Everitt 7).

According to many historians Augustus was not only the first emperor of Rome but also the greatest. During his long and impressive career Augustus dissolved the faulty governmental system of the Republic and created a new basis of Roman government that stood for three centuries. On his death bed Augustus was purported to have said: “Did I play my part well?” Through examination of his reforms of the Roman tax and legal system, as well as his role in creating the Pax Romana and a stable military it is evident that Augustus’s reing and reformes was a good thing.

He began to study and collect sea creatures, and eventually extend his ideas to study sea animal to all living things. He created the first library in Greece, which attracted an impressive amount of scholars to the school he taught at called the Lyceum. Students were able to learn every subject imaginable at the time. Aristotle was credited with being the first thinker to recognize that knowledge is compartmentalized. The school was the center for teaching scientific reasoning and scientific research. Aristotle’s theories, at the time were revolutionary, but were later corrected. In his time he was known as “the man who knew everything.” Aristotle’s influence from his time and even after his death, are considered unparalleled, with the exception of his teacher, Plato his works continue to endure. His writings about how people perceived the world continues to underline many principles, and the knowledge people possessed, because of him people around the world share to solve problems.

Augustus (63 B.C.-A.D. 14) was the first emperor of Rome. He established the principate, The principate is the name given to mark the period in ancient Roman history when one man takes all political control. Augustus was said to be cruel in his early years but became a little milder in attitude later in life. This may be credited to His position. As His position became secure, the need for brutality lessened. But he was still prepared for ruthlessness when necessary. His whole policy was a policy of conciliation. He wished to wipe out the hatreds of the civil war. He regarded himself as the chief of no party, but as the head of the whole state. He tried to reconcile the conservative and the progressive men of his time. All the cherished forms of the republic he therefore preserved; and he exercised his powers under titles which were not hateful to the senate or the people. We have been accustomed to think of this Augustus as merely a shrewd politician. But when we contrast the distracted condition of Rome during the last hundred years with the peace and prosperity which he brought with him, we shall be inclined to look upon him as a wise and successful statesman

Nowadays when thinking about Augustus there is a particularly positive image of him. Not only in popular literature or even movies , but also in academic publications. A clear example of this is the introduction in David Shotter his book: History sees Augustus Caesar as the first emperor of Rome, who brought the city and the Empire from the chaos of civil war to a system of ordered government. Of this overall achievement there is no doubt, for Augustus provided a firm and stable basis from which sprang the expansion and prosperity of the next two centuries, and which enabled Rome and the Empire to withstand they waywardness of many of the emperors who came after Augustus.” This is a view that’s for a great deal influenced by our knowledge of what happened afterwards. Augustus is seen as a breakpoint in Roman history, not only politically but also culturally. The whole image of Romanitas, what it means to be Roman, changed just like the manners of visualising this. A excellent example of this positive image of Augustus is mentioned by art historians N & A Ramage: “His style and approach became a model for subsequent emperors because he had been able to create a visual means of demonstrating the benefits he had brought to the Roman populace. He had also managed to associate himself with great movements and historical figures of the past and to use the aura attached to them for his own advantage. […] The charisma of Augustus served as the model and example not only for the

In this section I will be analysing how Octavian/Augustus rose to become the first Emperor of Rome and his reign thereafter. I will also be looking at how he gained his position and what being and

Julius Caesar was a Roman statesman who lost it all to foolishly becoming a dictator with king like qualities. Caesars great-nephew, Augustus (then Gaius Julius Caesar) inherited through his late great-uncle, a civil-war torn, distressed country. Throughout the next 40 years from the beginning of Augustus’ reign in 27 BCE to his death in 14 AD, he transformed Rome into a place of great peace. Peace in Rome lasted from 27 BCE to 180 AD, long after Augustus’ death because of the development of the Principate, the reconstruction and social reform of Rome and the Pax Romana. Augustus’ Empire was undoubtedly the most important Empire in Roman history and the peace Augustus created was his greatest achievement during his reign.