Augustus Influence On Modern Art

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

In “The Deeds of the Divine Augustus” Augustus portrays Rome as a dignified cut above the rest. In this reading, we learn about the ruling of Augustus and how he feels entirely responsible for all the successes of Rome. I believe that this writing is not a display of the “real Rome” but rather a depiction of its author. Throughout “The Deeds of the Divine Augustus” Augustus repeatedly refers to himself in the text and how all these successes are a result of his leadership. An example of this is when Augustus states, “In my nineteenth year, on my own initiative and at my own expense, I raised an army with which I set free the state, which was oppressed by the domination of a faction.” There are

While Augustus, in both images, emanates leadership qualities like self-confidence, power and dominance, art can be misleading propaganda. It is difficult to reach a conclusion, in either image, as to whether he was a moral leader. Augustus was effective as the conqueror of Egypt depicted in the

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

Rome was a very large and powerful city by the first BC but the reign of Augustus transformed it into an imperial city. In 31 BCE, Augustus became the supreme commander of the Roman Republic. During the Augustan Revolution, art and architecture pushed a political agenda. Art portraying Augustus remains common throughout his reign. The art and architecture helped reinforce Augustus’ political message that he was the restorer of Rome.

Portraiture in Rome and specifically portraiture in Roman politics has always been a clever game of propaganda to the people for the people in Rome. During the reign of the Emperor Augustus there is vast usage of imagery, deification, portraiture and political symbolism to help him carry out his subtle political propaganda and win the people of Rome his adoptive father Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. It is specifically in Augustus' coinage and how he used the mints and distribution of money to the Roman Empire, as a method of directly ensuring his political statements and beliefs would be instigated within his empire. Augustus' use of the coins helped influence his reign and considerably during the 13 year civil war between himself

To change an empire from a Republic to a Monarchy, is in itself a great achievement, but to be that one man that successfully changes the way of old to the original form of state is an amazing fete. The will to achieve this, and the desire must be great and you must truly be remarkable, although in saying that, having your forefathers pave the way, assist in reaching that goal. This is what Augustus achieved, he became greatest man in Rome, the highest achievement one might endeavour, outdoing his forefathers. He played the game of Roman politics against some of the greatest minds, brilliantly and shaped what is now known as the “Great Roman Empire”.

The Augustan Age was marked as one of the greatest time periods in Roman history, where the Empire flourished with prosperity and power. Augustus was careful not to declare himself as an emperor or any kind of title to state his kingship, but he referred to himself as “Princeps” or the First Citizen (Mark). Although he gave back power the senate, by doing so he establish central authority to himself. By calling himself Princeps, he held tremendous power. Also,because his uncle, Julius Caesar identified himself as a god, Augustus also represented himself as son of a god, something that is depicted in many of his portraits such as the one found in Prima Porta. During his reign, Augustus enacted an effective social and cultural program enlisting literature and the other arts revived time-honored values and

14 As Stamper argues, this is a significant aspect of portraying authority when one an emperor uses precedent of Rome’s founding 15 and this is shown by Augustus in commemorating the temple to Julius Caesar as a sign of celebrating his own triumph. The Temple of Julius Caesar sat on an elevated podium with rostra in front of the colonnade where prows of the ships captured from the Battle at Actium were hung.16 Similarly, the public rostra erected at the opposite site of the Forum also consist of captures obtained from the Battle of Actium and these rostra that faced each other act as a reminder of the glories of the old Republic and the achievements of the restored Rome under its new leader, Augustus.17 To reflect more of the idea of power, Augustus uses different architectural elements to deliver them. Similar to the nearby Temple of Castor and Pollux erected during the Republic, the Temple of Julius Caesar had a pycnostyle composition that consisted of six closely arranged columns with

He had now reached a state of political perfection. A state he arguably and narcissistically deemed necessary to establish a Rome of greater equality, efficiency and profitability, a state in which he could covertly dictate. The Principate was made a permanent establishment; his rule would only end in death. Changes were still required, past mistakes must be corrected, time was poor. His mission was nearing completion. Rome was now under the autocratic rule of Augustus, the senate and the people were none the wiser. The republic was far from restored, the republic could not be restored, the republic was flawed. The people and the senate must not know.

To reassure Roman Citizens that prosperity was evident Augustus set about reconstructing the city of Rome. Coins from the period (http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=443) illustrate the ‘health of the republic’ which was an essential part in reinforcing the feelings of stability that the Augustus wanted his people to encompass. The use of propaganda was also in an attempt to bolster his power. The reconstruction of the city involved creating essential services such as roads and aqueducts and also glorified Augustus and set in stone his achievements.

From an historical perspective, this piece is an excellent example of early classical Rome. You can sense the respect and admiration that the average Roman citizen had for Augustus, in the fine details of the sculpture.

In 27 BC Augustus began his political career with a “new policy which embodied a national and Roman spirit” (Galinksy, 1996, 225) and “represented new heights in creativity and sophistication” (Galinksy, 1996, 225). Augustus created a new political propaganda campaign that used art and architecture to promote and enhance his regime. The most fundamental message can be regarded as to establish the legitimacy of his rule and to portray him as the natural successor of Rome, as this is consistently presented throughout the visual programme. Yet factors such as the restoration of the Republic, reviving the old religion, nationalism and militaristic triumph can also be seen to be communicated prominently through art and architecture.

The Augustus of Primaporta is a statue that portrays Emperor Augustus in having immense power and purpose. When I strike the pose I truly feel the way Augustus must have felt. I am sticking my beautiful chest plate out and my left leg is swinging forward as if I’m moving into battle. I am not satisfied with what land I have now, no, I want more. I am not simply attacking, I am conquering. I am leading my people into battle and no one can stop me or tell me otherwise. The position feels like I am speaking to motivate my men before going into battle. Every word out of my mouth would receive nothing but the utmost attention from my men as they stare at me with all my glory. With my hand raised my staff in my arm, I would charge and attack wherever

Gaius Octavius, better known to historians as Augustus, succeeded his great uncle Julius Caesar following his assassination. In his wake, Augustus would become the first Emperor of the newly formed Roman Empire and bring massive, sweeping revisions to Roman law as well as centralize the government, military and economic currency of the Empire. He also reemphasized the importance of art, music and literature in Roman culture, bringing about a new era of historically important artists, poets, sculptors, scribes and philosophers. While the beginnings