Augustus was the first Roman emperor and is a figure of considerable controversy. The later historical tradition has tended to be remarkably positive about Augustus, and that positive approach has been reflected in many modern understandings of the emperor. In part, Augustus’s reputation benefits from the contrast with his immediate successors. But more than any of the other emperors, Augustus had a hand in the making his posthumous reputation: he authored the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, (The Achievements of the Deified Augustus), one of the most important sources for his reign.

‘Prima Porta’ Augustus from the Villa Livia at Prima Porta

There has also been a willingness to accept the overall narrative of Augustan rule, which pointed to cultural excellence, the bringing of domestic peace, the reform of imperial rule, the restoration of moral, religious and political values, and the emergence of consensus in Roman society.

Many of these claims are contentious, but also fail to acknowledge a political context in which Augustus only became Augustus after emerging victorious from a series of brutal civil wars, he maintained political dominance for more than four decades, and eroded the constitutional and political principles on which the Republic had been based.

Evaluating the Augustan period depends on how one understands that political context. Here, the main part of the history starts in 30 BC. It does so to avoid the difficult histories of the civil wars that preceded Octavian’s victory at Actium. In 27 BC, Octavian came to be known as Augustus. That name-change allows us to identify the ‘Age of Augustus’ which one could date from 30 BC or 28 BC to its end with Augustus’ death in AD 14. But no Roman living at the time would have been able to separate the reign of the revered emperor from the period of bloody tyranny and violence that marked his rise to power.

The themes of the reign are built around the transition from Republic to Empire:

• Was Augustus a monarch?
• Was there a consensus behind his regime and, if so, how was that created?
• How did the transition from Republic to Empire work?
• How did the regime affect areas of life one might consider non-political?
• What was the basis of Augustan power?

The contents below are divided into themes, and includes material from the discussion of the An End of the Republic

Politics and political context = *

Military matters: ◊

Augustus and Religion: ♠

Augustus, Culture and Leadership: ♣

Augustus and Caesar: Θ

Augustus and Morals: ♥

Contents

• Caesar on the Rubicon Θ
• Caesar’s Dictatorship Θ
• After the Assassination Θ
• Triumvirs*
  • Acts of the Triumvirs *
  • Proscriptions* Θ
  • Against the Assassins: ◊ Θ
  • Perusine War ◊
  • Sextus Pompeius: Pirate King: ◊
  • The Fall of Lepidus*
  • Antony Against Parthia ◊
  • Octavian in Dalmatia ◊
  • Octavian and Livia ♥
  • Cleopatra: Egyptian Queen ♥
    • Donations of Alexandria ♥ ♣
    • Cleopatra: Myths and Legends ♥ ♣
  • Unthinkable Kings of Rome * ♣ Θ
  • Octavian in Rome ♣ Θ
  • Octavian’s Domination ♣
  • War of Actium ◊
    • After Actium ◊
• Octavian in 28 BC * Θ
• From Octavian to Augustus * ♣
  • Restoration of the Republic in 27 BC *
• The Augustan Circle *
• Agrippa Before 30 BC * ♣
• Agrippa After 30 BC * ♣
• Maecenas and Terentia ♥ ♣
• The Crisis of the Regime: 23 BC *
  • Conspiracy of Caepio and Murena *
  • Death of Marcellus *
•  Rome without Augustus 22-19 * ♣
• Augustus and the Plebs ♣
• The Imperial Cult Under Augustus ♠ ♣
• Reform and Order: 19-18 ♣
  • Constitutional Settlement of 19 BC * ♣
  • Moral Reforms ♥
    • Lex Iulia de maritandis ordinibus/lex Papia Poppaea ♥
    • Lex Fufia Caninia and Lex Aelia Sentia ♥
    • Lex Iulia de adulteriis coercendis ♥
    • Minor Laws ♣
• Augustan Reforms of the Senate ♣
  • Senatorial Careers ♣
• The New Age ♣
  • Sibylline Oracle on the Secular Games ♣
• Poetry and the Augustan Age ♥
  • Ovidian Arts of Love ♥
• Conquest in the West ◊
• Augustan Military Policy ◊
• Revolts against Rome ◊
  • Pannonian Revolt ◊
  • German Revolt ◊
• The Crisis of Succession *
• Issues of Succession Θ
• Dynastic Manoeuvres *
• Livia ♥
• Julia’s Boys and the Imperial Succession *
• The Fall of Julia ♥
• Julia the Younger’s Fall: Repeating History ♥
• Exile of Agrippa Postumus *
• The End of Opposition? *

• Key Questions and Discussion Points
• Julio-Claudian Family Tree
• Timeline

Contents                                 Tiberius                               End of the Republic                Octavian in 28 BC