difficulties had convinced him that “the empire
should not be extended beyond its present fron-
tiers.”^3 His defeats in Germany taught Augustus that
Rome’s power was not unlimited. They also left him
devastated; for months afterward he would beat his
head against a door, shouting “Varus, give me back
my legions!”Augustan Society
Society in the early Roman Empire was characterized by
a system of social stratification, inherited from the
republic, in which Roman citizens were divided into
three basic classes: the senatorial, equestrian, and lower
classes. Augustus had accepted the senatorial order as aThe Achievements of Augustus
This excerpt is taken from a text written by Augustus
and inscribed on a bronze tablet at Rome. Copies of the
text were displayed in stone in many provincial capitals.
Called “the most famous ancient inscription,” theRes
Gestae(RAYS GES-tyorREEZ JES-tee) of Augustus
summarizes his accomplishments in three major areas:
his offices, his private expenditures on behalf of the
state, and his exploits in war and peace. Though factual
in approach, it is a highly subjective account.Augustus,Res Gestae
Below is a copy of the accomplishments of the deified
Augustus by which he brought the whole world under
the empire of the Roman people, and of the moneys
expended by him on the state and the Roman people,
as inscribed on two bronze pillars set up in Rome.- At the age of nineteen, on my own initiative and
at my own expense, I raised an army by means of
which I liberated the republic, which was
oppressed by the tyranny of a faction [Mark Ant-
ony and his supporters].... - Those who assassinated my father [Julius Caesar,
his adoptive father] I drove into exile, avenging
their crime by due process of law; and afterwards
when they waged war against the state, I con-
quered them twice on the battlefield. - I waged many wars throughout the whole world
by land and by sea, both civil and foreign, and
when victorious I spared all citizens who sought
pardon.... - The dictatorship offered to me... by the people
and the senate, both in my absence and in my
presence, I refused to accept. - Four times I came to the assistance of the treasury
with my own money, transferring to those in
charge of the treasury 150,000,000 sesterces. And
in the consulship of Marcus Lepidus and Lucius
Arruntius I transferred out of my own patrimony
170,000,000 sesterces to the soldiers’ bonus fund,
which was established on my advice for the pur-
pose of providing bonuses for soldiers who had
completed twenty or more years of service....- I brought peace to the sea by suppressing the
pirates. In that war I turned over to their masters
for punishment nearly 30,000 slaves who had run
away from their owners and taken up arms
against the state.... - I extended the frontiers of all the provinces of the
Roman people on whose boundaries were peoples
not subject to our empire.... - I added Egypt to the empire of the Roman
people.... - I established colonies of soldiers in Africa, Sicily,
Macedonia, in both Spanish provinces, in Achaea,
Asia, Syria, Narbonese Gaul, and Pisidia. Italy,
moreover, has twenty-eight colonies established
by me, which in my lifetime have grown to be fa-
mous and populous.... - When I held my thirteenth consulship, the senate,
the equestrian order, and the entire Roman people
gave me the title of “father of the country.”... At
the time I wrote this document I was in my
seventy-sixth year.
Q What were the achievements of Augustus? To what
extent did these accomplishments create the “job”
of being emperor? In what sense could this
document be called a piece of propaganda?Source: FromRoman Civilization, Vol. I, Naphtali Lewis and Meyer Renhold. Copyrightª1955 Columbia University Press. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.The Age of Augustus (31B.C.E.–14C.E.) 123Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
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