University:
Amherst College
Course:
CLAS 136 | History of Rome
Academic year:

2021
Views:

62

Pages:

1
Author:

Kinsley Bowers

History of Rome Reading Guide for Monday 4/16 Suetonius, “Augustus” 43-103 Augustus was born Gaius Octavius on September 24th, 63 BC. In the course of a long life he changed his name many times, dying at last in the month named after him (on August 19th, AD 14) as "Imperator Caesar Augustus, Son of a God, Pontifex Maximus, Consul 13 times, Imperator 20 times, in the 37th year of His Tribunician Power, Father of His Country". Generally regarded as the first and greatest Roman emperor, he had held supreme power for 58 years – first in association with others from the age of 19 (43 BC), and then alone from the age of 32 (31 BC). During this period he transformed the Roman world. At the same time he can be seen as the culmination of the Roman Republic, which he himself claimed to have restored. Even as he changed everything at Rome, he consistently styled his actions as a return to lost Roman tradition, and he announced that the Republic had been restored… 1. How and why did Augustus (then known as Caesar, or Octavian) win out over all the other warlords between the Ides of March, 44 BC, and the Battle of Actium, 31 BC? i.e., what made him different from all the others, including his great-uncle, and why did Augustus succeed where so many had failed? 2. What were Augustus’ most important reforms as princeps? 3. Augustus’ real character is elusive, and on his deathbed he compared himself to an actor. How would you describe his true character? Does it matter?

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