Augustus

401 Pages·2013·6.123 MB·English

by  Patricia Southern

AUGUSTUS

The first emperor of Rome holds a perennial fascination for anyone with an
interest in the Romans and their Empire. Augustus was a truly remarkable man
who brought peace after many years of civil war and laid the foundations of
anEmpirethatlastedfornearlyfivecenturies.EventodaytheRomanworldstill
underpins modern society. This revised edition of Augustus incorporates new
thinking on many aspects of his rule, and how he achieved such power. The
image that he projected of himself and his achievements was benign, hopeful
and heroic, but behind this carefully orchestrated self-promotion he was subtle,
clever, scheming and ruthless. He has been labelled as a saviour and as a mafia
boss. This account of his life shows how he successfully combined the two
extremes.
Patricia Southern is an expert on the history of Classical Rome, and has
written extensively on the subject, with titles including The Roman Empire from
Severus to Constantine (2001), Domitian: Tragic Tyrant (1997) and The Roman Army:
A Social and Institutional History (2007).
ROMAN IMPERIAL BIOGRAPHIES

Forthcoming in 2014:
CLAUDIUS, SECOND EDITION, BARBARA LEVICK
Caligula, Second edition, Anthony A. Barrett
Also available from Routledge:
JULIUS CAESAR, RICHARD A. BILLOWS
Constantine and the Christian Empire,
Second edition, Charles M. Odahl
Galerius and the Will of Diocletian, Bill Leadbetter
Nerva and the Roman Succession Crisis of AD 96–99,
John D. Grainger
Year of the Four Emperors, Kenneth Wellesley
Aurelian and the Third Century, Alaric Watson
Septimius Severus, Anthony R. Birley
Tiberius the Politician, Barbara Levick
Vespasian, Barbara Levick
Domitian, Pat Southern
Trajan, Julian Bennett
Hadrian, Antony R. Birley
Diocletian and the Roman Recovery, Stephen Williams
Agrippina, Anthony A. Barrett
The Age of Justinian, J. A. S. Evans
Theodosius, Gerard Friell and Stephen Williams
Caligula, Anthony A. Barrett
Claudius, Barbara Levick
Marcus Aurelius, Antony R. Birley
Nero, Miriam T. Griffin
AUGUSTUS
Second edition

Patricia Southern
ROUTLEDGE RTaoylour &tl Feradncgis Geroup
LONDON AND NEW YORK
Thissecondeditionpublished2014
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
andbyRoutledge
711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness
©2014,1998PatriciaSouthern
TherightofPatriciaSoutherntobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhasbeenasserted
byherinaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct
1988.
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedorutilisedin
any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.
FirstpublishedbyRoutledge1998
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Southern,Pat,1948–
Augustus/PatriciaSouthern.–Secondedition.
pagescm.–(Romanimperialbiographies)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1. Augustus, Emperor of Rome, 63 B.C.–14 A.D. 2. Emperors–Rome–Biography. 3.
Rome–History–Augustus,30B.C.–14A.D.I.Title.
DG279.S682013
937’.07092–dc23
[B]
2013011266
ISBN:978-0-415-62838-9(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-315-88700-5(ebk)
TypesetinBaskerville
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
To the memory of Mum and Dad,
who bought me books and
took me to museums, castles and
forts when I was not old enough
to visit them myself.
And for C.M.D., J.T. and co.,
and T.D.R.
This(cid:2)page(cid:2)intentionally(cid:2)left(cid:2)blank
CONTENTS

List of illustrations viii
List of maps x
Preface to the first edition xi
Preface to the second edition xiii
Acknowledgements xv
Abbreviations xvi
1 Octavius to Octavian 1
2 Caesar, son of Caesar 42
3 Consul and triumvir 79
4 The decisive decade 118
5 Empire building 173
6 Totus orbis terrarum 222
7 Profit and loss 266
8 Finale 298
9 The legacy 315
Appendix I: the buildings of Augustan Rome 330
Appendix II: Augustus and the Roman army 348
Appendix III: governance of the provinces 355
Ancient sources 360
Select bibliography 361
Index 368
vii
ILLUSTRATIONS

1.1 Head of Julius Caesar 2
1.2 Coin with posthumous portrait of Pompeius Magnus 14
1.3 Head of Octavius as a youth 24
1.4 Plan of the Forum of Julius Caesar 29
1.5 Reconstruction drawing of the temple of Venus Genetrix 30
1.6 Coin with head of Caesar as Dictator 34
1.7 Coin showing head of Caesar with the title Imperator 35
2.1 Intaglio showing Marcus Antonius 56
2.2 Coin showing Octavian as divi filius 62
3.1 Coin of Marcus Brutus 81
3.2 Coin of Sextus Pompeius 82
3.3 Plans of the battle of Philippi 105
4.1 Head of Cleopatra 125
4.2 Coin of Antonius and Octavia 133
4.3 Coin of Antonius as consul designate with Octavia 134
4.4 Green basalt head of Livia 137
4.5 Marble head of Livia 137
4.6 Coin of Octavian as triumvir for the second time 140
4.7 Coin of Antonius celebrating victory over Armenia 152
4.8 Greek coin of Cleopatra 153
4.9 Coin of Antonius as triumvir in 31 BC 160
4.10 Coin of Antonius as Imperator for the fourth time 163
4.11 Plan of the battle of Actium 164
4.12 Ship’s prow from the bay at Actium 165
5.1 Portraits of Cleopatra and Caesarion on the temple at
Dendera 174
5.2 Coin of Octavian celebrating the fall of Alexandria 174
5.3 Coin showing head of Octavian 177
5.4 Idealised head of Augustus 178
5.5 Bronze equestrian statue of Octavian 179
5.6 Stylised portrait of Augustus 179
5.7 Bronze head of Augustus from Egypt 184
viii
ILLUSTRATIONS
5.8 The statue of Augustus celebrating the return of the military
standards 212
5.9 Detail from a replica of the Prima Porta statue 213
6.1 Statue of Livia as the goddess Ceres 229
6.2 Wreathed and veiled head of Livia 229
6.3 Head of Tiberius 232
6.4 Head of Gaius Caesar 233
6.5 View of the remains of the Theatre of Marcellus 259
6.6 The reconstructed Ara Pacis 260
6.7 Veiled head of Augustus 261
7.1 Cameo of Augustus’ daughter Julia 272

7.2 Plan of the 14 administrative regions of Rome 279
7.3 The remains of the temple of Mars Ultor 289
7.4 Reconstruction drawing of the temple of Mars Ultor and plan of
the Forum of Augustus 290
7.5 Part of the high firewall behind the Forum of Augustus 291
8.1 Head of Augustus produced late in his reign 299
8.2 The remains of the headquarters of Cohors VII of the Vigiles on
Tiber Island 303
9.1 Statue of Tiberius as emperor 316
9.2 Cameo of Augustus in a seventeenth-century setting 319
9.3 Sardonyx cameo of Augustus 320
9.4 The Gemma Augustea 321
AI.1 Remains of the Forum of Julius Caesar 332
AI.2 Remains of the Basilica Aemilia 333
AI.3 Site of the arch of Augustus in the Forum Romanum 334
AI.4 Remains of the Basilica Julia 335
AI.5 Theatre of Marcellus and temple of Apollo Sosiana 337
AI.6 The remains of the entrance of the Portico of Octavia 338
AI.7 Mausoleum of Augustus 340
AI.8 Tellus panel of the Ara Pacis 342
AI.9 The procession on the south side of the Ara Pacis 343
AI.10 Rearward part of the procession on the south side of the
Ara Pacis 344
AI.11 The Egyptian obelisk and the Meridian line in their modern
position 346
ix