Augustus, born Gaius Octavius on September 23, 63 BC, and died on August 19, AD 14, was the founder of the Roman Empire and its first emperor from 27 BC until his death. His rule began a time of peace called the Pax Romana (or Pax Augusta), during which the Roman world experienced little warfare. He created the principate, a system where the emperor appeared to respect the Senate, and this system lasted until the Crisis of the Third Century.
Octavian, as he was also known, was born into a family from the plebeian class. His great-uncle, Julius Caesar, named him his main heir in his will. After Caesar was killed in 44 BC, Octavian inherited his property and took his name. He worked to gain support from Caesar’s soldiers and became a senator during a crisis. In 43 BC, he marched on Rome and became the youngest elected consul. He formed a group called the triumvirate with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus, who had legal power to fight Caesar’s killers. After winning the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, the triumvirate divided the Republic among themselves and ruled as powerful leaders. Their alliance later broke apart. In 36 BC, Octavian forced Lepidus into exile for opposing him. In 31 BC, Octavian’s general, Marcus Agrippa, defeated Antony in Greece at the Battle of Actium. Antony and his wife, Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt, died during Octavian’s invasion of Egypt, which he then claimed as his own.
After the triumvirate ended, Augustus made a deal with Rome’s leaders. He promised to restore the appearance of a free republic, with the Senate and other government groups playing a role. However, he kept control of the military and half of Rome’s provinces, giving him strong power. To avoid looking like a king, he refused to run for consul again, but the Senate gave him special powers, titles, and honors. These included princeps (first citizen), Augustus (revered), and pater patriae (father of the country). The month of August was named after him. After Lepidus died, Augustus also took the title pontifex maximus (supreme priest).
Augustus greatly expanded the empire by adding Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia to Rome’s territory. He also extended Roman control in Africa and completed the conquest of Hispania. However, his efforts in Germania faced a major failure. To protect the empire, he created a buffer zone of allied states and made peace with the Parthian Empire and the Kingdom of Kush. He reformed taxes and money, built roads with a courier system, created a professional army, established the Praetorian Guard, and improved Rome’s police and fire services. He also restored many parts of the city. Augustus supported writers like Virgil and was shown in many artworks. He died in AD 14 at age 75 from natural causes. The Senate later made him a god. Some people claimed his wife, Livia, poisoned him, but this is unproven. He was succeeded by his stepson and adopted son, Tiberius.
Early life
Octavian was born as Gaius Octavius on September 23, 63 BC, at a family home on the Palatine Hill in Rome. His father, Gaius Octavius, was from a middle-class family called the gens Octavia. He held important government positions and later served as a governor of Macedonia. His family originally came from Velitrae, a town near Rome, where Octavius spent part of his childhood. His mother, Atia, was the niece of Julius Caesar.
After his father died in 59 or 58 BC, Octavius’s mother married Lucius Marcius Philippus, who became a consul in 56 BC. When Octavius’s grandmother Julia, Julius Caesar’s sister, died in 52 or 51 BC, Octavius gave a speech at her funeral, his first public speaking event. A Greek slave named Sphaerus taught him to read, write, do math, and speak Greek. Later, Octavius freed Sphaerus and gave him a formal funeral in 40 BC. As a teenager, he studied philosophy with Areios of Alexandria and Athenodorus of Tarsus, Latin speaking skills with Marcus Epidius, and Greek speaking skills with Apollodorus of Pergamon.
In 60 BC, Julius Caesar formed an informal alliance with Pompey and Crassus, but by 49 BC, the alliance ended, and Caesar and Pompey began a long war. In 47 BC, after Octavius wore the toga virilis, which marked him as an adult citizen, Caesar had him elected as a religious official, replacing the recently killed Lucius Ahenobarbus. The next year, Octavius presided over Greek games celebrating the opening of Caesar’s Temple of Venus Genetrix. He wanted to join Caesar’s army for the African campaign but stayed home after his mother, Atia, worried about his health. Caesar allowed Octavius to ride in his chariot during his victory parade and gave him military honors as if he had fought in the campaign. In 45 BC, Octavius traveled to Hispania to join Caesar’s campaign against Pompey the Younger. On September 13, 45 BC, Caesar left a new will with the Vestal Virgins, naming Octavius as his main heir.
Rise to power
In 44 BC, Octavius was in Apollonia, Illyria, when Julius Caesar became Rome's first dictator in perpetuity in February, and was later assassinated on the Ides of March (15 March). Octavius met with Caesar's officers in Macedonia before traveling to Italy to learn about his political future. Caesar had no living legitimate children under Roman law. His will named Octavius as his main heir, with the condition that he take Caesar's name. After arriving near Brundisium in southern Italy, Octavius received a copy of the will, which gave him three-quarters of Caesar's estate. Despite his stepfather Philippus's advice, Octavius accepted the will on 8 May 44 BC. He claimed Caesar had adopted him and took the name Gaius Julius Caesar. His stepfather, Cicero, and others called him Octavianus.
Octavian had little money to start his political career. After being welcomed by Caesar's soldiers at Brundisium, he asked for part of the funds Caesar had set aside for a war against the Parthians. This included 700 million sesterces stored at Brundisium, a key location for military operations in the east. Octavian also took the annual tribute from Rome's province of Asia without permission and began recruiting Caesar's veterans and men assigned to the Parthian war. As he marched to Rome, his growing wealth and presence gained support, including from Caesar's veterans in Campania. By June, he had gathered an army of 3,000 men, giving each a bonus of 500 denarii, more than twice a soldier's yearly pay.
Arriving in Rome on 6 May 44 BC, Octavian found consul Mark Antony, Caesar's former colleague, in a tense agreement with Caesar's assassins. A general amnesty in March pardoned the assassins in exchange for recognizing Caesar's legal actions. Later, Antony stirred public anger against the assassins with a speech at Caesar's funeral, helping drive them from Rome.
Mark Antony gained political support but lost favor with many Romans and Caesarians when he opposed making Caesar a god. Octavian challenged him as the leader of the Caesarians. To stop Octavian from giving 300 sesterces per person to the city's poor as Caesar's will instructed, Antony refused to give him money as Caesar's heir. Antony also blocked the curiate assembly from hearing Octavian's efforts to legally adopt Caesar, deify him, or restore Caesar's golden throne for public view at games in April and June. During Caesar's victory games, Octavian used funds from Caesar's will and his own money to distribute gifts, increasing his popularity while harming Antony's reputation.
In the summer of 44 BC, Octavian gained support from more veterans and senators who saw Antony as a threat. Antony had officials force Octavian away from a hearing about returning property Caesar had seized in 49 BC. Octavian then claimed Antony threatened his life for giving money to the poor as Caesar's will required. Caesar's veterans convinced Antony to publicly reconcile with Octavian at the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Later, Antony's harsh actions against assassins Brutus and Cassius alienated moderate Caesarians who feared another civil war. In September, Cicero, now Octavian's political ally, gave speeches accusing Antony of endangering the Republic.
As public opinion turned against Antony and his consulship ended, he illegally passed a law to assign him the province of Cisalpine Gaul in northern Italy. Meanwhile, Octavian built a private army in Italy by recruiting Caesar's veterans and entered Rome in early November with this force to challenge Antony. However, some veterans left after realizing the conflict was about Caesar's followers, not revenge against the assassins. Despite this, Octavian won over two of Antony's legions with promises of money. Antony left Rome for Cisalpine Gaul, which was to be given to him on 1 January 43 BC. However, the province had been assigned to the assassin Decimus Brutus, who refused to surrender. Antony besieged Brutus at Mutina, giving Octavian a chance to act.
Cicero defended Octavian against Antony's insults and had him admitted as a senator on 1 January 43 BC. Octavian was allowed to vote with former consuls, run for office earlier than usual, and received imperium pro praetore, which legitimized his command. Octavian joined the consuls to relieve the siege of Mutina and took the fasces on 7 January, a date he later marked as the start of his public career. Antony retreated to Transalpine Gaul after losing battles at Forum Gallorum and Mutina in April. Both consuls were killed, leaving Octavian in charge of their armies. These victories earned him the title of imperator, given only to successful commanders.
The Senate gave many rewards to Decimus Brutus and tried to assign him command of the consular legions. In response, Octavian stayed in the Po Valley and did not pursue Antony. In July, centurions sent by Octavian entered Rome to demand that Octavian become consul with Cicero as co-consul and to cancel the decree making Antony a public enemy. When this was refused, Octavian marched on Rome without opposition. On 19 August 43 BC, at age 19, he became consul with his relative Quintus Pedius. Pedius passed laws creating a tribunal for Caesar's assassins and their associates; Octavian presided over their trial and had them exiled. Octavian also convinced the curiate assembly to legally adopt him into Caesar's family, proving his claim of being Caesar's heir. Meanwhile, Antony formed an alliance with Lepidus, then governor of Gallia Narbonensis. The Senate labeled Lepidus a public enemy for joining Antony but reversed this decision at Pedius's request while Octavian marched north to fight Decimus Brutus and meet Antony.
In October 43 BC, near Bononia, Octavian joined Antony and Lepidus to form the triumvirate, claiming to work for the Republic's stability. On 27 November, the lex Titia legalized their agreement for five years. The triumvirate gave them consular power, the right to appoint officials, and divided the eastern provinces among themselves. Octavian had previously been engaged to Servilia, daughter of Servilius Isauricus, but later married Claudia, Antony's stepdaughter, to strengthen their alliance. Octavian also gave up his consulship to Antony's ally, Publius Ventidius.
The triumvirs began proscriptions, declaring about 300 men outlaws, roughly half senators and half equestrians. Thousands more had their property taken. Roman historians disagree on which triumvir was most responsible for the proscriptions and killings, but all agree these actions helped eliminate political enemies.
Sole ruler of Rome
The conquest of Egypt helped Octavian pay off the debts he had from the civil wars. He ruled Roman Egypt directly, stopped senators from going there, and chose a governor named Cornelius Gallus to manage Egypt’s government and collect taxes. In 30 BC, while in Alexandria, Octavian visited the tomb of Alexander the Great, the famous leader he admired and copied in his own portraits. Octavian’s control of Egypt ended the Hellenistic period. It also helped shape a clear division between the Greek-speaking East and Latin-speaking West in the Mediterranean, creating a powerful empire centered in Rome.
Octavian became the first Roman emperor, known as Augustus, and also the first Roman ruler of Egypt. However, he did not follow Egyptian traditions like worshipping the Apis bull or participating in coronation ceremonies. He never returned to Egypt after 30 BC. Before going back to Rome, Octavian spent the winter of 30 BC on the Greek island of Samos. In August 29 BC, he celebrated three victories in Rome: over Illyria, Greece, and Egypt. He and Agrippa were elected as consuls for 28 BC and given the powers of a censor to conduct a census.
After defeating Antony and Cleopatra, Octavian ruled the entire Roman Republic unofficially as princeps, meaning “leading citizen.” He gained this position slowly by working with the Senate and people of Rome while pretending he did not want to be a dictator or king. Many powerful aristocrats had previously used the title princeps, and Octavian adopted it to show he was restoring the Republic.
Years of war had left Rome in chaos, but the Republic’s traditions opposed strong leaders. Octavian could not give up his power without risking war. The Senate and people wanted stability, fair laws, and free elections, which Octavian promised to hold, at least in name, as he became princeps Augustus. Creating this system involved trying different methods, getting public support for legal changes, and setting term limits for offices to avoid repeating the mistakes of Julius Caesar.
On January 13, 27 BC, Octavian acted as if he was giving power back to the Senate and giving up his provinces and armies. However, he kept the loyalty of soldiers and veterans. Many people’s careers depended on his support, as his wealth was unmatched. Other senators avoided spending money on public roads in Italy in 20 BC, but Octavian took responsibility for building them. Roman coins from 16 BC showed Octavian’s contributions after he gave large sums of money to the public treasury.
In an agreement called the First Settlement, the Senate allowed Octavian to keep appearing as if the Republic’s laws still worked. The Senate proposed that he take control of provinces again. Pretending to be reluctant, Octavian agreed to oversee provinces for ten years that were considered difficult to manage. These provinces included much of the Roman world, such as Hispania, Gaul, Syria, Cilicia, Cyprus, and Egypt. Controlling these areas gave him command over most of Rome’s legions. Octavian’s power ultimately came from his control over Rome’s military.
However, Octavian did not have all the power. The Senate still managed North Africa, which produced grain, and the strategically important regions of Illyria and Macedonia. The Senate controlled only five or six legions among three proconsuls, compared to the twenty legions under Augustus. Their control did not challenge his authority. Divided control between senators and proconsuls had happened before, and Augustus used Republican laws to gain power.
While acting as consul in Rome, Augustus sent senators to his provinces as his representatives to manage local affairs. The Senate chose governors for other provinces. Augustus gave instructions not only to his own officials but also to proconsuls who governed provinces that were nominally under senatorial control. Augustus’s control over entire provinces followed Republican traditions aimed at ensuring peace and stability, similar to how Pompey had been given similar command over the Roman world.
On January 16, 27 BC, the Senate gave Octavian the new title of Augustus, meaning “revered.” This title had religious, not political, importance and showed that Octavian was close to being considered divine. Future emperors would inherit this title, and it became their main name. Another title, Romulus, after Rome’s legendary founder, was avoided because it was linked to monarchy, which Octavian wanted to avoid. The Senate also confirmed his position as princeps senatus, or “leader of the Senate.” Augustus called himself Imperator Caesar divi filius, meaning “Commander Caesar, son of the deified one,” showing his connection to the deified Julius Caesar. The word “imperator” linked him to Rome’s tradition of military victory. Augustus turned Caesar, a family name, into a new imperial family line starting with him.
The Senate allowed Augustus to display the corona civica, or “civic crown,” above his door and have laurels on his doorposts. He avoided showing symbols of power like holding a scepter, wearing a diadem, or wearing the golden crown and purple toga of Julius Caesar. However, the Senate gave him a golden shield in the Curia, with the words virtus, pietas, clementia, iustitia, meaning “valor, piety, clemency, and justice.” By summer 27 BC, Augustus left Rome and traveled to Gaul. From 26 to 24 BC, he ruled the Empire from Tarraco in Spain, overseeing military campaigns in the Iberian Peninsula until returning to Rome.
By 23 BC, some problems with the First Settlement became clear. Augustus’s repeated consulships showed his real control over politics and reduced chances for others to hold the top position in the Republic. His wish for his nephew, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, to eventually take over also caused issues. To show he was reconciled with pro-republican leaders, Augustus appointed Calpurnius Piso, a republican who had opposed Julius Caesar, as co-consul in 23 BC after his chosen partner died unexpectedly.
In late spring, Augustus became very ill, likely from a liver disease. Thinking he would die, he made plans to ensure the principate continued and eased senators’ fears about his anti-republic
Death and succession
Augustus's illness in 23 BC made the problem of choosing a successor more difficult. To keep the empire stable, he needed to select an heir carefully. This had to be done in a way that did not make people fear a return to monarchy. Anyone who took over Augustus's position had to prove they were worthy.
Some historians say Augustus favored his nephew Marcellus, who was married to Augustus's daughter Julia. Others believe he preferred Marcus Agrippa, who was Augustus's top military leader and a trusted advisor. When Marcellus died in 23 BC, Augustus married his daughter Julia to Agrippa in 21 BC. This marriage produced five children: three sons and two daughters. In 18 BC, Agrippa was given special powers to govern the eastern provinces and held the same political authority as Augustus. This decision showed Augustus's support for Agrippa but upset some conservative senators.
Augustus adopted his grandsons Gaius and Lucius, showing he intended them to be his heirs. He served as consul in 5 and 2 BC to help them begin their political careers. Gaius became consul in AD 1, but Augustus made him wait until he was 21. Lucius died before his planned consulship. Augustus also supported his stepsons Tiberius and Drusus by giving them public roles. He seemed to favor Drusus more than Tiberius. Tiberius married Agrippa's eldest daughter, Vipsania Agrippina, while Drusus married Augustus's niece Antonia. After Agrippa died in 12 BC, Augustus ordered Tiberius to divorce Vipsania for Julia, who was now a widow. Drusus's marriage to Antonia was considered unbreakable, but Vipsania was seen as less important. Drusus died in 9 BC.
Tiberius shared Augustus's political authority starting in 6 BC but later left public life, possibly because of his unhappy marriage to Julia and jealousy toward her sons. Augustus exiled Julia in 2 BC for committing adultery but allowed his grandsons to join the priesthood and train with the army in Gaul.
After Gaius and Lucius died in AD 2 and AD 4, Augustus brought Tiberius back to Rome in June AD 4 and adopted him, requiring Tiberius to adopt his nephew Germanicus. This followed the tradition of having multiple generations of heirs. In AD 4, Tiberius was given the same political authority as Augustus and a military role in Germany. For his success there, he was honored with a triumph. By AD 13, he had the same level of authority as Augustus.
The only other possible heir was Agrippa Postumus, Augustus's youngest grandson. Augustus had him exiled to Sorrento in AD 6 and then to Planasia in AD 7. The Senate made his exile permanent, and Augustus officially rejected him for his poor behavior and suspected involvement in a conspiracy. After Augustus died, Tiberius likely ordered Agrippa's death in exile.
Augustus died on 19 August AD 14 at Nola, the same place where his father had died. Some sources claimed Livia, Augustus's wife, poisoned him, but most historians believe this was a false story meant to harm Tiberius. Livia had faced similar rumors before. If poisoning occurred, it may have involved a poisoned fig. Augustus had been unwell before his death and had planned for a smooth transfer of power to Tiberius.
Augustus's final words were, "Have I played the part well? Then applaud as I exit" (Acta est fabula, plaudite). A large group of mourners carried his body from Nola to Rome, and all business was closed during his funeral. Tiberius and his son Drusus gave a speech from two platforms. Augustus's body was placed in a coffin and burned near his tomb.
On 17 September 27 BC, the Senate declared Augustus a god, joining deified Julius Caesar in the Roman pantheon. People in the eastern provinces had already worshipped Octavian as a living god after his victory at Actium. Some western provinces, like in Gaul and Germany, had limited worship of Augustus, but Rome itself did not allow his worship. Only his spirit, or genius, was honored there.
Legacy
Augustus created a government that kept peace and prosperity in the Latin West and Greek East for two centuries, starting the well-known Pax Romana (or Pax Augusta). However, the idea that his time was a perfect golden age might hide the difficult political problems he faced. His government helped shape the idea of a universal monarchy, which later influenced the Byzantine and Holy Roman Empires until their end in 1453 and 1806, respectively. Later Romans admired his rule, as shown by the Senate’s wish for every emperor after Trajan to be "more fortunate than Augustus and better than Trajan." This positive image grew because his successors copied many of his policies and ways of promoting themselves, a practice modern researchers call imitatio Augusti.
The names "Caesar" and "Augustus" became permanent titles for Roman rulers for fourteen centuries after Augustus died. These titles were used in Rome and Constantinople after the Empire split. The name "Caesar" became the basis for later titles like the German "kaiser" and Russian "czar." Emperors used the title "civilis princeps" for three centuries before switching to "domini" ('lords'), starting with Diocletian. The title "Imperator" ('victorious general'), which Augustus used, became the origin of the word "emperor," though it did not mean that at the time. Only emperors held the position of "pontifex maximus" until the fall of the Western Roman Empire, after which the papacy took over this role.
Augustus wrote an account of his achievements, called the Res Gestae Divi Augusti, to be inscribed in bronze near his tomb. After his death, copies of this text were placed throughout the empire. Latin and Greek versions of the text were carved on public buildings, and historian Theodor Mommsen called them the "queen of inscriptions." The Res Gestae is Augustus’s only surviving major work, though he also wrote poems like "Sicilia," "Epiphanus," and "Ajax," an autobiography of 13 books, a philosophical treatise, and a rebuttal to Brutus’s Eulogy of Cato. Private letters also reveal details about his personal life. The poet Martial kept a crude poem allegedly written by Octavian during the Perusine War, which mocked Mark Antony, his wife Fulvia, and his mistress Glaphyra. Pliny the Elder suggested Augustus displayed and completed Agrippa’s world map in the Porticus Vipsania, which later influenced medieval maps.
In the Res Gestae, Augustus described the peace of his reign as "born of victories" (parta victoriis pax) from the civil wars. His artwork often showed this theme. This peace meant that Romans and conquered peoples agreed to a social pact: the conquered would give up their independence and pay taxes in exchange for Rome protecting their customs. By highlighting his many conquests, the Res Gestae repeated the same honor code found in Republican funerary inscriptions, like those of the Scipios, which helped raise the reputation of Roman families.
Augustus changed Rome by creating a permanent police force, firefighting team, and municipal prefect. The vigiles, a combined fire brigade and police force, was organized into seven units covering 14 city areas, each with 500 to 1,000 men. A praefectus vigilum led the vigiles, replacing vicomagistri who had managed districts after the fire of 7 BC. Augustus also created a standing army of 28 legions (about 170,000 soldiers), reducing the number from 60 legions at the end of the civil wars in 30 BC. This was supported by many auxiliary units of 500 non-citizen soldiers each, often recruited from recently conquered regions.
Augustus’s financial reforms helped the Empire’s success by bringing territories under direct Roman taxation. This increased and stabilized Rome’s income from its provinces and improved the relationship between Rome and its territories, reducing resentment from unfair taxes. He also ended tax farming, replacing private tax collectors (publicani) with salaried officials.
Under Augustus, taxes were set by censuses with fixed quotas for each province. Roman citizens and Italians paid indirect taxes, while provinces paid direct taxes. Indirect taxes included a 4% tax on slaves, a 1% tax on auction goods, and a 5% tax on estates valued over 100,000 sesterces inherited by non-relatives. After protests from equestrians, the suffect consuls for 9 AD adjusted the Lex Papia Poppaea, which affected inheritance for unmarried or childless people, though it still generated revenue through state seizure of property.
Augustus’s annexation of Egypt allowed him to use its wealth for imperial purposes. He treated Egypt as his private property rather than a province, making it part of each emperor’s patrimonium. An equestrian prefect, not a legate or proconsul, administered Egypt and its ports. This position became the highest achievement for equestrians besides becoming praetorian prefect. Gold and silver from the Ptolemaic treasury were melted into coins. In his will, Augustus left money to his family, 43 million sesterces to the Roman people, 1,000 sesterces to each praetorian, 500 sesterces to urban cohorts, and 300 sesterces to soldiers.
In 8 BC, the Roman month of Sextilis was renamed August after Augustus. He chose this month because it marked his first consulship and many victories. The month of July was named after Julius Caesar, the only other month in the Roman calendar named after a person.
On his deathbed, Augustus claimed he turned Rome from a city of bricks into one of marble. Marble was used in Roman buildings before his time, but it became common during his reign. He left a lasting mark on Rome’s center and the Campus Martius with the Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace) and a monumental sundial whose central gnomon was an Egyptian obelisk. The relief sculptures on the Ara Pacis visually supported the triumphs described in the Res Gestae.
Critical analysis
Writers from many time periods have both praised and criticized Augustus. Marcus Antistius Labeo, a Roman lawyer who lived during the time of the Roman Republic, disliked the changes Augustus made to Rome’s government and openly criticized him. In his book Annals, Tacitus wrote that Augustus cleverly changed Republican Rome into a system where people had little freedom, and that the people of Rome replaced one powerful ruler with another when Tiberius took over. Tacitus believed that Emperor Nerva, who ruled from 96 to 98 AD, successfully balanced the idea of a strong ruler with the freedom of the people. Cassius Dio, a historian from the 3rd century, saw Augustus as a kind and fair leader, but like many later historians, he also thought Augustus was a ruler with too much power. The poet Lucan, who lived in the 1st century, argued that the death of Cato the Younger in 46 BC marked the end of traditional freedom in Rome.
Modern scholars still debate how much Augustus controlled what people could say about him. As a triumvir, Octavian destroyed public records from the Ides of March in 44 BC to the defeat of Sextus Pompey in 36 BC. This action helped erase painful memories of past conflicts. Some Augustan poets, like Propertius, openly criticized the emperor, such as when he disapproved of the execution of prisoners during the Perusine War. The poetry of Virgil and Horace has sometimes been seen as praising Augustus for upholding moral values and keeping the Roman Empire strong. Virgil, who wrote the Eclogues while Octavian was his patron, used his work to express the struggles of poor farmers during the triumvirate. Private letters suggest Augustus had genuine friendships with Virgil and Horace, and there is no evidence he directly influenced their writing. However, in about AD 8, Augustus exiled the poet Ovid and banned his works.
Tacitus claimed that the study of history declined under Augustus because historians focused more on praising the emperor than on honest writing. Livy, a famous historian, wrote his influential History of Rome during Augustus’s reign. Although Livy supported many of Augustus’s ideas, he wrote independently. Tacitus later said Augustus lightly criticized Livy for highlighting Pompey’s achievements. Augustus may have quietly encouraged his niece Antonia Minor to influence her son Claudius to avoid writing about Rome’s civil wars.
Augustus became a respected figure in Christendom during the Middle Ages because church leaders like Orosius, Ambrose, and Bede described him as a divinely chosen leader who created a stable world for the arrival of Christ. The Golden Legend, a book from around 1250, included a story about the Tiburtine Sibyl, in which Augustus supposedly had a vision of Jesus and his mother Mary. Petrarch, a Renaissance writer, saw Augustus as a righteous ruler, a view shared by many humanists until the 16th century, when more negative opinions began to appear.
During the early modern period, views on Augustus varied. Jonathan Swift, an Anglo-Irish writer, criticized Augustus for creating tyranny in Rome, comparing the Roman Republic’s values to those of Great Britain’s constitutional monarchy. Montesquieu, a French philosopher, said Augustus was a coward in battle, and Shakespeare’s play Antony & Cleopatra (1607) portrayed Caesar as weak. Thomas Blackwell, a Scottish scholar, called Augustus a violent usurper, a view shared by Montesquieu and Voltaire. In the 19th century, Augustus was often seen as a reformer who brought peace and prosperity after the chaos of the failed Republic, though Napoleon Bonaparte admired Julius Caesar instead of Augustus.
In the 20th century, opinions about Augustus changed again. During the 1930s and 1940s, scholars generally viewed Augustus negatively because of his takeover of power. Benito Mussolini, the Italian leader, held an "Augustan exhibition" in 1937–1938 to celebrate the 2000th anniversary of Augustus’s birth, an event that influenced Fascist Italy’s architecture. Mussolini also called himself Il Duce, inspired by Augustus’s title dux. Ronald Syme, a historian, warned against Mussolini’s use of Augustus’s image. His book The Roman Revolution (1939), published at the start of World War II, discussed the political climate and criticized fascist use of ancient Rome. After the war, scholars focused more on the art and literature of the Augustan era. In 2014, historian Adrian Goldsworthy argued that Augustus was a military dictator but not more ruthless than other warlords, and that comparing him to modern dictators like Mussolini is misleading.
Syme’s book The Roman Revolution was not widely read in Europe until 1952, but it greatly influenced how scholars in English-speaking countries viewed Augustus. Syme described Octavian as a "sickly and sinister youth" and compared his political group to a modern crime syndicate. He criticized some scholars for giving Octavian credit for Julius Caesar’s achievements and for accepting Augustan propaganda about Mark Antony. Goldsworthy agreed with some of Syme’s views but argued that Syme was too kind to Antony and too harsh on Augustus’s supporters, many of whom came from outside the Roman elite. Scholars today debate whether Augustus tried to separate himself from Julius Caesar when he claimed to be the son of the deified Caesar. Over time, Augustus emphasized his role as princeps (a leader who shared power with the Senate).
Modern historians have also noted the positive effects of Augustus’s rule. His long reign helped transform Rome into a de facto monarchy. Eck and Takács said Augustus created a professional army, set up a system for imperial succession, improved the capital at his own expense, and brought peace and prosperity for over 200 years. Historian Walter Eder argued that Augustus promoted Republican values and helped the common people by giving them money and reducing luxury. In 29 BC, Augustus gave 400 sesterces (equal to one-tenth of a Roman pound of gold) to 250,000 citizens, 1,000 sesterces to 120,000 veterans, and spent 700 million sesterces to buy land for soldiers to settle on. He also restored 82 temples to show his respect for Roman gods. In 28 BC, he melted down 80 silver statues of himself to appear modest and frugal.
Cultural depictions
Suetonius's Twelve Caesars includes a biography of Augustus and describes his physical appearance. According to Goldsworthy, ancient Roman sources often provide unclear details about hair color. Suetonius wrote that Augustus had curly hair that was "inclined towards golden" (subflavum), which could mean his hair was slightly blond or brown instead of black. Scientific studies of paint traces on Augustus's official statues suggest he likely had naturally light brown hair. Augustus was probably about 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 meters) tall and may have worn raised soles in his shoes to appear taller. Well-known portraits of Augustus include the Prima Porta Statue, the sculpted relief on the Ara Pacis, and the Via Labicana Augustus. Famous cameo portraits are the Blacas Cameo and the Gemma Augustea. Official images of Augustus were carefully controlled and idealized, following a style inspired by ancient Greek art. From around 29 BC, portraits of Augustus spread across the Roman world and often showed him looking young until his death.
Julius Caesar first used personalized portraits of living people on Roman coins in the 40s BC. Augustus's image on coins was likely a way to copy Caesar's example. It is very likely Augustus personally decided how these portraits looked. His name and image appeared on coins throughout the Roman Empire. Goldsworthy notes that the "Caesar" mentioned by Jesus in the New Testament on silver coins was probably Augustus, not Tiberius. Later emperors created coins showing themselves and earlier rulers, including Augustus.
Augustus has also been shown in art after the ancient world. For example, he appears on the Hereford Mappa Mundi from around 1300 wearing a papal tiara as he orders geographers to map the world. In 1765, Louis XV asked French painter Charles-André van Loo to create a painting of Augustus closing the gates of the Temple of Janus, a symbol of peace in Rome. Louis XV disliked the painting and removed it from his hunting lodge, but historian Mary Beard says the painting was a fitting background for the 1802 Treaty of Amiens during the Napoleonic Wars. Napoleon III asked French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme to create a painting titled The Age of Augustus, the Birth of Christ (c. 1852–1854), which combines classical and Gothic styles. It shows Augustus above a scene of Jesus's birth, placing the peace of his reign next to the birth of Christ. The painting was displayed in Paris at the 1855 Universal Exposition.
Augustus is less well-known than his great-uncle Julius Caesar and is often shown as a minor or negative character in plays, films, TV shows, comics, and books. Goldsworthy says this is partly because Shakespeare never wrote a play about Augustus. Shakespeare's 1599 play Julius Caesar includes a character named Octavius, and in his 1607 play Antony and Cleopatra, Augustus is shown as a weak and manipulative enemy to Antony, named Caesar. This view may come from ancient sources that describe the conflict between Antony and Octavian, as seen in the 1963 film Cleopatra, where actor Roddy McDowall played Octavian in a cold and distant way. In Robert Graves's 1934 novel I, Claudius and its 1976 TV series, Augustus is shown more kindly as an older man outwitted by his wife Livia, though he is only a supporting character.