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RES GESTAE OF AUGUSTUS.
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Analyzes posthumous political autobiography of Emperor Caesar Augustus' stewardship in office. Origins, authenticity, purpose, contents, style.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Analyzes posthumous political autobiography of Emperor Caesar Augustus' stewardship in office. Origins, authenticity, purpose, contents, style.
Paper Introduction:
RES GESTAE OF AUGUSTUS
This research paper discusses and analyzes the posthumous Res Gestae, or account of his stewardship in office, left by the Emperor Caesar Augustus (B.C. 63-A.D. 14). The Res Gestae, like most political autobiographies, is deficient in that it is subjective and self-serving. It recounts those facets of his long period of rule which Augustus wished to emphasize and the world to remember while omitting or distorting others. On the other hand, it is a remarkable historical document, not only because it clearly conveys the principal accomplishments of the Augustan era, but also because it captures the essence of Augustus' unique approach to governance and the benevolence of his despotic rule which largely responded to the needs of the Roman Empire and its people.
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He then turned on Mark Antony whom Octavian's chieflieutenant, Marcus Agrippa, defeated at the Battle of Actium in B.C. [11] Ibid., 248. Roman Civilization Selected Readings Volume I The Republic and the Augustan Age. (NewYork: Columbia University Press, 199 ), 561. Moore (Eds.), Res Gestae Divi Augusti (TheAchievements of the Divine Augustus) (Oxford: Oxford University Press,1967), 1. . 3 , Augustus was the undisputed master of Rome. Allusion to his links to other gods such asApollo in particular was permitted. A. eds. Galinsky says that Augustus helped revivetraditional Roman religion and otherwise used religion both to propagatehis new order and to elevate his own position. Conclusion Augustus' Res Gestae should be read, not as a comprehensivedescription of his rule but rather as a revealing set of insights into theway he went about ruling, what he thought, what he set out to do, what heaccomplished and what he preferred not to talk about. [14] Velleius Paterculis, 399. Moore. . [2] Ibid., 6-7. . Although portions of the inscriptions are damaged, almost all ofthem have been restored. [18] Brunt & Moore, 5. He did this through his generosity, such as thegladiatorial and other games and says frankly in para. [31] Scarre, 25. The one-sided nature of Augustus' account was not, according toHornblower and Spawforth inconsistent with "the tradition of self-advertisement used by great men under the republic."[3] Brunt & Moore saythat "such a document was bound to be an apologia, containing the thingswhich Augustus wished to be remembered about his life, and omitting thingswhich were inconsistent with the picture he was drawing."[4] Theinteresting question is why he included what he did, his emphasis andreasons behind his omissions and half-truths. Struggle for Power B.C. He says in para. They say it may be that he accepted no individual office or position for which no Republican precedent whatever could be found, questionable though some of the precedents were, but he naturally did not mention that there was no precedent for any one man holding so many different positions and powers at the same time.[18] In his Principate, the term used to describe his rule up to B.C. 27 After his victory over Mark Antony at Actium and his conquest ofEgypt in B.C. Translated by Frederick W. [6] Brunt & Moore, 39. Shipley. eds. He permitted worship of his family spiritor numen but rejected outright deification in the West during his life. Constitutional Settlement of B.C. . Brunt & J. By comparing the texts with other writings ofAugustus, all experts agree that the Res Gestae so discovered is hisauthentic expression. Heemphasized instead the divinity of Julius Caesar after his death and hisstatus as the son of god. [28] Naphtali Lewis and Meyer Reinhold (Eds.). [27] Vellius Particus, 399 & 4 1. Chronicle of the Roman Emperors The Reign-By-Reign Record of the Rulers of Imperial Rome. These shifting alliances and Machiavellian maneuvers hardly qualifiedAugustus as a friend of the old Republic, but rather as an extremely adroitpolitical and capable military leader who survived a bloodbath. (Oxford: Oxford University Press), 1996), 13 9. he might have preferred to use autoritas, which he could have used imperium, because he wanted to carry public opinion with him, persuading rather than commanding and to ensure the genuine co-operation of men in high places.[25] In other words, Augustus was an astute politician who realized thathe could not rule a vast empire on his own and without securing thecooperation of all groups in Roman society and elites in the conqueredprovinces. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1967.Galinsky, Karl. However,after B.C. 36. 1 that "at the age of nineteen,on my own initiative and at my own expense, I raised an army by means ofwhich I restored liberty to the republic, which had been oppressed by thetyranny of faction."[5] The brief dictatorship of Julius Caesar, who adopted Augustus, thennamed Gaius Octavius (Octavian), as his son and designated successor, hadfollowed a Civil War. 14). by Frederick W. Succession Augustus' account leaves out any discussion of the machinations ofhim and his third wife, Livia Drusilla, in their family life, includingvarious forced marriages and scandals and rumors that Livia murdered mostof his blood kin to ensure that he would be succeeded, as in fact he was,by her son, Tiberius. The unifying concept is his claim to havepossessed and to have exercised during his more than 5 years in power ofsupreme moral authority or auctoritas, culminating in his being accorded bythe Roman people in B.C. In the confusing interregnum which followed JuliusCaesar's assassination, a complicated struggle ensued for succession topower. As he notes in hisaccount, he resisted at all times, formally in B.C. He wanted his empire to have permanence. In return, he had himselfnamed consul, a power which was renewed annually down to B.C. [8] Chris Scarre, Chronicle of the Roman Emperors The Reign-by-ReignRecord of the Rules of Imperial Rome (London: Thames and Hudson, 1995), 16. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.Lewis, Napthali and Meyer Reinhold. [2 ] Brunt & Moore, 79. . Scarre saysthat Augustus' "conscious appeal to an earlier tradition and precedents"throughout his reign and "this abiding respect for Roman sensibilities onAugustus' part stood in strong contrast to Julius Caesar's overt disdain ofthem."[22] He wanted to and succeeded in dying in bed at an advanced age.According to Scarre, "there was only one serious conspiracy against him. . [19] Brunt & Moore, 64. [3] Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth, (Eds.), The Oxford ClassicalDictionary, 3rd ed. In hisaccount, he recites the many honors bestowed upon and the triumphs andovations, etc. First, he always had searedinto his memory the spectacle of his father's assassination. [7] Ibid., 39. 23, any offers ofdictatorship, but he did accept the designation of imperator or emperor,which ensured him command authority over the army and, according to Brunt &Moore, "a discretionary power to do what the interests of the staterequired," except insofar as specifically limited by law.[17] Augustus set up a kind of veiled monarchy, but always showed thegreatest respect for custom and tradition so as to preserve the legitimacyof his office. They point out that "theword had sufficient Republican flavor to make its use in this way not tooovertly monarchical."[19] Augustus makes the statement in para. M. During the period B.C. In his account Augustus devotes several paragraphs to his supposedmagnanimity by dispensing clemency to his defeated enemies, domestic andforeign. [3 ] Brunt & Moore, 217. [25] Brunt & Moore, 85. [26] Scarre, 16. 9. [1 ] Ibid., 54. He says that "religion wasthe conduct of social policy by other means."[33] He was deified after hisdeath. & J. Augustus believed in the concept of auctoritas or moral authority.Galinsky says that "by emphasizing auctoritas as his governing concept,Augustus makes it clear that he does not want to be just a functionary ormagistrate but that he aims to provide a higher kind of moralleadership."[24] Brunt & Moore say that his pre-eminent auctoritas may have enabled him to exercise imperium in ways which no ordinary holder of the same legal powers would have dared to do . The Res Gestae, like most politicalautobiographies, is deficient in that it is subjective and self-serving.It recounts those facets of his long period of rule which Augustus wishedto emphasize and the world to remember while omitting or distorting others.On the other hand, it is a remarkable historical document, not only becauseit clearly conveys the principal accomplishments of the Augustan era, butalso because it captures the essence of Augustus' unique approach togovernance and the benevolence of his despotic rule which largely respondedto the needs of the Roman Empire and its people. Lepidusdropped out of the picture after he backed Sextus Pompey, whom Octaviandefeated in B.C. Hehandled the senate with firmness but respect."[23] Second, as a matter ofstyle, Augustus liked to act on the initiatives of others. Res Gestae Divi Augusti (The Achievements of the Divine Augustus). eds. Augustus as a Divinity Avoiding some of Julius Caesar's dangerous pretensions, Augustuspermitted peoples in the East to erect statues to him as a god and he wasworshipped as such in provinces such as Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt. 2 the title of parens patriae or Father of hiscountry. [23] Scarre, 2 . 23,he referred to himself as princeps or first person or leader. . 32 all citizens were bound to him bypersonal oath of allegiance. A. Shipley (Cambridge: Harvard UniversityPress, 1998), 345-346. As Scarre puts it, "Augustus restored order to a Romewracked by decades of civil war, and his advent was a blessing to mostordinary Romans."[8] Galinsky argues that Augustus never intended this opening statement"as a precise historical representation" but rather meant it "to beunderstood in terms of the larger meaning and significance."[9] In hisview, Augustus meant by the term liberty that he had saved Roman societyand the Roman State "from the machinations and disorders that politicalfactions had inflicted" on them.[1 ] His goal was "the revitalization ofthe res publica as the common good, with all its supporting values . [33] Galinsky, 3 8.----------------------- 15 [15] Scarre, 18. New York: Columbia University Press, 199 .Paterculis, Velleius. onoccasion dry to the point of tedium."[2] Many aspects of his reign areomitted, including many of his legislative and administrativeaccomplishments and the names of his principal adversaries and enemies.Foreign policy is treated superficially. 3rd ed. 42 to defeat the democratic politicians, Cassius andBrutus, who had been key figures in the assassination of Caesar. [29] Vellius Particus, 383. It remains a richsource of historical material on Rome's most enlightened despot who ruledat a time of great expansion and change. Origins, Authenticity and Summary of Contents and Style The Res Gestae, index rerum a se gestarum or Acts of Augustus, wasone of four documents left by Augustus at his death with the Vestal Virginsfor safekeeping. [24] Galinsky, 12. 23, retaineduntrammeled consular authority over a number of provinces, including Spain,Gaul, Egypt, Syria and others, which Brunt & Moore say "he administeredvirtually as a private estate."[16] He took the title of Augustus, whichhad various meanings, mostly of a sacred nature. [13] Ibid. [12] Brunt & Moore, 41. Foreign and Military Policy Augustus gives a brief but accurate account of his military conquestsand foreign policy triumphs. He covers some military campaigns,and omits others. 23-19, Augustus receivedsupport from the plebeians who brought pressure on the senate to offer himthe dictatorship. His instructions were for it "to be inscribed on bronzetablets and set up in front of his mausoleum."[1] In fact, the main sourcesof the surviving inscriptions in Latin and Greek were found in Galatia(modern Ankara), principally on the temple of 'Rome and Augustus' at Ancyrathere. 34 thatafter he restored the Republic and gave up his dictatorial powers in B.C.27, "I took precedence of all in rank, but of power I possessed no morethan those who were my colleagues in any magistracy." According to Brunt &Moore, "his statement is only a half truth; though his colleagues from 27evidently enjoyed formal equality with him in Rome as consuls, they werenot his equals even in legal power."[2 ] Nonetheless, as with many of Augustus' statements, he meant what hesaid. Brunt & Moore quote the Roman historian Suetonius to the effectthat Augustus "showed inflexible rigour in executing captives afterPhillippi."[12] He also put to death Caesarion, the son of Mark Antony andCleopatra. 23 "that I gave thepeople the spectacle of a naval battle beyond the Tiber."[29] Brunt & Mooresay that "he made provision against famine, fire and flood . Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996.Hornblower, Simon and Antony Spawforth. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998.Scarre, Chris. 34 that "I transferred the republic from my own control to the willof the senate and the Roman people."[14] Essentially, Scarre says "Octavianwent through the pantomine of giving up power to the Senate, and receivingmost of it back again."[15] He reinstated the magistrates, the senate andpopular bodies in their old constitutional role. Roman CivilizationSelected Readings Volume I The Republic and the Augustan Age, 3rd ed. RES GESTAE OF AUGUSTUS This research paper discusses and analyzes the posthumous Res Gestae,or account of his stewardship in office, left by the Emperor CaesarAugustus (B.C. [9] Karl Galinsky, Augustan Culture An Interpretative Introduction(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996), 1 . His claim in his account that everything he did was theresult, not so much of his power but of his moral authority was, say Brunt& Moore, in one sense, clever propaganda writing. [32] Vellius Particus, 385. Scarre quotes Suetoniuswho said that Augustus expressed the hope "that when I die the foundationwhich I have laid for the State will remain unshaken."[26] Augustus' Popularity At a number of places in his account, Augustus refers his actions"having received universal consent" and that the many honors given to himwere in recognition by the Roman people "of my valour, my clemency, myjustice, and my piety."[27] There could be little doubt that therestoration of peace and prosperity after so much strife was popular withthe ordinary Roman citizen. staged on his behalf by a grateful nation, but he skips overthe details of the constitutional settlement of B.C. Compendium of Roman History Res Gestae Divi Augusti. The Res Gestae contains three basic themes: (i) the honors bestowedon Augustus which he emphasizes represented a broad consensus of thecommunities which made up the Roman empire; (ii) his generosity out of hisprivate purse to various groups in society, especially veterans and theplebeian class, and his expenditures for the erection of temples, shrinesand other public edifices and works; and (iii) his military and politicaldeeds on behalf of the State. .[which] was the real meaning of Augustus' 'restored republic.'"[11] In thissense, his opening sentence is a sincere statement of what he believed andwhat he had accomplished. . Augustan Culture An Interpretive Introduction. . 31. [5] Velleius Paterculis, Compendium of Roman History Res Gestae DiviAugusti, trans. Brunt & Mooresay that few were fooled by Augustus' modesty. [22] Scarre, 49. As noted above, the catastrophe in Germany was notmentioned. thepopular assembly duly ratified his legislation, and was represented enmasse in displays of loyalty at important moments."[3 ] He also appeased asnecessary the equites or freedmen tax-farmers, who were also militaryofficers and judges. A little later, he worked out a deal with Antony and Lepidus to forma triumvirate by means of which they ruled Rome, Brunt & Moore sayvirtually as dictators.[7] The three of them combined forces in the Battlesof Phillippi in B.C. Scarre says that "the idea that he was a constitutional ruler ratherthan a conquering general was one which Augustus tried hard topromote."[21] He did so for several reasons. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. [16] Brunt & Moore, 9. According to Brunt & Moore, "it may be doubted if contemporarieswere much impressed with his claim to clemency."[13] As for foreignenemies, Augustus would leave them alone if they were willing to paytribute and did not represent a danger to Rome's safety. He merely says inpara. Octavian first obtained hisconsulship by presenting the senate with an armed diktat, hardly a liberalmove. Brunt & Moore say "his object . Hisomission of the names of Mark Antony in particular may have been motivatedin part by a desire not to go into all these unseemly details. 63-A.D. was toprovide the empire with more easily defensible frontiers, an object inwhich he succeeded" and that "he was a great conqueror," thanks largely toAgrippa's skills. 24 of his account, he modestly refers to his orders that silverstatues of him as a god erected in Asia had to be melted down and the moneyused to adorn the temple of Apollo.[32] He was more circumspect in theWest, especially in Rome itself. London: Thames and Hudson, 1995.----------------------- [1] P. Noticeable by its absence is any reference to thecrushing defeat suffered by the Roman legions under Quinctulius Varus atthe hands of Teutonic tribes at the Battle of Teutenborg Forest in A.D. 31, Octavian did put an end to the internecine warfare which hadplagued the Roman Republic for many decades and ushered in a long period ofpeace and prosperity. [17] Brunt & Moore, 83. Inpara. He avoided serious insurrections within the army.Augustus was the first emperor "to give [soldiers] fixed terms of serviceand pay."[31] Many pages of the account are devoted to his munificence. Relatively brief, the Res Gestae is noticeable for its clarity ofexpression, what Brunt & Moore call "a cool record of fact . [21] Scarre, 27. The leading patricians in the Senate werenot sold on Octavian's credentials to succeed Caesar, who had defied theirprerogatives, but many of them also feared that Caesar's former master ofthe horse, Mark Antony, was an incipient tyrant. M. He was themaster builder of Rome, erecting many temples, shrines and other publicedifices. After B.C. Some of Octavian's closestallies in the Senate in the ensuing struggles were the assassins of hisfather and were in the opinion of Brunt & Moore, "always unnatural."[6]Some of Octavian's initial actions were illegal, but were later authorizedby the Senate under Cicero's leadership. 12. Like his father before him, he becamePontifex Maximus in B.C. [4] Brunt & Moore, 4. Lewis and Reinhold quote Suetonius that the title ofFather of his country was proferred to Augustus by "the whole body ofcitizens with a sudden unanimous impulse."[28] Augustus cultivated all segments of society, but made more effortsthan most to engage the participation of the plebeians who had a limitedrole to play in politics. 27. 3rd ed. Those omissions are hardly surprising. Augustus' reference to his relative youth, 17 when Caesar died, mayhave been an attempt to link his exploits with those of other men whoaccomplished great deeds at young ages such as Alexander the Great, ScipioAfricanus and Pompey the Great. Brunt & Moore, however, say that the source of most of his moneycame, directly or indirectly, from his conquests and that Augustus died avery wealthy man. He was famousfor his recusationes, refusing offers of titles so that he could confoundhis opponents with his seeming reluctance to seize power. BibliographyBrunt, P. 44-31 Augustus begins his account with a beguilingly straightforwardstatement, which contains more than a grain of truth, but is nevertheless agross oversimplification.
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