Augustus and the Roman Empire

Throughout his life, Augustus was always lived an ambitious lifestyle like his father.  He was extremely proud of his many accomplishments, in which he himself wrote about.  He brought two hundred years of peace in Rome, famously known as the “Pax Romana”.   Augustus personally turned the Roman Republic into an Empire, which he would rule.  We can learn a lot from reading the many excerpts of the life of Augustus and the Roman Empire.  However, one must wonder if he has stretched some of these feats.  They may seem to be too extravagant and overly elaborated at times.  Nevertheless, Augustus’ life was one that will be remembered by history for all time to come.

The Roman Republic was no more when Brutus and Cassius died along with their loyal armies.  It was at this time that Augustus was able to claim complete power over Rome.  Many of the Romans greatly favored Augustus because he presented peace, leadership, security, and other prosperous objects to them.  Although the majority of government was given the same names and tasks, Augustus reigned supreme as Emperor.  Through his military standards, he would be able to achieve peace within the Empire.  This included the Gallic, Spanish, and Germanic provinces.  The peace would extend from the Adriatic Sea to the Tuscan Sea and even as far as the territories of the Cimbrians.  Throughout this great time of peace, Augustus helped many people with debts and budgets.  He assisted many of the Romans, such as those in charge of the treasury, the veteran Roman soldiers, and several others while using his own money and inheritance.

The several excerpts provided for the class were from Augustus’ “Res Getae Divi Augusti”, Dio Cassius’ “Roman History”, Tacitus’ “Annals”, Vergil’s “4th Eclogue”, and other various Augustus references.  Some of these pieces of information are better than the others for finding out exactly who Augustus was and what he did.  Augustus’ “Res Getae Divi Augusti” best classified his own experiences and accomplishments.  Augustus is a primary source for his own life and there is no one better to tell of his accomplishments.  However, this is not the best excerpt to read if you are looking for the best judge of his character and role as an Emperor.  It is better to at a secondary source such as the excerpts from the works of Dio Cassius and Tacitus because of a different and more honest opinion.  These two historians see Augustus as another king or dictator, but with a different name that is used as a covering to hide his true power in Rome.

Although the stories of Augustus’ reign are fascinating and colorful, how much of it is exactly accurate?  Most of the historians that write about him did not live back then.  I bet that if anyone living today became a great ruler and wrote about themselves, they would elaborate greatly about their life.  Most of what the person would write would be a huge stretch about how great they were and all they great things they did.  Instead of taking Augustus’ own accord of accomplishments word for word, we should take them with a grain of salt.  If we are to take exactly what he tells us as true, we must at least see that there is some fabrication of the truth in his tales. To find the truth, we must go through these secondary sources, because they are not favoring to anyone in history.  Instead, we get less biased accounts from modern historians since they can see history from a distance as a spectator

Vergil’s 4th Eclogue prophesizes the upcoming of a new hero.  This hero will reign over a great nation.  He will follow the footsteps of his father and do great things.  The hero will make a great peace throughout the nations and his impact will shake the world.  Does this not sound exactly like the great Augustus?  Augustus reigned over the Roman Empire, which is one of the strongest nations at that time.  August followed his father, Julius Caesar, in his place at the head of the government.  Augustus created the extended time of peace, known as the “Pax Romana”, throughout a great number of nations.  Augustus’ impact on the ancient world was enormous.  He conquered the tyranny that opposed the Roman Republic and killed his father on his own initiative and expenses.  From this, it is easy to see that the individual read about in Vergil’s 4th Eclogue is easily comparable to Augustus.  The two are almost completely identical in every single way.

Augustus’ life was monumental in the later years of the Roman Republic.  Without him, the Republic would have been in great dismay from the striking blow of Brutus, Cassius, and their forces.  By turning down these rebels with his own ambition and inheritance, Augustus was able to claim power in Rome and transform it into the Roman Empire.  He had the respect of a majority of the Roman citizens, soldiers, and officials.  His accomplishments, such as establishing the Pax Romana, greatly surpass many other individuals’ achievements.  The many excerpts provided are useful for learning about the life of Augustus.  His writings, although they tell us about his achievements, etc., do not tell us about character and role as an emperor.  Instead we need to refer to Tacitus and Dio Cassius, secondary sources that give us a different view of Augustus’ life.  Even though he has accomplished many great feats, we can’t take Augusts’ word for everything.  Augustus is so great that he is comparable to the character in Vergil’s 4th Eclogue.  We can see that Augustus is one of the greatest figures that history has ever experienced.  Through his achievements, Augustus shows that he is a prominent figure in Ancient Rome.