Augustus was a Roman statesman and military leader who was the first Emperor of the Roman Empire, controlling Imperial Rome from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. His status as the founder of the Roman Principate has consolidated an enduring legacy as one of the most effective and controversial leaders in human history.He was born Gaius Octavius Thurinus into an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian gens Octavia. His maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, and Octavius was named in Caesar's will as his adopted son and heir. Along with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus, he formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat the assassins of Caesar. Following their victory at the Battle of Philippi, the Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as military dictators. The Triumvirate was eventually torn apart by the competing ambitions of its members. Lepidus was driven into exile and stripped of his position, and Antony committed suicide following his defeat at the Battle of Actium by Octavian in 31 BC.
After the demise of the Second Triumvirate, Augustus restored the outward façade of the free Republic, with governmental power vested in the Roman Senate, the executive magistrates, and the legislative assemblies. In reality, however, he retained his autocratic power over the Republic as a military dictator. By law, Augustus held a collection of powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including supreme military command, and those of tribune and censor. It took several years for Augustus to develop the framework within which a formally republican state could be led under his sole rule. He rejected monarchical titles, and instead called himself Princeps Civitatis . The resulting constitutional framework became known as the Principate, the first phase of the Roman Empire.
The reign of Augustus initiated an era of relative peace known as the Pax Romana. The Roman world was largely free from large-scale conflict for more than two centuries, despite continuous wars of imperial expansion on the Empire's frontiers and the year-long civil war known as the "Year of the Four Emperors" over the imperial succession. Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia, expanding possessions in Africa, and completing the conquest of Hispania, but suffered a major setback in Germania. Beyond the frontiers, he secured the Empire with a buffer region of client states and made peace with the Parthian Empire through diplomacy. He reformed the Roman system of taxation, developed networks of roads with an official courier system, established a standing army, established the Praetorian Guard, created official police and fire-fighting services for Rome, and rebuilt much of the city during his reign. Augustus died in AD 14 at the age of 75, probably from natural causes. However, there were unconfirmed rumors that his wife Livia poisoned him. He was succeeded as emperor by his adopted son Tiberius.
“I came to see a king, not a row of corpses.”
After having visited the mausoleum of Alexander the Great in Alexandria, Augustus was asked if he also wanted to visit the mausoleum of the Ptolemies; in Suetonius, Divus Augustus, paragraph 16. Translation: Robert Graves, 1957.
“Ah, never to have married, and childless to have died!”
Quoting Homer's Iliad. Augustus was frequently disappointed in the conduct of his daughter Julia; in Suetonius, Divus Augustus, paragraph 65. Translation: Robert Graves, 1957.
Res Gestae Divi Augusti
“Have I played the part well? Then applaud as I exit.”
Statement made as he was dying, as quoted in The Fall of the Roman Empire (2007) by Rita J. Markel, p. 126
“Whatever is done well enough is done quickly enough.”
Sat celeriter fieri, quidquid fiat satis bene.
In Suetonius, Lives of the Twelve Caesars, II., 25.
Cf. Shakespeare, Macbeth I. vii, "If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done quickly".
“Goodbye, Livia; remember our marriage!”
Livia, nostri coniugii memor vive, ac vale!
Said to his wife Livia on his deathbed; in Suetonius, Divus Augustus, paragraph 99. Translation: Robert Graves, 1957.
“My dear Tiberius, you must not give way to youthful emotion or take it to heart if anyone speaks ill of me; let us be satisfied if we can make people stop short at unkind words.”
Aetati tuae, mi Tiberi, noli in hac re indulgere et nimium indignari quemquam esse, qui de me male loquatur; satis est enim, si hoc habemus ne quis nobis male facere possit.
Suetonius, Divus Augustus, paragraph 51. Translation: Robert Graves, 1957.
Res Gestae Divi Augusti
The grain supply to the city of Rome was a contentious political issue; in Suetonius, Divus Augustus, paragraph 42. Translation: Robert Graves, 1957.
From a speech regarding the morality laws of Lex Julia. Livy's account states the speech was plagiarized by Augustus from another by Q. Metellus (Periochae 59.9). A fragment of this original speech (quoted) is preserved by A. Gellius (Noctes Atticae 1.6).
Original: (la) Si sine uxore pati possemus, Quirites, omnes ea molestia careremus; set quoniam ita natura tradidit, ut nec cum illis satis commode, nec sine illis ullo modo vivi possit, saluti perpetuae potius quam brevi voluptati consulendum est.
Source: [http://www.unrv.com/government/julianmarri
“Quintilius Varus, give me back my legions!”
Said of Publius Quinctilius Varus, who commanded the three legions lost at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest; in Suetonius, Divus Augustus, paragraph 23. Translation: Robert Graves, 1957.
Postquam bis classe victus naves perdidit, Aliquando ut vincat, ludit assidue aleam.
A popular rhyme at the time of the Sicilian war, mocking Augustus' habit of playing dice; in Suetonius, Divus Augustus, paragraph 70. Translation: Robert Graves, 1957.
“The whole of Italy swore allegiance to me.”
Iuravit in mea verba tota Italia.
XXV, 3-4. Translation by Thomas Bushnell
Res Gestae Divi Augusti
“To seek to keep the established constitution unchanged argues a good citizen and a good man.”
Of Cato, as quoted in An Examination of the Isis Cult with Preliminary Exploration into New Testament Studies (2008) by Elizabeth A. McCabe
“Behold them, conquerors of the world, the toga-clad race of Romans!”
En Romanos, rerum dominos, gentemque togatam!
Said disparagingly of a group of men in cloaks, quoting Virgil's The Aeneid. Augustus allowed only those wearing a toga and no cloak to enter the Forum; in Suetonius, Divus Augustus, paragraph 40. Translation: Robert Graves, 1957.
Suetonius, Divus Augustus, paragraph 28.
Referring to the faction of Marcus Antonius.
Res Gestae Divi Augusti
As quoted in Houghton, Mifflin, Familiar Short Sayings of Great Men (1882), p. 25
Variant translations: "Hurry slowly"; or, "Hasten slowly." Originally quoted in Greek, in Suetonius, II. Augustus, section 25, but better known in the Latin form, as reported in Chambers Dictionary of Quotations (1997), p. 50
Marcus Antonius, taunting Augustus for his conduct during the Sicilian war against Sextus Pompey in 36 BC; in Suetonius, Divus Augustus, paragraph 16. Translation: Robert Graves, 1957.
“He could boast that he inherited it brick and left it marble.”
Suetonius, of Augustus and the city of Rome, in Lives of the Caesars, Divus Augustus, XXVIII, 3.
“I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.”
Marmoream relinquo, quam latericiam accepi.
Quoted in Svetonius, Lives of the Cesars, Aug., XXVIII, 3
