Aurelian

Scandal in 2 b. c.e. and was exiled. This left Augustus with only Tiberius to aid him, something that Livia had always desired. In 3 c. e., Augustus accepted 10 more years of rule. The fact that Tiberius was destined to succeed him became evident in 13 c. e., when he was granted full tribunicia potestas and imperium proconsulare. Augustus placed his will with the Vestal Virgins and fell ill in 14, dying on August 29. Tiberius, who was on his way to Illyricum, was summoned back to assume the position of princeps. On the 17th of September, Augustus was deified by the Senate of Rome.

Octavian, or Augustus, was a figure of immensely human proportions, despite his auctoritas and eventual divinity Suetonius wrote that he was remarkably handsome, of graceful gait but often less than immaculate appearance. His teeth were decayed, and his messily tended hair was yellow. Although he was only five feet, seven inches tall (perhaps less), he was elegantly proportioned. His health was always a concern. There was a weakness in his left hip and right forefinger, and ringworm was probably present. More importantly, Augustus fought terrible bouts of illness: abscessed liver, influenza and seasonal complaints. The worst came in 23 b. c.e., when it was generally believed that he would die. His private physician, Antonius Musa, managed to heal him.

A practical man, no great luxuries were kept in the palace, and his furnishings, like his diet and dress, were simple. He mistrusted the mob, disliked large crowds, and once, during the civil Wars, had to be rescued by Marc Antony from a group of rioters.

Augustus was educated in rhetoric and studied with Apollodorus of Pergamum, from whom he learned Greek. Areus, a philosopher, and his sons Dionysius and Nica-nor also provided elements of Augustus’s education. Although he never mastered Greek, he was a patron of Greek poetry and intellectuals in general, especially writers and philosophers. He himself possessed literary aspirations.

Most of Augustus’s writings are not extant. Only the famous Res Gestae, which listed his achievements, was preserved, in inscriptions, from antiquity Augustus also penned an attack on Brutus’s Eulogy of Cato, a philosophical treatise and an autobiography of 13 books. Attempts at poetry and tragedy were made in his short poem, Sicily, and in his Epiphanus and Ajax. He destroyed Ajax himself. His style was simple but idiomatic, with numerous peculiarities of grammar and spelling.

Suggested Readings: Baker, G. P Augustus. New York: Cooper Square Press, 2000; Southern, Pat. Augustus. New York: Routledge, 1998; Bowersock, Glen W Augustus and the Greek World. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965; Braund, David. Augustus to Nero: A Sourcebook on Roman History

31 B. C.—A. D. 68. London: Croom Helm, c1985;-.

The Early Principate: Augustus to Trajan. Oxford: Claren

Don Press, 1982; Reinhold, Meyer, ed., The Golden Age of Augustus. Toronto: S. Stevens, 1978; Gurval, Robert. Actium and Augustus: The Politics and Emotions of Civil War Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1998; Millar, Fergus, and Erich Segal, eds. Caesar Augustus: Seven Aspects. New York: Clarendon Press, 1984; The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus. Translated by Alan Shapiro. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, c1988;

Raaflaub, Kurt A., and Mark Toher, eds. Between Republic and Empire: Interpretations of Augustus and His Principate. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990; Suetonius The Twelve Caesars. Translated and with an introduction by Michael Grant. New York: Penguin, 1979; Tacitus, Cornelius. Empire and Emperors: Selections from Tacitus’ Annals. Translated by Graham Tingay New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983; -. The Annals of

Imperial Rome. Translated and with an introduction by

Michael Grant. New York: Penguin, 1964; -.

Annales. Edited by Henry Furneaux. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965.