Res Gestae Augustus

Question 1

When was it written?

Answer 1

13BC

Question 2

Who does it seem to be written for?

Answer 2

• To the people of Rome, rather than the people of the Empire more generally.
• When he mentions public works or gifts made to the common people, he exclusively mentions those that took place in Rome.
• However, the Res Gestae was reproduced and displayed throughout the Empire after Augustus’ death

Question 3

Where was it found?

Answer 3

• Inscribed on bronze pillars set up outside the mausoleum, as requested in Augustus’ will
• These pillars are lost but the text was reproduced and displayer across the empire including at the Temple of Augustus and Rome in Ankara (Turkey)

Question 4

Themes?

Answer 4

Military power
Generosity
Restoration of the Republic
Religious authority
Moral leadership/Roman tradition
Dedication and similarity to JC-
Differences to JC
Peace (Pax Augusta)
Good leader (Princeps ideal)

Question 5

Evidence and analysis for military power:

Answer 5

Three times I celebrated curule triumphs
- Curule triumph- highest honor awarded to a Romang eneral for a significant victory over a foreign enemy.
- Avoids naming them- Actium was technically a civil war.

I freed the sea from pirates
- Control and security in Rome
- He’s actually referring to Sextus Pompey, deliberately not naming this civil conflict

I added Egypt to the empire of the Roman people
- Foreign victories

I recovered from Spain and Gaul and the Dalmations, after conquering the enemy, the military standards that had been lost by other generals
- Foreign victories, restoring Roman honour

I had extinguished civil wars
- ‘Extinguished’- Augustus attempts to hide his role in initiating these civil wars.
- For example, Augustus exposed Antony’s will to the Senate and consequently persuaded them to declare war on Cleopatra

Question 6

Evidence and analysis for generosity:

Answer 6

I freed the whole population from fear and immediate danger, at my own cost and effort (Of the grain scarcity in Rome)
- Augustus as protector of the people

I gave out to each man four hundred sesterces for the third time
- Emphasises consistency of his generosity

I paid out monetary rewards to soldiers… for this, I paid out four hundred million sesterces
- Huge sum of money- propaganda effect

Four times I helped the treasury with my own money
- Repeated image of self sacrifice

I rebuilt the Capitol and the Theatre of Pompey, both works at great expense.
- Shows his care for Rome
- Used to show visible power

Question 7

Evidence and analysis for republic restoration:

Answer 7

When the dictatorship was offered to me… I refused it
- Rejects tyranny, aligns himself with Republican values.
- In reality, he didn’t need the title of dictator, he already had that power

I transferred the republic from my power to the control of the senate and the Roman people
- In reality, he still had control over Egypt, Gaul, Syria and Spain, where twenty legions were stationed.
Spain- raw materials
Egypt- wealthy, grain
- Most Romans wouldn’t have been deceived by these claims
- Augustus had his army, important provinces and Caesar’s and antony’s inherited clientela

I surpassed all in influence, although I had no more power than those who were my colleagues in the magistracies
- Shows his equality with other magistrates, attempts at modesty

What the Senate wished me to do, I carried out through tribunician power
- Appearance of shared power, not actual political reality
- Shows that Augustus obeys the Senate.
- Tribunician power: gave them the right to veto the Senate and control legislation.

By a decree of the senate
- Repetition of Senate controlling his actions- deliberate propaganda.
- Suggests everything is official and approved when the Senate was in reality strongly controlled by Augustus

By the authority of the senate
- Suggests power originates from the Senate, when in reality Augustus held real authority

Question 8

Religious authority evidence and analysis:

Answer 8

I was pontifex maximus, augur…one of the seven priests responsible for sacred feasts
- Lists seven religious roles.
- Augustus held multiple religious offices, and was a central figure in Roman religion
- Pontifex Maximus- most powerful religious role in Rome

I brought back many examples of ancestral practices that were becoming obsolete
- Shows respect for tradition- mos maiorum
- Suggests decline before him= he is the solution

I restored 82 temples of the gods
- Huge number- impressive scale
- Physical rebuilding- visible religious commitment

Question 9

Moral leader + model Roman evidence and analysis:

Answer 9

I drove into exile those men who had murdered my father, avenging their deed by legal means
- Shows justice, loyalty to family and respect for the law. Still was part of civil war though

I pardoned all the citizens who asked for mercy
- Clementia is an important part of the mos maiorum, creates an image of moral superiority.

When the dictatorship was offered to me…. I refused it
- Rejection of tyranny and respect for Republican tradition.
Appeals to the strong Roman hatred of kingship and distances himself from Julius Caesar, despite still having the same, if not more, power as him.

I myself handed on many exemplary practices to posterity that could be imitated
- Positions himself as the standard of behaviour and a moral role model

A golden shield… given to me by the Senate and the people of Rome for my courage, clemency, justice and piety.
- Augustus official recognised for key virtues- virtus, clementia, iustitia, pietas: core Roman moral values.
- Not just Augustus claiming this, but these values are endorsed by the Senate and the people. His morality is presented as objectively recognised, not self-constructed.

I was triumvir for the organisation of the Republic for ten continuous years
- ‘Organisation’ Suggests at long-term improvement in Rome.
- However, this period included proscriptions and civil war.

Question 10

Dedication + similarities to JC evidence and analysis:

Answer 10

As victor, I pardoned all the citizens who asked for mercy
- Parallels Caesar’s clementia

I drove into exile those men who had murdered my father, avenging their deed by legal means
- Loyalty and filial duty
‘My father’ emphasises adopted relationship
‘Legal means’ makes him appear less violent and tyrannical

I was pontifex maximus
That priesthood that my father had held

I paid out from my father’s will three hundred sesterces
- Fulfils Caesar’s promises, shows his loyalty to his legacy
- ‘My father’ emphasises adopted relationship again

I completed… works started and almost completed by my father
- Shows continuity of Caesar’s vision

Question 11

Differences to JC evidence and analysis:

Answer 11

When the dictatorship was offered to me by the Senate and people, I refused it.
- Direct Caesar contrast

With Marcus Agrippa as consular colleague
- Power sharing: creates the appearance of collaboration

I transferred the republic from my power to the control of the senate and the Roman people
- Claims restoration when he still kept a lot of power

By the consent of the Senate and people of Rome, I alone was to be responsible for the laws and morals, with supreme powers
- Individual authority but done under the consent of everyone in Rome

Question 12

Pax Augusta evidence and analysis:

Answer 12

Games were celebrated frequently during my lifetime

The Senate voted to to consecrate an Altar of Augustan Peace… in the field of Mars

It had been closed twice in all recorded memory…. While i was first citizen, the Senate voted three times that it should be closed (Temple of Janus Quirinus)
- Rare historical event reinforces the level of Augustus’ accomplishments

I freed the sea from pirates
- Actually a civil war, Sextus Pompey

I had extinguished civil wars
- he played a central role in creating them!

Question 13

Good leader evidence and analysis:

Answer 13

Twice I earned ovations and three times I celebrated curule triumphs and I was named imperator twenty one times

Within a few days, I freed the whole population from fear and immediate danger

It had been closed twice in all recorded memory…. While i was first citizen, the Senate voted three times that it should be closed (Temple of Janus Quirinus)

I rebuilt aqueducts that had fallen into disrepair
- Improves daily life

The Senate and the equestrian order and the whole people of Rome gave me the title of pater patriae
- Implies his great care for and authority over Rome