Augustus Flashcards
Early life
nephew of caesar - becomes head of the family after his death
obtains backing of caesars generals- helps him greatly after brutus is dead when he turns on mark antony
proscriptions - 300 senators and 2000 equitaes killed
settlement of soldiers
recognition of caesars divinity
adds imperator to name
mark antony
marries octavians sister- octavia
spits up of empire- antony gets east
bad reputation - relationship with cleopatra
end of antony
octavian reads his will (illegally)- he is to buried in alexandria with cleopatra
excuse to start war
culminated in battle of actium -31BC- west coast of greece
antony flees when things start to go badly
30BC- antony and cleopatra commit suicide
their kids get accepted into the domus augusti
urban administration of rome
by 28BC- claimed to have restored 82 temples
importance of egypt- they controlled grian supply to city
improved aqueducts
return to republican values - seen in orations
building works
house of augustus - residence on palatine hill
temple of apollo - connected to his house- held court there
forum of augustus - powerbase with temple of jupiter ultor
2 new theatres (Marcelli and Balbus)- not under his name though
campus martius- included mausoleum
a lot done by agrippa
perceptions of power
attempt to run that state in a traditonal way - strong rome yet internally peaceful (people buy this)
viewed equally as brave warrior and religious figure
pontifex maximus - waited unti lepidus dies in 12BC
buys buildings to knock down at fair price
augustan imperialism
ends civil war makes 'freinds' with kings wars in the west armies in germany standards back form pergamon
herod the great
main source - josefus seen as 'great survivor' - always on right side of whatever conflict temple of david in jerusalem cities built- hebron, jerusalem villas- herodium, kypros
western wars
alpine war, pannonion war
lots of archaeology and architecture
planned like little cities
germany
expeditions along the rhine beyond empire
waldgrimes - planned town (not military)- shows romans to consider germany part of empire
varus- governor
herman -allie of varus then leads attack agaisnt him
3 legions killed
octavian as sole ruler
31-23- consul every year
27- becomes augustus
- first constitutional settlement
23- second constitutional settlement
avoids extraordinary office yet accumulates offices in unprecedented way
19- lifetime grand consul etcfamily
domus- almost as important as augustus
after 19BC- all triumphs for emperor or domus
julia- scandal of having an affair- one of augustus’ reforms
succession - marcellus and agrippa both die - they were preferred to tiberius, who got it
restoration of social ideology
overhaul of constitution through rhetoric
attempt to not have same mistakes as caesar- puts legacy at arms length
agricultural and social fertility - everyone dead because of proscriptions so need more people
reinvention of octavian as augustus
the senate
re-negotiation of senatorial class - still important, not much practical power
reduction in size, raising of census threshold
new role for senate as chamber and law court - old power largely given to princeps
aesthetic power - costume, seating at games etc
moral legislation
bribery to acheive office
marriage limited to class
adultery - father permitted to kill- husbands forced o divorce
women have 2 years to marry after death of husband, 18 months after divorce
equitaes
creation of second tier order
judicial and roles as governors
by end of 2nd C. Ad- filled important roles in imperial househols staff, displacing freedmen
beyond the city
oaths of loyalty to augustus and domus
new roles fro plebs and freedmen (less politically threatening)
new municipalities - morelike a city-state
cults of augustus
augustus as religious figure
accumulation of religious offices
object of religious activity (oaths)
changing of month of sextilius to augustus
justified office through religious social and moral decline
restoration of ancestoral practices
flamen dialis- vacant for 70 years, brought back
religious revivals
burning of texts other than sibylline books
increasing number of priests and vestels
revival of lupercalia
protection of jewish freedom to worship
laws protecting graves and sanctuaries
religious golden age?
mixing religion with augustus
calendar- lots of festivals for him and family
temple of apollo part of home
imperial cult
deification
imperial cult
difference in worship when alive and when dead
greeks traditionally worship people when still alive eg alexander - so do this but weird for romans
oaths to augustus - empire-wide demonstration of allegiance
temple of rome and augustus at ancyra - res gestae
deification
declared immortal by senate
got own priests etc
temple erected in rome
primary sources
res gestae- justifying his actions/creating a legacy
-conscious effort to not be like caesar
-seems to be reacting to events rather than drving them
suetonius - 2nd C. AD hindsight
- much more negative view of augustus
- shows why augustus had to work to hard to reinvent himself
- no need to prevent sanitised view anymore
secondary source
J. A. Crook- augustus did not plan to initiate an empire, merely took advantage of the situations presented to him
