History sees Augustus Caesar as the first emperor of Rome, whose system of ordered government provided a firm and stable basis for the expansion and prosperity of the Roman Empire. Hailed as 'restorer of the Republic' and regarded by some as a deity in his own lifetime, Augustus was emulated by many of his successors. David Shotter reviews the evidence in order to place Augustus firmly in the context of his own times.
Caesar was a force, whether for good or ill. How you see him depends on your politics. Caesar had become dictator for life at the time of his assassination on the Ides of March 44 B.C. Augustus completed Caesar's move to autocracy when he changed the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Tatum argues by doing so Augustus provided something better than what the Republic had to offer: Where the Republic offered great men, like Sulla, Pompey, and Caesar, the chance to make names for themselves and their posterity, Augustus offered peace and security. Tatum argues this conclusion well, if unconvincingly.
Incorporating the most recent scholarship, this book offers a fascinating history of Rome and the Roman peoples during the rule of the first Roman emperor, Augustus. Written in an easily accessible style, making it the ideal introduction to Augustan Rome for those with little previous knowledge.
The principal theme of this work is the process of consolidation of the Graeco-Roman world under the emperor Augustus. The book is the first to examine in detail the relations between Rome and the Greek-speaking peoples at this pivotal point in Roman history. Attention is paid to links with republican patterns of diplomacy as well as to adumbrations of the second-century empire. No attempt has been made to furnish a narrative account of familiar material.
One of the most recognizable names to the ancient and modern worlds, Caesar is one of the few figures from the Roman Empire--Cicero and Augustus are two others--susceptible to modern biographical treatment.
