Caesar Augustus was the hinge figure in Roman history, the man who effectively ended the crisis of the Roman Republic by creating a new Imperial system, forged out of the discarded materials of Rome's republican tradition. He ruled, as the first Roman emperor, from 27 BCE to 14 CE. In the year 14 CE, shortly before his death, Augustus composed The Achievements of the Divine Augustus, an account of his life’s work intended to burnish his reputation for posterity. It’s an impressive list of achievements, attesting to a brilliant career that left Rome and its empire forever changed. In creating the Imperial system, Augustus showed consummate political skill, shrewdly maneuvering among Rome’s different factions in the army and government. What kinds of achievements does Augustus stress in arguing his case for posterity? What do these things tell us about his political skills, and his needs to satisfy the different power bases of ancient Rome?

Caesar Augustus was the hinge figure in Roman history, the man who effectively ended the crisis of the Roman Republic by creating a new Imperial system, forged out of the discarded materials of Rome's republican tradition. He ruled, as the first Roman emperor, from 27 BCE to 14 CE. In the year 14 CE, shortly before his death, Augustus composed The Achievements of the Divine Augustus, an account of his life’s work intended to burnish his reputation for posterity. It’s an impressive list of achievements, attesting to a brilliant career that left Rome and its empire forever changed. In creating the Imperial system, Augustus showed consummate political skill, shrewdly maneuvering among Rome’s different factions in the army and government. What kinds of achievements does Augustus stress in arguing his case for posterity? What do these things tell us about his political skills, and his needs to satisfy the different power bases of ancient Rome?