Image of the Mausoleum of Augustus in Rome, Italy.
Sometime before his death, the famed Roman Emperor Augustus commissioned a grand Mausoleum to be built in the Campus Martius. As the first Emperor of the Roman Empire, he was a man of immense wealth and power, and his Mausoleum reflected that as such. A grand spectacle to behold, the domed structure had a diameter of 300 meters and stood at 45 meters tall. Although initially designed for himself, the building also housed the remains of several family members: adopted sons Lucius and Gaius, sister Octavia, friend Agrippa, and nephew Marcellus. The inside of the Mausoleum was decorated with large bronze tablets, which contained an inscription titled “Res Gestae Divi Augusti” and translates to “The Achievements of the Deified Augustus.” Although the bronze tablets within the Mausoleum did not survive, the inscription was replicated on temples and monuments throughout the Roman Empire. The most well preserved engraving was found on a temple dedicated to Augustus in Ankara, Turkey.
The inscription, written in latin, is an autobiography created by Augustus just before his death in AD 14. Rather lengthy in composition, totaling 35 paragraphs in all, it details the significant accomplishments of his life. Generally, the work can be grouped into four topics: political career, public benefactions, military accomplishments, and a political statement.
Political Career (paragraphs 2-14)
“At the age of nineteen […] I raised an army, with which I successfully championed the liberty of the republic […] I drove into exile the murderers of my father […] I undertook many civil and foreign wars by land and sea throughout the world, and as victor I spared the lives of all citizens who asked for mercy. […] I celebrated two ovations and three curule triumphs and I was twenty-one times saluted as imperator. The dictatorship was offered to me by both senate and people […], but I refused it. […] I was triumvir for the organization of the republic for ten consecutive years, [and] […] I have been princeps senatus for forty years.”
Public Benefactions (paragraphs 15-24):
Image of the “Res Gestae Divi Augusti” inscription from the temple in Ankara, Turkey.
“[…]Four times I assisted the treasury with my own money, so that I transferred to the administrators of the treasury 150,000,000 sesterces . […] I made distributions of grain and money from my own granary and patrimony, sometimes to 100,000 persons […]. I built the Senate House, and the Chalcidicum adjacent to it, the temple of Apollo […], the temple of the divine Julius, the Lupercal, [and many, many more]. I restored the Capitol and the theatre of Pompey, both works at great expense without inscribing my own name on either. I restored the channels of the aqueducts […] I gave three gladiatorial games in my own name and five in that of my sons or grandsons; at these games some 10,000 men took part in combat.”
Military Accomplishments (paragraphs 25-33):
“I made the sea peaceful and freed it of pirates. The whole of Italy of its own free will swore allegiance to me and demanded me as the leader in the war […]. I brought peace to the Gallic and Spanish provinces as well as to Germany […] I added Egypt to the empire of the Roman people. […] I founded colonies of soldiers in Africa, Sicily, Macedonia, both Spanish provinces, Achaea, Asia, Syria, Gallia Narbonensis and Pisidia.”
Political Statement (paragraphs 34-35):
“For this service of mine I was named Augustus by the decree of the […] senate and people of Rome on account of my courage, clemency, justice, and piety. […] In my thirteenth consulship the senate, the equestrian order and the whole people of Rome gave me title of Father of my Country […]. At the time of writing I am in my seventy-sixth year.”
Augustus describes in great detail the tremendous accomplishments in this brief autobiography, and he utilized it as a public justification of his reign. The autobiography does not cover his life in its entirety; instead the narration commences when his political career began– at the age of nineteen year old. Life events prior to the death of his adoptive father Julius Caesar did not contribute significantly to his political career; therefore, they were excluded from the inscription. Additionally, the inscription does not provide accurate, factual accounts of every event that occurred in Augustus’ reign; he selected the events that would portray him as a great leader. Consequently, there were no accounts of any mistakes or misgivings from his time as Emperor in his autobiography. As a result, the piece becomes propaganda for his reign as the Emperor of Rome.
Beyond the physical accomplishments Augustus achieved—constructing temples, expanding Roman territory, fixing public works, and more—the late Emperor also paints himself as an altruistic, pious, and benevolent leader. According to the inscription he was offered a dictatorship role twice, but he refused both times. This particular statement portrays Augustus as an altruistic man of the people, because it demonstrated that he was not after power. He only wanted temporary power, in order to improve and expand the Empire on behalf of the people. Furthermore, the autobiography says that Augustus restored both the Capitol and theatre of Pompey; however, he did not accredit himself the restoration of the buildings. The public would have viewed as a humble and selfless act, because it places his devotion to the improving the city of Rome over any self motivated intentions he may have had.
Although the factuality and accuracy of his moral character could be exaggerated in the “Res Gestae Divi Augusti”, it is clear that Augustus accomplished great feats in his time as Emperor. The inscriptions—replicated throughout the Roman Empire—stood as permanent propaganda , which would remind the public of his accomplishments, even after his death.
References
Brunt, P.A., Moore, J.M. (1969). trans. The Deeds of the Divine Augustus. Augustus (AD 13-14). Accessed May 5, 2021, https://droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/Anglica/resgest_engl.htm
Connected Mediterranean (2017). “Connected by cult: A case study of the temple of Ancient Ancyra,” accessed May 13, 2021, https://connectedmediterranean.weebly.com/ancyra.html
Livius, “Augustus, Res Gestae”, Article on ancient history, accessed May 5, 2021, https://www.livius.org/sources/content/augustus-res-gestae/
Mandal, Dattatreya (2016) “3D reconstruction provides insights into the magnificent Mausoleum of Augustus,” Realm of History: The Future Lies in the Past, accessed May 13, 2021, https://www.realmofhistory.com/2016/03/10/3d-reconstruction-mausoleum-of-augustus/