Customer Reviews

Augustus (Roman Imperial Biographies)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Augustus is a legendary figure in Roman history. For us, and the later Roman world, he is a mythical figure, an image of himself that Augustus helped to foster. He is the god-like archetypal father of his country. In this new biography, Pat Southern has succeeded (as much as can be done) in penetrating behind the mask to give us the man behind the legend.

Her opening chapters brilliantly relate the background of Roman history prior to the career of Octavian. She does a remarkable job of untangling the politiacal web of late Republican politics and placing the figures of Julius Caesar, Pompey, Crassus, Mark Antony and Cleopatra into perspective. She guides us along the very difficult and tortuous route that brought Octavian , the non-entity equestrian, to become the adoptive son of Caesar, the Triumver and finally the beloved ruler of the Roman world.

It is easy to take for granted that Augustus would become the eventual victor in the power struggle following the assassination of Caesar. It is a period populated by meny men who had their eyes on becoming the sole ruler of the Roman empire. Ms. Southern takes us step by step, including the mistakes made by Octavian. In this she reveals much about the personalities of the participants but Roman society.

This is a scholarly book. You will find Mark Antony referred to by his correct name Marcus Antonius; and Pompey is Pompeius. It is a scholarly book that is well written and also even exciting to read at times. She knows her material and has written a thoughtful biography that is the best portrait of Augustus, the man and princeps, that we have.

While clearly well-researched with extensive endnotes and references, I found this treatment of the life of a truly fascinating historical figure to be generally uninsightful. The author manages to paint a fairly vanilla portrait of Augustus and in my opinion does not present a compelling rationale for *why* he did some of the things he did. That being said, reading this book is not wasted time. It presents the who, what, when, where, and how of Augustus' life very clearly and concisely. And as always, the quality of the production of this Routledge book is extremely high.

Augustus, the adopted son of Gaius Julius Caesar, had a genius for politics. Upon the murder of Caesar in 44 BC, Octavian, as he was known then, painstakingly plotted his path to autocratic rule. Establishing the second Triumvirate which included himself, Marc Antony, and Lepidus, Octavian merely waited for his partners to self-destruct (with a little help from himself) before "unwillingly" accepting the adulation and sole leadership of Rome and it's provinces.

Careful to avoid the missteps of his deified father, Augustus created an environment whereby the Senate appeared to have a say in governance, but for all practical purposes did not. Thus, he oversaw the death throes of Republican Rome and established the foundation for emperors to come.

Pat Southern has written a short, though precise account of this time that both informs and provokes. Questioning the traditional Augustinian lore, Southern gives his readers much to ponder. Both the casual and specialized reader will enjoy this book for it's utilitarian brevity and it's pace. Augustus, by Pat Southern, deserves a solid 4 stars and a place among the bookshelves of all interested in early Rome.

Overall, this was a good biography of Augustus. The author clearly resarched the subject thoroughly. The book does a very good job of portraying Augustus, his personality, and those closest to him. In some ways, the book is almost too focused on Augustus, without adequate attention to the background of Roman society. While the author does address background factors, these sometimes seem to get lost in the very detailed focus on Augustus himself. This book would probably be most enjoyed by those looking for a fairly academic approach, and those who have read other books on Augustus. Despite some of my misgivings, I still recommend this book. I enjoyed it, and learned from it.

Don't waste your time on Anthony Everett's pop bio of Augustus, unless you're a complete neophyte to Roman history. Southern's bio makes the Everett book superfluous.

Southern is comprehensive, judicious, and readable. She's up front about issues with the ancient sources where she needs to be, and thrashes out lesser issues in the endnotes. And while her wit isn't so broad as Everett's, she does enliven the text with the occasional flash of humor, such as remarking that the Senate rejected Octavian's first request that he be made a consul, "probably after they stopped laughing." (Octavian of course laughed last.)

Augustus will always be a mystery, but this is the best book I know towards figuring out what he did and what he was like. Of course, anyone really curious should also pick up Suetonius's brief "Life" as well.

This is a very interesting work. Pat Southern carefully examines the life and career of the great "son" of Caesar by digging deeper than the image and instead exploring the many factors, and the many possibilites that are neccessary for a complete evaluation.

There is much ambiguity surrounding the "Princeps" and the facts that Roman authors have published about their leader. Southern questions, attacks and clarifies these so called facts while penetrating thru the propaganda in an effort to uncover the real truth and expose the real circumstances surrounding the man.

For this reason alone, this book is as much a success as it is a wonderful reading experience. Not only is this book a great biography, but many lessons can be learned by the example Augustus has set in the political and the image making arena.

They are quite a few selections for a bioghraphy of Augustus and I chose Pat Southern's work based on other reviews. Thanfully, I was not dissappointed and can easily recommend this solid biography of Augustus. It is a straightforward and informative biography that is easy to read and covers all of the important aspects of Augustus' life. While the writing is not exceptional, it is very easy to follow and the book is well organized. The only minor weakness is that the author does not go into alot of detail regarding the specifics of the government structure of the Roman Republic and many terms such as Quaestor, Praetor, Consul, and Aedile may be a bit confusing to put in context if you are not familiar with those terms in the context of Ancient Roman history. I am currently reading a biography of Cicero by Anthony Everitt and he does a better job in this regard. Those who are new to the subject may wish to read Everitt's biography of Augustus instead. Southern is superior, however, in the presentation of relevant scholarly discussion and analysis and will most appeal to those readers who would like a more in depth biography. While it did not quite reach 5 star status for me, it is definitely a solid 4 stars and highly recommended to anyone looking for a scholarly but readable biography of Augustus.

This book is very different from the biographies of Trajan and Hadrian from the same series/publisher. Those are probably great works of scholarship but rather boring to read. This one is an intelligent and sometimes even funny description of my life.