The Roman History: The Reign of Augustus (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Cassius Dio (Author), Ian Scott-Kilvert (Translator), John Carter (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 7, 1987 | ISBN-10: 0140444483 | ISBN-13: 978-0140444483

Augustus Caesar, the first emperor of Rome (27 BC AD 14), brought peace and prosperity to his city after decades of savage civil war. This selection from Cassius Dio's Roman History gives the fullest description of that long struggle and ultimate triumph detailing the brutal battles and political feuds that led to the collapse of Rome's 400-year-old republic, and Augustus' subsequent reign as emperor. Included are accounts of military campaigns from Ethiopia to Yugoslavia, and of long conflict with Antony and Cleopatra. With skill and artistry, Dio brings to life many speeches from the era among them Augustus' damning indictment of Antony's passion for the Egyptian queen and provides a fascinating account of the debate between the great general Agrippa and Maecenas on the virtues of republicanism and monarchy.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, Greek (translation)

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (July 7, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140444483
• ISBN-13: 978-0140444483
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #392,198 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More Urban Legend Than History, September 3, 2002

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R. A Forczyk (MD, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Roman History: The Reign of Augustus (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Compared to well-written ancient histories by Tacitus, Suetonius or Ammianus Marcellinus, Cassius Dio's history of the reign of Augustus is a great disappointment. Cassius Dio was a Greek (c. 163-235 AD) who wrote the history about 214-226 AD. Although Dio was well educated, his approach is far less methodical and tends to focus on what would now be called "urban legends." Throughout these pages, there is a seemingly endless recounting of strange incidents and oddities involving sea monsters, odd sounds, weird apparitions, statues frowning or bleeding, tigers, swarms of ants or bees, flames, wolves, comets, owls and even crows dropping "flaming fragments of meat." At times the reader will be embarrassed for Cassius Dio and wish that some of these pages had been lost to posterity. While there is no doubt that Dio does offer a full account of sorts of the reign of Augustus, there is little information that is not better presented by Suetonius or Tacitus.

The history consists of seven books (chapters), numbered 50-56, that cover the period 32 BC to 14 AD. While there are some missing parts, these are not very significant. The Penguin edition begins with a 29 page introduction that is interesting and informative. There are a series of maps that cover most of the empire in this period but as usual, Penguin omits to cover the crucial area of the Balkans. Much of the campaigns of Tiberius, Drusus and Germanicus in Dacia and Moesia that are mentioned in the history are not depicted on any of the maps.

The history begins with two books covering the confrontation between Mark Antony and Octavian. While interesting, the account is very superficial and the decisive Battle of Actium is glossed over with little detail. Book 52, which covers the infamous "debate" between Agrippa and Maecenas about the virtues of monarchy and democracy, is a 37-page historical wasteland. Aside from the obvious fact that the author inserted this fictional dialogue to expound his own theories of government, much of the dialogue is inconsistent with the characters and of little practical historical value.

The history gets back on track with the narrative in Book 53 and Dio does discuss interesting aspects of the development of the principate in the early years. For example, to maintain the pretense of senatorial rule, Augustus allowed the senate to administer the interior provinces of the empire while he governed the frontier provinces. However since the Roman army was only deployed in the frontier provinces, Augustus effectively controlled all the military resources in the empire (including his Praetorian Guard). Dio also mentions the Roman expedition down the Red Sea in 24 BC, which reached as far as modern-day Yemen. There is also considerable detail on the Imperial family in the last half of the book, which fans of "I Claudius" will find interesting, and readers will note how Robert Graves used rumors of imperial plots and conspiracies mentioned by Dio to weave his tale.

The last two books, 55 and 56, are the most interesting from the point of view of the military historian. Although Dio rarely goes into great detail, he does discuss the campaigns of Tiberius, Drusus and Germanicus at some length. On pages 213-215, Dio provides an order of battle for the legions, the origin of each legion and a discussion of the military budget. It is interesting that initially Augustus paid military pensions out of his own funds and then reverted to a 5% death inheritance tax to supplement the military budget; it is apparent from Dio that the Roman army in Augustus' time was maintained on a financial shoestring. The Battle of Teutobergerwald is also discussed and Dio suggests that the Romans were lulled into a false sense of security by conspiring German tribes and committed the mistake of making an essentially administrative road march (complete with camp followers) through hostile territory. After this catastrophe, Augustus was hard-pressed to scrape up replacements and was forced to conscript freedmen by lots and execute malingerers. Clearly, the Roman Empire had no reserve military capacity - it was all in the window. Finally, Dio concludes that the main contribution of Augustus was the length of his 44-year reign, which provided vital stability to Rome. By the time that Augustus died, Romans had grown accustomed to monarchy and did not yearn for an unfamiliar Republic (which brought back distant memories of civil war).

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A must read for those interested in Roman history, May 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Roman History: The Reign of Augustus (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Cassius Dio wrote his extensive history of Rome in the later days of the empire. This book by Penguin is the part of the history devoted to the reign of Octavian Caesar, better known as Augustus, the founder of the Roman empire and its first Princep. Dio closely parallels the historical writing of Greek historian Thucydides, in that he is not above putting fictitious speeches in his work to convey a point. Still, his outline of the system that Augustus formed is excellent, and he also gives us a nice account of Actium, the battle in which Agrippa and Augustus defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra. I look forward to reading his entire extant books someday.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars An essential read in Roman history, March 26, 2001

By 

Frank Bierbrauer (Cardiff, Wales, UK) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Roman History: The Reign of Augustus (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Dio's Roman History:the reign of Augustus, is an essential read in the range of Roman history texts which cover this important era in Roman history when the Republic came to an end and the Empire began.

Dio stands in strong contrast to Tacitus writing of the same period in that Dio isn't anywhere near as entertaining and appears far more pragmatic although as other reviewers have noted the style is one of history as a consequence of the fitness of the rulers to rule. As such, there is nothing wrong with this, it must be remembered that at the time Dio lived the Empire was in dire straits after the succession of Severus to be followed by a virtual plague of civil wars and barbarian attacks which were overcome with difficulty and it stands as a testimony to the rulers during this period that the Empire survived. This then is the viewpoint from which Dio writes. He doesn't let Augustus appear too much of a demi-god but also brings out his weaknesses and does not just praise him but rather explains how he was able to reign so well with the help of extremely able men such as Agrippa and Maecenas and the leadership of Drusus.

Unfortunately the book is interspersed with numerous "created" speeches which don't ring true, rather different from Tacitus where they certainly sound more genuine. Also it covers far better the events in the capital than in the provinces and more detail as regards the campaigns in Germany would have been illuminating.

Nonethelss a good book, well worth it for a study of the style of Roman scholarship of the time.