# Augustus  ## Metadata - Author: [[Adrian Goldsworthy]] - Full Title: Augustus - Category: #books ## Highlights - Augustus was aware of his public image, but then all Roman politicians advertised their own and their families’ merits and achievements at every opportunity. Mark Antony still has a reputation as an experienced and capable general that has far more to do with his own propaganda than his actual military experience and abilities. The big difference with Augustus was that he had so much longer to develop and spread his message, as well as vastly greater resources than anyone else. ([Location 151](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=151)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Imperator is the Latin word from which we get our word emperor, but it did not have this sense in Augustus’ day. He called himself princeps, which means ‘first’ or ‘leading’ citizen, and this was how other Romans referred to him. If we call him emperor, then we are imposing a different concept onto his regime, one shaped by hindsight and the knowledge that Rome would be a monarchy for many centuries to come. ([Location 176](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=176)) - Tags: [[blue]] - In his willingness to kill his enemies he was no better or worse than the other warlords to appear at that time. Julius Caesar had been different, and had pardoned Brutus, Cassius and several of the other men who later stabbed him to death – a point Augustus, Antony and Lepidus made when they posted death lists of their enemies. ([Location 205](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=205)) - Tags: [[blue]] - many scholars follow Syme and take this much further, asserting that Augustus very deliberately distanced himself from Julius Caesar the man – as opposed to the divine Julius – once he had beaten Antony and become master of the state. The idea is convenient, at a glance seems to explain their differing fates, and is repeated again and again, making it unfortunate that there is no evidence to support it. In the first place the comparison is flawed, since it is inevitably drawn to the situations of Julius Caesar at the end of 45 BC and Augustus after Actium. No one seems to notice that the former had only just completed his victory in a hard-fought civil war and during the last five years of his life had spent very little time in Rome. For all his energy, there were limits to what Julius Caesar could achieve during such a brief and frequently interrupted period of supremacy. In contrast, by the time he had beaten Antony, Augustus had held unfettered power as triumvir for over a decade – and for the bulk of that time was in Rome and Italy without either of his colleagues. To begin after Actium ignores these long years when he cemented his control by a combination of force and the advancement of men loyal to him. Those years had also greatly thinned the ranks of the old aristocratic families, and the failure of Brutus and Cassius was hardly an inspiration for others to follow in their footsteps. Thus the assumption that since Julius Caesar faced – and failed to placate – the resistance of a hard core of traditional senatorial opinion then Augustus must have faced and overcome similar opposition, is unfounded. Their situations differed in far too many ways. There really is no convincing evidence for the senatorial opposition to Augustus so beloved of many modern scholars. In fact academics have shown a far deeper loyalty to the Republican system than was ever displayed by the aristocracy of Rome. A closer look reveals far less difference between Julius Caesar and Caesar Augustus. ([Location 228](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=228)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Rome was far stronger than any of its neighbours and potential enemies, but the immense profits of conquest and empire threatened delicate balances within politics, society and the economy. Competition among the aristocracy for high office and status had always been intense, but in the past was kept within strict confines of convention and law. Now many of the props of this system came under threat as senators spent ever-increasing sums to win popularity, and significant groups emerged within the population who felt their plight was desperate and readily rallied to anyone who championed their cause. There were opportunities for a few men to rise far higher than had ever been possible in the past and their peers resented and resisted this. ([Location 414](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=414)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Catiline was desperate, as were quite a few other ambitious men. If a senator sold his lands to pay his debts, then he would probably do so at a loss for the market was poor; but, more importantly, he would lose this essential requirement of rank and any chance of a political future. For some, the choice seemed either political extinction or revolution. ([Location 472](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=472)) - Tags: [[blue]] - He claimed that no one could call himself rich unless he could afford to pay for his own army. ([Location 549](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=549)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Crassus did not wish to be rich simply for the sake of it, but made his wealth work to his political advantage, loaning money to many senators either interest-free or at a very low rate. It was rumoured that a majority in the Senate owed Crassus money. When he was accused of involvement with Catiline, fear of sudden demands for repayment of these debts ensured that the matter was quickly dropped. He also had wide business interests and connections with the companies of publicani (the publicans of the King James Bible) who undertook state contracts, such as collecting taxes in the provinces. Much of this was done behind the scenes, since senators were not supposed to involve themselves in commerce, although many did. Crassus was probably the most successful. As well as money, he traded in favours. A capable and successful advocate, he worked hard representing others in legal cases to put them under obligation to him.7 ([Location 552](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=552)) - Tags: [[blue]] - In the earlier Republic any candidate seeking office had to have served for ten years or campaigns. The rule was considerably relaxed by the first century, although even the unmilitary Cicero spent some time with the legions. Young men served as contubernales (literally ‘tent-companions’) to governors, acting effectively as junior staff officers to gain experience.11 ([Location 581](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=581)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Julius Caesar himself was awarded Rome’s highest decoration for bravery when he was still in his late teens, winning the civic crown (corona civica) traditionally given to a man who saved the life of a fellow citizen in battle. It may well have been this, possibly combined with an encouragement of patricians, that led to a dispensation permitting him to hold each magistracy two years before the normal minimum age. Julius Caesar was highly active in the courts, flamboyant in his dress and lifestyle, and conscientious in office, supplementing official funds with borrowed money. ([Location 602](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=602)) - Tags: [[blue]] - A candidate could not have too many political friends, and this was an opportunity to make new ones. As Quintus Cicero puts it: ‘. . . you can make friends of any people you wish without disgrace, which you cannot do in the rest of life. If at some other time you were to exert yourself to court friendship with them, you would seem to act in bad taste; but in a canvass you would be thought a very poor candidate if you did not so act and with vigour too in connection with many such people.’17 ([Location 625](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=625)) - Tags: [[blue]] - A wise candidate did his best to please as many people as possible. He and his friends were expected to entertain and praise both individuals and groups – the equestrian order, the publicani, the less well-off classes, and members of the various guilds in the City and voting divisions in the Assemblies. It was vital to be seen as generous and willing to help, particularly in return for support. As Quintus Cicero put it: ‘people want not only promises . . . but promises made in a lavish and complimentary way’. ([Location 666](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=666)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Such acclamation was the necessary prelude to being awarded the honour of a triumph by the Senate. The law stipulated that a victory needed to be on a grand scale, resulting in at least 5,000 enemy dead, but in practice it is unlikely that anyone was bothered to count with such precision. Whether or not a man received a triumph often had more to do with the influence of his friends in the Senate.31 ([Location 738](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=738)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Apart from reading, writing and basic arithmetic, there was also a heavy emphasis on the customs and history of the Roman Republic. As Cicero put it, ‘For what is the life of a man, if it is not interwoven with the life of former generations by a sense of history?’ Within the wider history of the state, the greatest emphasis was always on the part played in it by the family. ([Location 772](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=772)) - Tags: [[blue]] - he had to rely on his wealth, his skill and that intangible thing the Romans called auctoritas – for which our English word authority is a poor translation. Auctoritas combined status and the respect due to an individual for his and his family’s achievements and connections. In essence it was simply how important everyone else considered a man to be.7 ([Location 790](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=790)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The months and years that followed demonstrated all too clearly the limits of influence and wealth when faced with concerted opposition. As a private citizen Pompey had no power, and could not summon the Senate or present a bill to the People. In 61 and 60 BC his backing helped former subordinates to reach the consulship. Neither proved politically astute and they were readily blocked or marginalised by their respective colleagues. ([Location 809](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=809)) - Tags: [[blue]] - This pattern was repeated as Cato, Bibulus and their supporters took every opportunity to obstruct Julius Caesar. They were less concerned with stopping him than with making him adopt more and more radical methods, casting doubt for the future on the legality of all that he did. ([Location 851](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=851)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Alongside their formal education, senators’ sons were supposed to learn by watching. From the age of seven they began to attend their father – or another male relative – as he went about his business, watching him receive and greet the clients who came to his house each day, and following him through the Forum to meetings of the Senate. Boys were not allowed inside the chamber, but the doors were left open and they and their attendants clustered outside to listen. They also exercised in public on the Campus Martius, in time learning to ride, throw a javelin and fight with shield and sword. Thus from an early age they were in the company of their generation, the men with whom they would compete for office and serve as colleagues. ([Location 881](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=881)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Young Romans read and memorised classic texts in Latin and Greek, so that they could comment on them as well as quote. They also learned by rote such things as the Twelve Tables, the ancient basis of Roman law. For all that, it was the practical observation of the workings of the Republic and the private business of a senator – or for girls the tasks of their mother in running a household – that most prepared them for adult life. ([Location 894](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=894)) - Tags: [[blue]] - To later generations it appeared obvious, as summed up by the poet Lucan almost a century later – ‘Caesar cannot bear anyone above him, nor Pompey any equal’. ([Location 982](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=982)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Julius Caesar overran Italy quickly. Perhaps Pompey had still expected that his former ally would back down, or was simply complacent in his own strength. ([Location 1013](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1013)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Caesar’s speed was a massive asset. Caught Pompey by surprise and forced him to concede Italy - Aristocratic funerals were public events, commencing with a ceremony in the Forum, followed by a procession outside the City where the cremation itself would be carried out. It was an opportunity not simply to praise the deceased, but to parade the achievements of all their ancestors. In the grandest funerals, actors were hired to don the regalia and wear the funeral masks of all the men who in former generations had held high office, making them visible reminders of past glories. It was conventional for a young man of the next generation to deliver the eulogy, connecting him with the great deeds of the past and implicitly promising similar achievements from him in the future. ([Location 1052](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1052)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: There was a strong thread of familial ties in Rome (much, much stronger than in the US). Could this thread of family achievement lead to better outcomes? Eg a newcomer has automatic respect and connections from his family’s network. Like Samo Burja said, perhaps this nepotism, with the practice of adult adoption and strategic marriages, allowed people to bestow their family network on deserving people. It was a meritocracy with positive nepotism in a way - The truth scarcely mattered. Deep in their souls senators knew that this was not how things should be. King or not, god or not, and however kind and efficient personally, Julius Caesar possessed supreme power, effectively regnum, whatever he called himself, and that meant that there could be no res publica – no state. For a Roman aristocrat the true Republic only existed when the senatorial class shared control, guiding magistrates elected through open competition and changing them regularly, so that plenty of people won the chance for high command and profit. This was liberty, and even for quite a few Caesareans it was now clearly dead. ([Location 1222](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1222)) - Tags: [[blue]] - At public games Julius Caesar also kept busy, dictating letters to several scribes at once in his accustomed manner, always pressing on with work. The crowd did not like it, wanting him to share their pleasure in the lavish spectacles he provided. Julius Caesar seemed to be always in a hurry, and lacked the time to flatter either senators or the wider population.28 ([Location 1240](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1240)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Matius, who was a staunch Caesarean, even though he did not like the dictatorship, wrote gloomily to Cicero that if Julius Caesar ‘with all his genius could not find a way out, then who will find a way?’33 ([Location 1287](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1287)) - Tags: [[blue]] - While training for war, Octavius was not to neglect the skills of politics, for these were the twin pillars of public life. Greek teachers of rhetoric were the most highly regarded, and young aristocrats often went to Greece to study.2 ([Location 1303](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1303)) - Tags: [[blue]] - After a long debate a motion framed by Cicero was passed overwhelmingly, granting amnesty to the conspirators, but confirming all of Julius Caesar’s decisions and acts. The compromise was as illogical as it was necessary. The dictator had appointed most of the magistrates and if his decisions were invalid then presumably none of these men legally held office – including Brutus, Cassius and Antony. Similarly no provincial command would be legitimate, no recent law in force, and the land allocated to veterans and other settlers no longer their property. The restored Republic risked plunging into immediate chaos until new elections could be held, and every decree and law decided upon all over again. ([Location 1339](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1339)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Adoption was taken very seriously by the Romans, and an adopted son became to all intents and purposes the same as a true son, keeping in addition any useful prior connections from his real family. Such full adoption could only occur in the father’s lifetime and could not be posthumous. This has prompted a prolonged and highly technical scholarly debate on precisely what status Julius Caesar’s will gave to Octavius. ([Location 1362](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1362)) - Tags: [[blue]] - If Octavius accepted the legacy – and this was not compulsory, but a matter of choice, for we hear of individuals refusing to accept some bequests – then he inherited these political expectations as well as a name. The distinction between main heir and son was blurred even if it was clearly not full adoption. Some technical matters did make a real difference. A true or adopted son inherited rights over all of his father’s freedmen – and in Julius Caesar’s case these were both very numerous and often wealthy – who were obliged to support him as patron, voting for him and willingly placing their resources at his disposal. Without formal adoption Octavius might find it hard to enforce this legal right, although that did not mean that some or all of the dictator’s freedmen would not choose to see him as their patron. ([Location 1370](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1370)) - Tags: [[blue]] - That does not mean that caution was not advisable, and at the very least the letters will have urged Octavius to do nothing hastily. Whatever the details of their advice, the decision was his, and nothing that followed makes any sense unless his own ambition, confidence and self-esteem were the prime movers. ([Location 1386](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1386)) - Tags: [[blue]] - As stated in the Introduction, we will ignore the modern convention to call him Octavian and instead call him Caesar, for that is the name he used and how he is referred to in our sources. The power of this name had a lot to do with the course of events. ([Location 1393](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1393)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The consul was genuinely very busy dealing with a stream of petitioners, and there was no reason for him to consider the teenager politically useful or even relevant. The boy’s expectation of taking over all of Julius Caesar’s estate was deeply inconvenient for Antony when there was so much to do and all available funds were vital for building up his own position. ([Location 1403](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1403)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Years of civil war had added to natural wastage – as had multiple consulships by Pompey and then Julius Caesar – so that there were only seventeen former consuls alive and several of these lacked the energy or desire for active politics. There were very few senior statesmen to guide the Republic and to control the networks of patronage that held the Roman world together. Julius Caesar’s death made matters worse, for he had stood at the centre of an unprecedentedly vast web of patronage and no one could readily fill this void. His supporters were each tied to him individually and were not in any way a coherent party.15 ([Location 1419](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1419)) - Tags: [[blue]] - An aristocrat to his core, Antony knew in his soul that he deserved honours and glory and felt no need to respect conventions of behaviour. His father had left huge debts, and some family property was so heavily mortgaged that Antony refused these parts of his inheritance. ([Location 1445](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1445)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The Roman system meant that no decision was set in stone, and things could be made illegal retrospectively, making permanent security almost impossible. Legal attacks could easily end a career and violence was a real threat. ([Location 1483](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1483)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Cicero had come to see Antony as the greatest threat to them and to the restoration of something close to a true res publica. He continually lamented the conspirators’ failure to kill him as well as the dictator. With hindsight, he felt that ‘for although the courage was that of men, believe me, the strategy was that of infants’. ([Location 1529](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1529)) - Tags: [[blue]] - These men rallied as much to the bounty as to the name Caesar at this stage, for the teenager remained an unknown quantity. Julius Caesar had led them to victory and rewarded them lavishly, gradually bonding them to him over the years. The full force of this link could not be instantly or simply assumed by his heir, but they were willing to give the boy and his money a chance. Realising the power of hard coin and promise of future reward, the young Caesar sent agents down to Brundisium to work on Antony’s legions.11 ([Location 1625](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1625)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The youth himself then delivered a speech that was promptly circulated. Cicero soon had a copy and was depressed by its contents. Praising Julius Caesar and his achievements, his heir turned to gesture at a statue of the dictator and pledged that he hoped ‘to win the honours of his father’. The attack on Antony for obstructing him in securing his inheritance and the consul’s general hostility may have been more to the orator’s taste, but struck the wrong note with many of the veterans. Loyal to Julius Caesar, they were angry that his murderers went unpunished. Those were the true villains, not Mark Antony. ([Location 1648](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1648)) - Tags: [[blue]] - At this stage the young Caesar remained a minor player in the political contest. He had armed followers, unlike anyone in Italy apart from Antony, but these were too few in number to make him a real power. That he was noticed at all at such a young age was remarkable. That he made several false steps politically should only surprise us if we take for granted either the political genius of Augustus or the assumed strength – even existence – of a coherent Caesarean faction. As yet he was only a little more significant than the fake Marius executed earlier in the year – only his wealth and unambiguous link with the dictator made him different – and might be almost as easily eliminated. Antony planned to summon the Senate and have the boy declared a public enemy. ([Location 1661](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1661)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The Fourth and the Martia paraded and performed exercises culminating in a mock battle. Such drills were a standard part of Roman military training, and since these legions had spent the last years preparing for the Parthian War they no doubt put on a very good display. A century later the Jewish historian Josephus would with some exaggeration talk of the Roman army’s ‘drills as bloodless battles, and battles are bloody drills’. ([Location 1708](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1708)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The Antonians attacked the low turf ramparts of the camp, but failed to break in. It was well into the afternoon, and Antony realised that his men were tired and hungry. Julius Caesar would no doubt have built his own fortified camp on the spot and brought food to them, keeping up the pressure on the enemy. Instead Antony marched his men back to their original camp. ([Location 1854](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=1854)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The triumvirs were blatantly warlords with armies loyal to them over the state. The same was by now true of Brutus and Cassius – and indeed Sextus Pompeius – all of whom lavished generous gifts on their soldiers to secure their loyalty. Caesar was no different, and yet his rise was far more rapid and spectacular than any of the others. He was now of an age when in ordinary circumstances he would either have been serving as a junior officer in the army or beginning to appear as an advocate in the courts. Instead he was one of the most powerful men in the world. ([Location 2008](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=2008)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The dominance of the triumvirate began with mass murder. As they marched south from Bononia, Caesar, Antony and Lepidus sent soldiers on ahead to eliminate a dozen or so prominent men. ([Location 2022](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=2022)) - Tags: [[blue]] - In just a few years Caesar had become one of the two most powerful men in the world – within sight of claiming his ‘father’s’ honours and status as supreme in the state. So rapid a rise speaks of immense and highly focused ambition, and of great political skill, but also of luck. Like almost any successful statesman, Caesar was an opportunist. If Julius Caesar had not been murdered his career would have been very different and considerably slower, although perhaps in the end as distinguished. He had the chance to grow in power and gain legitimacy thanks to a Senate led by Cicero, turning himself into an attractive ally for Antony and Lepidus when the leaders of the Senate chose to ‘discard’ him. There had been failures, such as the first march into Rome, and his ignominious role in the First Battle of Philippi. There had also been a lot of risks. He might have lost the battles, or fallen in action. He had survived two bouts of very serious illness, and faced mobs of angry citizens and mutinous veterans – the latter on one occasion murdering a centurion sent to calm them down and dumping his body in the path of Caesar’s entourage to make sure that he saw it. In each case the young Caesar survived, and got what he wanted in the end. The omens reported in ancient sources were often later inventions, but it would have been surprising if the triumvir had not become convinced of his own luck and destiny to win.5 ([Location 2341](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=2341)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Piety (pietas in Latin), the honour owed to gods, country and especially parents, was a profound and very Roman duty. Caesar proclaimed his own pietas as he avenged his murdered father. Lucius Antonius added the word Pietas to his name and rank as consul when he raised rebellion on behalf of his older brother. Sextus Pompeius called himself Pius, and then assumed his father’s nickname Magnus and so appears on coins simply as the thoroughly unconventional Magnus Pius.16 ([Location 2435](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=2435)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Sextus followed a father who had been defeated in war and killed as a fugitive rather than murdered at the height of his success. His power was inevitably based away from Italy and drew on his own and his family’s prestige rather than the traditional institutions of the state. Caesar was able to work his way into the heart of the state at the centre of the Republic’s political life. ([Location 2441](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=2441)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: The greatest power came from using outside forces (wealth, private armies) to commandeer the state itself. Sextus was immensely powerful militarily but never could steer the direction of the state, and so his power remained limited - Sextus could not return to Rome without giving up command of the navy and its bases and he was just as reluctant to do this as Caesar and Antony would have been to disband all their legions. Only through force did any of the warlords retain importance and the chance of long-term security. ([Location 2471](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=2471)) - Tags: [[blue]] - In the civil wars of these years there was great emphasis on mass, on simply fielding more legions than the opposition. There was also a well-entrenched Roman belief that throwing numbers and resources at a problem ought to bring success. Few Roman commanders, including Julius Caesar, fully adapted their thinking to see naval warfare as fundamentally different to warfare on land, and his heir was no different. There is every sign of complacency and a lack of respect for the unpredictability and power of the sea in the plans for the invasion of Sicily in 38 BC.29 ([Location 2557](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=2557)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Knowing that Caesar was addicted to dice games and gambling, some wag came up with the following verse around this time: ‘When he has twice been beaten in sea battles and lost his fleet, then he plays with dice – hoping he can win one victory!’31 ([Location 2574](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=2574)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Skill and competence, whether as a general, engineer or administrator, would be the hallmark of Agrippa throughout his life, combined with absolute loyalty to Caesar and a studied modesty. ([Location 2588](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=2588)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Caesar had won again, although the war with Sextus Pompeius had proved one of the sternest trials of his life. It was fortunate that Pompeius always lacked the land forces to carry the war to Italy for he never acquired the good recruiting grounds to raise many legions. Caesar took risks in this conflict, and suffered heavily when things went wrong. It is interesting that several stories are preserved of his personal escapades, and narrow avoidance of death – very similar in flavour to the tales of the escapes of victims of the proscriptions that clearly captured the Romans’ imagination. Most of these probably derive from his memoirs, suggesting a style very different to Julius Caesar’s dispassionate accounts of his campaigns, where little is said of the general’s exploits. The genre was different, but more importantly the dictator was modestly telling stories of his own victories. His heir instead had to shed a personally heroic light on his failures and the battles won by his subordinates. Shrewd enough by 36 BC to admit that he needed to rely on the talents of men like Agrippa to do the actual fighting, he was skilful in securing the main credit for himself and painting his own involvement in the most exciting light possible. ([Location 2615](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=2615)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: He walked a very fine - delegating the most impactful/awe-inspiring work to Agrippa while getting most of the credit and remaining respected among his troops and the people. His writing and mind for propaganda helped this immensely. Similar to Churchill writing about his role in WW2 but never having actually participated in the fighting - Julius Caesar paraded his clemency, but the triumvirs had openly followed a different path. Now his heir decided it was both practical and worthwhile to emulate his ‘father’. Lepidus was expelled from the triumvirate and stripped of all power, but his life was spared and he was sent to live in comfortable captivity in Italy. Caesar’s legal right to do this was unclear and in the conditions of these years unimportant. ([Location 2654](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=2654)) - Tags: [[blue]] - He was spared because he presented no danger. There was a hint of cruelty within the judgement – made worse because for Roman aristocrats the admission that someone else possessed the power to decide their fate was a humiliation in itself – and over the years Caesar would occasionally bring Lepidus to Rome to take part in a ceremony or meeting of the Senate. ([Location 2657](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=2657)) - Tags: [[blue]] - A great success in Parthia would have brought Antony military glory to match any Roman leader living or dead, and plunder to surpass Caesar or any other rival. Instead he failed utterly. Many modern scholars have underplayed the importance of this disaster, impressed because Antony did not lose his entire army and life. Hindsight tells us that the Romans would never conquer the Parthians – or indeed their Persian successors – but the Romans themselves did not know this and were not prone to doubts about their ultimate success. The greatest service to the Republic was to defeat a foreign enemy. Antony presented himself as a great soldier – as Hercules the great hero, and often as Dionysius who in the east was god of victory as well as wine. It is more than likely that he believed his own propaganda. As we have seen, in fact he had limited military experience, less still of high command, and the bulk of his previous campaigns had been civil wars. Antony’s failure should not surprise us so very much. To him it was astounding, and personally and politically devastating. ([Location 2681](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=2681)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Antony was depicted as a drunk, perhaps even drugged or controlled by magic potions given to him by Cleopatra. He had ceased to behave like a Roman, or remember that he was a servant of the Republic. The contrast with Caesar, victorious, working for the good of the state, celebrated by the Senate and People of Rome, and living with his Roman wife, was emphasised at every turn. Antony claimed descent from Hercules, and so the story of the demigod being duped by Omphale into wearing a dress and spinning wool, while she carried his club and wore his lion skin, was revived in literature and art.22 ([Location 2847](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=2847)) - Tags: [[blue]] - mustering on Greece’s western coast. It was too late in the season for either side to strike, but it seems that Antony’s plan was to wait and fight the war in Greece. It was the same plan adopted unsuccessfully by Pompey in 48 BC, and Brutus and Cassius in 42 BC. Yet Sulla was the only Roman based in Greece ever to win a civil war, and he did so by crossing to Italy and fighting the war there. Antony was relying on the sheer size of his armies and fleet, and trusting that the enemy would make a mistake and be crushed. ([Location 2927](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=2927)) - Tags: [[blue]] - is easy to concentrate solely on the great aristocratic houses, and the casualties among these had been appalling, but the same was also true of the less prestigious lines which had long bolstered the numbers of the Senate. So much conflict and death had battered their political ideals, dislocated old ties of friendship and alliance, and even curbed the aristocrats’ instinctive ambition. The senators, like the rest of the population, wanted peace more than they wanted anything else. ([Location 3065](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=3065)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Both rituals, rather like the fetial rite used to declare war on Egypt, were archaic, perhaps partly invented, at least in the details of the ceremonies. Yet this added to the sense of connection with the distant past, a time of Roman prosperity and success untainted by civil war.12 ([Location 3093](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=3093)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Atticus wrote several works, including a celebration of Cicero’s consulship in 63 BC, but more famous was his Liber Annalis, a chronological history, primarily of Rome. He had a deep interest in the distant past, the origins of institutions, rituals and practices, and the achievements of past generations. He and Cicero were sometimes shocked by the ignorance of their contemporaries about the careers and offices of even their own ancestors. ([Location 3146](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=3146)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Under the triumvirate, consuls were appointed and every year they resigned and were replaced by suffect consuls, most notoriously when Caesar and Antony had each held the magistracy for a single day. It was a good way of rewarding their many followers, but cheapened the dignity of the office. Times had changed, and this year Caesar and his chosen colleague Agrippa would serve until 31 December, when they formally laid down their office, taking an ancient oath to say that they had done nothing contrary to the laws and had served the state to the best of their ability. Traditionally, each consul took precedence in alternate months. Under the triumvirate this was ignored, at least in the years when one of the triumvirs was consul. In 28 BC Caesar revived the proper practice and, after taking precedence in January as the senior consul, deferred to Agrippa in February. The change was symbolised by the behaviour of his attendants. In January the twelve lictors went ahead of Caesar, clearing a path for him. Each carried the full fasces. As triumvir Caesar and his colleagues had always been preceded by their lictors (although there is an argument over whether each had twenty-four of these like a dictator or the twelve usual for a consul). In February, and every other month when the precedence passed to his colleague, his lictors instead followed him, carrying a version of the fasces that was clearly different in appearance, although the details now elude us. The change demonstrated respect not simply for his colleague, but for the office itself. Similarly, the flood of praetorships doled out in the last decade was brought to an end, and there would only be eight or ten praetors in this and the following years.6 ([Location 3353](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=3353)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: After winning, instead of becoming MORE dictatorial in appearance (like Julius Caesar), Augustus began to steep himself more in the traditions of the Republic. This gave the appearance of someone who respected the norms of the Republic, while in reality he was becoming more and more powerful and centralizing more of the authority of the state in himself - They announced their intention of restoring the former prestige of the Senate and Caesar made a speech, inviting each senator to look at his own reputation, wealth and ancestry and decide whether he was truly fit to belong to Rome’s most prestigious body. Around fifty men voluntarily resigned in the days that followed, and another 140 were removed from the senatorial roll by the decision of the two consuls. All returned to private life, but were allowed to keep the privileges of senatorial dress and the right to sit in the seats reserved for senators at public games and entertainments. ([Location 3376](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=3376)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Again, giving the perception of returning the institution to its former glory while in reality it had no real power. In addition, they allowed the people they removed to keep the social distinction of being a senator. This made it more palatable for those removed. Genius propaganda - Returning stability to the state was tied up with the promise of permanent peace. Writing over a century later, Tacitus would characterise the years of civil war and triumvirate as an era when there was ‘neither law, nor custom’. Basic institutions had broken down and were replaced with arbitrary power.10 ([Location 3405](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=3405)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Alongside the revival of traditional institutions – if sometimes in a modified form – came a physical renewal of the City of Rome itself as the concerted building activity of the late thirties BC continued and intensified. In 28 BC Caesar himself responded to a request from the Senate and ordered the restoration of eighty-two temples within Rome. Many were small, and in most cases the structures conformed to the simple traditional designs rather than the grander styles of the modern era. Structural restoration was accompanied by careful revival of the old rituals undertaken in each one. Pietas was a virtue central to Rome’s sense of identity and the neglect of proper reverence due to the old gods of the Roman people was symptomatic of the moral decline of recent generations, so evident in the decades of discord and violence. Moral explanations for upheaval came most readily to the Roman mind, and so restoration must involve changes in behaviour, conduct and a reassertion of a good relationship with the gods who had guided Rome’s rise to greatness. At the same time the Egyptian cult of Isis was banned from the City itself. The spirit of religious revival was strictly traditional and was led by Caesar personally. ([Location 3424](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=3424)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Again giving an image of rejuvenation, connecting Augustus to Rome’s past and founding at the same time as he completely and utterly reformed the state - With a great show of reluctance, Caesar eventually agreed. Dio saw the whole episode as a charade. With no intention of giving up his supremacy, Caesar simply wanted a public show of support, to appear a reluctant servant of the state forced to accept continued responsibility by his own sense of duty and by universal consent – the Popular Assembly would meet and confirm the decision of the Senate in the next few days. It was a skilful piece of showmanship, with the Senate and People enthusiastically approving, even if behind the scenes they did not really have any other choice.28 ([Location 3567](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=3567)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Caesar was above such competition since he had no peers, and since he chose the legates he also controlled the men who were granted all the major military commands. The independence of proconsular governors of Macedonia and Africa was limited. It is doubtful that they were permitted to raise fresh troops, and neither had the capacity to oppose the man who controlled the rest of the army, even assuming they could win the loyalty of the legions under their command. A large part of every senator’s career came to depend on winning Caesar’s favour. ([Location 3605](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=3605)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Dio notes cynically that one of the first things Caesar did after he was ‘persuaded’ to accept a major role in the state was to get the Senate to pass a decree awarding a substantial payrise to his praetorian cohorts. The evidence is poor, but these probably received an annual salary of 375 denarii instead of the 225 denarii paid to legionaries. There were nine cohorts of praetorians, so they were kept just below the nominal strength of a ten-cohort legion, and several cohorts were routinely stationed in or near Rome itself. This was in contrast to Julius Caesar, who had dismissed his bodyguard early in 44 BC. Armed force remained the ultimate guarantee of Caesar’s supremacy.31 ([Location 3614](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=3614)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Imperator Caesar Augustus remained a warlord whose dominance of the state was based ultimately on his control of far greater military force than anyone else. By modern standards he was and would remain a military dictator, even if he always carefully avoided the title in its Roman sense. For all the display of resigning his powers and reluctant acceptance of the duties pressed on him by the Senate at the start of 27 BC, no one could compel him to do anything as long as he continued to monopolise military power. The legions were his, and the Senate had no real say in how they were run, nor did it any longer control the raising and disbanding of these and other army units. Although Augustus would present measures detailing soldiers’ service conditions for the Senate’s approval, there was no real discussion or prospect of the senators withholding their consent. In the past a good deal of the regulation of the legions, including most promotions to the rank of tribune and all commissioning and promotion of centurions, was delegated to individual governors. This remained the case, with the difference that for the bulk of the army that governor was and would remain Augustus himself. Ambitious officers needed his favour if they were to have a distinguished career. ([Location 3770](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=3770)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Successes abroad, even if some were more imagined than real, reinforced the stability at home. The princeps appeared to be fulfilling his promise to bring order to the provinces allocated to him, whether he did it in person or through representatives. ([Location 4180](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=4180)) - Tags: [[blue]] - If Caesar Augustus had died, then Agrippa was best placed to take control of the bulk of his legions, but his lack of political connections and past willingness to give the lion’s share of credit to his friend were weaknesses. He was not a Caesar, nor indeed from a noble family at all, and the odds were that he would have had to fight to hold onto any power he was able to seize. ([Location 4244](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=4244)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Ironically, the reversion to a pattern of two consuls each year was not only traditional, but also prevented any individual from attaining too much or too permanent influence and power, just as it was supposed to do. However distinguished his name, none of the consuls could in any way compete with Caesar Augustus, eleven times consul, celebrant of three triumphs and formally credited with even more victories, still entrusted with control of all the most important provinces and with an active role in public life in Rome itself. ([Location 4311](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=4311)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: This is genius. Again Augustus makes a change to the law (limiting to one consulship, with a possible second after 10 years). This limits the power potential challengers can amass since they can’t maintain a high position in the date for years (a la Marius or Augustus himself), but he can defend this decision as a RETURN to Roman tradition. Just genius - the population of the empire naturally perceived Augustus as a monarch and was either unaware or unconcerned by the careful avoidance in Rome of titles like king or dictator. ([Location 4611](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=4611)) - Tags: [[blue]] - One common method was to honour Augustus publicly in their community. At Athens not long after 27 BC, a city magistrate dedicated a new building on the Acropolis. It seems to have been a monopteros or circle of columns – in this case nine – surrounding an altar erected by ‘the people to the goddess Roma and Caesar Augustus’. The formula was the one permitted to the provincial population by Augustus in 29 BC, allowing cult offerings to him only if combined with the deity of Rome itself. ([Location 4614](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=4614)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: This is genius propaganda AGAIN. It appears humble (“don’t worship me, workshop Rome”) but it actually causes people to associate Augustus WITH Rome and essentially make them synonymous - the Romans also understood and trusted the institution of the city state, and it was both natural and convenient for them to permit most day-to-day affairs and administration to occur at this level and be managed by locals. If anything, this became stronger under Augustus than in the years of the Republic. Relatively quickly the publicani lost their central role in collecting taxation and levies from the provinces. Responsibility passed to the cities and other communities in each area instead of the Roman contractors. Those who benefited most were the local aristocrats, the men with the influence and wealth to win office within their communities, which they could then exercise with considerable autonomy. ([Location 4650](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=4650)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Similar to Amazon setup. One strong central figure (Bezos/August) that directs the high level goals and direction of the organization with high degrees of delegation and autonomy (allowing people close to the problem to fix it) - Alongside them came new and alien elements, varying from styles and methods of construction to the brutal spectacles of gladiatorial games. In the second century BC a Seleucid king returned after a youth spent as a hostage at Rome and tried to introduce these blood sports to his homeland. Then his subjects were disgusted, but a century and a half later enthusiasm for gladiators spread rapidly throughout the Greek world. ([Location 4662](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=4662)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Wow, I didn’t realize how much more violent Roman culture was than Greek culture. This is shocking that the Seleucids in the 2nd century BC, a civilization built by much violence and warfare in the very recent past, would be so shocked by gladiatorial games - With the exception of Augustus and Agrippa themselves, Herod was probably the most prolific builder of the age, and paid for monuments throughout the neighbouring provinces as well as in his own lands. Some projects were practical, such as the construction of an artificial harbour at Caesarea Maritima because there were no natural ports along the coast. Its creation required vast quantities of the Romans’ waterproof concrete made from volcanic sand, the pozzolana from the area around Vesuvius, which was formed into blocks some forty-five feet by twenty-five by thirteen and sunk onto the seabed to form a mole. The new port, with its extensive harbour and warehouse facilities, quickly attracted a good deal of trade, easing Herod’s access to luxury goods and providing a steady revenue from levies made on commodities and business.16 ([Location 4695](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=4695)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: This is so high agency it’s almost hard to fathom. Refusing to accept a fact of GEOGRAPHY, Herod reshapes the coastline to create a new harbor to enable trade. Need to adopt more of this mindset - if the world doesn’t have what you want, force it to - Large numbers of residents of provincial communities became Roman citizens, and one important issue faced by Augustus was deciding whether this meant that they were no longer obliged to hold magistracies in their home communities. His decision was that they were, unless he granted them an individual exemption. Thus a man could be a Roman, and if wealthy might perhaps serve as an officer in the army or perhaps as an imperial official, but when he returned home he would be expected to play his full part in the public life of his community. The Romans had always cultivated the aristocracies of conquered territories, and this practice was fostered even more strongly under Augustus and his successors. ([Location 4761](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=4761)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Virgil was a perfectionist, choosing each word with such care that he rarely composed more than a couple of lines of the Aeneid in the course of a day. His friend Horace, another of Maecenas’ circle, was at times even slower than this in his composition. Such dedication was not mere affectation or the mark of a dilettante, for these were serious artists of truly extraordinary talent. Horace was universally admired, while Virgil’s poetry was already spoken of as probably the most beautiful expression of the Latin language. ([Location 4912](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=4912)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Augustus prided himself on association with only the finest writers. This was a matter of self-respect, but also good politics. Alexander the Great’s reputation had suffered through accepting overblown praise from mediocre poets. ([Location 4936](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=4936)) - Tags: [[blue]] - As the years passed the new reality of a monarch in all but name became less and less remarkable. In the foreseeable future there was no chance of a rival warlord emerging for them to rally behind, and so, short of assassination, there was no means of removing the princeps. Augustus was far more careful to protect his personal security than Julius Caesar had been, making any plot against him a dangerous enterprise, while the events of 44 BC had shown everyone that even if the deed was done, there was a good chance that it would bring only a return of chaos and civil war. ([Location 5160](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=5160)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: (Compared to Julius Caesar) More careful with security detail, more careful in how he presented himself/symbolically deferred to the senate, and also facing a significantly weaker Senate with no true rivals - Raising children was expensive, especially if they chose to seek office, and there was a widespread belief that more and more men were choosing either to remain bachelors or marry but not have children. Augustus decided to act, no doubt discussing the matter beforehand with the consilium, or smaller council, to prepare it for presentation to the Senate. His concern was moral only in the sense that he wanted Rome’s elite to do their duty and keep on providing young men to follow a public career. It was also a proper thing to do, and in the past the censors had as part of their role a supervision of public morals and behaviour. On his return from the east, he had been voted the right to pass a lex Augusta, a decree that would become law without the formality of senatorial discussion and vote in the Assembly. It is not clear whether he accepted this right, but even if he did, the princeps chose not to make use of it. Instead his proposal was presented for senatorial approval and then voted on to become the lex Julia de maritandis ordinibus. Benefits were granted to the fathers of three or more children, with penalties for the unmarried and childless. Concerned as ever with the dignity of the senatorial class, senators were forbidden to marry freedwomen, but this was permitted to other citizens including equestrians because many people believed there were fewer women than men in the citizen population.28 ([Location 5186](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=5186)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Need to think about how we can create the incentives in our society to get “elites” to have significantly more children. How can we make the top 5% of the county (in terms of income/IQ/etc) have 3-4+ children? Probably a lot of money (maybe your income tax reduces with number of children, and the higher your tax bracket the greater the reduction) - There was no force to oppose him, and whatever they pretended no one failed to understand this. People could voice criticism of him, but the very fact that this was so restrained confirms the fear as well as respect he commanded. ([Location 5233](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=5233)) - Tags: [[blue]] - In a very Roman way, Caesar Augustus was far more concerned with public appearances and practicality than with changing behaviour for its own sake. He needed the aristocracy to reproduce so that there would be another generation, and he needed them to behave with dignity in public, respecting the gods and tradition in general. His marriage laws were resented and ignored by many, but overall a majority probably conformed to them more or less willingly. If they did this, and behaved appropriately in public, neither he nor anyone else was much concerned with discreet private activity. ([Location 5322](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=5322)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Among the Aedui, whose lands lay along the Rhône, a few chieftains gained immense wealth and dominance within the tribe through controlling levies on the wine trade. Under the Romans such monopolies were broken, and the native aristocracy could only seek local power through becoming part of the Roman system of government. ([Location 5473](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=5473)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The largesse was typical of Agrippa’s activities for the last two decades, spending much of his newly acquired wealth on amenities and comforts for the people and leaving his mark on cities throughout the empire, but most of all in Rome. In sheer scale his activities far outstripped those of any other Roman aristocrat living or dead, apart from Caesar Augustus, and combined a taste for the monumental with the practical. ([Location 5678](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=5678)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Arminius was one of them, and at some point the Roman eques decided to reject his new citizenship and rebel against the empire. We do not know when he made this decision or what triggered it. Anger at his own and the other tribes’ loss of independence is likely enough, quite probably with distaste for their treatment by the conquering power. Although made a Roman, he may have found his fellow citizens patronising at best. His brother Flavus’ name translates as ‘Blond’ or ‘Blondie’, and it is hard to tell whether this was meant as an insult or more affectionately, like such nicknames as Red, Ginger or Bluey. On the other hand we must also consider simple ambition. Arminius had risen high through association with the Romans, becoming one of the most important men in his tribe, but he may have decided that there was now little prospect of rising any further through continued loyalty. ([Location 7154](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=7154)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Note: Putting a ceiling on ambitious men incentivizes them to take down the system. They allowed Arminius in the door but capped how high he could rise as a native German - Arminius’ power grew and he came to lead not only many of the Cherusci, but warriors from other tribes as well. The defeat of Varus had shattered the Romans’ aura of invincibility as thoroughly as the rapid Japanese conquests of Hong Kong, Malaya and Burma in 1941–2 broke the reputation of the British Empire throughout the Far East. It is extremely difficult – perhaps impossible – to recover from such humiliating failures. ([Location 7271](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=7271)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Before the news of the disaster in Germany had reached Rome, one of Augustus’ main concerns in AD 9 was an outburst of resentment at his legislation encouraging marriage and the raising of children. Although most agreed that this was an admirable ambition, they disliked the penalties imposed on the unmarried and the childless, which among other things restricted the ability to inherit estates from anyone outside the close family. In the past, rich childless men or women found it easy to win friends among those hoping to receive a bequest when they died. Not only was this made more difficult, but if there were no family members to inherit, then it was possible for the money and property to go to the state. Raising the three or more children encouraged by the laws was expensive, especially if funds were needed to give all of them equestrian or senatorial status, let alone provide for the expenses of a comfortable life.22 ([Location 7300](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=7300)) - Tags: [[blue]] - ‘Democracy, indeed, has a fair-appearing name . . . Monarchy . . . has an unpleasant sound, but is a most practical form of government to live under. For it is easier to find a single excellent man than many of them . . . for it does not belong to the majority of men to acquire virtue . . . Indeed, if ever there has been a prosperous democracy, it has in any case been at its best for only a brief period.’ Dio, early third century AD. ([Location 7477](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=7477)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Augustus ‘seduced the army by bounties, the people by the free corn dole, the whole world by the comfort of peace, and then gradually assumed the power of the Senate, the magistrates, and the making of law. There was no opposition, for the bravest men had fallen in the line of battle or to proscription lists . . .’ Tacitus, early second century AD.2 ([Location 7481](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=7481)) - Tags: [[blue]] - He also bequeathed the vast sum of forty-three million sesterces to the state, as well as individual bounties to every citizen and to the army. An ordinary soldier in the praetorian guard received 1,000 sesterces, the members of the paramilitary urban cohorts and vigiles each 500 sesterces, while legionaries and the freedmen soldiers raised during the emergencies of AD 6 and AD 9 each got 300 sesterces. In every case the scale for officers would have been much higher, and the generosity was a clear acknowledgement that supremacy ultimately relied on retaining the exclusive loyalty of the army. Augustus had never ceased to be the warlord he had become in his nineteenth year.3 ([Location 7487](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=7487)) - Tags: [[blue]] - In the early weeks Tiberius spoke a good deal of his desire for senators to play a greater role in aiding his leadership, but in practice his actions tended to centralise power even further. ([Location 7529](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=7529)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Tiberius’ principate created a climate of fear among the senators and senior equestrians that evoked old memories of the civil wars and proscriptions and never really receded under his successors. The mood was very different from Augustus’ day, and only in part because he had created enough fear during the triumvirate to deter all but the most bold or unwise conspirators. More importantly, Augustus took care to know the most important men in the state, mixing with them socially and treating them with respect. The unintentional consequence of Tiberius’ social awkwardness and eventual retreat from the City was to make it harder and harder for later principes to cultivate the same easy style. Livia’s son may or may not have been the bad man depicted in our sources, but in this respect at least he proved to be a bad princeps. Under him the monarchy became less veiled, and the aspect of a court and courtiers surrounding him became more obvious. Sejanus rose as high as he did purely through the favour of the princeps and without ever proving his talents as soldier or magistrate.8 ([Location 7571](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=7571)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Then and now the man himself was much harder to judge, for he was too many different things to permit an easy verdict. Ambition drove him throughout his life. At some point – perhaps not until the murder of Julius Caesar, but we cannot say – he determined to be first in the state, and everything he did was directed to this end. To achieve this he had no hesitation in resorting to violence, and so in the years that followed he killed and terrorised, switching alliances as it suited the moment. Ambition was in the blood of any Roman aristocrat, but never before had it been quite so untrammelled by convention nor so openly aimed at winning permanent unrivalled supremacy – but then never before had someone been heir to Julius Caesar, dictator for life and laden with honours greater than any Roman had ever received in the past. The situation in which the young Augustus found himself was as unprecedented as his actions, but his motivation at the very least had strong roots in the traditions of his social class. ([Location 7590](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=7590)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Augustus pursued power ruthlessly, but once he achieved it showed a great desire to make things work properly, whether it was the food or water supply, the road system, the various magistracies, or the administration of Rome itself, Italy and the provinces. ([Location 7613](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=7613)) - Tags: [[blue]] - Augustus pursued power relentlessly and then clung to it, whatever he might pretend in public. Such ambition is surely the hallmark of any successful political leader – and no doubt plenty of less successful ones. Yet in his case he made use of that power for the common good. He worked hard to make the res publica function again, and we cannot deny that he succeeded, since the peace and stability he imposed brought ever greater levels of prosperity. At a basic level more people were better-off under his principate than they had been for several generations. ([Location 7620](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=7620)) - Tags: [[blue]] - The contradictions remain, as does the simple fact that he was a warlord who fought his way to supremacy by killing fellow citizens and remained supreme because no one could ever match his military strength. ([Location 7655](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B00M9A2DB8&location=7655)) - Tags: [[blue]]