Augustus: First Emperor of Rome

"Historian and biographer Goldsworthy (Caesar) showcases his deep knowledge of Ancient Rome in this masterful document of a life whose themes still resonate in modern times."

Goldsworthy capably guides us over the rapids of “modern scholarship”. He challenges stories that are repeated often but never questioned, dismissing as gossip the idea that Livia poisoned Augustus; more likely, his heart “simply gave out”. Goldsworthy is particularly sound on senatorial

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power struggles and the use of marriage to cement or break political alliances.

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"Historian Goldsworthy (Caesar: Life of a Colossus, 2008, etc.) obviously has ancient Rome in his bones, and his biography of Augustus is also a solid chronicle of Rome and its development."

Adrian Goldsworthy’s Augustus was ambitious for personal power from the start of his long life. A gambler rather than a planner, he seized control of the state with a military dictatorship (in fact, if not in image) that was accepted by the majority of Romans who saw no better alternative, or

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feared worse. If ambition was a traditional motivation among the Roman elite, Augustus’ means to supremacy were as unprecedented as the times in which he pursued it, but supremacy saw him act for the common good and his restoration of the res publica, in Goldsworthy’s view, was a success as worthy of praise as the violence of his rise invites censure. This is a cautious and fair biography that contains reasonable interpretations of controversial episodes, such as Crassus and the spolia opima (226-9); the settlement of 23 BC (266-72); Tiberius’ withdrawal to Rhodes (388-91); and the disaster of Varus (446-55). Acute observations pepper the narrative, such as the awareness that Augustus’ supremacy ‘was more rather than less obvious after 23 BC’ (272), or the appreciation that there was ‘something chilling’ in Augustus’ display of ‘absolute assurance’ (i.e. dominance) in objecting to Vedius Pollio’s nasty habit of feeding disgraced slaves to his lampreys (327), or the elucidation of Tiberius’ loss of independence on his adoption by Augustus (430). The biography will satisfy the curiosity of its intended audience of ‘general readers’ who enjoyed Goldsworthy’s Caesar: The Life of a Colossus (2006) and Antony and Cleopatra (2010). Undergraduates will find here a reliable and readable account of Augustus’ life and principate. Advanced students, however, will not be provoked fundamentally to reconsider their view of Rome’s first emperor.

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