Augustus

Augustus recounts the rise of Octavian from the adopted heir of Julius Caesar to the first Roman emperor. It follows the civil wars that destroyed the Republic, his rivalry with Mark Antony and Cleopatra, and the political settlement that allowed him to hold supreme power while preserving republican forms. The book then examines his military, administrative and cultural programme and the imperial system he left to his successors.

Augustus’s achievement depended on making exceptional power appear compatible with traditional Roman government. Titles, honours, religious offices and control of armies accumulated gradually rather than through a single declaration of monarchy. The biography therefore treats propaganda, patronage and succession planning as central to the creation of the Principate, alongside the more visible victories of the civil-war period.