Part Two Imperial Image
His first move in Rome was to fulfil a request made in Julius Caesar’s will: to give
denarius (pl. denarii) a
silver coin with a value
enough to pay a soldier’s
wage for three days and
buy enough wheat to bake
daily bread for a month
games public events held,
usually by magistrates or
by rich individuals, to
honour a particular god or
in celebration of an event.
Games were a rare chance
for the urban poor to enjoy
entertainments such as
theatrical plays, chariot
racing, circus performances
and gladiatorial shows
KEY INDIVIDUAL
Mark Antony
Dates: 83–30 BC
One of Julius Caesar’s
closest friends and most
trusted lieutenants.
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seventy-five denarii to each of Rome’s poor, the plebeians. Octavian had to borrow
money to fulfil this request, but it was well worth it. It won him popularity with the
urban poor and solidified his image as Julius Caesar’s heir. He also held games in honour
of Venus that had been promised by Julius Caesar. A combination of cash (which
would be used to buy food) and entertainment had been used for years as a quick and
easy way to win popularity with the poorer classes. A century later the poet Juvenal
coined the phrase ‘panem et circenses’ (which is Latin for ‘bread and games’) to describe
the tactic. While these games were being held, a comet appeared in the sky over
Rome. Octavian claimed (and had a soothsayer confirm) that this was his ‘father’ Julius
Caesar rising to the sky to be made a god. Later sources tell of a variety of such omens
that surrounded Octavian’s coming to Rome – a fine example of this can be found in
Suetonius’ Life of Augustus 95.
EXPLORE FURTHER: SUETONIUS
One of our best surviving accounts of the history of this period comes from a
biographer named Suetonius. His Life of Augustus is a biography of Octavian/
Augustus, written around a century after Augustus’ death. This biography is
one in a collection of twelve, collectively referred to as the Lives of the
Twelve Caesars, which begins with an account of Julius Caesar’s life, then
Octavian/Augustus’, and then the next ten men who would be called Emperor
of Rome.
The genre of biography in ancient Rome was seen as being less
prestigious than history. Biographers, such as Plutarch, openly admitted to
focusing their accounts on events that revealed the character of their
subjects, rather than focusing on events that were historically significant.
Nevertheless, it seems as though biography was treated seriously, and we
have evidence of biographers in the Roman world going to great lengths to
research and verify facts.
Suetonius was writing well after Augustus’ death. As such, his text can
provide a valuable insight into how Augustus’ public image changed over
time. It is, however, vitally important that you not confuse his work with the
sources that were produced during Octavian/Augustus’ lifetime.
You are reminded that, although Suetonius’ biography is one of our best
and most complete sources for the history of this period, this module is not
primarily concerned with establishing historical facts. As with all prescribed
sources in this component, you should consider the nature of the image
conveyed by the author, rather than whether that image is accurate or reliable.
Octavian enters the Senate
Unfortunately for Octavian, he was not the only person who wanted to inherit Julius
Caesar’s power. One of Julius Caesar’s former lieutenants, Mark Antony, was position-
ing himself as the rightful heir. He had delivered a powerful speech at Julius Caesar’s
 2.1 Octavian Comes to Rome, 44–42 BC

funeral attacking the assassins, turning the tide of popular opinion against them. This
caused the assassins to flee Rome and also won popular support for himself.
Many senators were afraid that Antony would try to seize power for himself. They
saw the young Octavian as the lesser of two evils, thinking that they might be able to
control him. Despite the fact that he was only eighteen, a majority of senators voted
to induct Octavian into the Senate (the usual minimum age was thirty) and he was sent
to help lead an army against Antony’s personal at Mutina. In April 43, Antony’s army
was defeated and he was forced to retreat. The two consuls for the year, Hirtius and
Pansa, had both been part of this campaign and were both killed. This left Octavian in
sole command of the Senate’s army. This campaign is mentioned in Suetonius’ Life of
Augustus 10–11.
The Senate misplayed their hand at this stage. They tried to curb Octavian’s rise
to power by refusing to give him honours for the victory. Octavian responded by
refusing to pursue Antony. In fact, he marched his army on Rome and demanded that
he be given the consulship now that Hirtius and Pansa were dead! The Senate had
no army left to defend itself, and so had to bow to Octavian’s demands. A show-
election was held and Octavian was declared consul in August 43 BC . Augustus himself
wrote a brief account of the circumstances surrounding his first consulship in section 1
of the Res Gestae. Much of the finer detail of how he gained the position is omitted from
the text.

EXPLORE FURTHER Augustus’ Elogium

Before his death, Augustus composed an elogium for himself, outlining the elogium (pl. elogia) a
achievements of his life. This text is referred to as the Res Gestae (see funerary inscription
pp. 187–92 for an extended discussion of the composition, dissemination and
purposes of the Res Gestae). As the text was written towards the end of
Augustus’ life, with instructions to be displayed to the public after his death, it
seems likely that the Res Gestae was intended to ensure that Augustus was
remembered in a particular way.
Much like Suetonius’ Life of Augustus, the Res Gestae should not be used
as evidence for Octavian/Augustus’ public image during his lifetime. Rather, it
should be examined as evidence of how Augustus hoped to be remembered.

Octavian had managed successfully to present himself as the obvious successor to

Julius Caesar’s power and popularity and then to leverage this into official political
power. In just over a year Octavian had gone from being a boy with no history of holding
political office, to consul of Rome.

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 Part Two Imperial Image

EXAM TIP: SOURCE SKILLS

Who’s the Audience?

Because this module is concerned with how Augustus portrayed himself to the
public, all prescribed sources have something that they are trying to ‘say’ to their
audience. When you are studying this kind of source, it is important to determine
who the intended audience was. This will help you to work out what the message
of the source was, and to evaluate how effective it was at conveying the message.
For example, the strapline at the top of this political poster ‘Arbeit, Freiheit und
Brot’ (which translates as ‘work, freedom and bread’) is simple enough to under-
stand. It promises food and work (and therefore money) to the viewer, if they
vote for the Nazi party (mentioned below, National-Sozialisten) in an upcoming
FIGURE 2.1 election. But without any knowledge of the audience it is difficult to understand
German propaganda poster why it says this and how effective it was.
from the 1930s. The poster was, in fact, published in the early 1930s in Germany, following a
period of intense economic depression that left many out of work and unable to
feed their families. The Nazi Party was not yet in complete control of Germany,
and was trying to attract voters. Armed with this knowledge about the audience,
we are able to analyse the poster in far greater detail. We can understand how it
was designed to appeal to the audience’s concerns and evaluate how effective it
might have been at winning support for the Nazi Party from the German people.

PRESCRIBED SOURCE

Aureus, obv. bare head of Octavian, rev. Head of Julius Caesar with
laurel wreath
Date: 43 BC

Coin struck by: unknown

Text reads: C CAESAR COS PONT AUG // C CAESAR DICT PERP PONT
MAX

Translation: Gaius Caesar (Octavian), consul, priest of the augurs // Gaius

Caesar (Julius), dictator in perpetuity, pontifex maximus

Significance: one of Octavian’s earliest attempts at crafting his public image,

by linking himself with Julius Caesar

The coin in Figure 2.2, struck in 43 BC just after he was appointed consul, is one of
FIGURE 2.2
Aureus of Octavian. PS the earliest surviving examples of Octavian’s propaganda intended to manage his public
image. It shows Octavian alongside his ‘father’, Julius Caesar. This served to align the
young Octavian with Julius Caesar’s memory and encourage the viewer to think of
Octavian as the heir to Julius Caesar’s power. Julius Caesar had been one of the first

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