Augustus

Augustus wrote a letter commending Germanicus to the Senate, and the Senate to Tiberius. His physical energy was waning and he did not read it out himself, for he could not make himself heard, but instead handed the document to Germanicus to read. Taking the war in Germany (now drawing to a close) as his excuse, he asked senators to forgo attending the morning salutatio at his house on the Palatine Hill, and not to feel offended if he no longer attended public banquets.

Natural disaster struck again: the Tiber burst its banks and the Circus Maximus was flooded. For the first time we hear of seditious literature being burned and the authors punished. Probably in this year, a well-known advocate in the courts, Cassius Severus, was banished to Crete for having “blackened the characters of men and women of the highest status by licentious writings.” The princeps had not been the target, but, also for the first time, this kind of offense was dealt with under the treason law. Also, the Senate burned the “republicanist” writings of a historian, who committed suicide.

These reactionary moves strike a new, disturbing note, for one of the regime’s more attractive traits in earlier years had been its acceptance, if not its endorsement, of free speech. An easy self-confidence had given way to anxiety. Perhaps this reflects the growing influence of Tiberius, who, despite his possible republican sympathies, had long been of an authoritarian cast of mind. Years before, Augustus had written to him: “You must not…take it to heart if anyone speaks ill of me: let us be satisfied if we can make people stop short at unkind words.”

In the following year, A.D. 13, Augustus’ imperium was optimistically extended for a further ten years, and (yet another first) Tiberius, now fifty-six, received equal powers. Even if old age was slowing him down, the princeps remained hardworking, busy, and clever. The 5 percent death duty introduced in A.D. 6 proved extremely unpopular among the upper classes. The Senate indicated that it would accept any impost except for the death duty, so Augustus set in motion plans for a land tax instead. He was well aware that that would present an even more alarming prospect; and indeed the Senate decided it would be best to stick to the devil they knew. The old manipulator had lost none of his skill.

Thoughts of death can never have been far from Augustus’ mind throughout his long life: his health was poor in the first half of his career; until Actium, he regularly ran the risk of being killed in battle; and in Rome he was sharply aware that the Ides of March set a baleful precedent. He was only in his mid-thirties when he commissioned his splendid mausoleum.

Now certainty replaced possibility. In April of A.D. 13, Augustus assembled a number of documents, describing the achievements of his reign and leaving various instructions; it may be that a deterioration in his health prompted him to take this step. The documents were mostly written in his own hand, although his office staff will have done the research. In one sealed roll, he gave directions for his funeral. In another, he set out his record, which he wished to have engraved on two bronze columns at the entrance to his mausoleum. The princeps did not write the text all at once, but in his orderly way had begun it years previously and added to it from time to time; he only finally signed it off on May 13, A.D. 14.

Written in plain, dignified Latin, this second document became known as the Acts of the Deified Augustus, or Res Gestae Divi Augusti; copies were posted in different cities in the empire (translated into Greek where appropriate).

The Res Gestae is an astute piece of writing, of which a modern manager of public opinion could be proud; for while he tells no outright lies, Augustus casts the most favorable possible light on his activities. He never once mentions Mark Antony by name, whether as fellow triumvir or military enemy; nor does he go into any detail about his revolutionary past—it is as if the proscription never happened.

The third document Augustus prepared at this time, the breviarium imperii, was a statement of the number of serving troops in different parts of the empire, the reserves in the public exchequer and in the privy purse, and the tax revenues due for collection; he also supplied the names of the freedmen and slave secretaries who would be able to furnish further particulars under each heading, on demand.

Augustus also composed a homily directed at both Tiberius and the people, in which he advised them, among other things, to stay within the empire’s current boundaries. This injunction partly reflected the success of his policy of imperial expansion along the Danube and partly the new chastened acceptance of the Rhine as the appropriate barrier between Gaul and the Germanic tribes.