Augustus

In Rome there was a severe famine For this section about discontent at Rome, see Dio 55 27.

“I never sought to procure” Ovid Trist 3545–48.

XXIV. THE BITTER END

For the last part of Augustus’ life, we depend on Dio (despite lacunae), on the overenthusiastic Velleius, and on Suetonius’ lives of Augustus and Tiberius. The site of the main ambush of Varus’ legions has been discovered at Kalkriese in Germany (see The Quest for the Lost Roman Legions: Discovering the Varus Battlefield, by Tony Clunn [New York and Spellmount, Staplehurst, UK: Savas Beatie, 2005]).

“The Pannonians possessed” Vell Pat 2 110 5.

“Your summer campaigns” Suet Tib 21 5.

his Romanized name of Arminius It was wrongly thought by Martin Luther and others that the German for “Arminius” is Hermann. It may have been Armin.

location for the ambush The site was identified in the 1990s near the modern German town of Bramsche between the Ems and Weser rivers.

“dreaded but unavoidable act” Dio 56 21 5.

“Quinctilius Varus, give me back my legions!” Suet Aug 23 2.

A record survives Pliny 748.

“blackened the characters” Tac Ann 172.

“republicanist” Sen Contr 10 Praef 4–8.

“You must not” Suet Aug 51 3.

stay within the empire’s current boundaries Tacitus (Ann 111) places this advice in the breviarium.

In the late spring Augustus’ remorse over Agrippa Postumus is told with varying levels of detail by Pliny 7150, Plutarch in his essay on talkativeness (although referring to a Fulvius rather than a Fabius), Dio 56 30, and Tac Ann 15.

“There [on Planasia]” Tac Ann 15.

Augustus’ last days Suet Aug 97–100.

During the ritual Suetonius says only “the nearby temple”; the main temple built and dedicated by Agrippa was the Pantheon, to which the historian was very probably referring.

“Augustus’ illness” Tac Ann 15.

“Livia was afraid” Dio 56 30 2.

According to Dio Ibid., 56 30 5.

But Suetonius claims Suet Aug 98 5.

commander of the island guard According to Suetonius (Tib 22 1), Tiberius did not announce Augustus’ death until he received the news of Postumus’ execution. This seems unlikely, for it would have entailed four or five days’ silence. It would also be unnecessary, for no uprising could have been organized in such a short space of time.

“repository of imperial secrets” Tac Ann 330.

“palace secrets” Ibid., 16.

recovery came too late When rulers or heads of state die in office, raison d’état has been known to stimulate ruthless behavior: one recalls that the death of England’s King George V in 1935 was hastened by his doctor so that it met the deadline for the London Times newspaper of the following morning!

“Some doubt remains” Suet Tib 22.

Augustus’ signet ring These were routine actions when a Roman died: see Smith, see under funus.

“Since fate has cruelly carried off” Suet Tib 23.

he adopted his wife For a full discussion of Livia’s adoption, see Barrett, Chapter 8 passim.

“she took a share” Dio 56 47 1.

The funeral of a leading Roman For this description of Augustus’ funeral I have added generic data about Roman funerals from Smith, funus, to the accounts of Dio and Suetonius.

INTO THE FUTURE

“let her waste away” Tac Ann 153.

“pilgrimage to far lands” Ibid., 324.

“On the open ground” Ibid., 161.

“no Charlemagne” Fuller, p. 181.

“Intelligent people praised” Tac Ann 19.

“filial duty” Ibid., 110.

“I am surprised” Plut Apo reg et imp 207D.

“faultily faultless” Tennyson, Alfred Lord Maul 2 6.

“May I achieve” Suet Aug 28 2.

SOURCES

ANCIENT SOURCES

The ancient literary sources for the life and times of Augustus are numerous, but all in their different ways flawed or limited. In general, much more information about the civil wars up to the deaths of Mark Antony and Cleopatra has survived. As noted in the preface, many important histories and memoirs have been lost.