At the end of his life the emperor Augustus wrote an account of his achievements in which he reviewed his rise to power, his conquest of the world and his unparalleled generosity towards his subjects. This 2009 edition provides a text, translation and detailed commentary - the first substantial one [...]
Velleius Paterculus, who lived in the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius (30 BCE-37 CE), served as a military tribune in Thrace, Macedonia, Greece and Asia Minor, and later, from 4 CE to 12 or 13, as a cavalry officer and "legatus" in Germany and Pannonia. He was quaestor in 7 CE, praetor in 15. He wro[...]
Caesar Augustus' story, one of the most riveting in western history, is filled with drama and contradiction, risky gambles and unexpected success. He began as a teenage warlord, whose only claim to power was as the heir of the murdered Julius Caesar. Mark Antony dubbed him "a boy who owes everything[...]
He found Rome made of clay and left it made of marble. As Rome's first emperor, Augustus transformed the unruly Republic into the greatest empire the world had ever seen. His consolidation and expansion of Roman power two thousand years ago laid the foundations, for all of Western history to follow.[...]