Augustus Propaganda In The Res Gestae Divi Augusti
Augustus Propaganda in the Res Gestae Divi Augusti
The image that Gaius Octavius Thurinus, Gaius Julius Caesar, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, the same man one and all, wanted to portray in his book, the Res Gestae, was one of a patriotic, religious, lawful, chosen by both the senate and the citizens of Rome, modest, generous, independent, benevolent, successful leader, worldly recognised and travelled Roman citizen. Augustus wanted to portray himself as the ideal Roman, one to look up to, one to be a pillar of the old ways and customs. He wanted to be the Pater Patriae, or “Father of the country.” He succeeded, by viewing the writings in his book, indeed portray himself as an ideal Roman for the rest of the world to see.
Patriot
In ‘chapter …show more content…
The Aeneid also sets Augustus as a bringer of much desired and longed for peace after thirteen years of civil war. Virgil shows these values in Augustus by use of techniques. Virgil also wished to portray Augustus as a being of divine power but this supreme power over everything was still feared in the society of that time so Augustus publicly rejected the idea of divinity.
An ideal of the people and ‘Republic’ at that time was that a senator could be godlike but unable to proclaim himself as a god, a being above his people, while alive. Virgil uses allusion in the Aeneid to portray Augustus’ link to divinity. One example of the link between Augustus and divinity is in ‘chapter 8,’ ‘line 680’ which says Geminas cui tempora flammas, the “Twin beams of light” that can be interpreted as the twins of beginning Romulus and Remus. Since the word Geminus was used it could also allude to the twins of legend Castor and Pollux who reported victories to the Romans and lead them to victory at certain points of Roman history. The Flammas could then allude itself to Zeus himself as light beams (lightning) being his specialty. All of the above make Augustus appear superior without directly mentioning it thus allowing Augustus to appear divine without actually accusing him of breaking the ‘Republic’s’ standards of
The image that Gaius Octavius Thurinus, Gaius Julius Caesar, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, the same man one and all, wanted to portray in his book, the Res Gestae, was one of a patriotic, religious, lawful, chosen by both the senate and the citizens of Rome, modest, generous, independent, benevolent, successful leader, worldly recognised and travelled Roman citizen. Augustus wanted to portray himself as the ideal Roman, one to look up to, one to be a pillar of the old ways and customs. He wanted to be the Pater Patriae, or “Father of the country.” He succeeded, by viewing the writings in his book, indeed portray himself as an ideal Roman for the rest of the world to see.
Patriot
In ‘chapter …show more content…
The Aeneid also sets Augustus as a bringer of much desired and longed for peace after thirteen years of civil war. Virgil shows these values in Augustus by use of techniques. Virgil also wished to portray Augustus as a being of divine power but this supreme power over everything was still feared in the society of that time so Augustus publicly rejected the idea of divinity.
An ideal of the people and ‘Republic’ at that time was that a senator could be godlike but unable to proclaim himself as a god, a being above his people, while alive. Virgil uses allusion in the Aeneid to portray Augustus’ link to divinity. One example of the link between Augustus and divinity is in ‘chapter 8,’ ‘line 680’ which says Geminas cui tempora flammas, the “Twin beams of light” that can be interpreted as the twins of beginning Romulus and Remus. Since the word Geminus was used it could also allude to the twins of legend Castor and Pollux who reported victories to the Romans and lead them to victory at certain points of Roman history. The Flammas could then allude itself to Zeus himself as light beams (lightning) being his specialty. All of the above make Augustus appear superior without directly mentioning it thus allowing Augustus to appear divine without actually accusing him of breaking the ‘Republic’s’ standards of