Res Gestae

The Res Gestae Divi Augustus (Deeds of the Divine Augustus) is how Rome's first emperor wished to be remembered, and it was not as an emperor.  It is a rendering of his accomplishments, of which the original (now lost) was inscribed in front of his mausoleum in Rome.  Fortunately, copies of the Res Gestae were distributed throughout the Empire and nearly complete or partial copies have been found in many locations with the most complete version at a temple in modern day Ankara, Turkey.  An English translation can be found here.

Augustus is the towering figure in Roman history.  As Octavian, the 19-year old adopted nephew of the assassinated Julius Caesar, and as heir to Caesar's fortune, he was originally underestimated by both Caesar's opponents like Brutus and Cicero, as well as by the man who seemed Caesar's political heir, Marc Antony.  Over the next thirteen years, until 31BC, Octavian/Augustus outmaneuvered everyone, ending civil war, reuniting the Roman state, and emerging as its undisputed head, a position he retained until his death 45 years later.

Cleverly, he positioned himself as restoring the Roman Republic but, in reality, Augustus marked the final death of the Republic and came to be considered the first Roman emperor.  The Res Gestae can be read as a propaganda document, memorializing the role of Augustus as restorer of the peace, servant of the Republic and Senate, benefactor to the people and City of Rome, expander of Rome to unprecedented dominion, and recognized in that role by the submission of neighboring states and kingdoms.

The Res Gestae contains 35 paragraphs of accomplishments, in twelve of which Augustus emphasizes actions done in accordance with the wishes of the senate and/or people along with several instances where he declined honors:

Twice he is given an ovation for his victories, along with three triumphs but "when the Senate decreed more triumphs for me, I sat out from all of them".  He declined offers of dictatorship from both the senate and people.

Augustus reminds readers that at the end of the civil war:

. . . having obtained all things by universal consent, I handed over the state from my power to the dominion of the senate and Roman people.  And for this merit of mine, by a senate decree, I was called Augustus . . . After that time, I exceeded all in influence, but I had no greater power than the others who were colleagues of mine in each magistracy.

He spends ten paragraphs listing his bequests and building on behalf of the people, including large payments to the Roman plebs and towns, and the establishment of many military colonies in Italy and elsewhere.  Four times he "helped the senatorial treasury with my money", though in reality his accounts and those of the state were so intermingled it was difficult to tell where monies came from.   The rebuilding of many of Rome's temples and prominent buildings is described in great detail as well as the eight gladiator shows in which about 10,000 men fought and the 26 hunts of "African beasts in the circus, in the open, or in the amphitheater; in them about 3,500 beasts were killed".

The document relates with evident pride the punishment of his adoptive father's murderers:

I drove the men who slaughtered my father into exile with a legal order, punishing their crime, and afterwards, when they waged war on the state, I conquered them in two battles.

Note the statement that his activities were done by "legal order" and his enemies "waged war on the state", not Augustus.

Of more import to Romans, was his expansion of their boundaries.  Wars were carried on in Europe, Africa, and Asia during his long reign:

I often waged war, civil and foreign, on the earth and sea, in the whole wide world, and as victor I spared all the citizens who sought pardon.  As for foreign nations, those which I was able to safely forgive, I preferred to preserve than to destroy.

Like Caesar, Augustus was magnanimous in pardoning those who fought against him, apart from those who murdered Caesar.

About five hundred thousand Roman citizens were sworn to me.  I led something more than three hundred thousand of them into colonies . . .

The emperor is referring to the legions raised during the Civil War.  It was important to demobilize most of them, yet a settlement had to be found so the soldiers would be satisfied and not cause further disturbance.  This Augustus accomplished by establishing military colonies for settlement and paying generous stipends for their service.  The remainder were formed into 28 permanent legions (Rome's first standing army) and distributed among the frontier provinces.

I extended the borders of all the provinces of the Roman people which neighbored nations not subject to our rule.

He completed the subjugation of Spain and advanced the borders of Rome to the Danube in modern day Austria and Hungary.  The astonishing wealth of Egypt was added to the Empire and, in a humble-brag states that while he could have made Armenia a province he instead installed a local king who served as an ally.  There is no mention of the tragic misadventure in Germania, where three legions under Varus were slaughtered by the local tribes five years before the death of Augustus, a setback the led him to direct the remaining legions to fall back to the west bank of the Rhine.

Adding a whiff of adventure in the farthest lands he adds:

By my order and auspices two armies were led at about the same time into Ethiopia and into that part of Arabia which is called Happy [Felix], and the troops of each nation of enemies were slaughtered in battle and many towns captured.  They penetrated into Ethiopia all the way to the town of Napata, which is near to Meroe; and into Arabia all the way to the border of the Sabaei, advancing to the town of Mariba.

Neither of these expeditions resulted in permanent conquest.  The Ethiopia expedition, under Gaius Petronius, traveled well into modern Sudan before withdrawing.  The Arabian campaign was a disaster with an army commanded by Aelius Gallus advancing into modern Yemen before being destroyed by disease (for more on Rome in Arabia read The Farthest Outpost).

And those not directly ruled by Rome recognized the greatness of its domain:

Emissaries from the Indian kings were often sent to me, which had not been seen before that time by any Roman leader.  The Bastarnae, the Scythians, and the Sarmatians [from the steppes north of the Black Sea] .  .  . and the kings of the Albanians, the Iberians, and of the Medes [the last three in the Caucasus], sought our friendship through emissaries.

To me were sent supplications by kings: of the Parthians . . . of the Britons, Dumnobellaunus and Tincommius . . . King Phrates of the Parthians [Rome's greatest enemy] . . . sent all his sons and grandsons into Italy to me, though defeated in no war, but seeking our friendship through the pledges of his children.

He ends with this:

When I administered my thirteenth consulate [2 BC], the senate and Equestrian order and the Roman people all called me father of the country, and voted that the same be inscribed in the vestibule of my temple, in the Julian senate-house, and in the forum of Augustus under the chariot which had been placed there for me by a decision of the senate.

It was a masterful political performance that last more than a half-century.  On the surface, Augustus restored order and the role of the Senate and people while, in reality, he manipulated and controlled the state, drastically changing the course of Roman history.