Politicians

• Politicians and leaders were often military generals
• Usually from the extremely wealthy nobility

Cursus Honorum

Cursus Honorum - honors race

Roman Republic

Roman Republic

• Founded in 509 BC
• More of an Oligarchy with elections than a democracy
• Women did not have the right to vote

Equestrian

• Ancient Roman social class
• Equites - knights
• In order to qualify for Equestrian status, the family must have owned propery worth more than 400,000 sesterces and not engaged in the government

Novus Homo

New Man

The Family of Augustus

• Was not of pure Roman stock
  • Originally one of the Latium tribes assimilated by Rome
• Paternal Great Grandfater
• Father
• Siblings
  • Octavia Major (sister)
  • Octavia Minor (sister)

Velitrae

• Birthplace of Augustus
• Now known as Velletri
• Velitrae was an outpost of Latium which had been assimilated into the Roman world centuries before the birth of Augustus
  • The young Octavius would have been aware that it was not just Romans who made Rome great. The men of all lands of Italy contributed much (often serving as the backbones of the legions)

Roman Names

• Praenomen - forename
  • Example: Gaius
• Nomen - clan name
  • Example: Octavius
• Cognomen - family subset of a clan
• Agnomen - sometimes awarded to successful generals
  • Example: Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus

Augustus: The Life of Rome’s First Emperor

 

Anthony Everitt explores the life of the first Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus, one of the most influential men in the history of the world. The life of Augustus is a study of leadership and power. Through the tumultuous period of time during the transition of the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire, Augustus managed to maintain his power and ushered in the era of Pax Romana or Pax Augusta. He certainly extended the lifespan of Roman dominance and laid the foundations of European civilization that has continued over the last two thousand years.

“I found Rome of clay; I leave it to you of marble.” - Caesar Augustus on his deathbead

Contents

1. Scenes from a Provincial Childhood
2. The Great-Uncle
3. A Political Master Class
4. Unfinished Business
5. A Boy with a Name
6. From Victory, Defeat
7. Killing Fields
8. Divided World
9. Golden Age
10. Fighting Neptune
11. Parthian Shots
12. East is East and West is West
13. The Phony War
14. Showdown
15. A Long Farewell
16. Abdication
17. Whom the Gods Love
18. Exercising Power
19. The Cult of Virtue
20. Life at Court
21. Growing the Empire
22. A Family at War
23. The Unhappy Return
24. The Bitter End
25. Into the Future