IDC ROME: Augustus and the Res Gestae

Res Gestae

The Senate also gave Augustus extraordinary powers over the workings of the state and these powers grew throughout his 40-year rule. Yet, Augustus did not claim to be an emperor or a king. Knowing fully well that his great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated precisely because of his extraordinary powers, Augustus portrayed himself as princeps or the "first among equals."

His list of achievements was a long one and he intended that all Romans know and recognize what he had done for them. Shortly before his death, he composed a text called the Res Gestae (essentially Things I've Done) that listed his achievements. The text was read aloud at his funeral and then was published throughout the Roman Empire.



			Res Gestae The Senate also gave Augustus extraordinary powers over the workings of the state and these powers grew throughout his 40-year rule. Yet, Augustus did not claim to be an emperor or a king. Knowing fully well that his great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated precisely because of his extraordinary powers, Augustus portrayed himself as princeps or the "first among equals." His list of achievements was a long one and he intended that all Romans know and recognize what he had done for them. Shortly before his death, he composed a text called the Res Gestae (essentially Things I've Done) that listed his achievements. The text was read aloud at his funeral and then was published throughout the Roman Empire.

			Among his numerous achievements, Augustus claimed that he revived the Roman Republican government, that he returned Rome to its old-fashioned values and principles, and that the peace he brought to the Roman Empire inspired the rise of a Golden Age marked by harmony and prosperity.



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