how do you approach augustus? (1 Viewer)

[glycerine]

what's your take on the man? maniacal despot? pater patriae? brilliant general?

i have nooo idea how i'm going to approach him in my upcoming assessment :s

 

[glycerine]

hahaha we just started the succession issue. tiberius wasn't that bad was he? he was a bit of a mama's boy but surely there's worse examples than him

although to be fair i go from augustus-235 in my two historical periods so i have lots of bad/mediocre emperors to choose from

i think i'm going to do the fawning ohhhh augustus! route purely cos my teacher loves him and it's easier

 

[AsyLum]

With a big stick..

Seriously though, my conception of him was the right man for the job, he had the political and military ambition and success to take over from the power vacuum which was left after the civil wars.

As a military genius, i wouldnt quite say that, seen better. His succession wasnt entirely a flaw, at least he somewhat left one, Alexander didnt even name/leave one.

A result of the populist novus homo and the ambitious drive of the old aristocracy, he embodied both.

 

[glycerine]

haha yeah the julio claudians were kind of f to the ucked eh? i don't know them that well tho as we're only up to augustus like i said

no i haven't seen i, claudius, i have seen caligula though i bought it for $8 thinking it could help me not realising it was a porno hahahaha

mike-thinking abt the military thing, in case i get asked something in that vicinity, do you think it was purely a power and influence thing and/or he was just the best at that particular point?

 

[glycerine]

yeah except i made that totally incoherent. i'm tired.

 

[AsyLum]

mike-thinking abt the military thing, in case i get asked something in that vicinity, do you think it was purely a power and influence thing and/or he was just the best at that particular point?

Id say more that he was just a survivor rather than anything. Nothing really impressive about the way he commanded an army, but having said that i dont think there were too many that could have done what he did either.

After Pompey, Antony and Caesar dying there wasnt much left in terms of powerful men.

 

[glycerine]

agrippina was prolly one of the closest right? and he was never really anything near a threat if i understand rightly? (which i prolly don't)

 

[AsyLum]

Haha, its all a bunch of what if's but yeah, id say agrippina was one of the more 'able' ones.

Augustus' role wasnt really faceted within the warring consul of the republic, rather in the socio-political/economic/religious side of things.

If you take it under those headings, then you'd be hard pressed to say he was a total failure, and id lean towards success (although in no way was it a complete success).

 

[xeuyrawp]

Also you have to remember how hard his job was, and he used this to his advantage.

 

[niteshade1312]

My class watched the whole series of I Claudius, and its great for background knowledge! I think Caligula is the best guy ever! heheh.. not only did he think he was a god, he conquered 'the ocean', ate is baby because he thought he was Jove, made his horse the senate of the state, and held orgies all the time... what more could you want?! (JOKES!)

In response to your initial question, Im not sure how you would approach Augustus because I'm not really doing that topic, but I think that by understanding him and his family, and the steps he took into laying the foundations for his Rome, I would have to say that he was an amazing man!

 

[xeuyrawp]

and he was really under the thumb of his wife

As the saying goes, "Who controls the cock controls the country.".... ok I made that one up.

 

[xeuyrawp]

haha gold!, it even relates to howard and Bob carr

And my boyfriend who will be president.

 

[xeuyrawp]

ha.....oh! president of what?

hmm.. Good question. Certainly not Australia, I want a big Tank to ride in and at least 14 tactical nukes at the ready in my name.

 

[JoeysBoy]

what's your take on the man? maniacal despot? pater patriae? brilliant general?

i have nooo idea how i'm going to approach him in my upcoming assessment :s

Depends on your assignment question. If it doesn't tell you what to look for, include all the views (ie. father, general, reformer, etc.) and incorporate at least two conflicting interpretations from various sources. Hamel is a good one...

But remember! Don't use Pam! (Bradley)

 

[Don Mackey]

Approach any question from Augustus with this in mind. What he created had no precendent in the Ancient world, it was necessary for the stability of the Roman world to create the principate. Dio Cassius saw the Principate as a middle path. Their was no diarchy as Mommsen suggests, Syme is influenced by his period of writing ie the rise of the WW2 despots. Tacitus who syme adheres too writes from a senatorial perspective and under the reign of Domitian.
When looking at Augustus look at the overall picture Romans saw no change between the Respublica and the Principate "one man was just now in charge"
Augustus successfully reformed the army revised the senate, reinstated religious practices and enforced moral and social reforms. Look at Augustus' acheivements in relation to the fact that no one else had done what he accomplished.
Best scholars for evaluation if you like Augustus - Mellor, Judge, Pat Southern, Michael Grant, Richard Alston,
If you dont like Augustus then use Syme and tacitus.
Good Luck Augustus did way too much to possibly cover everything just create a concrete thesis and everyone will be sweet

 

[xeuyrawp]

Approach any question from Augustus with this in mind. What he created had no precendent in the Ancient world, it was necessary for the stability of the Roman world to create the principate. Dio Cassius saw the Principate as a middle path. Their was no diarchy as Mommsen suggests, Syme is influenced by his period of writing ie the rise of the WW2 despots. Tacitus who syme adheres too writes from a senatorial perspective and under the reign of Domitian.
When looking at Augustus look at the overall picture Romans saw no change between the Respublica and the Principate "one man was just now in charge"
Augustus successfully reformed the army revised the senate, reinstated religious practices and enforced moral and social reforms. Look at Augustus' acheivements in relation to the fact that no one else had done what he accomplished.
Best scholars for evaluation if you like Augustus - Mellor, Judge, Pat Southern, Michael Grant, Richard Alston,
If you dont like Augustus then use Syme and tacitus.
Good Luck Augustus did way too much to possibly cover everything just create a concrete thesis and everyone will be sweet

Wow, good post

 

[launcher169]

have to agree there, covered everything

what i suggest is to approach any specific question on augustus thematically, i.e. what changes did he make to the: millitary, senate, people, economy, provinces, building program etc. and them use the historical perspective to show both conflict and to back up your own specific argument

cheers

 

[Skryp]

Get all the most noted sources, read their general perspectives and whatever there is more of, take that argument, haha you may not agree with their perspective, but it'll make your assignment a shitload easier.