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Augustus: Godfather of Europe
The dramatic story of the provincial outsider who came to found Europe.
392 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 16, 2015
I loved this! I am an Augustophile, if ever there was one. It really helped that I teach this period of history before reading it, not for pedagogical purpose, but for pure enjoyment. The Roman 'cursus honorem' references and the Latin terminology may be less accessible to those with limited prior knowledge. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed it and smiled the way through at Octavian's outwitting of the Senate and conscious markers (be they architectural, poetic, legal or moral reforms) which were clearly to build his legacy. Loved it!
September 19, 2021
Augustus, as the title of the book says, was the Godfather of Europe. How was he you might ask? That is a good question, which this book does attempt to show, but in essence his governing of the Roman Empire set the template for successive Roman leaders until the crisis of the 3rd Century when the Empire underwent a massive change and began to split and fragment. Augustus set the example that many others have attempted to follow.
As a young man he impressed his uncle, Julius Caesar so much that he ended up being the prime beneficiary of his will and was adopted as his son. He would go on, as a young man to challenge the one many considered to be Caesar true heir, Marc Antony for supremacy amongst the Caesarians (not a party as such, but a group of people who identified themselves as supporters of Caesar) In this first few years he would go onto raising an army using the power of his adopted father's name and a lot of borrowed money side with the senate against marc Antony, then side with marc Antony against the Senate and the armies of Brutus and Cassius, the two men primarily responsible for Caesars' murder. He would then divide up the Roman world with Marc Antony and Lepidus, governing provinces under the second Triumphate until the final split and the war with Marc Antony and Cleopatra which ended successfully. All of this occurred before he was 30!
This though is not the half of it. Augustus saw the great challenge of attempting to govern the Republic without looking like a tyrant, something which failed many before, Including Julius Caesar. He then spent the next 30 years building his power and control over the whole roman world, while hiding his power (the legions and his prestige) and governing successful, creating what was known as the Principate (from the term Princeps, meaning first amongst equals), a state which was to last for over a 300 years bringing in a period of over 180 years of peace and prosperity over the roman world, which consisted of almost a quarter of the population of the planet.
This book attempts to cover this remarkable man, who shaped Europe, The text is easy to read and interesting, exciting at points as we are taking through Augustus's life. However there are a assumptions made about people's motivations, especially Augustus' as there vey few personal writings by Augustus exist making it truly hard to know if Augustus was the ultimate opportunist or if he had a plan. The book also focus's a lot on the first part of his life, with less emphasis on the long year's of his rule after the defeat of Marc Antony, covering what he did, but not in great detail. Never the less this is a very interesting starting point to the life of the great man and opens up lots of other areas to explore...
As a young man he impressed his uncle, Julius Caesar so much that he ended up being the prime beneficiary of his will and was adopted as his son. He would go on, as a young man to challenge the one many considered to be Caesar true heir, Marc Antony for supremacy amongst the Caesarians (not a party as such, but a group of people who identified themselves as supporters of Caesar) In this first few years he would go onto raising an army using the power of his adopted father's name and a lot of borrowed money side with the senate against marc Antony, then side with marc Antony against the Senate and the armies of Brutus and Cassius, the two men primarily responsible for Caesars' murder. He would then divide up the Roman world with Marc Antony and Lepidus, governing provinces under the second Triumphate until the final split and the war with Marc Antony and Cleopatra which ended successfully. All of this occurred before he was 30!
This though is not the half of it. Augustus saw the great challenge of attempting to govern the Republic without looking like a tyrant, something which failed many before, Including Julius Caesar. He then spent the next 30 years building his power and control over the whole roman world, while hiding his power (the legions and his prestige) and governing successful, creating what was known as the Principate (from the term Princeps, meaning first amongst equals), a state which was to last for over a 300 years bringing in a period of over 180 years of peace and prosperity over the roman world, which consisted of almost a quarter of the population of the planet.
This book attempts to cover this remarkable man, who shaped Europe, The text is easy to read and interesting, exciting at points as we are taking through Augustus's life. However there are a assumptions made about people's motivations, especially Augustus' as there vey few personal writings by Augustus exist making it truly hard to know if Augustus was the ultimate opportunist or if he had a plan. The book also focus's a lot on the first part of his life, with less emphasis on the long year's of his rule after the defeat of Marc Antony, covering what he did, but not in great detail. Never the less this is a very interesting starting point to the life of the great man and opens up lots of other areas to explore...
February 24, 2025
Porażka. Jestem wściekła na tę książkę, mam ochotę nią rzucić, podrzeć i spalić. Skąd tytuł i skąd pomysł, że miałaby być to biografia Oktawiana, skoro o nim samym jest tu tak mało? Kiedy we wstępie autor zapowiedział, że napisze o republice, aby lepiej wszystko zrozumieć pomyślałam o jakichś 50 stronach zwartych, najważniejszych informacji. Oj nie, opisywanie upadku republiki zajęło autorowi 300 stron. Łącznie książka (bez przypisów itp.) ma w moim wydaniu 362 strony. Nie byłoby to problemem gdyby autor przy opisywaniu upadku Republiki skupiał się głównie na Oktawianie, przecież grał on tam kluczową rolę. Ale nie, uwaga na nim skupiała się najmniej, zdawało się, że autor czasem sobie przypominał, że to o nim miał pisać. A ostatnie 60 stron, które opisywały już pryncypat wcale nie były lepsze. O Oktawianie wciąż było mało a napisać można tak wiele. Autor pisał o wszystkim wokół tylko nie o nim samym. Moja wiedza wcale się na jego temat nie poszerzyła. Jeśli ktoś chce dowiedzieć się czegoś o upadku republiki, jak najbardziej, jest to solidna pozycja i tego nie mogę tej książce odmówić, jednak jako biografia Oktawiana jest do niczego i spłyca jego postać. Dwie gwiazdki zostawiam tylko za dobry warsztat, bo czytało się w porządku i za to, że mimowolnie pogłębiłam swoją wiedzę o całym konflikcie, który miał miejsce po śmierci Juliusza Cezara.
June 16, 2020
Incredible historical reference. Even though the events happened more than 2000 years ago I was on the edge of my seat.
February 23, 2024
This is mostly the life of Julius Caesar, Cicero, and Mark Antony, less the life of Augustus. Only the last quarter of the book or so deals with the years after Actium. While a very lively narrative, it gets annoying and frustrating to have to read through three quarters or so of the book to finally get to Actium, and then the rest of Augustus' long life is rushed through.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews