Deeds of the Divine Augustus (14 CE) Commentary by Bradley A. Skeen, Ph.D.

The Deeds of the Divine Augustus (Res gestae divi Augusti) is Augustus's own testament of his achievements; it is a unique document authored by one of the most powerful and influential leaders in history, the first Roman emperor. After the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 bce, his nineteen-year-old nephew and adopted heir Octavian (later called Augustus) inherited the problems caused by inadequacies of the traditional Roman system of government that had plagued the republic for more than half a century. Like Caesar, Octavian had to engage in civil wars, first with Caesar's assassins and then with Caesar's lieutenant Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius). But Augustus succeeded where his predecessors failed in creating a new and more stable form of government: the principate. Although he always claimed justification for his actions in traditional terms, Octavian, in fact, abandoned the republican form of government (in which power was shared between a group of aristocratic...