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Julio-Claudian Emperors

Assessment

I have taken time with Augustus because of his importance. He was the single most important figure in Roman history, and Rome figures large in the history of Europe.

His name became a title: Caesar. In Germany it is rendered as Kaiser. After Rome fell, the rulers at Constantinople called themselves Roman Emperors, though they spoke Greek. A thousand years later, after Constantinople itself had fallen, the rulers of Muscovy called their city the third Rome and called themselves czars, a form of Caesar.

His father had reformed the Roman calendar, in part by adding two months. The seventh month was named after him—July; and the eight month was named for Augustus. The insertion of these two months explains why September, whose name means seven, is actually the ninth month; similarly for October, November and December.

Cities like Augusta are named for him. So is Augsburg, Germany, which was founded by Caesar's veterans and was named Augustus Vindelicorum.

The settlement of Augustus, an arrangement of a vast empire more or less made up as he went along, lasted intact for nearly 250 years. His arrangement was not only for Rome but for the entire classical world. No single individual can match that.

Yet, most strangely, the man does not seem to fit the part. He was no Julius Caesar, nor Marc Antony, nor Sulla. He was not especially daring or charismatic, not dashing or innovative. He was hard-headed, conservative, pragmatic, determined. He knew his duty, knew his limitations, and surrounded himself with good men.

He was no genius, yet he had the ability to inspire deep loyalty in a wide range of men, from soldiers to politicians to artists. He was the epitome of Roman virtues, as the Romans liked to imagine themselves. Perhaps that is why he was so well loved. As Alexander became the archetype for all future generals, so Augustus became the archetype for future monarchs.