Tutorial: Augustus' Res Gestae

Studiosity (Course Code 455): A tool mentioned as an intermediary step before seeking help from academic skills services.
Functions and Usage:
- Provides feedback on grammar and structure.
- Does not write the paper for the student but points out areas for improvement.
- Helps residents construct and guide answers.
- Specific Interaction: A student noted that the tool Flagged "archaic language" within quotes from historical sources, which is a common occurrence when using primary texts.
Recommendation: Students are encouraged to use it even shortly before deadlines to catch minor mistakes.

Definition: The Res Gestae Divi Augusti (The Deeds of the Divine Augustus) is a first-person account of the life and achievements of Augustus.
Author and Purpose: It was written by Augustus himself to dictate how he should be remembered by posterity.
Timing of Presentation: The document was presented to the Senate immediately following Augustus's death.
Associated Documents: According to Suetonius, the Res Gestae was one of several documents Augustus left behind, including:
- His will.
- Funeral instructions.
- A summary of the monetary and financial state of the empire.
- Suggestions to keep the empire within its current borders.

Original Inscription: The original was carved onto two bronze pillars placed outside the Mausoleum of Augustus in Rome.
Imperial Distribution: Copies of the inscription were distributed and set up in various locations throughout the Roman Empire to maintain Augustus's legitimacy and the popularity of his dynasty.
Extant Copies: The modern reconstruction of the text is derived from three primary inscriptions found in Turkey:
- These inscriptions include both Greek and Latin versions, often inscribed on the same monument but in separate sections.
- The text is noted for being written in a tightly compact style.

Model: The Res Gestae is modeled on elogia, which are funerary inscriptions that had been used for central figures over the preceding few hundred years.
Evolution of the Form: Traditional elogia were short descriptions of a person's career (e.g., noting they were a consul or defeated an enemy).
Predecessor Example: Scipio Barbatus (dating back to the $200$ s or $300$ s BCE) is cited as one of the first examples of such inscriptions.
Distinction: Augustus’s version far exceeds traditional elogia in terms of detail, scale, and narrative elaboration, serving as both a document and a monument.

Magistracies and Offices: Details the various republican offices Augustus held and what he achieved within them.
Generosity (Liberalitas): Notes his personal spending on the state, including repairing infrastructure, building projects, and giving money to the people and veterans.
Military Achievement: Focuses on expeditions and conquests, essential for building prestige and political power in the Roman tradition.
Triumphs and Ovations:
- Triumph: A prestigious parade awarded by the Senate for significant military victories that increased Roman territory. It involved parading captives and booty through the streets of Rome.
- Ovation: A "lesser triumph" used frequently in the imperial period. Emperors often celebrated the triumph themselves (even if a general won the battle) and might award the general an ovation to limit their prestige.
Political Summary: A summary of his position within the state.

Champion of Liberty: Augustus claims he successfully championed the liberty of the republic when it was oppressed by the "tyranny of a faction."
Restoration of the Republic (Section $34$ ): Augustus states that in his $6$ th and $7$ th consulships, after extinguishing civil wars, he transferred the republic from his power to the dominion of the Senate and the Roman people.
Auctoritas vs. Potestas:
- Augustus admits he excelled all in influence (auctoritas).
- However, he claims he possessed no more official power (potestas) than his colleagues in each magistracy.
Princeps: He utilized the title Princeps (first among equals), a traditional republican term for a prominent senator, to avoid the appearance of being a monarch or Rex (king).
The Reality of Power: While he claimed to be a co-consul or a traditional governor, he held multiple offices simultaneously, such as governing the two Spanish provinces, Gaul, Syria, and Egypt, along with tribunicia potestas (tribunician power).

Official Propaganda: The text is viewed as the official propaganda of the regime, presenting history exactly as Augustus wished it to be recorded.
Omissions and Bias:
- Opponents: He avoids naming enemies; Mark Antony is referred to only as a "faction."
- Age and Tradition: He notes he was enrolled in the Senate at age $19$ . He omits that the traditional age requirement was $30$ and that this was a breach of tradition.
- Seizure of Power: He claims the people appointed him consul in the year both consuls fell in battle. He omits the fact that he marched his eight legions on Rome to demand the consulship.
Clemency vs. Violence: While the Res Gestae emphasizes his clemency, other sources like Suetonius (Augustus 15) describe his brutality.
- Example: During the siege of an Italian town (Perusia), Augustus reportedly executed many prisoners, telling those who begged for mercy, "You must die."
- Human Sacrifice: Some sources claim he sacrificed $300$ prisoners from the upper orders (senators and equestrians) at the altar of Julius Caesar on the Ides of March.

Target Audience: Primarily Roman citizens and visitors to Rome and the provinces.
Literacy Levels: Although there is debate on literacy, the sheer scale and grandeur of the monuments conveyed a message of power and stability even to those who could not read the full text.
Messaging: The document connects Augustus to the greatness of Rome, providing a "handbook" or advice for future emperors on how to maintain the state.
The "Middle Class": Shop owners and traders who were educating their children might have read sections aloud, passing the information to the wider, non-literate population.

Question: Did the state hire people to read the inscriptions aloud for the illiterate?
Response: While there isn't a specific documented example of state-hired readers for the Res Gestae, Roman literature was generally more oral and performative than modern reading habits. If one were literate in the $1$ st century, the inscription would have been very "in your face."
Student Observation: A student noted that they heard Roman literature was traditionally more "orated" than read silently.
Confirmation: The instructor confirmed that this was a likely way for the messages to permeate society.