# What's the first thing you think about Augustus Caesar **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 22, 2013, 9:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861 "2013-08-22T09:06:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/41 "2013-08-22T19:26:22Z")
[This statue](http://media.salemwebnetwork.com/cms/blog/2467094/statue-augustus.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/42 "2013-08-22T19:39:42Z")
I confused him with Julius at first. :o ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/43 "2013-08-22T19:41:53Z")
Given the general geek level of the board, I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned Neil Gaiman’s Sandman story about Augustus before now. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/44 "2013-08-22T20:03:51Z")
Brian Blessed. ---
**Author:** ![want2befree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@want2befree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2befree)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/45 "2013-08-22T20:13:57Z")
He makes a mean salad. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/46 "2013-08-22T20:15:02Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > When you meet him in Civilization IV and he says “Care for some salad? I made it myself.” Nitpick: That’s Julius Caesar in Civ IV. Augustus is in Civ V, though he doesn’t talk about caesar salads. Well, he _might_ but it’s in Latin so I have no idea what he’s saying. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/47 "2013-08-22T20:36:37Z")
I think of him as Livia’s Boy Toy. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/48 "2013-08-22T20:45:23Z")
Yep…Brian Blessed. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/49 "2013-08-22T21:36:29Z")
August salad. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/50 "2013-08-22T21:52:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Given the general geek level of the board, I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned Neil Gaiman’s Sandman story about Augustus before now. I was thinking of that, but after his role in Colleen McCullough’s Masters of Rome book series\* and after I, Claudius, book and TV series. Although, actually, those thoughts came after a first reaction of “twisty little bastard.” - He’s in October Horse and Antony and Cleopatra. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/51 "2013-08-22T22:23:45Z")
I think about the first two, but my very **first** thought is “Brian Blessed” ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/52 "2013-08-22T22:40:45Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > I think of him as Livia’s Boy Toy. According to the book _ **I, Claudius** _, the union was political only, and when Augustus needed to get it off, Livia personally procured concubines for him. IIRC, her gripe was that her father had fallen victim of one of Augustus’s earliest purges, leading ultimately to her poisoning him once he’d served his purpose. I liked the moment in _ **Rome** _ when Agrippa (I think it was) tells Octavian he’s scariest when he smiles. At that point, Octavian realizes Cleopatra has absolutely no intention of accompanying him back to Rome. Agreed that Brian Blessed was the _ne plus ultra_ when it comes to portrayals of Augustus, but Roddy MacDowell in _ **Cleopatra** _ was pretty damned good, too! ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/53 "2013-08-23T01:03:34Z")
I always think about the quote “I found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble”. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/54 "2013-08-23T02:41:16Z")
Something else: I think of Publius Vergilius Maro writing the _Aeneid_ for Gus, no doubt because I’m currently reading \*Lavinia \*by Ursula K. LeGuin, in which the shade of Vergil is a speaking character. _Ars longa, vita brevis_. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/55 "2013-08-23T03:05:59Z")
Another vote for salad. And the bull in the Nero Wolfe novel. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/56 "2013-08-23T03:30:02Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Something else: I think of Publius Vergilius Maro writing the _Aeneid_ for Gus, no doubt because I’m currently reading \*Lavinia \*by Ursula K. LeGuin, in which the shade of Vergil is a speaking character. _Ars longa, vita brevis_. _Lavinia_! I loved that book. Robert Brockway of [Cracked.com](http://Cracked.com) once asked in his article [The 5 Most Unjustly Overshadowed Sci-Fi Classics](http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-most-unjustly-overshadowed-sci-fi-classics/url) if there was anything he missed. I said _Lavinia_. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/57 "2013-08-23T03:35:52Z")
> [@Namkcalb](#): > > When you hear the name Augustus Caesar, what’s the first thing that comes into your mind? My first thought was, “Hmm, don’t we usually say Caesar Augustus, and not Augustus Caesar?” Then I had to think about it for a bit because I wasn’t sure if it was true or I had just made it up in my head right then. After that it was the Christmas story from Luke 2. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/58 "2013-08-23T05:14:22Z")
> [@Space\_Vegetable](#): > > Something else: Has a month named after him. Then Brian Blessed’s portrayal in I Claudius. This. Show went downhill after he died. I had never been exposed to the volume that is BB and I was impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Mnemnosyne](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mnemnosyne/32/3347_2.png) [@Mnemnosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mnemnosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/59 "2013-08-23T08:23:07Z")
> [@armedmonkey](#): > > Nitpick: That’s Julius Caesar in Civ IV. Augustus is in Civ V, though he doesn’t talk about caesar salads. Well, he _might_ but it’s in Latin so I have no idea what he’s saying. Both Augustus and Julius are in Civ IV. They have slightly different traits. ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2013, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861/60 "2013-08-23T08:56:23Z")
> [@Mnemnosyne](#): > > Both Augustus and Julius are in Civ IV. They have slightly different traits. Was Augustus in one of the expansion packs? I’m not doubting you, it’s just that he’s not in my bare bones copy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-first-thing-you-think-about-augustus-caesar/666861.md?page=4)