Technically, my first thought was that he was Octavius, but that’s right next to thinking about his familial history.
I honestly have a hard time thinking of Augustus Caesar as the first Roman emperor, since Julius Caesar was so close to an emperor before that.
I knew a retired mechanic in Wisconsin named Gus Kaiser. All his life he’d never made the connection. Nobody else understood when I pointed it out, either. I’m glad I moved away after school.
Having recently watched the first season of Rome my very first thought was that he was seduced by his sister. This did not happen in real life, I hasten to add.
My second thought was that he ushered in the Pax Romana, a worthier thought by far.
Back in the day, anyone who dared imply all the baseless calumnies that series brought against Augustus’s mother and sister would have been over a slow fire in short order.
Luke 2 for me, also.
I think about Augustus every day, actually.
Off the top of my head:
I feel as if I live with the dude because I pretty much do on a daily basis. He pays my rent.
Concur.
Knead
Born in August
“That asshole.”
I’ve done a fair bit of reading on Ancient Rome, so a lot of stuff about his rise and reign. His asthma and youth, which made Antony and Cassius think they could prevail.
Namkcalb - what makes you ask?
First thought? Name someone who wore leaves on his head.
I am not proud of this, but in the interest of being a good citizen of the Dope, I’ll admit that the immediate image in my head was this guy.
I think of the Julius Caesar (?) movie with James Mason and Marlon Brando. IIRC. one of them was Augustus.
Mason was Brutus in that version, and Brando was Marc Antony.
My first thought is that Augustus was the greatest politician who ever lived, with the possible exception of Genghis Khan. After nigh on a century of civil strife and murderous violence that seemed to have rendered Rome ungovernable, he managed to create a new sort of government that co-opted the upper classes, the masses, the non-Roman allies, and the army into a stable system that would endure for centuries. He quickly learnt from his uncle Julius’ mistakes, chose excellent advisors, and was able to outwit the best politicians that the Roman upper classes had in his teens.
I think Brian Blessed was a terrible choice for Augustus in “I, Claudius”, although John Hurt, Derek Jacobi and George Baker were spot on. A better choice was the actor who played him in the 1968 British series “The Caesars”, which also had the marvellous Freddie Jones doing a fine scene-eating turn as Claudius.
My impression of Augustus concords with how he was played in the “Rome” series, by both actors.
I know he was a Roman emperor, and probably did something important. But the August thing is pretty much all I know of his contribution to the world.
How long have you got? I wrote my undergraduate thesis on Augustus and the problem of imperial succession.
One of the truly legendary figures in world history. At a very young age after the murder of his great-uncle, he was thrust on the political stage of Europe’s superpower. With the help of friends like Marcus Agrippa and Maecenas, he outmaneuvered his foes (Cleopatra was very smart) and became ruler. He was smart enough to figure out how to rule which predecessors like Marius, Sulla, the Gracchi, and the others. His boast of finding Rome made of bricks and left it as marble has a lot of validity. I’m not advocating benevolent dictators but Augustus was about as good as they get
Brian Blessed just isn’t Augustus, and I like a lot of his work. The first one in “Rome”, Max Prakis, was quite good.
Thank you for making a jerk out of me!
The key word here being “Wisconsin.” :rolleyes: