Julia the Elder, the only legitimate biological child of Augustus (which makes her the daughter of the son of god), was definitely hot stuff. She had what you might politely call “a reputation”. We don’t know much about Julia’s childhood or early teenage years. But by her late teens she had become a popular figure in […]

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In this episode, we’re dealing with events around 18 BCE: The most important innovation Aug created around this time was his new small council, the consilium principis (advisers to the princeps). Another thing he did to reduce the numbers of the Senate was to raise the amount of wealth you had to have from 400,000 sesterces […]

The post Augustus Caesar #66 – Consilium Principis appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Augustus returns to Rome and he comes up with a cunning plan. He also fires the entire Senate. And Cam finds out who Vanna White is.   

The post Augustus Caesar #64 – The Cunning Plan appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Aeneas reflects Augustus in many ways – they both place duty and piety before their own comfort and interests.  Both have to endure great hardships and struggles for many years before final victory is won and the greater community can enjoy peace and prosperity. Sometimes they needed to do dreadful things for the greater good and […]

The post Augustus Caesar #62 – Virgil & The Aeneid Part 3 appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

It would be a mistake to see Virgil’s poetry as purely political propaganda.  It was a matter of self-respect for Augustus to allow artists to do their art.  He genuinely wanted to be admired for what he did for Rome – not for what he could do to you. His victory and the peace it […]

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Augustus does a deal with the Parthian King Phraates IV to return the standards and prisoners from their previous encounters with Crassus and Antony. And Lucius Cornelius Balbus gets a triumph – the last one awarded to a private citizen (eg who wasn’t a member of the Emperor’s family) – for five and a half centuries. […]

The post Augustus Caesar #59 – The Last Triumph appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

While Augustus is out in the provinces, he tends to give his speeches in Greek rather than Latin, to show how much he respects their regional cultures. He also treats them fairly magnanimously – except when he doesn’t.

The post Augustus Caesar #58 – It’s All Greek To Me appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

One of the client rulers who is best known during these years is Herod The Great. He was brutal, but the Romans didn’t mind, as long he paid his respects and kept his people under control. He built the Second Temple in Jerusalem but it didn’t buy him much love from his main constituency – the […]

The post Augustus Caesar #57 – Herod The Great appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

In the year 22 BCE, Augustus went to Sicily, Rome’s oldest overseas province. But the people aren’t prepared to let him go that easily. They start burning shit down and breaking the furniture, until he pays them attention – and sends Agrippa home.

The post Augustus Caesar #55 – Augustus Goes To Sicily appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.

Gary Arndt has been everywhere. Which is why his blog is called Everything Everywhere. Since 2007 he’s been travelling nearly non-stop, taking photos – and has been named  Travel Photographer of the Year three times. He joined us on Skype from an undisclosed location recently to discuss Caesar-related travel destinations.

The post Augustus Caesar #54 – Gary Arndt appeared first on Life Of The Caesars.