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Cultural depictions of Augustus
Caesar Augustus (63 BC – AD 14), known as "Octavian" before he became emperor, was the first and among the most important of the Roman Emperors. As such, he has frequently been depicted in literature and art since ancient times.
In many of these works, Augustus appears as the main character, but he also frequently features as a supporting character in depictions of prominent contemporaries, most notably in those of his adoptive father Julius Caesar and his great rivals Mark Antony and Cleopatra. As a result of the various titles he adopted throughout his life, Augustus is known to history by several different names, however he is most commonly referred to as either Octavian, Caesar or Augustus in popular culture, depending on the stage of his life that is being depicted.
Augustus' most visible impact on everyday culture is the eighth month of the year, which, having been previously known as Sextilis, was renamed in Augustus' honor in 8 BC because several of the most significant events in his rise to power, culminating in the fall of Alexandria, occurred during this month. Commonly repeated lore has it that August has thirty-one days because Augustus wanted his month to match the length of Julius Caesar's July, but this is an invention of the thirteenth-century scholar Johannes de Sacrobosco. Sextilis in fact had thirty-one days before it was renamed, and it was not chosen for its length.
Augustus was one of the most widely depicted individuals in ancient times, appearing in coins, sculptures, cameos, plaques, and other media (no contemporary paintings of him survive, though many no doubt existed). Numerous arches and temples were dedicated to Augustus both during his lifetime and after his death, as the Roman imperial cult developed during his reign. His images were clearly controlled by the state, and consistently show a serene figure, who never shows signs of approaching old age, even in images dated to the last years before his death aged 75.
His dominant portrait, introduced in 27 BC to visually express the title Augustus, is that of the serene, ageless First Citizen, the most famous example of which is the Augustus of Prima Porta. At its best, in Roland R. R. Smith's view, this "type achieves a sort [of] visual paradox that might be described as mature, ageless, and authoritative youthfulness". Another full-size statue of Augustus with these "Primaporta type" features is the Augustus of Via Labicana, portraying Augustus in the role of Pontifex Maximus.
D. Boschung identified four other portrait types (the Actium or Alcúdia type, the Béziers-Spoleto type, the Forbes or MA 1280 type, and the Lucus Feroniae type), although Smith considers the Béziers-Spoleto type to be a variant of the Alcúdia type and the Lucus Feroniae type to be a category of dubious validity. The Alcúdia portrait type is thought to have been developed around 40 BC to coincide with the adoption of the patronymic title Divi Filius; Smith describes it as "a youthful portrait with thick hair and probably some expression of vigour and energy". Different scholars have argued whether the Forbes type, "with distinctive short forehead hair," preceded or followed the Prima Porta type.
There is a small group of spectacular imperial engraved gems, cameos carved in contrasting colours of stone. These are sometimes called "State Cameos", that presumably originated, and were probably only seen, in the inner court circle of Augustus, as they show him with divine attributes that were still politically sensitive, and in some cases have sexual aspects that would not have been exposed to a wider audience.
These include the Gemma Augustea in Vienna (which also has the Gemma Claudia showing the Emperor Claudius and his brother with their wives), the Great Cameo of France in Paris, the Blacas Cameo in the British Museum, and the portrait now re-used in the Cross of Lothair. The existence of a "State workshop" producing these gems has been inferred, probably staffed by artists of Greek origin. Unlike larger sculpted portraits, these seem to have remained above ground since antiquity.
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Cultural depictions of Augustus
Caesar Augustus (63 BC – AD 14), known as "Octavian" before he became emperor, was the first and among the most important of the Roman Emperors. As such, he has frequently been depicted in literature and art since ancient times.
In many of these works, Augustus appears as the main character, but he also frequently features as a supporting character in depictions of prominent contemporaries, most notably in those of his adoptive father Julius Caesar and his great rivals Mark Antony and Cleopatra. As a result of the various titles he adopted throughout his life, Augustus is known to history by several different names, however he is most commonly referred to as either Octavian, Caesar or Augustus in popular culture, depending on the stage of his life that is being depicted.
Augustus' most visible impact on everyday culture is the eighth month of the year, which, having been previously known as Sextilis, was renamed in Augustus' honor in 8 BC because several of the most significant events in his rise to power, culminating in the fall of Alexandria, occurred during this month. Commonly repeated lore has it that August has thirty-one days because Augustus wanted his month to match the length of Julius Caesar's July, but this is an invention of the thirteenth-century scholar Johannes de Sacrobosco. Sextilis in fact had thirty-one days before it was renamed, and it was not chosen for its length.
Augustus was one of the most widely depicted individuals in ancient times, appearing in coins, sculptures, cameos, plaques, and other media (no contemporary paintings of him survive, though many no doubt existed). Numerous arches and temples were dedicated to Augustus both during his lifetime and after his death, as the Roman imperial cult developed during his reign. His images were clearly controlled by the state, and consistently show a serene figure, who never shows signs of approaching old age, even in images dated to the last years before his death aged 75.
His dominant portrait, introduced in 27 BC to visually express the title Augustus, is that of the serene, ageless First Citizen, the most famous example of which is the Augustus of Prima Porta. At its best, in Roland R. R. Smith's view, this "type achieves a sort [of] visual paradox that might be described as mature, ageless, and authoritative youthfulness". Another full-size statue of Augustus with these "Primaporta type" features is the Augustus of Via Labicana, portraying Augustus in the role of Pontifex Maximus.
D. Boschung identified four other portrait types (the Actium or Alcúdia type, the Béziers-Spoleto type, the Forbes or MA 1280 type, and the Lucus Feroniae type), although Smith considers the Béziers-Spoleto type to be a variant of the Alcúdia type and the Lucus Feroniae type to be a category of dubious validity. The Alcúdia portrait type is thought to have been developed around 40 BC to coincide with the adoption of the patronymic title Divi Filius; Smith describes it as "a youthful portrait with thick hair and probably some expression of vigour and energy". Different scholars have argued whether the Forbes type, "with distinctive short forehead hair," preceded or followed the Prima Porta type.
There is a small group of spectacular imperial engraved gems, cameos carved in contrasting colours of stone. These are sometimes called "State Cameos", that presumably originated, and were probably only seen, in the inner court circle of Augustus, as they show him with divine attributes that were still politically sensitive, and in some cases have sexual aspects that would not have been exposed to a wider audience.
These include the Gemma Augustea in Vienna (which also has the Gemma Claudia showing the Emperor Claudius and his brother with their wives), the Great Cameo of France in Paris, the Blacas Cameo in the British Museum, and the portrait now re-used in the Cross of Lothair. The existence of a "State workshop" producing these gems has been inferred, probably staffed by artists of Greek origin. Unlike larger sculpted portraits, these seem to have remained above ground since antiquity.