Greek Depictions of Augustus in Life and Death.pptx

There is clearly shown about Greek depiction of Augustus in life and death.

1. Greek Depictions of Augustus in Life and Death

2. I was fortunate to come across two strikingly different depictions of Roman Emperor Augustus (r. 27 BC – 19 AD) while in Greece last year. These depictions, one made during his rule and the other after his rule, give us a clue as to how Augustus wanted to be portrayed and how people portrayed him after his death. Here he is in Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki in all his marble glory. We do not have an exact date or author, but the consensus is that it was constructed in a Thessaloniki workshop during the reign of Emperor Tiberius (14-37 AD).

3. It is remarkable how perfect and beautiful the sculptor made the face and body. The emperor could easily pass as an athlete or model in our day. At the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, I encountered a much different Augustus. Instead of marble, we have bronze. Sadly, it is incomplete, missing the horse he was piously riding. This Augustus is older and takes on the pose of a wise ruler. Found in the Aegean Sea, this dates roughly to 12-10 BC, during Augustus’s reign and roughly 25 years before his death.

4. The emperor Augustus The Roman statue known as the “Augustus of Prima Porta” is a remarkably powerful piece of Early Imperial “propaganda”. Augustus was born Gaius Octavius (“Octavian”) in 63 BC. His maternal great-uncle was known other than the famous general Julius Caesar. Caesar himself, of course, was a central figure in the troubles that the Roman Republic experienced in the second half of the first century BC. He emerged victorious after a bloody civil war, and was appointed dictator.

5. The Augustus of Prima Porta The statue was found in the villa of Augustus’ wife Livia at Prima Porta, a few kilometres north of Rome. It depicts Augustus in an unusual way: equipped as a general, with bare feet, and one hand outstretched in a pose familiar from portraits of orators.

6. First of all, Augustus carefully presented an image of himself as restraint and sober, as well as pious. Indeed, his name – Augustus – has a distinctly religious ring to it, and many portraits intended for public consumption tended to present him as a civilian or dressed like a priest (since he also officiated). Secondly, Augustus had “saved” the Republic from decades of internal strife and had ushered in a new era of peace, the  Pax Romana , and it’s likely that he would not have wished to emphasize his military achievements.

7. A descendant from Venus One of the key things that Augustus did to ensure his reign would be successful was to use art and architecture as propaganda. To celebrate his defeat of Caesar’s assassins, he contructed a temple to Mars Ultor (i.e. “Mars the Avenger”), which featured statues of Mars (the god of war), his paramour Venus (goddess of love), as well as a statue of the recently deified Julius Caesar himself. And this, too, would have been another important reason that the statue was not intended for general consumption: in public, Augustus was adamant that he not be treated as a god. But in private, of course, plans were already in motion for him to be elevated to godhood after death, just as Julius Caesar had been proclaimed a divinity.