Augustus (New York Review Books Classics)

I liked this book but got lost in the host of characters. I wrote out a concordance to help me keep track. My husband said I should post it online. Please remember this is not a scholarly document, but a tool to help readers. I am sure there are mistakes and typos. The formatting did not hold up either.AUGUSTUS by John Williams1) Agrippa=(64-12 BC)AO’s life-long friend of humble origins;firstly married, Caecilla Pomponia Attica, daughter of Atticus; they produced a daughter, Vipsania Agrippinasecondly married Claudia Marcella Major=may have produced a daughterthirdly married Julia the Elder, AO’s daughter, despite a 25-year age difference=produced fivechildren: A) Gaius Caesar; B) Julia, the Younger; C) Lucius Caesar; D) Agrippina the Elder:E) Agrippa “Postumus”suppressed disorders in Gaul & Germany (38 BC);largely responsible for naval victory over MA at Actium (31 BC);responsible for the construction of some of the most beautiful buildings in the history of Rome; succeeded Marcellus as chief minister in 23 BC;tribune (18-12 BC);died in Campania (12 BC); AO mourned him for a month & had his remains placed in his ownmausoleum.2) Agrippina, the Elder=(13 BC?-33 AD)daughter of Agrippa & Julia, the daughter of AO;wife of Germanicus Caesar; married (c 6AD);mother of (those living to maturity) Nero Caesar; Druses Caesar; Emperor Caligula; EmpressAgrippina, the Younger; Julia Drusilla; & Julia Livillaaccompanied her husband on all his campaigns until his death in 19 AD;incurred the hatred of Tiberius;banished to the island of Pandataria near Naples where she died of starvation (33 AD).3) Agrippa Postumus=(See: Postumus #103-p15.)4) Agrippina, the Younger=(15-59 AD)daughter of Germanicus, &Agrippina, the Elder;raised in Rome by her mother & grandmother after Germanicus’s death;married firstly to Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (28 AD);which produced Nero, who was originally named Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (37 AD); involved in plot with sister Julia Livilla & Macus Aemillius “Lepidus” to kill Caligula; Lepidus wasexecuted; the sisters sent to the Pontine Islands (39 AD) married secondly to Crispus Passienus (41 AD);married thirdly to her uncle Emperor Claudius (49 AD); poisoned (Emperor Claudiius (54 AD);excluded Britannicus, son of Claudius, from the throne; caused scandals & destroyed much of the nobility;sought to rule through her son, Nero, who put her to death.5) Albius Tibullus=(See: Tibullus #126-p18.)6) Antonia Minor=(36 BC-37 AD)daughter of MA & Octavia, AO’s sister;wife of Druses, his maternal second-cousin:mother of: Germanicus, Emperor Caludius, & Livilla;died soon after accession of her grandson, Caligula. 17) Antyllus=(47-30 BC)son of MA & Fulvia designated as MA’s sole heir;lived with his father, step-mother, & his siblings in his father’s mansion in Athens, Greece (40-36 BC);accompanied MA to Alexandrina, Egypt, in the court of Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt (36 BC);sent to OA with a bribe in exchange for peace; OA kept the money, but dismissed Antyllus; OA ordered his beheading on the same day as that of Caesarion.8) “Athendorus” Cannities of Tarus (74 BC-7 AD)AO’s teacher & friend; tutor to AO’s children’s later education: Julia, the Elder; Druses; &Tiberius9) “Atia” Balba Caesonia=(85 -43 BC) AO’s mother;youngest sister of Julia, JC’s mother.10) Emperor “AO” Augustus/Octavian=(63 BC-14 AD) originally Gaius ruled as first Roman emperor (27 BC-14 AD)adopted as JC’s son & heir in 45 BC;gained control of Italy after assassination in 44 BC, aided by Cicero;joined MA & Lepidus in establishing Second Triumvirate in 43 BC, receiving Africa, Sardinia, & Sicily as his domains;defeated Brutus & Cassius at Philippi in 42 BC, receiving Italy as his portion; governor of Cispaline Gaul in 46 BC;AO & MA reconciled when the latter married AO’s sister, Octavia, in 40 BC divorced Scribonia in 39 BC on the day she gave birth to Julia, the Elder; fought Sicilian War against Pompey from 38-36 BC;rivalry with MA finally settled by defeat of MA & Cleopatra at Battle of Actium in 31 BC; became sole ruler of Roman world;received title of “Augustus” from senate in 27 BC;made his step-son Tiberius his heir in 4 AD;added to empire by victories in Spain, Pannonia, Dalmatia, & Gaul, but his legions suffered great losses in 9 AD;promoted agriculture & the arts in the Augustan Age;married: A) Claudia, who had no children; B) Scribonia, whose daughter Julia married threetimes; C) Livia Drusilla, the divorced wife of Tiberius Claudius Nero, who had two sons(OA’s step-sons): Tiberius, later emperor, & Druses (d: 9 BC);beset with sorrow: the behavior of his daughter, Julia; no heir; deaths of his nephew,grandsons, & favorite stepson, Druses; possibly poisoned by his wife, Livia.11) Atticus=(110-32 BC)editor, banker, & patron of letters who resided in Athens & Rome;closest friend of Cicero;wealthy due to inheritance & real estate dealings;married in 57 BC to Caecilla “Pilea” (75-46 BC);his daughter, Caecilla Pomponia “Attica,’ was the first wife of Marcus Vipsanius “Agrippa.”212) “Brutus”=(85-42 BC)sided with Pompey against JC, but pardoned by JC after Pompey’s defeat at Pharsala in (48 BC)headed conspiracy against JC; one of his assassins; Governor of Cisalpine Gaul (46 BC);praetor in Rome (44 BC);after JC’s murder, raised army in Macedonia (44 BC); defeated at Philippi by combined forces of MA & AO (42 BC); committed suicide.13) Burrus=(?-63 AD)Roman general; Commander of Praetorian Guard (52 AD);associated with Seneca in education of Nero;used influence with the guard after death of Emperor Claudius to assure Nero’s undisputedsuccession to the throne (54 AD);refused to approve certain assassinations ordered by Nero; died suddenly, perhaps from poison.14) Emperor Caligula=(12 AD-41 AD) ruled as emperor (37-41 AD);youngest son of Germanicus & Agrippina, the Elder, born probably a Antium;raised in camps among soldiers; nicknamed “caligula,” meaning leather military shoes;declared heir to throne by Tiberius after joining him on the isle of Capri (31 AD);became emporer & ruled moderately for a short time (37 AD);suffered extreme illness (c 38 AD);marked his reign with acts of madness, cruelty, & tyranny; made his horse a consul; declared himselfa god;murdered by members of praetorian cohorts led by Gaius Cassius “Chaera.”15) JC/Caesar=(100 BC-44 BC) born in Rome to Gaius Julius Caesar & Auerlia Cotta; married firstly, Cornelia. daughter of Lucius Cinna, (83 BC);became chief rival of Sulla, head of oligarchic party;married secondly, Pompeia, a relative of Pompey;reconciled Pompey & Crassus & with them formed the First Triumvirate in 60 BC;married thirdly, Calprunia (59 BC);made military reputation in Gaul, by defeating the Helvetii & Ariovistus (58 BC), the Belgi (57 BC) &by invading Britain (55-54 BC), by crossing the Rhine and subduing Vercingetorix; crossed the Rubicon after the Pompey-influenced senate ordered him to disband his army; pursued the fleeing Pompey to Thessaly & defeated him at Pharsalus;became Roman dictator (49 BC);aided Cleopatra & brought her to Rome (49 BC);organized Julian calendar (46 BC);offered Rome’s crown but refused it (15 Feb 44 BC);murdered by group of nobles, including Brutus & Cassius, in senate 1(5 Mar 44 BC).16) Caesarion=(23 Jun 47-23 Aug 30 BC) son of JC & Cleopatra VII;raised in Rome with mother & father (46-44 BC); after JC’s assassination, Cleopatra returned to Egypt; executed in Alexandria, Egypt (30 BC).17) Caesonia=(?-41AD)had a reputation as a wanton, but truly loved, as much as he was capable, by Caligula;became wife of Caligula (39 AD); produced daughter Julia Drusilla (39 AD);assassinated after Caligula by praetorian guards along with her daughter. 318)Cassius=(85-3 Oct 42 BC) brother-in law of Brutus;quarreled with the son of the dictator Sulla while in school (c 70 BC);took part in the Battle of Carrhae lost by Crassus against the Parthians (53 BC);elected tribune of the Plebs; threw in his lot with the Optimates (early 49 BC);met with Pompey in Greece after JC crossed the Rubicon (late 49 BC);appointed commander of the fleet; he attacked 7 burned a great part of JC’s navy in Sicily (48 BC); headed for Hellespont after Pompey’s defeat at the Battle of Pharsalus; overtaken by JC & forced tosurrender unconditionally;made a legate by JC; refused to fight agianst Cato & Scipio in Africa; retired to Rome (46 BC); organized the plot to assassinate JC; Brutus became the group’s leader (44 BC);amassed an army in the East;confirmed as Governor or Syria by the Senate (43 BC);defeated Publius Cornelius Dolabella, who killed himself (43 BC);joined Brutus in Smyrna to fight the Second Triumvirate;sacked Rhodes, a site of the Trumvirates’ allies (42 BC);proclaimed by his armies as “imperator” (41 BC);crossed the Hellespont, marched through Thrace, & encamped near Philippi in macedon; AO &MA arrived; MA overran Cassius; unaware Brutus had defeated AO, Cassius ordered his freedman, Pinddarus, to kill him (42 BC).19) Catiline=(108?-62 BC) Roman politician;quaestor (77 BC);praetor (68 BC);Governor of Africa (67-66 BC);entered into conspiracy to assassinate the consuls & plunder Rome (63 BC); attacked by Cicero in speeches in Senate & forum;fled to army of Manlius, his ally in Eturia;defeated & slain (62 BC).20) Cato, the Younger=(95-46 BC) Roman Stoic philosopher;served against Spartacus (72 BC); military tribune in Macedonia (67 BC); quaestor (65 BC);tribune to the people (62 BC);praetor (54 BC);supported Cicero against Catiline, & Pompey against JC;committed suicide on learning of Caesar’s decisive victory at Thapsus (46 BC).21) Catullus=(84?-54 BC)Roman lyric poet;among his poems, chiefly lyrics, over 100 in number, are many addressed to“Lesbia,” who has been identified as Clodia, notorious sister of Clodius, & wife of Quintus Metellus Celer.422) Cicero=(106-43 BC)philosopher, politician, lawyer, orator, & consul;neighbor to AO’s parents;married Terentia (98 BC-4 AD); (79 BC);subverted Catiline’s conspiracy which involved the assassination of the Roman Consuls in order toplunder Roman funds (63 BC);banished in 59 BC; recalled (57 BC);sided with Pompey in Civil War, but reconciled with Caesar after battle of Pharsalus i(48 BC); after Caesar’s assassination, he attacked Antony in orations known as Philipics;proscribed by Second Triumvirate;calmly allowed his assassin to behead him.23) Chaera= (?-41AD)Roman soldier & conspirator;assassin of Emperor Caligula;executed by order of the new emperor, Claudius (25 Jan 41 AD).24) Claudia “Marcella” Major=(See: Marcella #68-p11.)25) Claudia Antonia=(?-66 AD)daughter of Emperor Claudius & Messalina;executed by Nero.26) Emperor Claudius=(10 BC-54 AD)ruled as emperor (41-54 AD);second son of Druses & Antonia; step-son to AO;ignored by AO & Tiberius as a half-wit; suffered from a limp, slight deafness, & a stutter; studied with Livy & Athenodorus; wrote secretly;requested an office from Tiberius, but snubbed; finally appointed co-consul (37 AD);tormented by his nephew, Emperor Caligula;appointed emperor (after Cligula’s assassination (41 AD);married firstly Plautia Urgulanilla, the grand-daughter of Livia’s confidant, Urgulani;produced son, Claudius Druses who die of asphyxiation in his early teens after becoming engaged to Junilla, the daughter of Sejanus; divorced for adultery & murdering her sister-in-law, Aprovia;married secondly Adia Paetina, a relative of Sejanus; produced Claudia Antoniamarried thirdly married Valeria “Messalina,” his first-cousin-once-removed; she produced Claudia Octavia & Tiberius Claudius Germanicus “Britannicus;” becam obsessed bysex; divorced Caludius while he was in Ostia 7 married her lover, Gaius Silius; bothshe & her lover were executed;married fourthly Agrippina, the Younger, his niece (49 BC); prevailed upon him to set hisson, Britannicus, aside to set her son, Nero, as heir;carried on wars, through his generals, in Britain, Germany, Syria, & Mauretania; built harbor at mouth of Tiber & the Claudian aqueduct;poisoned by Empress Agrippina, the Younger.527) Cleopatra VII or VI=(69-30 BC) daughter of Ptolemy XI Auletes;by the will of her father , became joint ruler with her brother/husband, Ptolemy XII; driven out by him (51-49 BC);supported by JC, who defeated Ptolemy XII, who drowned during flight; relinquishedactual government of kingdom to her younger brother, Ptolemy XIII, whom she had married;became JC’s mistress & lived with him in Rome (46-44 BC);returned to Egypt & murdered Ptolemy XIII to make room for her son Cesarion as herassociate on the throne (44 BC);after Philippi, met Antony in Cilicia, appearing as Aphrodite in a vessel magnificentlyadorned & with a splendid retinue (42 BC);won MA’s love & bore him twin children: Alexander helios & Cleopatra Selene; deserted byMA (40 BC) but joined him at Antioch (36-34 BC) where he was in command against the Parthians (Iranians);lived with MA in Egypt (32-31 BC);with MA at Actium but withdrew her fleet & fled to Alexandria (31 BC);could not influence AO & killed herself on learning he intended to exhibit her as triumph atRome.28) Clodia Pulchra=(57 BC-?)daughter of Fluvia & Puluis Clodius Pulchra;step daughter to MA;half-sister to Antyllus & Iullus;offered at the formation of the Triumvirate to AO by her mother, Fluvia; divorced by AO so he could marry Scribonia;adored by the poet, Catullus;her fate is unknown.29) “Clodius” Publius Pulchra=(93?-52 BC) Roman politician/gangster; quaestor in Sicily (61 BC);tribune in Rome; married Fluvia (59 BC);opposed Cicero; exiled him & confiscated his property;pandered to the wishes of the Roman mob;killed in a street brawl during an election by soldiers in Milo’s hire (20 Jan 52 BC).30)”Cornelia” Cinnilla= (97-69 BC)daughter of Lucius Cornelius “Cinna,” head of a popular party in Rome;married JC (84 BC);Sulla demanded that JC divorce her, but JC refused though he lost their mutual wealth; mother of Julia, wife of Pompey;JC delivered a funeral oration to honor her.31)Crassus=(115?-53 BC)sided with Sulla against Marius which laid the basis of a vast fortune by speculation in confiscatedproperty during the period of Sulla’s proscriptions in Rome;crushed revolt led by Spartacus, the leader of the slave rebellion;joined Pompey & JC in organizing the First Triumvirate, being its financial backer (60 BC); governor of Syria in 60 BC;undertook campaign against the Parthians; disastrously defeated at Carrhae (Haran), captured, &executed.632) ”Decimus” Junius Brutus Albinus=(83?-43 BC) politician & general;distant cousin to JC;served under JC in Gaul;co-conspirator with JC’s assassination; executed by MA’s order by a Gallic chief.33) Dollabella=(85-80?-43 BC)adopted by a plebian so he could become a tribune;divorced his first wife, Fabia so he could marry Cicero’s daughter, Tullia Ciceronus; married Tullia (50 BC);in Civil War (49-45 BC), sided with Pompey, but switched to JC;Tullia divorced him (46 BC);after war, tried to pass a bill in the Senate forgetting all debt because his was immense;MA took up arms against him;JC returned from Alexandria & removed Dolabella from Rome by making him one of his generals inhis expedition to Africa & Spain;JC tired to re-establish Dolabella in the Senate, but MA augured him disfavorably;after JC’s assassination, Dolabella sought the assassins’ friendship;joined MA in his expedition against the Parthians (Iranians);murdered Gaius Trebonius, proconsul at Smyrna, to gain town treasure; so MA declared him apublic enemy;captured in Laodicea, Syria; he asked one of his soldiers to kill him.34) Druses=(14 Jan 30 BC-9 BC)son of Livia & Tiberius Claudius Nero;step-son of AO;with his older brother, Tiberius, launched first major Roman Campaigns in Germany;married Antonia Minor, daughter of MA & AO’s sister, Octavia Minor, hence: his maternal second-cousin (c14 BC);fathered: Germanicus Caesar, Emperor Claudius, & Livilla;killed after bring thrown from his horse in Germany (Livia’s doctor sent from Rome, may have killedhim;ashes placed in AO’s mausoleum.35) Druses Caesar (7 AD-33 AD)son of Germanicus & Agrippina, the Elder;married Aemillia Lepidus, his second cousin;accused of plotting against Tiberius;exiled & imprisoned after the arrests of his mother & brother, Nero Caesar; starved to death.36) Drusilla=(16-38 AD)daughter of Germanicus & Agrippina, the Elder, born in Germany;raised in Rome by her mother & grandmother after Germanicus’s death;firstly married Lucius Cassius Longinus, Tiberius’s friend;ordered to divorce by Caligula & forced to marry Marcus Aemllus Lepidus (37 AD); may or may not have been Caligula’s lover.737) Fluvia=(circa 83-40 BC)only daughter of Marcus Fulvius Bamballo [“Stutterer”] & Sempronia;firstly married “Clodius” Pulius Pulcher (62 BC); Clodius controlled several gangs who opposed Milo,another politician/gangster, who ultimately killed Clodius (52 BC);secondly married Gaius “Scribonius” Curio (52 BC); Scribonius was killed in N Africa while fighting forJulius Caesar i(49 BC);thirdly married to Mark Antony (46 BC);with Lucius Antonius raised with legions to support MA against AO in the Perusine War; after being defeated, Fluvia, fled with her children to Greece;MA blamed her for becoming involved;Fluvia died in Corinth.38) Furius=(1st century BC)Latin poet; author of satires against JC & AO.39) Gaius Asinius Pollio=(See: Pollio #98-p14.)40) Gaius Caesar=(20 BC-4 AD)son of Agrippa & Julia, the Elder;adopted by AO in 17 BC;given right to sit in Senate (6 BC);married his relative, Livilla, daughter of Druses, the Elder & Antonia Minor; made armycommander in the East (1 BC);made Consul with Lucius Aemillus Paullus (1 AD);died in Lycia after being wounded in Artagira, Armenia, (4 AD).41) Gaius Caesar(12 AD-41 AD)=(See: Emperor Caligula #14-p3.) 42) Gaius “Cassius” Longinus (85-42 BC)=(See: Cassius #18-p4.) 43) Gaius Cassius “Chaera” (?-41 AD) (See: Chaera #23-p5.)44) Gauis Claudius “Marcellus”=Octavia’s first husband45) Gaius Clinius “Maecenas”=(See: Maecenas #67-p11.)46) Gaius Julius “Caesar”=(See: “Caesar/JC” #15-p3.)47) Gaius “Octavius” (after adoption: Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus) (See: Emperor Augustus/AO #10-p2.) 48) Gaius Valerius “Catullus”=(See: Catullus #21-p4.)49) Germanicus=(15 BC-19 AD)son of Druses & Antonia Minor, the daughter of MA & Octavia, AO’s sister;married Agrippina, the Elder, (c 5 AD) & produced: (those living to maturity) Nero Caesar;Druses Caesar; Emperor Caligula; Empress Agrippina, the Younger; Julia Drusilla; & Julia Livilla campaigned against the Germans 11-16 AD;defeated Arminius, revenging the defeat of the Romans at the Battle of Teutoburg Forest &reclaiming the last eagles of the legion (16 AD);received a triumph in Rome (17 AD);asssigned to Eastern provinces, because of Tiberius’s jealousy (17 AD); defeated the kingdoms of Cappadocia & Commagene (18 AD);died near Antioch, possibly by orders of Livia &/or Tiberius (19 AD).850) Gnaeus Calpurnius “Piso”=(See: Piso #97-p14.)51) Gnaeus Pomeius “Pompey” Magnus=(See: Pompey #99-p14.)52) “Herod” the Great =(75-4 BC) was of Arab descentKing of Judea (39-4 BC); appointed initially by Antony, Octavius, & the Senate;married 10 times;converted to Judaism;built many fortresses, theatres, hippodromes, & even began rebuilding Great Temple at Jerusalem; very paranoid & depressed in his latter years.53) Horace=(65-8 BC) (Also: Quintus) Roman poet & satirist;son of a freedman;educated in Rome & Athens;commanded legion in republican army at Philippi (42 BC);enjoyed patronage of Maecenas & received from him the gift of a villa in the Sabine Hills; enjoyed favor of Emperor Augustus;wrote: 2 books of satires,1 book of epodes, 4 books of odes, 2 books of epistles, & Ars Poetica.54) Iullus Antonius (45-2 BC)son of MA & Fluvia;full-brother to Marcus Antonius “Antyllus;”half-brother to Clodia Pulcha, AO’s first wife;half-brother to Antonia Major & Antonia Minor through MA’s marriage to Octavia Minor; half-brother to Alexander Helios, Cleopatra Selene II, & Ptolemy Philadelphus through MA’smarriage to Cleopatra VII;step-siblings: Marcellus; Claudia “Marcella” Major, later his wife; Caesarion; & ClaudiaMarcella Minor;step-son to: Octavia Minor, AO’s sister; & Cleopatra VII;husband of Claudia “Marcella” Major;forced to commit suicide after being found guilty of adultery with Julia, the Elder (2 BC).55) Julia “Livilla”=(See: Livilla #60-p10.)56) Julia, the Elder=(39 BC- 29 AD) daughter of AO & Scribonia;engaged to Antyllus (37 BC);engagement broken (31 BC);25 BC, married to her cousin, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, who died in 23 BC;married to Agrippa (21 BC);produced: A) Gaius Caesar; B) Julia, the Younger; C) Lucius Caesar; D) Agrippina the Elder;E) Agrippa PostumusiAO forced Tiberius, her step-brother to divorce his wife, Vipsania Agrippina, & to marry Julia (11 BC); Tiberius went into voluntary exile(6 BC);had affairs with several men;arrested for adultery & treason (2 BC);exiled to Pandataria, an island off the coast of Campania;moved to Rhegium (4 AD);upon becoming emperor, Tiberius withheld Julia’s allowance;died of malnutrition (14 AD).957) Julia, the Younger=(19 BC-29 AD)daughter of Agrippa & Julia, the Elder;married to Lucius Aemillus Paullus, her first half-cousin (both shared Scribonia as grandmother); (5 BC);produced a daughter, Aemillia Lepidus;exiled for affair with Decimus Junius Silanus, a Roman senator; sent to Trimenus, a small Italianisland;gave birth to child on island; child exposed to elements;husband executed for conspiracy (somewhere between 1 & 14 AD); she died on the island (29 AD).58) Lepidus (?-77 BC)=after Sulla’s death, tried to change the his constitution ; incurred the wrath of the Senate; left Rome, gathered an army, & attacked the city (77 BC);defeated by Pompey & Quintus Lutatius “Catulus;”fled to join Sertorius in Spain;died soon thereafter.59) ”Livia” Drusilla=(after formal adoption into the Julian family in [14 AD] aka “Julia Augusta”) (58 BC-29 AD) daughter of Marcus Livius Druses Claudianus & Aufidia;firstly married Tiberius Claudius Nero (ci 43 BC )sons: “Tiberius” Claudius Nero (42 BC), & Nero Claudius “Druses,” the elder, (38 BC) secondly married Augustus Octavian; married for 51 years; lived a modest life on Palatine Hill;managed her own finances; also may have poisoned AO, her stepdaughter’s sons, Lucius & Gaius, whom AO had adopted, & Marcellus, AO’s nephew through octavia, AO’s sisterpaternal grandmother of the Emperor Claudius; paternal great-grandmother of the Emperor Claudius; maternal great-great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero.60) Livilla=(18-42 AD)daughter of Germanicus & Agrippina, the Younger;born on the Island of Lesbos in Greece;with her mother & Caligula, her brother, when her father died;grew up in household of the step-grand-mother, Livia, & then her paternal grandmother, Antonia, Minor; married Marcus Vinicus (33 AD);prostituted herself possibly with Caligula, & definitely with his courtiers;fell out of favor with her Uncle/Emperor Claudius’s third wife Messalina;charged with adultery with Senecca, the Younger; both exiled; she was killed;ashes eventually placed in AO’s mausoleum by her sister Empress Agrippina (Uncle/EmperorClaudius’s fourth wife).61) Livy=(59 BC-17 AD) (Also: Titus Livius)Roman historian; under patronage of Emperor Augustus, wrote the Annals of the Roman People in 142 books from the time of its foundation to the death of Drusus, younger brother of Tiberius, in (9 BC).62) Lucius Aelius “Sejanus”=(See: Sejanus #116-p16.)63) “Lucius” Caesar=(17 BC-2 AD)son of Agrippa & Julia, the Elder;adopted by AO (17 BC);allowed to sit in Senate (3 BC);died in Massalina, Gaul; Livia, his step-grandmother, Livia, may have had agents involvedwith this (2 AD). 1064) Lucius Cornelius “Sulla”=(See: Sulla #122-p17.) 65) Lucius Sergius Catiline= (See: Catiline #19-p4.) 66) Lucius “Varius” Rufus=(See: Varius #130-p18.)67) Maecenas=(68 BC-8 BC)poet, life-long friend, & political advisor to AO;prided himself in his Etruscan roots;arranged AO’s marriage to Scribonia;met Horace (39 BC); thereafter became patron of the arts; vice-regent of OA’s army during Battle of Actium;AO may have had an affair with Terentia, Maecenas’s wife; left his estate to AO.68) Marcella=daughter of Octavia;firstly wife of Marcus Agrippa;Agrippa divorced her to marry, Julia, the Elder, AO’s daughter (21 BC)secondly married Iull usAntonius;Iullus Antonius was forced to commit suicide after being found guilty of adultery with Julia,the Elder (2 BC)69) Marcellus=(42-23 BC)eldest son of Octavia, AO’s sister, & Gaius Marcellus Minor; AO’s nephew: married Julia, the Elder, AO’s daughter & his first-cousin (25 BC);adopted by AO (joined to strengthen the Claudian, Octavian, & Julian lines) (a union with Tiberius, Livia’s son would have only strengthened the Claudian line) (25 BC)threatened Agrippa’s & Tiberius’s possible rise to emperor; possibly poisoned by Livia, AO’s wife.70) Marcus Antonius/ MA=(83?-30 BC)related through his mother to JC;aided JC in Gaul in 54 BC;through JC became quaestor, augur, & tribune of the plebs;commanded left wing of JC’s army at Pharsalus (48 BC);after JC’s death, influenced Romans by his oratory to drive out his assassins;in Second Triumvirate, received Asia as his command (44 BC);with AO defeated republican forces at Philippi (42 BC);visited Athens, then Asia to punish Cleopatra; succumbed to her charms & followed her toEgypt (41 BC);in division of Roman world by Triumvirate, took East (40-36 BC);married Octavia in 40 BC, but returned to Cleopatra, living sumptuously; suffered serious defeat by Parthians (36 BC);settled in Alexandria, alienating his Roman support (34 BC);rivalry with AO increased; deprived of his power (32 BC);with Cleopatra, completely defeated by AO at Actium (31 BC);fled to Egypt; deserted by his army; committed his suicide.71) Marcus Aemilius “Lepidus”=(See: Lepidus #58-p10.)72) Marcus Antonius [the Minor] “Antyllus” [“the Archer”]=(See: Antyllus #7-p2.) 73) Marcus Claudius “Marcellus”=(See: Marcellus #69-p11.)1174) Marcus Furius Bibaculus= (See: Furius #38-p8.) 75) Marcus Junius “Brutus”=(See: Brutus #12-p3.)76) Marcus Licinius “Crassus”=(See: Crassus #31-p6.)77) Marcus Pocius “Cato”=(See: Cato, the Younger #20-p4.)78) Marcus Phillippus=(See: Phillipus #96-p14.)79) Marcus Tillius “Cicero”=See: Cicero #22-p5.)80) Marcus Vispsanius “Agrippa”= (See: Agrippa #1-p1.)81) “Marius” Gaius=(155?-86 BC)Roman general & political leader;tribune of the plebs 119 BC;praetor(115 BC);consul (107, 104-100, & 86 BC);fought the Jugurtha (107-106 BC);fought the Cimbri & Teutones (104-101 BC);battled Sulla in Civil War in 86 BC; captured city & revenged himself by proscribing leaders of thearistocratic party; died of old age.82) Maevius= (1st century BCs)nortoriously bad poet; alluded to in Virgil’s Eclogus.83) Milo=(95-48 BC) Roman political agitator; “gangster;”supporter of Pompey;supported Cicero’s return from exile (57 BC);became praetor & married Cornelia Fausta, daughter of the former dictator, Sulla (54 BC); Clodius killed by Milo’s slaves (52 BC);Cicero defended Milo, saying Clodius was trying to ambush Milo; found guilty; fled to exile in Massillia; killed in action near Thurii, in southern Italy; (character in John Robert Maddox’s SQR series & in Stephen Saylor’s Roma Sub Rosa series: A Murder on the Appian Way; Last Seen in Massillia; & A Mist of Prophecies)84) Milonia Caesaronia=(See: Caesaronia #17-p3) 1285) Emperor Nero=(37-68 AD)ruled from 54-68 AD; son of Domitius Ahenobarbus & Empress Agrippina, daughter of Germanicus Caesar; born at Antium in Latium; educated by Seneca & Burrus; adopted by his step-father, Emperor Claudius (50 AD); married Octavia, daughter of Claudius & Messalina (53 AD);made emperor after his mother poisoned his stepfather;caused death of his step-brother, Britannicus, Claudius’s son, (55 AD); procured assassination of his mother (59 AD); reigned publicly in wise fashion for the first few years, with Seneca & Burrus, as advisors; lived privately in a profligate & dissipated manner; murdered Octavia & her sister, Claudia Antonia;married Poppaea Sabina (62 AD) but later caused her death by kicking her;accused of kindling fire that destroyed the greater part of Rome (64 AD);instituted cruel persecution of Christians; discovered plot against him & brought about deaths of man Romans, including Seneca(65 AD); competed for prizes at festivals;voted a public enemy by the Senate; committed suicide.86) Nero Claudius Caesar Druses Germanicus Ahenobarbus= (See: Emperor Nero, above)87) Nero Claudius “Druses,” the Elder, Germanicus=(See: Druses#34-p7.)88) Nero Caludius “Germanicus”=(See: Germanicus #34-p7.)89) Nero Julius Caesar (6 AD-31 AD) son of Germanicus & Agrippina, the Elder; raised in Rome by his mother & grandmother after Germanicus’s death; adopted by Tiberius; accused of treachery (29 AD); exiled to the island of Ponza: committed suicide or starved to death.90) Nicholas of Damascus=(?-?) Greek historian of 1st-century BC; teacher of Cleopatra’s children; emissary of Herod the Great (21 BC); writer of AO’s biography (only fragments remain).91) Octavia, the Younger =(69-11 BC) OA’s sister;married Gaius Claudius “Marcellus” Minor (54 BC); had two daughters & a son Marcellus with him; married MA (40 BC), his fourth one; he divorced her (32 BC) after falling in love withCleopatra; never fully recovered after the death of her son, Marcellus, who may have been poisoned by Livia.92) Empress Octavia=(42-62 AD) daughter of Emperor Claudius & Messal

"Rome, the sole object of my resentment; Rome, in whose name you have killed my lover; Rome, the only reason for your being, and whom you honor; Rome, whom I abhor for having covered you in glory;"...thus begins the passionate tirade of Camilla against her brother Horace while wishing that Rome be reduced to rubble, and his wreaths to ashes, when heartbroken she hears of the death of her lover at the hands of her warrior brother.The above is a loose translation of a few lines of a fine heroic tragedy, crafted by one of the greatest French dramatists ever, Pierre Corneille (1606-1684). Confronted by this blasphemy, Horace strikes down his sister with his sword and then the memory of her is forsaken just as Julia, the only child and much beloved daughter of Gaius Octavius, known as Augustus Caesar the first Emperor of Rome, is nearly erased from the annals of history, and All for the Love of Rome. It was this parallel that drew my attention to "Augustus", a novel by the late brilliant American author John Williams, now somewhat forgotten along with this best known work of his, which went on to win a major award in 1973.Such a fiery condemnation of Rome as depicted by Corneille's Camilla, and an early affinity for Roman and Greek mythology in adolescence, were to serve as an inspiration for my going in search of more of its history later in life. Perhaps it was Minerva the Wise foremost who was to lead me earlier this summer to find the powerful "Augustus", an historical novel about this first Roman Emperor, venerated by his people and remembered during his long reign for turning the foundations of Rome from clay into marble.With great effort during his life-time and suffering from ill health, Octavius was to establish a long stage of peace and prosperity under his rule. His people would have elevated him to the status of a God, but he would not let them. He may perhaps be viewed by some readers as a 'Holy' man, as one of his close friends defines him during the narration of this masterpiece. And, today is his day of birth, September 23 (63 BC.), a timely date for some Roman historians and perhaps others to remember this important public figure and private man.The time was right to read the above on my part, for at an earlier age while recognizing the originality and creativity of this unique book, I would not have been ready to understand the strong tide of realities and depth running throughout its ageless narrative. Today, it might fit into a contemporary read and stand strong on its own merits. John Williams, the author, was a professor of literature for over thirty years at the University of Denver, and it took some time before he was able to craft his perception of Augustus Caesar, with intensive research on his part where he cautions the readers that he took some liberties with the material at hand.An earlier meeting with a fellow writer was to inspire him when the former told him about this first Roman emperor and his love for his only child and daughter, Julia, whom he sends into exile because she has broken the laws on adultery which he had enacted. Williams was intrigued by this story, and eventually became engaged as to the ambivalence of 'public necessity, or the private want or need', described as the core of this novel later by another fine author, John McGahern. All to say, by the time Williams sat down to write it, he had become steeped in the ancient world of Rome.The novel is a compilation of a rich and revealing exchange of correspondence, memoirs and recollections; some authentic and borrowed; some fictitious between family members; Octavius' three close friends who meet first in adolescence, Agrippa, Maecenas and Rufus, who watch over him, while listening to him as he learns from them. Foes and enemies, senators, politicians and gossips, warriors and writers, famous historical figures such as Cleopatra, the first recognized leader of the Super Power of the Eastern world at the time; Mark Anthony (Marcus Antonious) portrayed as a loose cannon, a great warrior without the measure of a general, who pledges his troth to The Queen of Egypt, who will always put her country first; the poets Virgil, Horacio and Cicero; the great historian Livy and Seneca the Elder, and many more colorful characters, too many to list here.John Williams asked that his historical novel be read as a work of the imagination, and that with a few exceptions that he outlines, it should be regarded as an invention on his part. He held the belief that to read without pleasure or joy was foolish and that a novel or a poem should be experienced rather than understood, without much need for explication. It was in this vein that I took up his "Augustus", and it was thus that I found myself soon in the olden days of Ancient Rome. The tone of the novel was such that it sounded more real than anything that I have come across recently, nor have I ever had that sensation before of finding myself acutely observing another era in time so vividly and intensely at such a far distance.In his quiet, brilliant and measured way, John Williams has Julia tell the readers her own story by ways of a journal she keeps, condemned for life on a desolate and bleak island called Pandateria. The sea, the sea, you think, only to find out that this too is denied her. So terrible a fate that towards the end of his life, Octavius is to wonder whether his daughter will ever forgive him for having spared her life. Here one should leave it to the individual reader to determine whether his judgement was wise, or not, and as for Octavius, he will never know what ultimately happened to his daughter at the hands of her husband, the Emperor Tiberius, in the end. Most of all, he will never know that she did not betray him in a conspiracy for the love of one of his enemies, Jullus Antonious, the son of Marc Anthony. Perhaps therein lies the most tragic notes in personal terms of the novel.At the time when Octavius first confronts her with being part of a plot to assassinate him and bring down Rome, and then proceeds to relay to her some devastating news, stunned and traumatized, Julia no longer cares. She writes later in her journal of their final parting: 'I shall not see you again', my Father said, 'I shall not see you again'. 'It does not matter,' I replied. He looked at me once more, tears came into his eyes and he looked away'.But "Augustus" the novel is not only focused on the relationship of a father and daughter. It is an extraordinary literary portrayal of a man who goes up against his nature, a man of letters, a humanitarian and a philosopher, who is forced against the grain to be an unwilling warrior and a moralist in order to raise Rome to its full glory and power, continually protecting its territories and going out to war, while accepting his destiny as decreed by his Great-Uncle, Julius Caesar, who begins an imperial although tender letter to his niece Atia as follows:"Send the boy to Appollinaire"...and further on, "you will observe, my dear Atia, that at the beginning of this letter your uncle made it appear that you had the choice about the future of your son. Now Caesar must make it clear that you do not", and so begins the story of young Octavius on the steps of eighteen.There is much love to be found in this novel, some regrets and inevitable losses, some moving anecdotes of war (the defeat of Marcus Antonius, as he watches Cleopatra's fleet turn and sail away is memorable); chivalry and peaceful times; tales of deceit, romantic alliances, spiritual journeys, rituals and mysteries. The most interesting part of this novel for this reader was Book III, when the now ailing and elderly Octavius sends correspondence to his last and oldest friend, Nicholaus of Damascus, under the watchful eye of a new young doctor Phillipus in the background. He writes nearly every day, having set sail from Ostia in the direction of Capri, to join his ambitious and ruthless wife, Livia, whom he has come to admire in some ways over the years. Here we hear his voice for the first time when he has remained somewhat of an enigma to his close ones and detractors throughout his lifetime, and for some of the readers of John Williams' narrative.At first while retracing his past footsteps, he expresses some deep regrets and doubts to his friend Nicholaus over the course of his life's journey, and than placing these aside, proceeds to rally again. Octavius, in his persona as a private man, covers all topics of human existence and experience from the different kinds of love that are to be found, our human behavior, the character of his own people, the countries that are known but still foreign at the time, the enemies that are waiting at the borders, religious and spiritual themes, and his love above all for the Great Poets. It is rare that one meets in life a truly original being, and as a literary character, Octavius remains one for this reader - a finely depicted portrayal of a visionary and now a favorite Roman Emperor to remember with some reverence, as depicted by John Williams, the latter an outstanding author, who shines through his work as a fine and remarkable man.In summary, it is the narrator in the epilogue, the young doctor Phillipus of Athens, present with Octavius until his final days, who reveals to us the state of Rome after the decease of Augustus Caesar. Rome is doomed, had relayed Octavius shortly before his death in his correspondence to Nicholaus. Rome is doomed, and will fall after I make my exit. Now at an advanced age himself, Phillipus finally consents to pen down all the missing fragments of this history for his friend, the eminent historian Seneca the Elder, and ends his account unknowingly by sending a chill down one's spine as to Rome and its heirs.John Williams, a compassionate writer with some fever in his blood, is able to weave together meticulously and with great insight, the threads of this story of Ancient Rome and founder of this new Empire, with invaluable traits of fairness and a broad view for the creation of this novel that carries tinges of ethereal tones to it. Today, on a quiet day in Rome if one goes to the Museum Centrale Montemartini, you will find by all accounts in a long empty marble hall of corridors, a striking portrait of Augustus, surrounded by other beautiful sculptures and Roman artifacts of the time. 'Beautiful' is the word that comes to mind here in wondering about this profound novel, while echoing the thoughts of what Octavius believes when envisioning Rome in the future and the world: Hope lies in the hands of the future generations to come.For my part, it was the most topical read I have come across recently in the times we live in today. There has been comfort in keeping it as a reference book by my side, and one might say that the Rome of yesterday is the Rome of today, and tomorrow, where we, the People, will always come and go speaking of Michel Angelo.For R. Freiberg and E. Rodriguez in Rome today, your friends in New York are thinking of you after this past month of August and in the new Autumn Season.

John Williams is better known for the grim campus novel 'Stoner', but as he himself pointed out, the power struggles in universities have all the features of grand politics, just not the prizes. This novel inverts that premise through its observations of Octavius by others, sometimes contemporaneous with his actions, others interpreted by memory, giving the book its disrupted narrative structure. The collections of letters and memoirs apparently assembled for us are organised to provide a linear narrative enhanced by evidence collected across time without providing a conventional progression from one event to another.This really works as Octavius rises to power, as we see him as constructed in the eyes of others who are looking at him because of who he is and what he needs to become. This is less satsifying through Book II, which focuses on his daughter, Julia, or his own first person appearance in Book III. In both cases, he is no longer creating himself for the role he must perform but in the performance of it (and this includes the valedictory letter which is perfectly arch and as written for posterity as his actions in government).This makes for a fascinating book, with its reflections on power, politics, tactics and people, with so much at stake for the Roman world by the decisions of its characters and yet so little for the individual who has but one life. The fates of the characters are brilliantly distributed, and very little injustice reigns in this Empire.

In my opinion Butcher's Crossing and Stoner are two of the greatest American novels of the 20th Century. This is a meticulously-researched historical novel about the first, and most enigmatic, Emperor of Rome. If not quite in the same class as the two other mature novels, it remains a brilliant masterpiece that is worth your time. Told through letters and journals it provides a convincing psychological portrait of it's times and the characters that shaped it. Williams has set himself a very difficult task here, since he must convincingly characterise the various authorial voices that he summons from the past. I don't think that he quite pulls it off but I still think that the multiple narratives are better differentiated and more vivid than in any comparable work. The main voices of Marc Anthony, Maecenas (Octavius's close friend and adviser), Julia (Octavius/Augustus's daughter) and, finally, Augustus himself are vividly done. It is probably closest to "I, Claudius" in personality but very different in style. I really enjoyed this book and found it hard to put down. If not the transcendent masterpiece that is Butcher's Crossing, it is still a wonderful historical novel, full of incident and insight. Highly recommended.

You may think you know the story of the first Roman Emperor, but this is a remarkably fresh and original take on the most successful Roman ruler, told via imagined letters and diaries. This gives the broadly chronological story a compelling vividness and personal depth.Apart from Gaius Octavius Augustus and his political peers, the ostensible authors include Horace, Livy, Virgil and Ovid: Octavius lived during - and perhaps partly inspired - the golden age of classical Latin literature. But their insights are primarily psychological and humanist rather than historical or literary.For me, the most moving and interesting part was the memoirs of Octavius's daughter, Julia, exiled by her father to the small island of Pandataria. Octavius himself remains elusive, despite a long and stoically melancholic letter at the end. Mark Anthony and Livia are memorably but briefly brought to life. Some of the many other characters are less successful.There are interesting parallels with Williams' masterwork, Stoner: both novels are about introverts whose marriages founder, because their wives turn out to be power-obsessed to the exclusion of all else; both (male) protagonists become estranged from their daughters, though maintaining an unspoken bond of love; in both novels the hero's small circle of friends are drawn from early adulthood, but they do not share his depth of understanding of life; and in both stories the central character slowly comes to transcend his deep disillusionment through a stoic acceptance of his lot.There is, of course, at least one major difference: Stoner was a backwater, academic failure in the eyes of the world while Augustus was, arguably, the most successful political ruler in the history of Western civilisation, whose basic institutions including his Empire survived him by over 400 years.Both men struggle with power - one from outside and one from inside - ultimately conceding its utter futility in an unknown but nevertheless greater scheme of things. There are hints that Stoner achieves a profounder sense of connectedness, due to his selflessness, than Augustus, who remains trapped in the atomised and separated consciousness of the world he has made.Do read this great novel: Williams wears his immense learning lightly and tells a gripping story gracefully.

Augustus, by John Williams, was another book club choice: I’m not sure that I would have picked it out myself. I have come away with mixed feelings. It is very obviously a carefully written book, intricately written entirely in epistolary form. Strictly, not all sections are letters, as we have diary entries, military orders, official records and such like as well. However, every part has a sense of formally constructed distance – we are not experiencing things as they happen, but rather we are shown a highly selected series of personal reflections on events.Although the progress of recounted events proceeds almost entirely in linear order, the time sequence of the reflections themselves is extremely nonlinear. A letter written just hours after a key moment is followed by a memoir extract from decades later. Likewise, the perspectives offered by the writers range from enthusiastic through manipulative to hostile. Most of the entries are acutely conscious of the political games being played, and are seeking to influence others one way or another. There is a constant sense that nobody’s words can really be trusted.This was certainly an interesting ploy, but one which for me did not quite work. The cast of involved people was very large, and their writing styles not sufficiently diverse for me to pick them out easily. John identifies each sender and recipient in a short header, as well as the date of the item, but I found it all too easy to forget after a couple of page turns, and on a Kindle it was not easy to flick back to the header to remind myself. It is, I think, a book which actually needs to be read in a physical copy, with the consequent ease of keeping your thumb in a page and flipping to and fro. Indeed, I realised half-way through that you really need a large diagram beside you tracing who knows whom and the nature of each relationship (which changes through time).I think the book might work for those who like political machinations. So far as I was concerned, I started to think quite early on that I wasn’t really interested in who was trying to deceive whom and why. By the time I thought of tracking relationships on paper, I had already ceased to really care who won and who lost, since their personal plots and preoccupations did not interest me (despite apparently deciding the fate of the Roman world).There are three main divisions of the book. The first is male dominated and follows the saga to the defeat of Mark Anthony, at which point Rome is free of civil war. A second, with a higher proportion of female voices, takes us through to Augustus’s successful defeat of a last conspiracy against him. The final, much briefer, section is almost entirely a soliloquy of Augustus himself, close to death and reflecting on his life. Each stage sees him gain something and lose something, and the reader is left to decide if the gain was worth the loss.Overall a modest four star book for me. I am glad to have read it, but cannot imagine reading it again. It is carefully constructed, but left me cold, partly because the overwhelming majority of the book concerns itself with an elite group of men that I cannot identify with. I think it was reasonably well researched, but am not enough of an expert on Roman history to know for sure, and there were a couple of places in the Egyptian section that I was very dubious about. If you like immersing yourself in Roman politics, you may well love this book – but make sure you read it with pen and paper beside you to keep track of the intricate web of personal interactions.

The life of Caesar Augustus is here told in the form of fictional letters, diaries, memoirs etc. They are written mainly by Augustus' supporters, by his opponents and by onlookers, so we can follow the story from all these different viewpoints. I have to say it is not the easiest way of telling the story. I found Robert Harris' novels about roughly the same period more readable.It is hard to keep up with all the family relationships in the book, which has no family trees. Marriages and divorces were made entirely for diplomatic reasons, and some of the marriages were nigh-incestuous: two women in the story were married to half-brothers.In Book I the young Octavius (the future Augustus) is shown to be cool and calculating after his uncle Julius Caesar had been assassinated, leaving him as his heir: his enemies underestimated him. We follow the complex maneuvers which brought him to power in Rome by the age of twenty. It ends with the Battle of Actium, in which Octavius finally vanquished his last rivals, Mark Anthony and Cleopatra. The form in which Williams tells the story with all its twists and turns is not much easier to follow than a straightforward narrative account would have been, and adds only a little colour to it, and the unexciting style is much the same, whoever is writing.Book II has much more of a human touch and a greater variety of incidents. Women like Augustus' third wife Livia and his sister Octavia find a voice; but above all we meet Julia, Augustus' daughter, and we learn her story: how her father had doted on her, saw that she had received an excellent education; how she had become more self-willed and imperious; how she had resented being forced by her father into a third diplomatic marriage, this time to a man she hated; how she had taken lovers; how she had became (unwittingly, according to her; wittingly, according to her father) involved in a plot which was discovered. (There is some doubt among historians about this.) It had left Augustus no option but, with a breaking heart, to condemn her to a Spartan exile on the tiny barren island of Pandateria (now Ventotene) off Naples.So far we have not had any document written by Augustus himself; but Book III - in my opinion the finest part of the novel - is a long letter started by him in 14 AD, just ten days before his death at the age of 75. His body is weakening and he knows he is near the end of his life, on which this letter now looks back in a philosophical manner. It contains much wisdom. While he records the peace and order he has given to the Roman Empire, he is keenly aware that nothing lasts for ever. He reflects on the views he held of life in his youth (as an epic adventure), in his middle age (as a tragedy) and in his old age (as a comedy). He muses beautifully about what it means to be a poet and about the poets he has known (Virgil, Horace, Ovid). He has interesting and unusual things to say about the various kinds of love: erotic love, homosexual love, friendship, the disembodied love of ideas, and the love of a parent for a child, perhaps "the purest form of this mystery" - and so, of course, he comes to speak of his daughter Julia and of the conflict within him of his love for Julia and his love of Rome.