Image: the mausoleum of Augustus in Rome, Italy.

Augustus in His Own Words

The Res Gestae (the things which were done), also known as Index rerum a se gestarum, were a list of accomplishments written out by Emperor Augustus on a set of bronze tablets. He instructed that the tablets be displayed on his tomb so that all could see what he had done. The image above shows the Mausoleum of Augustus, which is where he intended to have his words displayed.

Because of the nature of the work, a great deal of it is in the 1st person: Augustus is recounting the acts of his own life, so “I prepared...I liberated...I refused...etc.” In this work, Augustus begins when he is 19, discussing how he raised an army on his own at that young age and it goes up to the year of his death, explaining all the ways in which he had helped “the republic” (could it still properly be called that after his reign?) and acted in ways that improved the lives of Romans. In the Sight Reading passage, you will get a chance to read through the first ten acts of the Res Gestae to get an idea of the types of things that Augustus thought were important about his own life. Be mindful, as you read, that you will not find a more biased source describing Augustus’ own life, but at the same time, you will never find one with so many insights into the thoughts and feelings of the man himself.

Image: The Res Gestae, inscribed on a wall in Rome, Italy. — This is a street view of the *Ara Pacis* (Altar of Peace) in Rome, which displays a preserved copy of the *Res Gestae*.

Download the complete Res Gestae if you would like to get the full context of Augustus' accomplishments.

Video Lesson

For a bit more insight into the Mausoleum of Augustus and its role in Rome's history, please watch the following video.

Video shared via a Creative Commons license.

[CC BY-NC-SA 4.0] UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED | IMAGES: LICENSED AND USED ACCORDING TO TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION - INTENDED ONLY FOR USE WITHIN LESSON.