Anthony Everitt's "Augustus: A Biography of Rome's First Emperor"

Bryan Dare: Although Adrian Goldsworthy’s “Augustus: First Emperor of Rome”, published in 2014, is newer and marginally better reviewed on Amazon.com than Anthony Everitt’s 2007 “The Life of Rome's First Emperor”, I chose to buy the (Kindle version of the) Everitt biography and was certainly not disappointed. I based my choice on a reading of the short excerpts which come up when one clicks on each book’s cover for a “Look Inside”. Everitt’s narrative was novelistic and compelling whereas Goldsworthy seemed to be trying too hard to get the facts placed solidly before the reader. As it turned out, Everitt maintained the lively pace and light touch throughout the book while managing to infuse his account with all the background facts and commentary which I thought I wanted.
I do not in any way recommend against Goldsworthy’s Augustus but can certainly recommend in favour of Everitt’s.

Canada on May 29, 2018

DoctorSaunders: I liked "Augustus" though I found it not as quite enjoyable as the same author's "Cicero".
Caution for Kindle users:
I bought the Kindle edition of both books. The edition of "Cicero" was fine, but the edition of "Augustus" was substandard as it was badly formatted: throughout the book there were large gaps between paragraphs (where several lines of text would easily have fitted) and throughout the book many sentences were justified incorrectly leaving gaps in the middle of the sentences or line breaks about half way into a line. What I found worst was the fact that there are no cross references to the notes anywhere in the text. As a result, I cannot use the many notes that the author had made. Of course, it is possible to actively jump to the notes and read these (out of context) but who wants to interrupt his reading by doing this. Why were there no cross references to the notes inline in the text? Surely this is one of the main advantages of using an e-reader over a paper book. All in all it made a very poor impression.

Germany on Apr 29, 2017

Filip Palda: Tony Everitt writes clean English. He gives up to date analysis on what Augustus was up to in his military campaigns and political reforms. This is not an easy feat given the recent explosion of high-grade research on Augustus. He has an appealing way of mixing into the action of Agustus' life descriptions of how Romans bathed, ate, and celebrated important rituals, such as the first shaving of a pubescent boy (Augustus did not shave until he was 24).

I have only two comments for improvement. The first is that Agrippa does not get his full due. In Augustus: The Biography by Jochen Bleichen the author goes into depth on how intellectually powerful and sophisticated Agrippa was. He was learned in hydrology, and the arts. He once called Mycaena's promotion of Virgil as the pushing on to the public of a new form of bad taste. We need to learn more about Agrippa.

The second comment is that Everitt tends to oversimplify the complexity of Agustus' first and second settlements and the mental exercise and logic behind them. For that you need to read Bleichen's book.

I have a third critique but not for Everitt but rather for his "book designer" (whatever that means)...

United States on Dec 08, 2016

laurens van den muyzenberg: The book about Augustus is like a novel, which makes it, pleasure to read. I Was interested in finding out if anything could he learned from the practices of Augustus considering the importance of the rule of law already at that time. By the time Augustus came to power the rule of law had already been practiced for many years.

Not knowing very much but keenly interested I was surprised that the government both before, during, and after Augustus rule, was dominated by a few powerful elite families and even though there was a senate and election the system of government was not anywhere close to a democracy. My belief was in away naive, as I knew that the Romans' high levels of culture and standard of living depended on slaves.

I did also did not realize the extent o which the Romans and emperors were depending on conquering other countries; take all their wealth and many slaves. Augustus had to organize the conquest of Egypt, take their wealth in order to pay his soldiers to which he was in debt. At that time winning wars was very profitable.

Augustus had some interesting insights. He recognized that in the long run power was not sustainable without consent,...

France on May 07, 2016

David Hoffman: Gaius Octavius Caesar, better known as Augustus is without question one of the most influential men in the history of the West.

The story of his life and accomplishments is an astonishing one, and yet full of contrasts. He was the first emperor of the Roman Empire, yet he never used that title. Augustus began his life as the son of a relatively minor Italian aristocrat but became the most powerful man in Rome. He was the grandnephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar and used this connection to leap to the heights of Roman politics, yet his cautious personality was the opposite of Julius Caesar's more flamboyant style. His rise to power showed a ruthless and often bloodthirsty deposition, yet when he had achieved absolute power, he governed justly and humanely. He had little military skill, unlike his grand uncle, but, with the aid of his friend Agrippa, he was able to defeat his rivals in the civil wars that ended the Republic. He was an absolute ruler, but he maintained the fiction that he had restored the Republic and scrupulously followed the forms of the old Constitution, while remaking Roman politics in a form that endured for the next two centuries. He always suffered...

United States on Sep 09, 2013

Leonard J. Wilson: Augustus, by British historian Anthony Everitt, is a detailed biography of Rome's first emperor. A few aspects of Octavian's (Augustus' name before the Senate voted him the honorific "Augustus") that I found particularly interesting include the following.

1. Octavian was a favorite of his great uncle, Julius Caesar. Caesar invited him to join his military staff for the campaign in Spain against Pompey's sons at the end of the civil war. However, Octavian's health was less than robust and he arrived in Spain just as the campaign was ending.
2. In another attempt to provide Octavian with military experience, Caesar sent him to Illyricum along with six legions that Caesar had deployed there as the initial part of an army he planned to lead against the Parthian Empire. Just as Caesar was preparing to leave Rome to join this army, he was assassinated. As Caesar's adopted heir, Octavian also inherited the loyalty of Caesar's veterans, placing him at the head of a formidable army that was already motivated to avenge their fallen commander. This force placed him, as a very young man, in a position to negotiate a role as co-leader of the Caesarian faction along with Mark...

United States on Jul 04, 2009

haunted: A couple of years ago on a visit to Rome, I came across, almost by accident, the Mausoleum of Caesar Augustus. It had just been reopened. Even as a renovated ruin it is impressive so imagine what it must have been like when it was built so many years ago. My interest in the first Emperor was piqued and bought Everitt's book.
And thoroughly enjoyed it!

In the introduction the author sets out the difficulties of writing about people and events in ancient times. He lets the reader know that in many cases he had to rely on works written long after the events they describe and often the authors had their own political agenda. Many times in the book he admits that due to the limitations of historical sources we don't know the reason for or details of events mentioned.

Given the limitations described above Everitt has done a fine job. We get a great insight into the public and private lives of Augustus (AKA Octavian). He was a rather peculiar character in many ways. Brought up in a well off but not very influential rural family a prominent public life seemed unlikely. However his adoption by his great-uncle Julius Caesar opened many doors for him. He used his connection...

United Kingdom on Oct 21, 2008

Elizabeth Taylor: Firstly let me say that I enjoyed this biography it provides a broad sweep to the life of Augustus, its well written, the author has an easy writing style and it includes small details that help us to understand everyday life in Ancient rome. For example, the description of a typical day in the life of Augustus and his wife Liva - their routine, their movements and the food they ate. It is not however an academic work, as although the author clearly knows his subject one of the most annoying things is a lack of footnotes. Often on a page it will be stated that Augustus once stated or once did or thought or said and you think where does that come from. If you turn to the appendix, it only contains one footnote per page, so not everything is referenced and consequently one has no means of knowing where the author obtained his information. For myself I found this very, very irritating as it was impossible to cross reference or even build up an idea of where the main original sources are. There is also not a great deal of analysis of Rome at the time, how the army worked, what the social structure was, so its not either a book for someone looking to understand life in rome in general....

United Kingdom on May 13, 2008